Top seeds trailing Lopez/Lopez
Home favourites Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut are three games away from being upset by Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez at Roland Garros on Tuesday. The top-seeded Frenchmen trailed 6-7(7) 0-3 before rain interrupted play. If the pair can come back to win the match, Mahut will become the new No. 1 player in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, replacing Marcelo Melo.
Herbert/Mahut are the hottest doubles team of 2016, sweeping the first three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events of the season (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo). Herbert has never reached the quarter-finals in Roland Garros, while Mahut was a finalist in 2013 (partnering Llodra).
Defending champion Ivan Dodig and Melo teamed up to reach the quarter-finals, downing Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 6-3, 6-2. The third seeds stuck eight aces and broke Guccione/Sa three times on as many opportunities.
Also in action are Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who led 4-3 against Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes before play was interrupted.
Fourth-round match deadlocked on Court 2
The fourth-round match opposing Dominic Thiem, seeded No. 13, and unseeded Marcel Granollers was interrupted by rain tied 6-2, 6-7(2) at Roland Garros on Tuesday. Both players are aiming to reach their first Roland Garros quarter-final.
Spain’s Granollers was well-rested entering the match, having not hit a ball in match conditions since the second round. Last Thursday, he saw off Nicolas Mahut before moving into the fourth round after Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal due to a wrist injury. Thiem took advantage of his opponent’s five-day layoff, racing to a 4-1 lead before rain stopped play for a first time with the Austrian serving for the set at 5-2. After a two-hour interruption, Thiem secured the opening set on his fifth attempt.
The players exchanged breaks at the start of the second set, but the wily Granollers, who had yet to beat Thiem in three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, found his range. Rushing the net at strategic moments, the 2014 doubles finalist won a one-sided tie-break before inclement weather stopped the match again.
The winner of the match will face Ernests Gulbis, a semi-finalist two years ago, or 12th seed David Goffin in the quarter-finals. Gulbis, No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, made a quick start and led 3-0 before rain interrupted play. On the eve of the tournament, he parted ways with coach Gunther Bresnik, who currently works with Thiem.
| Specsavers County Championship Division Two, New Road |
| Worcestershire v Gloucestershire, day three |
| Worcestershire 439 & 151-5: Mitchell 55, Kervezee 39; Norwell 3-28 |
| Gloucestershire 364-6 dec: Van Buuren 172*, Miles 60*, Roderick 60 |
| Worcestershire lead by 226 runs |
| Worcestershire 7 pts, Gloucestershire 7 pts |
| Match scorecard |
Three Liam Norwell wickets ignited Gloucestershire’s chances of a final-day push for victory at Worcester.
The visiting seamer took 3-28, bowling first-innings centurion Tom Kohler-Cadmore, as the hosts stumbled to 151-5 in their second innings to lead by 226.
Rain curtailed play at 16:40 BST, but all three results are still possible.
Earlier, Graeme van Buuren carried his overnight 104 to 172 not out, in tandem with Craig Miles (60 not out), as the visitors declared on 364-6.
Gloucestershire caused a surprise by pulling out at lunch still 75 runs behind after the unbroken 134-run stand between Van Buuren and Miles.
Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell told BBC Hereford & Worcester:
“The game has opened up with them declaring. It was a good move. Hopefully that will create something exciting.
“We are all sick of boring draws, so let’s hope we have got a game of cricket on.
“The closer they got to our total, it would have made it more difficult to play a proper game. We’ve got to start trying to win and they are in the same boat.”
Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson:
“We’ve got five wickets down and if we can get a couple of early wickets, we will put the pressure back on them.
“Was the declaration on the spur of the moment? We had to see how we batted. And Graeme van Buuren and Craig Miles put us in a position where we could make that decision.
“The partnership they put on actually put us into a position where we could dictate things.”
Two rain delays keep Djokovic and Bautista Agut waiting in Paris
Top seed and three-time former finalist Novak Djokovic leads No. 14 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 4-1 on Tuesday, when rained stopped play at Roland Garros. Play was officially cancelled for the day at 5:50 p.m. local time.
Djokovic is bidding to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam championships for the 28th successive time, while Bautista Agut is looking to reach his first quarter-final in his 15th major appearance.
Play had been originally set to begin at 11 a.m. local time, but it did not start until 12:10 p.m. at Stade Roland Garros, in south-west Paris.
After an early exchange of service breaks, Bautista Agut took a 4-2 lead by striking cleanly down the lines. Although Djokovic broke back for 3-4, Bautista Agut responded to win two games in a row and wrap-up the 37-minute opener. Djokovic had previously won the first set in 20 straight Grand Slam championships matches and 37 of 38 Grand Slam matches since 2014.
Heavy rain returned at 12:46 p.m., which resulted in a lengthy delay. In spite of light rain, play resumed at 3:28 p.m. with fans under umbrellas.
Djokovic returned to Court Philippe Chatrier, adopting a new game plan: playing safe down the middle and striking through the ball. Bautista Agut came under pressure on serve, but managed to save five break points in his first two service games. With Djokovic leading 3-2, there followed five straight breaks of serve. Much to his relief, Djokovic converted his second set point opportunity.
By now, neither player trusted their footing on the crushed brick. But play continued into the third set, with Djokovic saving one break point in the first game. The World No. 1 then broke Bautista Agut in the fourth game en route to a 4-1 lead, before organisers stopped at 4:51 p.m. local time.
Bautista Agut is 0-4 against players at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and 5-27 versus Top 10 stars overall.
There was no play due to rain on Monday, which represented the first washout since 30 May 2000.
| French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 22 May to 5 June |
| Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app. |
World number one Novak Djokovic lost the first set to Roberto Bautista Agut before rain returned to again delay play at the French Open.
Spain’s Bautista Agut, the 14th seed, led Serb Djokovic 6-3 when their fourth-round match was halted in Paris.
Serena Williams is set to play Elina Svitolina after that match, before Britain’s Andy Murray faces Richard Gasquet in the first quarter-final.
Monday saw the first washout at Roland Garros since 2000.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has launched the Go Hit It campaign to get more people into tennis.
The campaign targets adults aged 18 to 34 and hopes to raise awareness of the sport earlier in the year.
“The Davis Cup victory at the end of last year really captivated the British audience,” says Alex Mawer, the LTA’s marketing director.
“We want to continue on this high and encourage people across the country to get involved in tennis, earlier in the season and more regularly.
“Through ‘Go Hit It’ we expect to kick-start the summer tennis season with more people thinking about tennis, more people choosing tennis and more people playing tennis.”
READ MORE: Find out how you can get into tennis with our special guide.
Taylor Fritz writes exclusively about his time off-court on the ATP World Tour in 2016
Part II
I thought I’d use the second part of my diary to share a little bit more about myself and tell you about some of the interesting and incredible experiences I’ve had in each city on tour so far.
Being part of the ATP’s #NextGen…
The #NextGen launch was a big deal for all of us and I know we all feel privileged and honored to be a part of the group. It’s been a while since the ATP’s created a campaign like this and they’re really promoting it hard. It’s exciting to be included and I look forward to improving and growing as a player and also doing everything I can to promote the game in the US and around the world.
During the launch it was a bit surreal. Seeing pictures of myself from the ATP photoshoot in Australia, I can’t believe how cool it is that I get to do these types of things. I’m so fortunate and it’s great to have these kinds of experiences and this kind of exposure. I feel lucky and honored to be one of the guys in the group but at the same time it makes me want to work even harder to make sure I reach my full potential.
Cool Moments
Going to the Lakers game…
Just before Indian Wells I got the chance to go and watch the LA Lakers play at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It was really cool. The Lakers have always been my favorite team and Kobe Bryant, my favorite player, so any time I get the opportunity to go to a game, I grab it. It was such a great experience to go into the locker room and meet the coach and the players. A lot of the players are managed by the same sports agency as me (CAA Sports), so they were very welcoming and could not have been more friendly. I had a lot of fun just seeing everything backstage and then watching the game. We had great seats so I felt very lucky. I really enjoy having the opportunity to go and watch other sports live. It’s inspiring.
Speaking of inspiring, just before the game we bumped into two more than inspiring legends of our game, Roger Federer and Tommy Haas. They were both there, separately, for fun and it was really nice for me to get the opportunity to talk to them in a different setting. Tommy was very friendly as always, and Roger was kind enough to take the time to give me some advice on my scheduling and how to best navigate my way through the tour as a youngster.
Touring the Bernabeu…
While I was in Madrid, the ATP organized a tour of the Bernabeu for me. If you don’t know, that’s where Real Madrid play. I’m a huge soccer fan and probably one of the biggest Cristiano Ronaldo fans out there, so it was an amazing experience for me! It was really cool seeing what the players see and where they spend their time before and after games. When I was walking up the steps past the dugout and onto the pitch, I couldn’t imagine what it must feel like when the stands are packed and everyone is waiting for the players to come out. It was incredible. A couple of nights later I was lucky enough to get to watch them play Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals. What a game to be in town for!
About Me
All tennis players have their quirks…
Sorry to say I don’t have too many strange or interesting superstitions. One thing I have got into the habit of doing is jumping in the ice bath after every match. The problem is that this isn’t an option at every tournament so sometimes I have to improvise. When there’s an ice machine and a bath at my hotel you’ll usually find me shivering in the tub on the night’s before and after matches! I’ve been doing that since I started on the tour, so for about six to seven months. I feel a lot better the next day and in the morning. Now it’s just in my head, I need to do it. If I don’t have one, I feel like I won’t feel good the next day. As I write this I’m starting to realize it may be turning into a bit of a superstition. But oh well, at least it’s a good habit.
I’m definitely still a teenager…
Like most kids my age, I’m definitely not a morning person at all. And I’m very, very particular about sleep when I’m at a tournament. The day before I play, and the day before that, I put my foot down and force myself to sleep in until at least 10am. I need to get so much sleep before I play.
Another somewhat interesting fact- I always have a messy room. Unless my girlfriend’s staying with me, then maybe she’ll help me organise things. But if it’s just me staying there, it will 100 per cent always be a really, really messy room. Stuff everywhere. With that said, somehow I always know where everything is, so it kinda works.
Any chance I get to play a sport other than tennis, I get pretty excited. I like to think I’m a good basketball player, but my basketball days pretty much ended freshman year of high school. When I’m home, the only organised sport I have is soccer every Saturday. I’m American, though, so I’m not Ronaldo out there!
My success at tennis hasn’t changed anything. It’s still the same with my friends, it always is. I’ve known my friends forever, so to them I’m exactly the same person they knew way back before I had any tennis ranking.
It’s going to be strange later in the year, though. All my friends are going off to college. I’d be in my senior year of high school right now. It’s really weird thinking that after the summer, I’m going to come back and they’re not going to be there. I could’ve been at college too but I chose a slightly different path.
At home I’m just like any other teenager. I like to play video games, play soccer, hang out with my friends, sleep. I like to just relax and take it easy. I play FIFA and mostly sports-themed video games, so I’m always doing something that revolves around sports.
A couple of lessons I’ve learned along the way…
Always check the weather forecast before packing!
OK, Memphis was a little chillier than I’d expected. The hotel was walking distance from the site and during morning walks over I got made fun of because I would wear shorts and it was freezing! I really didn’t pack for the time of the year. That trip caught me out- i wasn’t ready for it at all.
Tough travel experiences are inevitable…
My first bad travel experience came on a flight from Guadeloupe. I was in a middle seat, which is never ideal on a long flight, and the guy next to me was a pretty big guy. And you know how you’re allowed to bring babies with you and they don’t have their own seat? Well this kid was way too big not to have her own seat and the guy had her on his lap. She was crawling all over me and even hitting me in the face from time to time. That was a tough one.
That’s all I have for now. I hope you guys enjoyed my travel diary and hope that I’ve been able to give you a little insight into what life’s like when you’re starting out on the ATP World Tour!
Don’t Miss Part I!
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