Tennis News

Carreno Busta Begins Chase For First Title At Home In Marbella

Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta made a good start towards claiming his first ATP Tour title on home soil Wednesday when he defeated countryman Mario Vilella Martinez 7-6(2), 6-3 in one hour and 38 minutes to reach the quarter-finals of the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open.

The top seed saved the two break points he faced and won 73 per cent of his first-serve points to triumph against the qualifier. Carreno Busta has lifted four tour-level trophies in his career, and the World No. 15 is trying to add a fifth to his collection this week in Marbella.

The 29-year-old will next face seventh seed Soonwoo Kwon, who swept past Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 6-1, 6-3. The South Korean began the week without a tour-level win on clay, but he has now strung together two consecutive victories to reach the last eight.

Fourth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas booked his place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania in two hours and 12 minutes. It was the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting for nine years (2012 Stockholm).

The 33-year-old Ramos-Vinolas, who advanced to his ninth ATP Tour final at the Cordoba Open (l. to Cerundolo) in February, will now play Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos. 

Gombos dug deep to record only his second match win of the season over three hours and 20 minutes. The World No. 99 advanced to his fourth ATP Tour quarter-final with a 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-6(1) victory over eighth-seeded Argentine Federico Delbonis. Gombos won the first three games of both the first and third sets, only to see Delbonis fight back.

Did You Know?
Top-seeded Carreno Busta won his only previous ATP Tour title on clay in Estoril, where he was also the No. 1 seed, in 2017.

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Food Court: Berrettini Dishes On Sardinian Cuisine, His Guilty Pleasures & More

It’s not often players get to enjoy food tastings at tennis tournaments, but that’s what Matteo Berrettini and his younger brother, Jacopo Berrettini, did Monday evening.

The doubles wild cards, who won their first-round match on Tuesday, had a special meal prepared by the chef of “Circolo dei buoni e cattivi”, the Tennis Club Cagliari’s restaurant.

The Roman brothers began with local cheese and sausage served with typical Sardinian ‘Carasau’ bread, before enjoying homemade pasta with tomato sauce and pecorino cheese. For the main course, they had lamb with artichokes. The Berrettini brothers passed on a dessert of pancakes with orange flavour.

The Italians feasted under the watchful eye of their mother, Claudia, who assured those there that her sons know how to prepare a decent meal, adding that Jacopo has been interested in cooking since an early age.

ATPTour.com spoke to Matteo about the food he enjoys, how he alters his diet during tournaments and more.

^{Photo Credit: Giampiero Sposito}
How much did you enjoy the Sardinian food and what did did you like the best?
Yeah, [I liked it] a lot. It was a really nice experience, especially during these lockdown times. We cannot go to restaurants and stuff, so it was nice to have really nice food. I love Sardinia, I have been coming here since I was a kid. It was nice and reminds me of good times with my brother when we were young.

How much do you change your diet during a tournament and before matches?
I try to eat more clean, more white rice, chicken, not heavy stuff, even though I can eat a lot. But sometimes you have to balance also the mental part, because it’s important to feel happy about what you’re having and what you like to eat. But for sure before the matches, you have to be careful and eat pretty clean.

What are some foods you love that you know you cannot always eat because of tennis and how tough is it to adjust to not enjoying them as much if at all?
I love burgers. Normally when I lose, I have burgers, because it’s the first time I can have it during the week. But I’m a great lover of obviously pasta and pizza and they’re not that bad for the diet when you have to play, especially to recover.

It’s some carbs and it’s important to have fat, carbs and protein, so you have to mix it up a little bit. It’s not that tough. I can handle it and luckily I’m a big guy, so I can take a lot of food.

Besides Italy, what’s the best city on Tour for food and what is your favourite dish there?
I would say I really like Spain. It’s similar to the Italian kitchen, but it’s a little bit different. I like its Mediterranean. I like the Jamon Serrano, I like how they do stuff with fish, so I like Spain and maybe it’s that the weather is similar to Italy, but I really like the food there.

Did You Know?
The club restaurant, which is also serving as the player restaurant this week, partakes in a project that gives back to the community by providing job opportunities to people with light handicaps or a challenging past.

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Nadal, Djokovic Headline At Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters: What You Need To Know

The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters is the first of three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments played on clay. Held at the picturesque Monte-Carlo Country Club, the event has a long tradition of great champions, led by Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who has won 11 titles at the event, including an Open Era record eight straight between 2005-2012.

Nadal will open his 2021 clay-court campaign in Monte-Carlo, and is joined in the field by past champions Novak Djokovic (2013 & 2015) and Fabio Fognini (2019), and the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev.

Here’s all you need to know about Monte-Carlo tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who won and more. 

Established: 1897

Tournament Dates: 11-18 April 2021

Tournament Director: Zeljko Franulovic

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 9 April, 6:30pm at Monte Carlo Bay

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: 10-11 April from 11am
* Main draw: Sunday, 11 April – Saturday, 17 April from 11am, Sunday, 18 April at 12 noon
* Doubles final: Sunday, 18 April at 12 noon
* Singles final: Sunday, 18 April at 2:30pm 

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
View TV Schedule

Venue: Monte-Carlo Country Club
Surface: Clay

Prize Money: € 2,082,960 (Total Financial Commitment: € 2,460,585)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Rafael Nadal (11)
Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan (6)
Oldest Champion: Nicola Pietrangeli, 34, in 1968
Youngest Champion: Mats Wilander, 18, in 1983
Highest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 1 Bjorn Borg in 1979-80, Ivan Lendl in 1988, Rafael Nadal in 2009, ’11 & ‘18, Novak Djokovic in 2013 & ‘15
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 49 Andrew Pattison in 1974
Most Match Wins: Rafael Nadal (71)

2019 Finals
Singles: [13] Fabio Fognini (ITA) d Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 63 64   Read & Watch
Doubles: [7] Nikola Mektic (CRO) / Franko Skugor (CRO) d Robin Haase (NED) / Wesley Koolhof (NED) 67(3) 76(3) 11-9  Read & Watch 

Social
Hashtag: #rolexmcmasters
Facebook: @rolexmcmasters
Twitter: @ROLEXMCMASTERS
Instagram: @rolexmontecarlomasters

Did You Know…  The annual Player Revue takes place during the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Stars of the ATP Tour set aside their inhibitions to entertain their friends, family and fellow players in a series of sketches, poking good-humoured fun at life on tour and showing off their singing and dancing talents. Unfortunately, in 2021, due to COVID-19, the Player Revue will not take place. Take a look back at past Player Revues: 2018 | 2017 | 2016

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Struff Moves Into Cagliari Quarter-finals

Fifth seed Jan-Lennard Struff booked his place in the Sardegna Open quarter-finals on Wednesday by beating British qualifier Liam Broady 6-4, 6-2 in 81 minutes. The German, who improves to a 7-7 record on the 2021 season, saved five match points in his first-round win over Portugal’s Joao Sousa on Tuesday.

Struff will next play fourth-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, last month’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open titlist (d. Bautista Agut), or qualifier Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia.

Elsewhere, Slovenian Aljaz Bedene needed just under two hours to beat Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 6-4, 7-6(5). The pair met in February, with Gerasimov winning their Open Sud de France second-round clash 6-4, 7-6(4). Bedene now challenges second-seeded American Taylor Fritz or Slovakia’s Andrej Martin.

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Del Potro Begins Road Back From Knee Surgery

Juan Martin del Potro is on the road to recovery.

Just two weeks after the 32-year-old underwent a fourth right knee surgery in Chicago, the Argentine is back to work. The former World No. 3 posted a video of himself doing gym work with a brace on his right leg.

There’s no quit in this man ?

(via @delpotrojuan) pic.twitter.com/zeultGgNDz

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 6, 2021

Del Potro has previously had surgeries on both of his wrists. The former World No. 3 last competed at the cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club.

The ‘Tower of Tandil’ is not the only player to post on social media so far this week. On Tuesday, Karen Khachanov shared a photo of himself with good friend Andrey Rublev as they began their transition to clay.

At our place with @AndreyRublev97
Started preparation on clay!???? @4slamtennis #BackOnClay pic.twitter.com/l1NM314EjK

— Karen Khachanov (@karenkhachanov) April 6, 2021

Denis Shapovalov has also transitioned to the dirt, training with fellow Canadian Peter Polansky.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Denis Shapovalov (@denis.shapovalov)

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