Tennis News

Davidovich Fokina Launches Spanish Pet Adoption Platform

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina turned his lifelong love for animals into a project that aims to make sure no pets in Spain are left abandoned or mistreated.

The Spaniard, ranked No. 56 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, took some time during the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open in Marbella to raise awareness for a growing side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pet abandonment has skyrocketed around the world as families struggle to cope with financial hardships, including in Davidovich Fokina’s native Spain.

In response, the player launched Adoptas.org, his own online pet adoption platform that aims to connect anyone looking to adopt or foster a pet with shelters and rescues across Spain.

“Announcing this makes me more nervous than playing tennis,” Davidovich Fokina said in a Zoom press conference. “I’m doing this out of a love for animals, and because I’m outraged by pet abandonment.

“After the lockdown due to the pandemic there have been many pets abandoned, a brutal increase of 25 per cent,” he added, referencing statistics in Spain.

The project aims to take advantage of the higher visibility that the player enjoys in order to support Spanish animal shelters nationwide by speeding up the adoption process as well as facilitating direct fundraising from donors. At the same time, Adoptas.org also hopes to educate the public on the benefits of animal adoption and rescue in place of pet shops and breeders, and on how to care for their pet’s well-being.

For 21-year-old Davidovich Fokina, it’s an issue close to the heart. The Malaga native has always had a deep love for stray animals – due in part to not having his own pets at home as a child.

“[I’ve loved animals] since I was little, even though I was not allowed to have pets as a child because my mom thought they gave me allergies. After school, I used to play for hours with a dog that would come up to my door, and I would pet her,” he said.

“Whenever I see a stray animal, I go to the store and get something to feed it. And if it’s in bad shape, I call a shelter. Pets are not stuffed toys and they should not be mistreated. I have two cats and they are like my children to me, it would never occur to me to abandon them or mistreat them.”

The platform already includes more than 50 registered animals from shelters across Spain including Marbella, Valencia, Toledo and more. For more information and to view adoptable pets, visit Adoptas.org.

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Berrettini Brothers Book Semi-Final Spot In Cagliari

Jacopo Berrettini and Matteo Berrettini added another victory to their ATP Tour team debut appearance on Thursday at the Sardegna Open.

The Italian brothers won 82 per cent of their first-serve points (40/49) to beat Treat Huey and Frederik Nielsen 7-6(5), 6-3 in 80 minutes. The wild cards, who survived a Match Tie-break in the first round, will face second seeds Simone Bolelli and Andres Molteni for a spot in the championship match. Bolelli and Molteni charged past Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul 6-0, 6-2.

Federico Coria and Daniel Evans also reached the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Marco Cecchinato and Stefano Travaglia. Shortly after their win, Coria was forced to withdraw from the tournament with an abdominal strain. As a result of Coria’s withdrawal, Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori advanced to the championship match via walkover.

Arevalo/Middelkoop Advance In Marbella
Marcelo Arevalo and Matwe Middelkoop reached their maiden semi-final as a team at the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open. The third seeds entered their last-eight clash against Santiago Gonzalez and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela with a 0-4 team record in quarter-finals, but they saved all three break points they faced to beat the Mexican pair 6-3, 6-2.

Arevalo and Middelkoop will attempt to advance to their first team final against Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic on Friday. Brkic and Cacic saved a match point to beat second seeds Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald 4-6, 7-6(5), 11-9 on Wednesday.

Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar continued their strong start to the 2021 ATP Tour season. The unseeded duo beat Andre Goransson and Nicholas Monroe 6-4, 7-5 to reach its fourth semi-final of the year. The Delray Beach champions will face Hugo Nys and Tim Puetz for a place in the final. Nys and Puetz defeated Spanish wild cards David Marrero and Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-4, 6-0 in 61 minutes.

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Monte-Carlo Master: Nadal's 11 Title Runs In The Principality

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on 13 April 2020.

Since the inception of the series in 1990, only six men have won 11 or more ATP Masters 1000 titles. One of those men, Rafael Nadal, has remarkably achieved that feat at a single event.

The Spaniard has won the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters 11 times, matching former World No. 1 Pete Sampras’ haul across all Masters 1000 tournaments with his dominant reign in the Principality.

Since his tournament debut as a 16-year-old in 2003, when he defeated reigning Roland Garros champion Albert Costa to reach the third round, Nadal has consistently produced his best tennis at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. The Mallorcan, who has won 71 of his 76 matches at the event, won an Open-Era record eight successive titles from 2005 to 2012 and a further three straight crowns from 2016 to 2018.

ATPTour.com looks back at each of Nadal’s 11 title runs in Monte-Carlo.

2005: The Reign Begins
Two years after stunning Costa on his Monte-Carlo debut, Nadal captured his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in the Principality. After recovering from down a set in the semi-finals against Richard Gasquet, who had defeated Roger Federer, Nadal met defending champion Guillermo Coria in the championship match.

Coria ended Nadal’s maiden appearance in Monte-Carlo with a straight-sets victory in 2003, but Nadal had improved his game significantly since that meeting. The Spaniard battled to a 6-3, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 win after three hours and nine minutes to claim what was the biggest title of his career.

2006: A Classic Final
After a breakthrough 2005 season, Nadal returned to Monte-Carlo the following year as World No. 2 and reigning Roland Garros champion. The Spaniard moved past Coria and Gaston Gaudio to book a final clash against World No. 1 Roger Federer, whom he had beaten in three of their past four ATP Head2Head clashes. Nadal successfully defended an ATP Tour title for the first time in a three-hour, 50-minute classic, triumphing 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5).

2007: Hattrick Complete
After losing to Federer in the 2006 Wimbledon final and the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals, Nadal earned the opportunity to once again face the Swiss on his preferred surface in the 2007 Monte-Carlo championship match. Nadal, who did not drop a set en route to the final, continued his dominant display against Federer with a break of serve in each set to lift the trophy for the third straight year.

2008: A Trilogy Completed
Following straight-sets wins against Top 5 players David Ferrer and Nikolay Davydenko, Nadal met Federer at the Monte-Carlo Country Club for the third straight year with the trophy on the line.

Nadal snatched the opening set with a late break, but Federer threatened to force a decider after racing out to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Three-time defending champion Nadal battled back though, taking the title with another late service break to complete an impressive trio of final victories against his rival in the Principality. Nadal and Federer have not met in Monte-Carlo since that day.

2009: A New Chapter
Competing as World No. 1 in Monte-Carlo for the first time, Nadal advanced to his fifth straight final at the tournament without dropping a set. In the championship match, he faced Novak Djokovic for the first time in Monte-Carlo.

Djokovic had already beaten Nadal at each of the Masters 1000 events in North America, but the Spaniard had won each of their previous six meetings on clay, losing one total set. Djokovic doubled that figure by forcing a deciding set in Monte-Carlo, but Nadal raised his game to clinch his fifth title in the Principality. The match marked the beginning of a new chapter in their rivalry, with the pair meeting on three further occasions at the tournament.

2010: Ruthless Rafa
When Nadal ends his career, he may look back at the 2010 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters as the most dominant tournament of his career. The Spaniard entered the event on an 11-month trophy drought, dating back to his 2009 Internazionali BNL d’Italia victory. But he only dropped 14 games across five matches to capture his sixth successive Monte-Carlo crown. Nadal beat Thiemo de Bakker, Michael Berrer and the Spanish trio of Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco to earn the trophy.

2011: The Best Of Spain
For the second straight year, the Monte-Carlo final was contested by the top two Spaniards in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Nadal, who survived a three-set semi-final against Andy Murray, met in-form World No. 6 Ferrer for the title.

Ferrer had dropped just 17 games to reach his second Masters 1000 final, but Nadal battled past the man who ended his bid for a non-calendar Grand Slam three months earlier at the Australian Open with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

2012: Ending The Streak
After straight-sets wins against Stan Wawrinka and Gilles Simon, Nadal entered the 2012 Monte-Carlo final seeking to end a seven-match losing streak against World No. 1 Djokovic. Meeting for the first time since their epic five-hour, 53-minute Australian Open final that January, Nadal charged past Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 in 79 minutes to lift an Open Era record eighth straight title at a single ATP Tour event.

2016: Back In The Winners’ Circle
Four years after picking up his eighth title in Monte-Carlo, Nadal returned to the opening clay-court Masters 1000 event of the year aiming to lift his first title in eight months. The Spaniard moved past 22-year-old Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka before rallying from a set down to overcome Andy Murray in the semi-finals.

With support from French fans in the stands, his final opponent, Gael Monfils, showcased his incredible shot-making ability and defended well to force Nadal into a deciding set after more than two hours. But Nadal continued to trust his baseline game and wore his opponent down to clinch his ninth Monte-Carlo trophy.

2017: History Maker
After a first-round scare against Kyle Edmund, Nadal advanced to his 11th Monte-Carlo final with victories against Alexander Zverev, Diego Schwartzman and David Goffin. For the third time, a fellow Spaniard awaited Nadal in the final. Albert Ramos-Vinolas secured three-set victories against World No. 1 Andy Murray, Marin Cilic and Lucas Pouille to reach his first Masters 1000 championship match.

Like Verdasco and Ferrer before him, Ramos-Vinolas had no answer to the Mallorcan’s game on Court Rainier III. Nadal served with confidence throughout the 76-minute encounter to win 6-1, 6-3 and move clear of Guillermo Vilas with a record-breaking 50th tour-level clay court title.

2018: Dominant Display
In 2018, no player won more than five games against Nadal in Monte-Carlo. The Spaniard breezed through the draw, claiming wins against Aljaz Bedene, Karen Khachanov, Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov to reach his 12th final at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

In the championship match, Nadal broke Kei Nishikori on four occasions to become the first man in the Open Era to win a single event 11 times. It was the fifth time Nadal won the tournament without dropping a set (2008-’10, ’12), which extended his career-best set-winning streak on clay to 36. Nadal’s sets won streak reached 50, before Thiem beat the Spaniard in the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals.

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Five Threats To Nadal In Monte-Carlo

All eyes will be on Rafael Nadal at the Monte-Carlo Country Club next week as he starts his clay-court campaign for a record-extending 12th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown.

Over the past 15 years, the Spanish superstar has largely dominated each spring European swing, and it’s in the Principality where, more often than not, he has laid down an early marker to his rivals. Nadal has won 71 of his 76 matches in Monte-Carlo, including an Open Era record eight consecutive titles from 2005 to 2012 and a further three crowns from 2016 to 2018.

On the eve of the 2021 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, which begins on Sunday, ATPTour.com looks at five contenders who may pose a threat to Nadal’s hopes of claiming a 36th ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

Novak Djokovic – Best Monte-Carlo Performance: 2013 & 2015 champion
Memories of how quickly Nadal dismantled the World No. 1’s game in the 2020 Roland Garros final may linger, but Monte-Carlo resident Djokovic is also notoriously strong in the Principality. The Serbian superstar picked up the 2013 and 2015 titles, when he beat Nadal in the final and semi-finals respectively, and comes into this year’s edition well-rested after capturing a record ninth Australian Open title in February.

Read Brain Game Analysis: How Nadal’s First-Strike Strategy Smothered Djokovic

Djokovic and Nadal have met 25 times on clay across their legendary 56-match ATP Head2Head rivalry, which Djokovic leads 29-27, but Nadal has an 18-7 advantage in their red dirt clashes that includes four matches in Monte-Carlo. Nadal, who beat Djokovic in the 2009 and 2012 Monte-Carlo finals, has won their past four clay-court matches (2017 Madrid, 2018 & 2019 Rome and 2020 Roland Garros).

Should the pair meet in the Monte-Carlo final on 18 April, both will be close to top form, and such a match will come down to small margins. Twelve of their 25 clay matches have come with a trophy on the line (Nadal leads 8-4).

Djokovic vs. Nadal in Monte-Carlo

Daniil Medvedev – Best Monte-Carlo Performance: 2019 semi-finals
With a 10-18 career record (.357) on red dirt, it can be said that Medvedev has yet to find his clay feet. But the Russian, who also resides in Monte-Carlo, proved in beating Djokovic en route to the 2019 semi-finals, that he is capable of strong performances on the surface. While Nadal leads Medvedev 3-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, the pair has never met before on clay courts.

Read: Medvedev Beats Nadal In London

World No. 2 Medvedev will certainly be confident, should he face Nadal in Monte-Carlo, where he trains on a regular basis, having won his last 10 matches of 2020 and his first 10 matches of 2021, a run that included 12 victories against eight different Top 10 opponents. The 25-year-old beat Nadal 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the semi-finals at the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals. Medvedev has gotten off to a 17-3 start this season, including helping Russia capture the ATP Cup crown. He went on to reach the Australian Open final (l. to Djokovic) and lifted his 10th ATP Tour title at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille (d. Herbert).

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Best Monte-Carlo Performance: 2019 Third Round
The Greek star came back from two-sets-to-love down against Nadal in a 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 quarter-final victory at the Australian Open in February, which represented his first win over the Spaniard since the 2019 Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals. That day on red dirt, Tsitsipas won 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 and the 22-year-old may fancy his chances of beating Nadal again, so early in the clay swing, if the opportunity arises in Monte-Carlo.

Read: Tsitsipas Completes Epic Comeback In Melbourne

Tsitsipas has been in strong form so far this season, compiling a 17-5 record, which includes a semi-final run at Melbourne Park (l. to Medvedev) and a final appearance at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (l. to Zverev). Tsitsipas, who has a 1-3 record in ATP Tour clay-court finals, lost his last clay-court match to Nadal 6-3, 6-4 in the 2019 Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals.

Diego Schwartzman – Best Monte-Carlo Performance: 2017 Quarter-finals
The Argentine, who will feature in Monte-Carlo for the fifth time next week, will be aiming to draw upon his memories of beating Nadal en route to his first Masters 1000 final in September last year at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Schwartzman entered Rome with an 0-9 record against Nadal, but held his nerve to triumph 6-2, 7-5 in the quarter-finals.

Read & Watch: Schwartzman Stuns Nadal In Rome

The 28-year-old Schwartzman went on to beat Dominic Thiem in five hours and eight minutes to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros, where Nadal avenged the Rome loss with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(0) victory. Schwartzman, who has a 3-3 record in clay-court finals, picked up the Argentina Open trophy in Buenos Aires (d. Cerundolo) last month.

Fabio Fognini – Best Monte-Carlo Performance: 2019 Champion
At his very best, the 33-year-old Italian can beat anyone, particularly on clay, a surface on which he has recorded nine of his 15 Top 10 victories. World No. 18 Fognini, who will attempt to retain his 2019 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown next week, will not fear Nadal, having won three of their nine matches on red dirt.

Read & Watch: Fognini Beats Nadal In 2019 Monte-Carlo Semi-finals 

Fognini beat Nadal twice on clay in 2015 in the Rio Open presented by Claro semi-finals and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell third round. In his emotional run to the biggest title of his career two years ago, Fognini recorded a shock 6-4, 6-2 victory in the 2019 Monte-Carlo semi-finals. Nadal holds the upper-hand, 13-3 in their ATP Head2Head series, two months on from beating Fognini 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the Australian Open third round.

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Toni Nadal’s New ‘Challenge’: Coaching Felix Auger-Aliassime

Toni Nadal is back on the ATP Tour with Felix Auger-Aliassime. The No. 22 in the FedEx ATP Ranking, his coach Frederic Fontang and Toni himself made the announcement during a Zoom conversation on Thursday with journalists. “We’re calling you to announce that I’ll be working with Toni Nadal, starting from this tournament [Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters],” revealed the Canadian before answering some questions.

“We had the chance to work also together with him and Fred, and the rest of my team in Mallorca in December. But officially we are starting our relationship and our partnership. So far it’s been going really well,” added Auger-Aliassime, who will be playing his first clay match of the year in Monte-Carlo.

ATP Tour.com caught up with Nadal and Auger-Aliassime ahead of Monte-Carlo to discuss their new partnership and expectations – as well as what would happen should the Canadian take on Rafael Nadal.

Why did you decide to add Toni Nadal to your team?
Felix Auger-Aliassime: At the end of last year, I sat down with Fred, the rest of my team, my parents… I told myself that it would be good to go to somebody who has been at the highest level of our sport. Someone who has been to where I want to go one day. We approached Toni with the possibility to come to Mallorca to meet him, to train and to discuss, so we did.

And what convinced you to take on the challenge of coaching Felix?
Toni Nadal: I’d already had a chat with him quite a while ago and he left a good impression on me. Also through my nephew, everyone has always had nice things to say about him. When the idea of working together was put to me, I told him to come to the Academy in 10 days so that we could get to know each other and to see whether what I had to say to him would be of use.

And you decided to try it out…
Nadal: I’m still the director of the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, and of course I’ve worked with my nephew – I’m his uncle and I hadn’t considered being with another player. Knowing that I have the chance as director of the Academy to work with a player with huge potential is a challenge to me and, in particular, it gives me satisfaction. It’s a challenge for everyone.

How have the first days of coaching gone?
Auger-Aliassime: From the first practice, the work was great. The first thing is the respect, the honesty and the trust. For me, [those] are very important values that Toni tries to bring to the table. It matches and works with which I believe in. For me, they are simple things, but simple things that are not always easy to do. But are very important.

The consistency of my work, the precision of my work, the intensity that I’m gonna put and if I can repeat that at a very high level, I believe good things could happen. The great words that Toni has told me from the first time we were together with him and with Fred and I think it brings great things to me. I really like him as a person, so that’s a great thing.

What was the most notable thing for you?
Nadal: I wouldn’t be able to work with someone who wasn’t respectful, who had no values, because I’ve been lucky enough to work for my entire life with a boy who has always been respectful and has earned himself a good name. I aspire to that. I was delighted the moment they put the idea to me. Let’s not beat about the bush, this is a kid who theoretically should be among the best in the world in years to come. It’s always nice to work with someone like that.

How will you work together?
Auger-Aliassime: Toni will be on the major tournaments, the Grand Slams and a couple of other big tournaments on the calendar. He’s giving advice, experience, but just working on the day-to-day to become a better player. It’s not like there is a secret tool or a single recipe where you click your fingers and things work. But we are at the start of working together and building something solid and neat becoming a better player overall. I think that’s what I want to do to reach the highest levels of tennis.

Do you remember the first time you saw Felix play?
Nadal: When I saw him play for the first time, we said to Rafael ‘this kid is going to be very good’. And I think that he should aspire to that. He left me with a feeling that he was a great player. I saw him in a Challenger event against Jaume Munar, a player from our Academy, and I thought, ‘What a player!’ He was 16, but you could already see that he would be one of the best in the world. Now he has to work to confirm it and to become that.

The competition is tough.
Nadal: At the moment we’re in an era of tennis with some very good players. Felix will have to compete in the coming years with players like [Daniil] Medvedev, [Alexander] Zverev, [Dominic] Thiem, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, and other players coming through like [Jannik] Sinner and I guess [Carlos] Alcaraz too. The competition will be tough, but I believe he’ll be there.

The situation you’re describing is similar to what Rafael went through when he was starting out.
Nadal: Yes, it was a tough panorama with a lot of young quality players such as [Roger] Federer, [Andy] Roddick, [Lleyton] Hewitt, [Guillermo] Coria, [David] Nalbandian, [Juan Carlos] Ferrero, [Marat] Safin… They were all young and it looked like it would be very difficult to be at the top. We knew that we had to prepare in order to compete with players like that. I believe Felix has to do the same.

Having won practically everything as Rafael’s coach, why have you decided to return to the Tour?
Nadal: I’ve always liked tennis. I’m motivated by the process of trying to progress at what you enjoy, and I’m motivated by knowing that I’m working with a great person, with a player with great potential. That’s the challenge. I’m delighted on a personal and professional level to be able to work with a person like him and with a team as great as his.

What will happen when Felix has to face Rafael?
Nadal: I’m Rafael Nadal’s uncle and director of his Academy. But, above all, I have a special affection for my nephew. If he has to lose to someone, then let it be Felix. Forgetting that I’m his uncle, I’ve been linked to him for many years and the day they eventually play, I won’t be in either box out of respect to them both.

I am very interested in Felix doing as well as possible and hopefully in the future he can be World No. 1. I’m in no doubt. At the moment he has to improve, and I am still Rafael’s uncle.

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Toni Nadal, uncle and ex-coach of Rafael, joins Felix Auger-Aliassime's team

Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, joins the coaching team of Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

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Munar Moves Past Fognini In Marbella

Jaume Munar claimed his first Top 20 victory of the year in style, dropping just three games against second seed Fabio Fognini on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals at the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open.

Munar looked right at home for an hour and 24 minutes on Estadio Manolo Santana, where he reached the final here in Marbella at the ATP Challenger Tour event last week. The Spaniard broke Fognini’s serve on six occasions from 16 break opportunities on his way to a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

The No.95 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings arrived in Spain after a strong run in South America. He reached the quarter-finals at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires from qualifying, and backed it up with a final in doubles at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago (w/ Delbonis).

By contrast, his opponent Fognini was contesting his first clay court match of the year in Marbella ahead of his Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title defense. It took a few games for Fognini to find his range in the opening set, but by then he was already down a double break and trailing 5-1. The Italian was unable to recover, and won only one more game as Munar stormed through the second set.

Munar will take on Ilya Ivashka in the quarter-finals, after the Belarusian scored an upset of his own over fifth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-1, 6-3. Ivashka, No. 115 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, fired six aces and saved all nine break points he faced to take down the Spaniard and reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final of the year.

Also in action, third seed Casper Ruud booked his own quarter-final spot after a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Gianluca Mager. He awaits the winner of sixth seed Feliciano Lopez and #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. 

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Musetti Saves 4 M.P. In Evans Thriller

Lorenzo Musetti may be the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, but he showed great composure under pressure to eliminate top seed Daniel Evans 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(8) on Thursday at the Sardegna Open.

The #NextGenATP Italian saved four match points in a final-set tie-break — at 3/6 and 7/8 — to overcome Evans in two hours and 10 minutes. Musetti struck two winners, including a precise forehand drop shot at 5/6, and fired an unreturned serve to save three of the four match points he faced. Musetti converted his second match point with another forehand drop shot winner.

“It was really tough. I was 3/6 down in the tie-break and he was playing good, always going to the net and always aggressive,” said Musetti. “I tried to stay calm and tried to play each point. That is what I did and it worked, so I am really happy and really proud of myself with this win.”

Musetti owns 12 tour-level victories, and seven of those wins have come against Top 35 players. The 19-year-old is one win away from reaching his third ATP Tour semi-final, following his runs to the final four at last year’s Forte Village Sardegna Open and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in March.

“The secret for me is not to think about [their Top 35 Ranking], to just play them like other opponents,” said Musetti. “I try to play my game… and try to play as good as I can. That is what I did. With them, I always play good. I don’t know why. I have no pressure and I feel free. I have no pressure to win and today was the same.”

The World No. 90, who is competing at a career high in the FedEx ATP Rankings this week, will meet Laslo Djere in the semi-finals. The Serbian broke sixth seed John Millman’s serve on four occasions to record a 6-3, 6-3 victory. Djere handed Musetti his only tour-level loss in Sardinia (5-1), when the pair met in the 2020 Forte Village Sardegna Open semi-finals.

In the opening match of the day on Campo Centrale, Yannick Hanfmann saved both break points he faced to beat 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato 7-5, 6-1. The German will face another Italian, Lorenzo Sonego, who defeated Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 35 minutes.

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French Open postponed by one week in hope more fans can attend

The French Open will now run from 30 May to 13 June in the hope that more spectators will be permitted to attend.

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Roland-Garros Postponed One Week

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) announced Thursday that Roland-Garros will be pushed back one week due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will now be played from 30 May through 13 June.

Last year, the clay-court Grand Slam was moved from its traditional dates to 27 September-11 October because of the pandemic.

The ATP and WTA released a joint statement on the tournament’s one-week postponement:

“Tennis has required an agile approach to the calendar over the past 12 months in order to manage the challenges of the pandemic, and this continues to be the case. The decision to delay the start of Roland-Garros by one week has been made in the context of recently heightened COVID-19 restrictions in France, with the additional time improving the likelihood of enhanced conditions and ability to welcome fans at the event.

“Both the ATP and WTA are working in consultation with all parties impacted by the postponement to optimise the calendar for players, tournaments and fans in the lead up to and following Roland-Garros. Further updates will be communicated in due course.”

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