Dimitrov Scrambles, Hits Forehand Winner In Paris 2017 Hot Shot
Dimitrov Scrambles, Hits Forehand Winner In Paris 2017 Hot Shot
Nov012017
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British number three Kyle Edmund let slip a 5-1 final-set lead as American Jack Sock surged back to win their Paris Masters second-round clash 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5).
Edmund, who won his only previous meeting with Sock in July, twice served for the match.
But Sock, ranked 22nd in the world, trained his power on Edmund’s weaker backhand wing to fight his way back.
Edmund saved two match points in the final tie-break before losing a third.
It is the final match of the 22-year-old Yorkshireman’s 2017 campaign and comes after an impressive run to the semi-finals in Austria last month that included a victory over David Ferrer.
He is expected to finish the year ranked 49th in the world.
Britain’s Andy Murray will drop out of the world’s top 10 for the first time in three years when the men’s tennis rankings are released on Monday.
The three-time Grand Slam champion finished 2016 as world number one after winning the season-ending World Tour Finals.
However, Murray has not played since July as he recovers from a hip injury,
As a result, the Scot is about to lose 2,500 points, which will see him slip from third to at least 15th.
A player’s ranking is determined by his best 18 tournament results over the preceding 52 weeks.
This means that some of Murray’s successes in 2016 Masters events, including reaching the final in Cincinnati and winning in Shanghai, are no longer counted in ranking calculations.
Murray has been unable to amass any points since reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in July.
The last time the 30-year-old Scot was outside the top 10 was in October 2014, when he was 11th in the world.
Rafael Nadal, who won both the French and US Opens in 2017, is guaranteed to finish the season as the year-end world number one.
Rafael Nadal will end 2017 as world number one after a second-round win over Hyeon Chung at the Paris Masters.
The Spaniard, who has risen from ninth at the start of the year via French and US Open victories, advanced 7-5 6-3 in one hour and 48 minutes.
“The most important moment of the year was the clay-court season and winning a 10th Roland Garros title here,” he told the crowd in his on-court interview.
Nadal, 31, will play Uruguay’s world number 36 Pablo Cuevas in the last 16.
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The 16-time Grand Slam champion did not have it all his own way in a see-sawing first set in which he and Chung exchanged two breaks apiece before Nadal broke to love in the final game.
South Korea’s Chung, 21, held his own in the second set but again crumbled in the latter stages, surrendering to love to give up the solitary break.
Nadal is 1,460 points clear of Swiss world number two Roger Federer in the world rankings and victory over Chung ensured him an unassailable lead before the World Tour Finals in London later this month.
Nadal, who also finished 2008, 2010 and 2013 at the top of the rankings, is the oldest player to finish a campaign at world number one since they were introduced in 1973.
Andy Murray, who was 2016’s season-end number one, is third with 20-year-old Alexander Zverev fourth.
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
A shade over 12 months ago, Nadal announced a premature end to a season which had been seriously hindered by a wrist injury. It was time to turn his attention to 2017, where in his words: “I need to create pain for my opponent.”
He has done plenty of that. His second-round victory in Paris was his 66th of a season in which he has so far won six titles and contested three of the four Grand Slam finals.
His trademark forehand has been far more menacing than in recent years, but his backhand has also been very solid and his serve – especially the second serve – much improved.
Nadal’s biggest frustration has been Roger Federer. He has simply not been able to find a solution to the puzzle presented by the 36-year-old in 2017. Their four matches have all gone Federer’s way, but there may be a fifth to close the season at this month’s World Tour Finals.
The indoor hard courts there favour Federer, but there is every incentive for Nadal as it is the one major title which has so far eluded him.
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Dutchman enjoying fine finish to 2017
Robin Haase has made a flying start to the Rolex Paris Masters. After dismissing Steve Johnson for the loss of just three games in the first round in the French capital, the Dutchman ousted fourth seed Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the third round.
The 30-year-old Haase, who reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final in the summer in Montreal (l. to Federer), overcame the 20-year-old Zverev in one hour and 33 minutes. The right-hander won 77 per cent of his service points and broke Zverev four times as he set up a clash with either Joao Sousa or Nitto ATP Finals contender Juan Martin del Potro.
Zverev will look to cap his standout season in style when he makes his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, beginning 12 November. The German has won two Masters 1000 crowns this season, in Rome and Montreal, and also lifted trophies in Montpellier, Munich and Washington.
In action later on, Rafael Nadal will clinch the year-end No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings with victory over Hyeon Chung, while London contenders Tsonga, Goffin, Anderson and del Potro are all in the hunt for crucial points.
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Rafael Nadal can clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking for the fourth time by defeating #NextGenATP player Hyeon Chung at the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday. Nadal, 31, bids to become the oldest year-end No. 1 and first year-end No. 1 over the age of 30 since the Emirates ATP Rankings were established in 1973. He also finished 2008, 2010 and 2013 atop the rankings. If Chung upsets Nadal, the Spaniard will get a second chance to clinch at the Nitto ATP Finals November 12-19.
Opportunity awaits Kevin Anderson, Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after Nicolas Mahut beat Pablo Carreno Busta on Tuesday. If he reaches the quarter-finals this week, Anderson will pass Carreno Busta and assume the last spot for Nitto ATP Finals qualification. Not far behind in the Emirates ATP Race to London are Del Potro and Tsonga, who would pass Carreno Busta by reaching the semi-finals. In second-round matches on Wednesday, Anderson faces Fernando Verdasco, Del Potro meets Joao Sousa and Tsonga takes on Julien Benneteau.
View FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups for Day 3 and vote for who you think will win!
Nadal vs. Chung | Cilic vs. Coric | Dimitrov vs. Gasquet
Tsonga and Benneteau were among the tournament-record five Frenchmen who reached the third round in 2009. As many as six can make it that far this year, including Lucas Pouille and Adrian Mannarino. Pouille won the biggest championship of his career in Vienna on Sunday and became the only player in 2017 with titles on three surfaces. He faces Feliciano Lopez on Court Central, while Mannarino meets No. 1 Belgian David Goffin in a possible preview of the Davis Cup final.
