Tennis News

Carreno Busta Begins Winston-Salem Campaign

Top seed Pablo Carreno Busta began his Winston-Salem Open campaign with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Soonwoo Kwon Tuesday as he aims to capture his third tour-level title of the season this week.

The Spaniard, who upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in July to capture the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. was made to battle against Kwon. Carreno Busta recovered from a dip in the second set, raising his level in the decider to advance in one hour and 56 minutes. Carreno Busta won 69 per cent (31/45) of his first-serve points and broke four times to improve to 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series.

“It was a very close match, he played really well in the second and third sets,” Carreno Busta said in his on-court interview. “It is really nice to be here again. I am happy as it is important for me to start my first match with a victory.

“I feel really comfortable here; it is a nice way to go to New York before the US Open. It is very important for me to play as many matches as possible.”

The World No. 12, who has also lifted trophies on clay in Mallorca and Hamburg this year, has fond memories in North Carolina, having lifted his maiden tour-level crown there in 2016. The 30-year-old will next face 16th seed Dominik Koepfer in the third round after the German battled past Marco Cecchinato 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

In other action, Frenchman Benoit Paire cruised past countryman Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3 in 72 minutes. The 12th seed fired five aces and broke four times to set up a meeting with either fifth seed Alexander Bublik or Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori.

”It is not easy to play against Simon,” Paire said. “I am so happy to beat him today, I played a good match and built on the confidence of last week. I am really happy to be back. I reached the final in 2019, so I will try to do the same. The conditions are very tough, it is very humid. I have been in America for one month though, so I am used to it.”

On a strong day for France, lucky loser Pierre-Hugues Herbert also booked his spot in the third round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Federico Coria in their first ATP Head2Head meeting. The 30-year-old will next meet either American Marcos Giron or 10th seed Federico Delbonis.

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Andy Murray: Tennis Scotland open to owning more courts after 'shambles' comment

Tennis Scotland says it would like to own and operate more of the country’s courts after Andy Murray highlighted the issue of unused facilities.

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Chicago Women's Open: Venus Williams crashes out in first round

Seven-time singles Grand Slam champion Venus Williams crashes out of the Chicago Women’s Open in the first round after being handed a wildcard.

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Chicago Women's Open: Venus Williams crashes out in first round

Seven-time singles Grand Slam champion Venus Williams crashes out of the Chicago Women’s Open in the first round after being handed a wildcard.

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Mahut/Martin Advance In Winston-Salem Doubles

Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin are pairing this week for just the second time, but it did not take long for them to get up to speed.

The second seeds defeated Tomislav Brkic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Nikola Cacic of Serbia 6-4, 6-1 in 51 minutes on Monday to reach the second round of the Winston-Salem Open.

Brkic and Cacic lifted the Buenos Aires trophy earlier this year, but they found little to trouble the Frenchmen. Mahut and Martin, who first competed together in Hamburg last year, earned four service breaks to advance in North Carolina.

They will next play Austrians Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald, who ousted Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-4. In other action, British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski battled past Uruguay’s Ariel Behar and Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-5.

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From Brink Of Qualifying Exit, Pouille Powers Into R2 In Winston-Salem

Lucas Pouille faced match point in his second-round qualifying match at the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday against Noah Rubin. But after rallying past the American, the Frenchman found his form and on Monday dismissed Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round of the  main draw.

The former World No. 10 saved all four break points he faced and won 83 per cent of his first-serve points to earn his first tour-level win since April at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he reached the third round. Pouille now has won five consecutive matches against Lopez and leads their ATP Head2Head series 5-1.

Next up for the 27-year-old qualifier will be third seed Daniel Evans, a wild card who received a bye in the first round. The Briton won the pair’s only previous clash in four sets at the 2019 US Open.

Argentine Federico Coria clawed past #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 44 minutes in the North Carolina heat, and he will play French lucky loser Pierre-Hugues Herbert for a place in the third round.

In other action, Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori beat American qualifier Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 and Australian Jordan Thompson eliminated Argentine lefty Guido Pella 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

Did You Know?
Pouille won three of his five ATP Tour titles after saving match point: 2017 Budapest (2 MPs vs. Vesely in R2), 2017 Stuttgart (1 MP vs. Struff in R2) and 2018 Montpellier (2 MPs vs. Tsonga in SF).

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