Spaniard Fernando Verdasco suffered a disappointing second-round loss at the US Open against Hyeon Chung, letting slip a 6-1, 6-2 lead and also failing to convert a match point in the fifth set. But the Spaniard wiped away those memories on Monday, defeating Belgian Steve Darcis 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Moselle Open.

The fifth seed began this ATP 250 tennis tournament with just a 1-2 record at the event. The last time Verdasco competed in Metz, four years ago, he lost against then-18-year-old Alexander Zverev.

But the veteran lefty faced few problems against Darcis, saving the only break point he faced and winning 64 per cent of his second-serve return points in his 69-minute triumph. Verdasco leads Darcis 4-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, winning all nine sets they have played.

Verdasco will next face 2017 Rolex Paris Masters finalist Filip Krajinovic, who beat Peter Gojowczyk 7-5, 6-4 after one hour and 24 minutes. It was an impressive win for the Serbian considering Gojowczyk claimed his lone ATP Tour crown in Metz two years ago.

A Frenchman is through to the second round, as wild card Antoine Hoang ousted German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 11 minutes. The 23-year-old will next face sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz or countryman Gregoire Barrere.

Second-Seeded Doubles Tandem Eliminated
Robert Lindstedt and Jan-Lennard Struff upset second seeds Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan 6-4, 7-6(15) to reach the second round in the doubles draw. Bambridge and McLachlan were carrying strong form into this tournament, their first since reaching the US Open quarter-finals. Lindstedt and Struff are competing together for the first time. 

Nine years ago, Mikhail Kukushkin won his lone ATP Tour title in St. Petersburg. And on Monday, the Kazakh got off to a strong start at the St. Petersburg Open with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner.

The sixth seed’s one-hour, 40-minute triumph against the wild card was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggests. Sinner, who turned 18 last month, battled hard to recover from a break down on two occasions in the second set, ultimately earning a set point at 5-4 to force a decider.

But Kukushkin was undeterred, saving nine of the 11 break points he faced to advance to the second round. The World No. 57 will next face former Top 10 player Janko Tipsarevic or lucky loser Damir Dzumhur.

Sinner was trying to earn the biggest victory of his career by ATP Ranking. The Italian has earned all three of his tour-level wins in 2019, and he is at a career-high World No. 127.

Read Sinner Feature

In the other main draw singles match of the day, seventh seed Adrian Mannarino beat Italian Stefano Travaglia 7-5, 6-2 after one hour and 19 minutes. The Frenchman lifted his maiden ATP Tour trophy earlier this year in ’s-Hertogenbosch.

Top Seeds Move On In Doubles
Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor, the top doubles seeds in St. Petersburg, eased past Ricardas Berankis and Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4 after 62 minutes. The Croats, who triumphed together at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters this year, won 52 per cent of their first-serve return points.

One way to evaluate second-serve performance is to examine how many points you win. The more the merrier. Another way is to look at how many points you don’t lose through the self-inflicted wound of a double fault. Less is always best.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of double faults as a percentage of second serve points lost from the current Top 20 in 2019 identifies a hidden weapon that Stan Wawrinka has used to surge back to the elite level of our sport.

Wawrinka entered the 2018 US Open with an ATP Ranking of No. 101. He left the 2019 US Open back inside the Top 20, with second-serve performance a big key to his comeback.

In the past 52 weeks, Wawrinka is ranked seventh on the ATP Tour in second-serve points won, at 55.4 per cent. But if you dig a little deeper, you find a hidden metric where he is head and shoulders above any other player in the Top 20.

The first part of the analysis is to only examine the second-serve points Wawrinka has lost in 2019 before uncovering how many of them were double faults. It is by far the fewest of the current Top 20. Wawrinka’s double faults only account for 11.5 per cent (85/740) of his second-serve points lost, which is well below the Top 20 average of 22.3 per cent, or about one out of every five second serve points. In this analysis, the lower the percentage the better.

The leading five players of the current Top 20 that hit the least amount of double faults per points lost on second serve are below.

1. Stan Wawrinka = 11.5% (85 double faults/740 second-serve points lost)
2. Roberto Bautista Agut = 14.6% (91/625)
3. Roger Federer = 15.2% (89/586)
4. Matteo Berrettini = 16.3% (121/743)
5. Stefanos Tsitsipas = 16.5% (137/832)

Essentially, these five players “score own goals” the least with double faults when losing a second-serve point. On the other end of the spectrum, there were three Top 20 players that crossed the 25 per cent barrier, meaning that at least one out of every four second serve points they have lost so far in 2019 was a double fault. Those players are:

• Alexander Zverev = 40.9% (342/837)
• Nikoloz Basilashvili = 30.9% (261/844)
• Gael Monfils = 27.7% (172/622)

Double faults will always be a necessary evil in our sport, with some players employing a more aggressive strategy of going for more on second serves and absorbing some double faults in the process of finding their highest win percentage.

Wawrinka’s unique serve motion, with two arms high in the air early in the serve motion, may arguably not be the simplest technique to teach young players. But the impressive end result of only losing about one out of approximately 10 second-serve points with a double fault is a goal players at all levels of our game should be trying to emulate.

One American tennis fan believes more than ever that practice makes perfect.

As the lone contestant in the Nitto ATP Finals ‘Pick Your 8 Contest’ to have selected all players in the current ATP Race To London Top 8, Minnesota’s Brandon Kuether is reaping the benefits of his belief in the importance of intense practice… and his faith in Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

Finalising his team well before Bautista Agut’s surprise run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, Kuether is one of just 5.8 per cent of contestants to pick the Spaniard, who is currently seventh in the Race. The nine-time ATP Tour titlist is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

Kuether had faith in Bautista Agut after seeing him practise at the 2016 BNP Paribas Open.

“I went and watched and spent a lot of time on the practice courts. I watched his practice sessions and seeing the intensity at which he practised, the consistency, I just think that there’s a lot of people on the Tour who work really hard, but he’s sort of similar to like a Ferrer or Nadal,” Kuether said. “He pushes himself beyond the point of working hard. You see the intensity with which he hits every single ball.”

Not only did that event prove important for Kuether’s contest chances, but it is also the only professional tournament the American has attended.

“I’m not a man with a lot of money so I won those tickets and I jumped on the opportunity,” Kuether said. “That year I went to Indian Wells, Roger was injured, so I didn’t get to see him. [But] I saw Djokovic, I saw Murray, I saw Nadal, and I was within 10 feet of them. I got an autograph from Djokovic and I saw Wawrinka practising.”

Get Your Tickets For The Season Finale

Kuether, a 25-year-old from Minnesota, received an email last Thursday notifying him that he is the only participant in the contest who chose the current Top 8. At first, he didn’t believe it. The winner of this contest will earn the ultimate trip for two to London to attend this year’s season finale as a VIP guest at The O2 for the semi-finals and final of the world’s largest indoor tennis tournament.

“I was definitely very surprised. I saw the email and I’ll be honest, I had to check if it was spam. I was like, ‘Is this real? Am I actually the person who could potentially be in the lead for something like this?’” Kuether said. “I filled it out thinking maybe something would come out of it, but I didn’t necessarily think I would be the only person with the correct combination by any means.”

It would be particularly thrilling for Kuether, who has never previously travelled outside the United States. And not only would he get to do so, but he’d get to be up close and personal with the best players in the world.

“That would be honestly a dream come true,” Kuether said. “All these guys that were inspirations for me to not only continue with my game, but [they’ve helped me with] personal things that I’ve struggled with that I’ve read about them struggling with. I think to be able to feel that feeling again [of going to a professional event], especially if I got to see Roger, those things are bucket list, dream come true.”

Tennis is a big component of Kuether’s life. He got involved in it during middle school and eventually played high school and then college tennis. Now he works full-time at the Saint Paul Urban Tennis Program, where he is the Program Manager of Player and Coach Development.

Kuether focuses on curriculum development, training coaches and more to help give back to the community. The Minnesota resident says that many kids at the program eventually get their first job there after growing up through the program. Outside of a small registration fee, they don’t require anybody to pay, and no families are ever turned away.

“It’s a good blend for me, because it’s the avenue I use in my work life to achieve some of these things like teaching life skills through sports, teaching employment skills through sports,”Kuether said. “Without tennis, I think my life would be on a very different path and I’ve learned a lot of different life skills through this sport.”

And now, Kuether is just two months away from potentially earning the tennis trip of a lifetime.

“It’d be really cool if my picks did stick… for me it’s really not about who is winning, but rather I’d like to see close matches,” Kuether said. “I think it’s really exciting to see so many guys within 100 points of one another. That provides so much more inspiration to really dig it out towards the end of the season. If you can secure a spot at the [Nitto] ATP Finals, that’s a pretty incredible opportunity not only for the sake of Ranking points and things of that nature, but also just to get a week of tennis in against all the best players in the world. It’s only against the best, so you’re only going to see matches of the highest level.”

Did You Know?
The below is the prize the winner of the contest will receive subject to the terms and conditions of the contest.

A four (4)-day/three (3)-night trip for winner and one (1) guest to the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals consisting of round-trip coach/economy class air transportation from the major gateway airport nearest to the winner’s place of residence to London or round-trip transportation via train where possible, subject to ATP’s sole discretion;

· One (1) standard occupancy hotel accommodation (i.e. one (1)) standard room) for three (3) nights at the official hotel of the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals;
· Ground transportation to/from arrival point in London and the applicable hotel;
· Two (2) tickets for both semifinal sessions on Saturday 16 November 2019, as well as the final session on Sunday 17 November 2019;
· Hospitality access, inclusive of food and beverage, during each applicable tournament session;
· One (1) backstage tour at the O2;
· One (1) meet and greet with a Nitto ATP Finals player or doubles team;
· One (1) copy of the Official Nitto ATP Finals Programme;
· One (1) Tecnifibre racket;
· One (1) case of Dunlop ATP Official tennis balls;
· One (1) pair of Maui Jim sunglasses;
· One (1) Lacoste tennis outfit (one shirt and one pair of shorts)

ATP Tour action returns this week with the St. Petersburg Open and the Moselle Open in Metz. The ATP 250 tournaments provide players with the opportunity to earn crucial points in the ATP Race To London and the ATP Race To Milan.

Four Top 15 stars headline a packed draw in St. Petersburg, led by home favourites Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov. In Metz, 2014 winner David Goffin leads the way in an exciting field which features eight Top 40 players.

St. Petersburg Talking Points

Two former St. Petersburg Open champions received direct entry into the main draw: Mikhail Kukushkin (2010) and Martin Klizan (2012). However, 2013 champion Ernests Gulbis can join them in the main draw if he wins his final-round qualifying match on Monday.

Top seed Daniil Medvedev is the ATP Tour leader in match wins this season. His US Open semi-final victory against Grigor Dimitrov made him the first player to hit 50 tour-level singles wins in 2019.

World No. 4 Medvedev also has the most hard-court match wins this season. His 37 victories on this surface give him a clear lead against Roger Federer and Gael Monfils, who are tied for second place with 23 hard-court wins in 2019 to date.

The team of Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop own a 7-1 record in St. Petersburg over the past two editions, claiming the title in 2017 and reaching the final last year. However, they will team with different partners in 2019. Jebavy enters alongside Philipp Oswald, while Middelkoop partners Marcelo Demoliner.

Metz Talking Points

Every Moselle Open singles champion since 2010 is in the 2019 field: Gilles Simon (2010, 2013, 2018), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2011-‘12, 2015), David Goffin (2014), Lucas Pouille (2016) and Peter Gojowczyk (2017).

No. 1 seed Goffin was 12-13 on the season and fell outside of the Top 30 in the ATP Rankings on 10 June. Since then, the 28-year-old Belgian is 20-7 with final appearances at the NOVENTI OPEN and the Western & Southern Open.

Read Goffin’s Quest For Confidence

Goffin will rise from No. 11 to No. 8 in the ATP Race to London if he reaches the Metz final and No. 9 Matteo Berrettini does not advance to the St. Petersburg semi-finals, or if he wins a title on Sunday and Berrettini does not.

A Frenchman has won the Moselle Open singles title in 10 of 16 years since the tournament debuted in 2003. Still seeking his first title here is Richard Gasquet, who reached his first of 31 ATP Tour finals at this event in 2004.

Three-time singles champions Simon and Tsonga return alongside four-time doubles champions Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Frenchmen have won two Metz titles as a team and two separately.

Novak Djokovic has today started his 269th week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings and passed Jimmy Connors (268 weeks) for fourth place in the all-time list of most weeks in top spot.

The Serbian, who began his fourth stint at the summit of men’s professional tennis on 5 November 2018, is now two weeks away from breaking Czech-born American Ivan Lendl’s mark of 270 weeks. Then, only American Pete Sampras (268 weeks) and record-holder Roger Federer of Switzerland (310 weeks) will be in Djokovic’s sights.

Connors spent a total of eight stints in top spot, with his longest run of 160 consecutive weeks between 29 July 1974 – when he first rose to No. 1 – and 22 August 1977. Djokovic spent 122 straight weeks at the summit in his second period at No. 1 from 7 July 2014 to 6 November 2016. During that time, Djokovic amassed a 167-17 match record, including 21 titles from 26 tour-level finals.

In his current stint at No. 1, totalling 46 weeks, 32-year-old Djokovic has compiled a 46-9 match record, including title runs at 2019 Australian Open and Wimbledon.

While passing Lendl’s weeks at No. 1 tally is imminent, Djokovic will focus on battling Rafael Nadal to finish as the 2019 year-end No. 1 for a record-equalling sixth time (2011-12, ’14-15, ’18). Nadal currently leads Djokovic by 1,960 points in the 2019 ATP Race To London with less than two months to go until the end of the regular ATP Tour season.

ALL-TIME WEEKS AT NO. 1

MOVING UP THE NO. 1 LADDER – Djokovic will start his 271st week at No. 1 on 30 September 2019 and pass Lendl for third place outright in the all-time list for most weeks spent at No. 1.

DJOKOVIC AT NO. 1 – Take a closer look at Djokovic’s match wins, Top 10 and finals record during his four stints at No. 1.

Statistical assistance by Joshua Rey and Greg Sharko

The 19 countries already qualified for the inaugural ATP Cup were each assigned to one of six groups and host cities — Brisbane, Perth or Sydney — on Monday, following the official tournament draw at the Sydney Opera House. Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt took part in the ceremony for the 3-12 January 2020 event, which will provide a spectacular launch of the 2020 ATP Tour season.

Watch Replay Of Draw

Top seed Serbia, led by current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, will play at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane. Second seed Spain will headline the field in Perth, where World No. 2 Rafael Nadal will compete for the first time in his career.

Third seed Switzerland, spearheaded by World No. 3 Roger Federer, will play its group stage matches in Sydney at Ken Rosewall Arena, which is undergoing an AU$50 million redevelopment in preparation for the tournament. Great Britain, who qualified by virtue of Andy Murray’s Protected Ranking of 2, will play in Sydney, while host wild card Australia features in Brisbane.

Get To Know The ATP Cup: Part I | Part II | Part III

The ATP Cup Groups

Every member of the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings, and 27 of the Top 30, are committed to feature at the AU$22 million/US$15 million ATP Cup, which is being staged in partnership with Tennis Australia. Five further countries will qualify, on the second entry deadline of 13 November, for the 24-country ATP Cup based on the ranking of their No. 1 singles player.

Eight countries that win through the group stages in the three Australian cities will then play at the ATP Cup Final Eight in Sydney, which will feature quarter-finals over two days, semi-finals and a final. Each tie is comprised of two singles and one doubles match.

A LOOK BACK
Pekao Szczecin Open (Szczecin, Poland): It was exactly one year ago that Jozef Kovalik was forced to the sidelines with a debilitating wrist injury. The Slovakian was soaring inside the Top 100, just off his career-high position of No. 80 in the ATP Rankings. But he was unable to stay healthy through the remainder of the 2018 season.

Flash forward to Sunday and you can imagine why victory was so sweet for Kovalik. The 26-year-old reigned at the prestigious Pekao Szczecin Open – winner of 2016 Challenger Tournament of the Year – with a 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 triumph over defending champion Guido Andreozzi.

Kovalik rallied from a set down on two occasions during the week, having also saved three match points in defeating Lorenzo Giustino on Wednesday. On Sunday, with nearly 3,000 spectators watching, he needed two hours and 44 minutes to raise his arms in celebration. As always, the passionate crowds were out in force in Szczecin, which welcomed players and fans for the 27th time.

“I’m just so happy,” said Kovalik. “All the emotions will come later. The match in the end was so tough. I’m just enjoying the moment and the people who came here.”

It was the fourth Challenger trophy for Kovalik and first in over a year. Having fallen to No. 346 in the ATP Rankings, he will enjoy a much-needed boost after his victory on Sunday, soaring 140 spots. The Slovakian will immediately look to carry the momentum when he travels to the ATP 250 stop in St. Petersburg next week. He opens against Joao Sousa with a potential second-round clash against Karen Khachanov.

“I am just so happy. The emotions will come later.”

Jozef Kovalik on his return to the winners’ circle at @PekaoSznOpen… pic.twitter.com/tZ6sqxaFDt

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 15, 2019

Srpska Open (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina): Tallon Griekspoor is making a statement in 2019 and he’s putting the rest of the ATP Challenger Tour on notice. Less than two months after reaching his second final in Tampere and earning a dominant Top 100 win over Steve Johnson in Vancouver, the Dutchman raised the trophy on the clay of Banja Luka.

Griekspoor was battle-tested all week, earning a trio of deciding-set victories before ousting Sumit Nagal 6-2, 6-3 in Sunday’s championship. It was his second Challenger title, moving him to a career-high No. 161 in the ATP Rankings.

For Nagal, the Indian’s run to the final comes just three weeks after testing Roger Federer in the first round of the US Open. Appearing in his first Grand Slam, he took the opening set off Federer, before falling in four. Nagal has since carried the momentum to reach his first Challenger final in two years.

Photo: Ozren Durdevic

American Express Istanbul Open (Istanbul, Turkey): Ugo Humbert showed why he belongs in the Top 70 of the ATP Rankings. The #NextGenATP star continued his push to qualify in the ATP Race To Milan with yet another Challenger title. He triumphed on the hard courts of Istanbul, improving to 4-0 in finals in the past year.

Humbert dropped a combined seven games in the semis and final, capped with a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Denis Istomin on Sunday. The Frenchman, who also prevailed on home soil in Cherbourg in February, is in hot pursuit of one of the coveted seven automatic qualifying slots for the Next Gen ATP Finals. He is in eighth position.

Copa Sevilla (Sevilla, Spain): Alejandro Davidovich Fokina became the 28th first-time winner of the year, putting it all together for an impressive run on home soil in Sevilla. The Spaniard overcame countryman Jaume Munar 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in front of a packed, raucous crowd at the Real Club de Tenis Betis.

The local Sevillanos filled the club, with a capacity crowd on hand to watch their two native sons do battle. And 400 more were on line outside as the match began. The oldest tournament in Spain celebrated its 29th edition this week.

Davidovich Fokina continues his Top 100 push, rising to a career-high No. 108 in the ATP Rankings. After enduring a 1-6 mid-summer stretch, he has since posted a 12-2 run, also including a semi-final in Mallorca and final a week ago in Genova. The 20-year-old is one of the biggest stories on the ATP Challenger in the past month.

To win your first #ATPChallenger title is a big deal.

This is how much it means to @alexdavidovich1, champion in Sevilla. ??? pic.twitter.com/xijUOYNbU3

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 15, 2019

Atlantic Tire Championships (Cary, North Carolina, USA): Kovalik wasn’t the only one to save three match points during the week. Top seed Andreas Seppi achieved the feat in Cary, storming back to oust Enzo Couacaud on Saturday before defeating Michael Mmoh 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 on Sunday.

It was Seppi’s ninth ATP Challenger Tour title and first in 20 months. Having missed some time last year due to a hip injury, the Italian enjoyed a long-awaited successful week at the Cary Tennis Park.

And for Mmoh, despite falling in the final, it was an equally satisfying tournament. The rising American was forced to the sidelines from January to May due to a shoulder injury. Appearing in his first final of his comeback, he rallied from a set down for three of his four wins this week.

Road To The Rolex Shanghai Masters (Shanghai, China): A prelude to the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai, the Challenger event is staged at the same venue – Qizhong Forest Tennis Center. On Sunday, it was Japanese veteran Yasutaka Uchiyama prevailing 6-4, 7-6(4) over Di Wu. He did not drop a set all week for his fourth career title.

“My goal is to be Top 100, so I’m on my way.”

?? Yasutaka Uchiyama [@yasutaka0805] reflects on a dominant week in Shanghai. pic.twitter.com/OjfZwrIlHx

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 15, 2019

A LOOK AHEAD
In one week, the ATP Tour’s Asian swing kicks off in Zhuhai and Chengdu. But this week, Kaohsiung takes centre stage in Chinese Taipei with a Challenger 125 event. Kamil Majchrzak is the top seed, with Prajnesh Gunneswaran second.

In Glasgow, the Murray Trophy debuts with plenty of fanfare. Named for Andy Murray and Jamie Murray, in honour of their contributions to British tennis, it is the lone Challenger in the U.K. outside of the grass season.

Columbus, Biella and Sibiu also feature Challenger 80 events. Second seed Mikael Torpegaard is the defending champion in Columbus, Ohio, USA, while Davidovich Fokina and Munar headline in Biella, Italy, and Pedro Sousa leads the field in Sibiu, Romania.