Naomi Osaka: World number two cries at Cincinnati Masters conference
Naomi Osaka broke down in tears before resuming her first news conference since the controversy over refusing to speak to media at the French Open.
Naomi Osaka broke down in tears before resuming her first news conference since the controversy over refusing to speak to media at the French Open.
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas is feeling great after he rose to No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings last week, and is targeting another strong run this week at the Western & Southern Open after reaching the semi-finals in Toronto.
The 23-year-old has recorded a tour-leading 45 victories this season which have seen him achieve one of his long-term goals of cracking the Top 3. However, Tsitsipas is aiming to rise even further in the coming weeks.
“No. 3 is a number that is very significant and it holds a big importance,” Tsitsipas said in his pre-tournament press conference. “You don’t get many exciting moments like this in your career. I saw it come out, and I felt overwhelmed by it. It was a great feeling. It adds some value to yourself for the efforts that you have put in to get there.
“It kind of pushes me so much to sustain that, to want to go the extra mile in the next tournaments, and that was my initial goal from the beginning of the year, to make it into the top three. Now the second phase of that goal is to remain there.
“The rankings are there for a reason. They signify something important. I think that the very next step would be the No. 1 spot, which I hope I can get to one day.”
[FOLLOW 1000]Tsistipas, who is making his third appearance in Cincinnati, won his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Monte-Carlo in April and advanced to his maiden Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in June.
However, the eight-time tour-level champion, currently in second position in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin, insists his focus is not solely on capturing trophies, but performing consistently each week.
“My top priority is getting far into the tournament, playing good tennis,” Tsitsipas said. “I have said it, I’m not aiming for titles. I’m not aiming to go and win every single one of them. I want to get to the stage of a tournament where I’m able to get a lot of points.
“I am aiming for the big points. I know that most of the big points are [from the] semi-finals onwards. That’s where you get the most amount of points, and I want to be aiming for that. If I reach the very first goal of it, I’m not going [to] stop. I’m still going to continue doing the things that I have been doing well from that point onwards.”
The second seed in Cincinnati will play either #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda or Serbian Laslo Djere in his opening match, and is aiming to adjust to the conditions quickly in Ohio following his run to the last four in Canada last week.
“I know for a fact that all these events have different kinds of conditions to be adjusting to,” Tsitsipas added. “Some of the places are a bit more humid. My top priority is finding that balance, finding that quick adjustment from switching from one tournament to the next without massive gaps or holes in my game.”
#NextGenATP star Jannik Sinner celebrated his 20th birthday in style on Monday as he overcome Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-2, 7-5 on his tournament debut at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
The Italian, currently at a career-high No. 15 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, played aggressively against Delbonis and rallied after losing three straight games from 4-2 in the second set to advance in one hour and 38 minutes.
Sinner captured his second tour-level title of the season at the Citi Open in Washington earlier this month to become the youngest ATP 500 champion since the category was created in 2009.
The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals titlist was also victorious at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne earlier this year. Sinner will next face either Toronto semi-finalist John Isner or Los Cabos champion Cameron Norrie in the second round.
[FOLLOW 1000]In a lively start, Sinner fended off three break points, before quickly finding his range in his first meeting against Delbonis. The Italian struck the ball with consistent depth and was able to neutralise Delbonis’ topspin lefty forehand by taking the ball early at shoulder height.
After Sinner sealed the first set when Delbonis found the net with a forehand, the Italian quickly broke at the start of the second set. However, Sinner lost three straight games from 4-2 to trail 4-5 as Delbonis started to step inside the baseline and target Sinner’s backhand. The 20-year-old regained his focus though, breaking with a backhand winner before holding to seal his victory.
World No. 48 Delbonis, who was making his fourth appearance in Cincinnati, has enjoyed runs to the semi-finals in Hamburg, Belgrade and Santiago this season.
Fellow Italian Fabio Fognini also advanced with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili in one hour and 40 minutes to set up a second-round meeting with Guido Pella.
The World No. 36 recovered after failing to serve out the first set at 5-4, clinching the tie-break as he won 64 per cent (32/50) of his first-service points in the match.
Fognini is competing in Cincinnati for the eighth time, having made his debut in 2011, with his best result a run to the quarter-finals in 2014. This year, the 34-year-old has reached the last eight at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the fourth round at the Australian Open.
Who are the wheelchair tennis favourites at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics? What are ParalympicsGB’s prospects? All you need to know in one handy guide.
Who are the wheelchair tennis favourites at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics? What are ParalympicsGB’s prospects? All you need to know in one handy guide.
No. 23 Reilly Opelka, +9 (Career-High)
The American has risen nine spots to a career-high No. 23 in the FedEx ATP Rankings after he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto (l. to Medvedev). The 23-year-old captured his first Top 5 win en route to the championship match, upsetting World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals. Read Toronto Final Report & Watch Highlights
View Latest FedEx ATP Rankings
No. 26 John Isner, +4
The 36-year-old has moved 4 places after he reached the semi-finals in Toronto. The big-serving American lifted the trophy in Atlanta at the start of August, and backed this up in Canada to reach the last four at a Masters 1000 event for the first time since advancing to the championship match in Miami in 2019.
No. 69 James Duckworth, +16 (Career-High)
The Australian has climbed 16 spots to a career-high No. 69 after he came through qualifying to advance to the third round in Toronto. The 29-year-old, who defeated #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner in the second round, also reached the third round in Miami this year.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 11 Casper Ruud, +1
No. 12 Hubert Hurkacz, +1
No. 41 Dusan Lajovic, +3
No. 46 Lloyd Harris, +3
No. 83 Marco Ceechinato, +3
Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev prepares for the US Open with a Canadian Open final win against Reilly Opelka, while Italy’s Camila Giorgi claims the women’s title.
#NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner will look for a return to the form that carried him to a maiden ATP 500 title earlier this month when he opens his Western & Southern Open campaign against Argentine Federico Delbonis on Monday. The 11th seed captured the biggest title of his career with victory in the Citi Open final little more than a week ago but fell to Aussie James Duckworth in his opening match in Toronto.
He has never faced the left-handed Delbonis, who plays his first match on hard courts since a loss to Jordan Thompson in the first round of the Miami Open in March. At 19, Sinner is the youngest man in the Top 15 of the FedEx ATP Rankings since Juan Martin del Potro in 2008.
“It’s great to have fans back in the stands, had people watching my practice yesterday…it will be nice to play in front of big crowds and stuff. I’m really looking forward to that.” –@andy_murray #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/9feqoglHmR
— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 15, 2021
“When you see somebody is the youngest or whatever, I don’t put much weight on that. There are a lot of players who have done much, much better than me,” Sinner said following his triumph in Washington, D.C. “It’s not about who is the youngest or whatever. I just want to improve, work hard.”
The last time former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet squared off against former World No. 1 Andy Murray he claimed the honours at the same stage in Cincinnati two years ago. Now ranked No. 53 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, the French veteran had to win through qualifying to take his place in the main draw, while Murrray had to rely on a wild card.
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A two-time champion in Cincinnati, Murray leads their ATP Head2Head 8-4 and will bid to improve on his 33-13 record at the tournament. His countryman, Daniel Evans, also opens his campaign on Monday when he faces 10th seed Diego Schwartzman.
The 31-year-old Evans is looking for his first win of the North American hard-court swing, while the Argentine comes off three-set round-of-16 defeats to Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov in his two hard-court outings since Wimbledon. Schwartzman fell to Khachanov at the Tokyo Olympics and in 7-5 in the third set to Robert Bautista Agut in Toronto last week.
Russians Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev saved a match point to deny Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez in the opening round of the Western & Southern Open on Sunday. The Tokyo Olympics doubles teammates rallied from a set down to see off the Italian-Argentine pairing 6-7(6), 6-3, 11-9 in one hour and 42 minutes.
Khachanov and Rublev reached ATP Masters 1000 finals in 2018 in Miami and 2019 in Paris and improved on their opening-round exit in Cincinnati last year. They boosted their record together this season to 6-8 and could win consecutive matches together for the first time in 2021 should they find a way past second seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers.
Earlier, the unseeded Alex de Minaur and Cameron Norrie proved too strong for Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik and Chilean Cristian Garin. The Australian-British duo prevailed 6-2, 6-2 and await the winner of sixth seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek and Matwe Middelkoop and Luke Saville.
Guido Pella has landed a confidence-boosting victory over David Goffin in the first round of the Western & Southern Open on Sunday for his first win over the Belgian in two years. The former World No. 20 snapped a five-match losing streak to oust the Belgian 6-3, 6-3.
In Pella’s first match since Wimbledon and Goffin’s first since Halle, due to an ankle injury, both struggled for rhythm. But the Belgian’s 31 unforced errors to his conqueror’s 16 ultimately proved telling. While the two were relatively even on first-serve points won – Pella 67 per cent to Goffin’s 65 per cent – the World No. 19 won only 41 per cent of his second-serve points and finished with five double faults.
It was only the Argentine’s fourth match win from 17 this season and improved his ATP Head2Head record against Goffin to 2-4. He has the chance to win consecutive matches for the first time in 2021 when he next meets either Fabio Fognini or Nikoloz Basilashvili.
In the only other first-round men’s singles match played, World No. 50 Benoit Paire fought back to deny Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. It was only the Frenchman’s ninth match win from 23 this season and he will next face sixth seed Denis Shapovalov.