Tennis News

Djokovic: ‘He Just Blew Me Off The Court’

Novak Djokovic suffered just his third loss of the season on Friday at the Erste Bank Open against Italian Lorenzo Sonego, but the World No. 1 was in good spirits after the match.

“He just blew me off the court, that’s all,” Djokovic said. “He was better in every segment of the game… it was a pretty bad match from my side, but amazing from his side. He definitely deserved this result.”

The Serbian fell to 39-3 in 2020, but he is still an overwhelming favourite to clinch the year-end No. 1 FedEx ATP Ranking, which will be presented at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he is a five-time champion.

“Looking forward to it. It’s the final tournament of the year. Obviously I’ll do my best to prepare well and have a shot at the title,” Djokovic said. “[The] best eight players in this season are going to be there. After Slams it’s probably the strongest event we have on our Tour, maybe the strongest because of the field of players. Every match that you get to play is against a top eight player in the world.

“I’ve had plenty of success in that arena [The O2]. It’s obviously going to be different without the crowd, but hopefully I can have a strong finish.”

Had Djokovic won his second Vienna trophy (also 2007), he would have tied Pete Sampras’ record by guaranteeing a sixth year-end No. 1 finish in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

“I came here with the intention to try to earn more points and secure the [World] No. 1 at the end of the year,” Djokovic said. “I’m happy, I’m pleased [that] I’m healthy and hopefully I can have a strong finish in London.”

More than anything else, Djokovic was complimentary of Sonego’s performance in Austria, where the lucky loser earned his first Top 10 win by upsetting the Serbian.

“I move on completely fine with today’s result and [I am] looking to the next chapter.”

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Vienna Open: Novak Djokovic suffers shock defeat in quarter-finals

World number one Novak Djokovic suffers a shock defeat by Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in the Vienna Open quarter-finals.

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Sonego Stuns Djokovic In Vienna

Lorenzo Sonego stunned World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-1 on Friday for the biggest win of his career, advancing to the Erste Bank Open semi-finals.

“For sure it’s the best victory of my life. Novak is the best in the world. Today I played so, so good,” Sonego said in his on-court interview. “It’s unbelievable. It’s amazing.”

Five days ago, the Italian lost a three-setter in the final round of Vienna qualifying against Aljaz Bedene. The 25-year-old, who entered the main draw as a lucky loser replacing Diego Schwartzman, has not lost a set since, playing his top level to shock the 81-time tour-level titlist after 68 minutes.

“I played the best match in my life,” Sonego said. “I’m so happy for this.”

^{Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images}
Djokovic let slip a chance to guarantee his spot atop the year-end FedEx ATP Rankings this week. Had the Serbian won the Vienna title, he would have tied Pete Sampras’ record with six year-end No. 1 finishes. He falls to 39-3 on the season. 

Sonego had not won a set in three previous matches against Top 10 opponents. But the World No. 42 held his nerve to become the first lucky loser to defeat Djokovic (1-12). The Italian didn’t earn his first FedEx ATP Ranking point until he was 19 and on Friday, just more than six years later, he had the Vienna crowd on its feet in awe of his performance.

“I was focussed on my tennis. Today I played good. I served so good, I returned good and I played the best tennis and moved so good the ball,” Sonego said. “I like it here, I like the conditions. It’s so fast for my serve. All good today.”

The top seed earned six break points in two games in the second set, but Sonego rose to the occasion to maintain his advantage. It seemed Djokovic needed one momentum-shifting point to dig his teeth into the match, but Sonego didn’t allow that with his consistently high level.

Djokovic made an unusually high number of unforced errors, which gave Sonego confidence. The Serbian dumped a neutral forehand into the net to relinquish a service break in the first game of the match and that set the tone.

“He just blew me off the court, that’s all,” Djokovic said. “He was better in every segment of the game… it was a pretty bad match from my side, but amazing from his side. He definitely deserved this result.”

Sonego, who won his lone ATP Tour title in Antalya last year, began the week with a 6-16 tour-level record on hard courts. But the unseeded Italian looked comfortable playing aggressive tennis against one of the best defenders in history, showing no fear with his heavy forehand.  

Djokovic got off to a slow start in the second set, once again missing a forehand into the net on break point in the first game. With Sonego serving at 2-1, the World No. 1 earned three break points to get back on serve and put pressure on the Turin-native. But after Djokovic let slip that opportunity, Sonego put his foot on the gas in the next game to take a double-break advantage with a curling forehand passing shot down the line on the dead run. 

Sonego won 80 per cent of his first-serve points against one of the world’s best returners and he earned 53 per cent of his return points to set a semi-final clash against Daniel Evans. The British No. 1 battled past 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 after two hours and 43 minutes.

“It feels great. Really happy to come through the match, it was a difficult match,” Evans said in his on-court interview. “I played very well and just happy to serve it out under quite a bit of pressure, so I’m really happy.”

Evans, who made the Antwerp semi-finals last week, will try to reach his third ATP Tour final (2017 Sydney, 2019 Delray Beach). The 30-year-old has never played Sonego.

“I saw his match tonight. All the matches in this tournament are very difficult,” Evans said. “There are some great players here and I’m just very happy to have won and rest tonight, have a good sleep.”

Did You Know?
Sonego is the first Italian to beat a World No. 1 since Fabio Fognini beat Andy Murray at the 2017 Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

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Rublev Downs Defending Champion Thiem In Vienna

Andrey Rublev’s hot streak continued on Friday, when the World No. 8 eliminated defending champion Dominic Thiem 7-6(5), 6-2 at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The Russian struck 30 winners and saved both break points he faced to take his ATP 500 winning streak to 13 matches after one hour and 34 minutes. Rublev is attempting to capture his third straight trophy at the level, following title runs at the Hamburg European Open and the St. Petersburg Open.

Rublev is through to his fifth semi-final of the year. In each of the previous tournaments where he has reached this stage in 2020, he has gone on to lift the trophy. Rublev improved to 37-7 this year with his second ATP Head2Head win against Thiem (tied at 2-2). Only Novak Djokovic owns more wins at tour-level this year (39-2).

Rublev will face Kevin Anderson for a place in the championship match. The 23-year-old is tied at 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against the 2018 champion and won his most recent clash against the South African at Roland Garros earlier this month.

Thiem was attempting to extend a winning streak of his own. The US Open champion entered his fourth ATP Head2Head clash against Rublev with an 11-match winning run on home soil. Alongside his Vienna title, Thiem won last year’s Generali Open in Kitzbühel to finish 2019 with a 9-0 record in Austria.

In a first set dominated by serve, Rublev saved the only two break points of the set with powerful serving at 1-1. Both players battled from the baseline in the tie-break, with just one mini-break deciding the outcome of the set. Rublev, who had moved up to court to fire consecutive forehand winners from 3/4, capitalised on a forehand error from his opponent and claimed the opener in 55 minutes.

Rublev made an early breakthrough in the second set, as he pushed Thiem into the tramline with an inside-out forehand and struck a forehand winner up the line to break. The Russian doubled his advantage two games later with consistent depth on his returns, which may have contributed towards Thiem’s double fault on break point. Rublev forced a backhand return error from Thiem to convert his second match point.

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London Hopes Murray/Skupski Book Vienna Final Spot

Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski advanced to their second final as a team on Friday at the Erste Bank Open.

The Western & Southern Open finalists (l. to Carreno Busta/De Minaur) broke serve on three occasions to defeat Robert Farah and Fabrice Martin 6-4, 6-4 in 77 minutes. Murray and Skupski are chasing their first team trophy in the Austrian capital.

The British standouts are also attempting to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time as a pair. Murray and Skupski entered the tournament in eighth position in the FedEx ATP Battle For London, with four qualification positions still available.

Murray and Skupski will face third seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo or two-time Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies for the trophy. Krawietz and Mies will compete at The O2 in London for the second straight year from 15-22 November.

McLachlan/Skugor Earn Nur-Sultan Quarter-final Win
Ben McLachlan and Franko Skugor reached their second ATP Tour semi-final of the year together at the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

The fourth seeds won 72 per cent of their second-serve return points (13/18) to overcome Sander Arends and Artem Sitak 6-3, 7-6(4). McLachlan and Skugor will face London contenders Max Purcell and Luke Saville in the semi-finals.

Marcelo Arevalo and Tomislav Brkic also advanced at the ATP 250 with a 7-6(4), 3-6, 11-9 victory against third seeds Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald. The unseeded pair overcame the Sardinia champions in one hour and 35 minutes to book a semi-final clash against top seeds Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.

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Monfils, Medvedev Play The Percentages On Return

Gael Monfils and Daniil Medvedev have manipulated time and distance on a tennis court to their advantage to lead the ATP Tour in Returns Made in the past two seasons.

Most players traditionally prefer to stand slightly behind the baseline to return first serves and inside it to attack second serves. Monfils and Medvedev are not the norm. They take up residence far behind the baseline to return serve, which reduces the effect of the power of the serve and increases their time to get better prepared and return the ball back into play.

Different strokes for different folks.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of first and second serves returned back in play finds Monfils leading the First Serves Returned table and Medvedev topping the Second Serves Returned list. The data set includes players that competed in a minimum of 25 matches on Hawkeye courts at ATP events in 2018 and 2019.

Monfils put an impressive 75 per cent of first serves back in play. A mark considerably greater than the 67.5 per cent average of the 37 players that qualified for the analysis. There were eight players overall who made north of 70 per cent of their first serve returns, with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Medvedev hot on the heels of Monfils’ Tour-leading average. The leading 10 players in the data set are in the table below.

2018-19 First Serves Returned Infosys LEADERBOARD

Medvedev topped the table for Second Serve Returns In, putting almost nine of every 10 second serve returns back in the court. Medvedev moved up from fourth best in the First Serve Returns leaderboard to top the Second Serve Returns chart, putting 89.7 per cent of second serve returns back in play. The data-set average was significantly lower at 83.3 per cent. Roberto Bautista Agut, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev all made their way high up the list of the leading 10 players returning second serves back in play.

2018-19 Second Serves Returned Infosys LEADERBOARD

Standing up in the court to return serve allows the returner to rebound the serve back quickly, which takes time away from the server and increases the likelihood of a Serve +1 error. Standing further back, like Monfils and Medvedev prefer to do, allows more time to hit the maximum amount of returns back in play to begin the point. This is just another layer of our sport where players seemingly step ‘out of the box’ with a strategy to enhance their specific game style.

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Ruusuvuori Breaks New Ground In Nur-Sultan; Mannarino Survives Tense Finish

Emil Ruusuvuori became the first Finn to reach an ATP Tour semi-final for six years on Friday at the Astana Open. The 21-year-old qualifier blocked out the Kazakhstan crowd and competed with a clear game plan to oust local favourite Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-1. He won 87 per cent of his first-service points.

“Overall, it was one of my best matches in the tournament,” said Ruusuvuori. “I served, returned and moved well, and put Mikhail under a lot of pressure over the two sets. He plays very well on flat shots and likes pace, so I tried to mix it up a bit and made him play some high balls. My serve and return helped a lot today.

“At this point, I’m looking forward to big matches and being in my first semi-final is good. I hope my best performances are still coming and I just want to do my best tomorrow.”

Ruusuvuori started the 2020 season at No. 123 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and is now up to No. 98, having attained a career-high No. 91 on 14 September. On Saturday he will play 32-year-old Adrian Mannarino, who will contest his first tour-level semi-final since October 2019, when he reached the VTB Kremlin Cup final.

Ruusuvuori is the first Finnish player to reach an ATP Tour semi-final since Jarkko Nieminen at Kuala Lumpur in September 2014 (l. to Nishikori).

Earlier in the day, Mannarino survived a late comeback from Mackenzie McDonald for a place in the Nur-Sultan semi-finals. The third-seeded Frenchman came through 6-1, 6-4 in one hour and 40 minutes, but was left to rue missing out on two points for a set and 4-1 lead.

“It was a tough match and I got a little tight at the start of the second set and I lost pace on my serve,” said Mannarino, who committed 12 unforced errors. “I led 3-1 and had two points for a 4-1 lead, and I started to serve too quickly. Mackenzie then started to play really well and started putting on the pressure. He is a really good player.”

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Anderson Earns Milestone Medvedev Win In Vienna

Kevin Anderson made it through to his first ATP Tour semi-final in 21 months at the Erste Bank Open on Friday.

The former World No. 5, appearing in Vienna for the first time since lifting the trophy in 2018, defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 7-6(5) to earn his first Top 10 win since the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals. Anderson was impressive on serve throughout the 89-minute encounter. He won 83 per cent of first-serve points (34/41) and saved the only break point he faced.

”I am very, very pleased. I have waited a long time to play a match like this. It was very high quality and I knew I had to play very well against Daniil to get through,” said Anderson in an on-court interview.

The South African was appearing in his first quarter-final since undergoing a second right knee surgery on 19 February. Anderson improves to 9-8 this season with his seventh straight victory in Vienna. Anderson’s return to the Austrian capital almost ended in the first round, when he saved three consecutive match points to beat Austrian Dennis Novak in a final-set tie-break.

”I love playing here,” said Anderson. “I have good memories from playing a couple of years ago. I was very disappointed not to be able to come back last year, but I am happy to be back here playing great tennis and I am really looking forward to my match tomorrow.”

Anderson will face Nitto ATP Finals contender Andrey Rublev for a spot in the final. The 6’8 right-hander is tied at 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against the Russian.

Medvedev was attempting to reach his first semi-final since last month’s US Open. The Russian won back-to-back matches for the first time since that event — against Jason Jung and Vasek Pospisil — to advance to the last eight in Vienna.

Anderson opened the match with an immediate break, as he rushed Medvedev with deep returns and capitalised on unforced errors. The 34-year-old stepped inside the baseline to finish rallies with his forehand and dropped just three first-serve points to take the first set.

Anderson was unable to convert four break points at the start of the second set, but he kept his composure on serve to reach a second-set tie-break. The 2018 champion played with consistency from the baseline to earn three match points and extracted a backhand error from his opponent on his third match point to claim victory.

”Right from the beginning, I felt very good about my game and obviously [I knew] it was going to be tough,” said Anderson. “I couldn’t be happier right now to be through to the semi-finals. Obviously the job is not done. but I just want to take a moment to appreciate the work that has gone in for me to play a match like this.”

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Tiafoe Moves Into Nur-Sultan Semi-finals; Millman Saves 2 M.P.

Frances Tiafoe booked a place in his first ATP Tour semi-final for two-and-a-half years on Friday at the Astana Open, an ATP 250 tournament in Nur-Sultan.

The 22-year-old American improved to 9-10 on the season with a hard-fought 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-5 victory over Egor Gerasimov of Belarus in two hours and 35 minutes. Tiafoe last reached a tour-level semi-final (or better) en route to the Millennium Estoril Open final in May 2018.

Earlier this month, Tiafoe lifted the fifth ATP Challenger Tour trophy of his career at the Internazionali di Tennis Emilia Romagna in Parma (d. Caruso).

Tiafoe will next meet fourth-seeded Australian John Millman, who completed a remarkable comeback to advance to his first ATP Tour semi-final since October 2019, when he reached the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships final (l. to Djokovic).

Millman saved two match points at 3-5 in the deciding set and recovered from 0/5 down in the third-set tie-break to complete at 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over Paul in two hours and 51 minutes.

The 23-year-old Paul, who reached the Adelaide International semi-finals (l. to Harris) in January, hit a double fault at 5-4, 40/30 and a forehand long at Ad-In in the third set.

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Musetti's Newest Highlight: Landing The Esquire Italia Cover!

It has been a breakthrough year in more ways than one for Italian #NextGenATP sensation Lorenzo Musetti. Less than two months after bursting onto the ATP Tour with an impressive run at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he reached the third round as a qualifier, the 18-year-old is on the cover of Esquire Italia’s November issue.

The teen began the season outside the Top 350 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. But even with the five-month suspension of the ATP Tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Musetti has proven himself one of the brightest #NextGenATP stars.

After defeating Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori in back-to-back matches in Rome, Musetti maintained his momentum by winning his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Forli. In Sardinia, he reached his maiden ATP Tour semi-final. Those efforts propelled him to a career-high World No. 123 last week.

Find below a translated excerpt of Esquire Italia’s story and interview with the Italian. 

^{Photo Credit: Pietro Cocco}
At the age of 18 he is the future of Italian tennis. [He is] a talent with great strokes that likes rap but considers himself retro, doesn’t like clubs or TikTok, and is not into breaking rules at all.

Lorenzo Musetti has made a lot of promises to himself and one of them is to never open a TikTok account. At the age of 18 he became the first player born in 2002 to win a match on the ATP Tour, he won a junior Slam in Melbourne in 2019 and the tournament in Forlì this September.

Asked if sometimes all the discipline needed to succeed in tennis [becomes] too much, he says: “No, I wouldn’t say that. I’m not really tempted to go out dancing or to a pub. If I have time off, which isn’t often, I prefer to relax or go to the sea, which I love very much.” 

Q: How did everything start?
A: Thanks to my father who works in a marble company in Carrara. I started playing a bit with him at my grandmother’s basement when I was four years old. It quickly became more serious and when I was eight they took me to the club in La Spezia, where I took part in team matches. That’s where I met Simone Tartarini, who was first my teacher and then became my coach. It’s thanks to him that I became a player.

Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy has also been important since they often welcomed me for practice weeks there. But I have to say it again: If I become a great player, it will be a hundred per cent thanks to Coach Tartarini. 

Q: What other sports do you like?
A: I really like basketball. But it’s difficult to follow the NBA because of the time difference. LeBron James is one of my idols. 

^{Photo Credit: Pietro Cocco}

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