Tennis News

Peers/Polasek Bring End To Melzer’s Career In Vienna

Third seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek brought former World No. 8 singles player Jurgen Melzer’s career to a close at the Erste Bank Open on Wednesday. The Australian/Slovak pair scored a 7-6(3), 7-5 victory over the 40-year-old Austrian and Alexander Zverev in 93 minutes.

Peers/Polasek lost just three points on first-serve points and did not face a break point. Their win set a quarter-final clash against Austrians Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald in Vienna.

Fourth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah eked out a narrow victory over Feliciano Lopez and Stefanos Tsitsipas for a semi-final berth. The Colombians hit six aces and converted their sole break point opportunity to defeat the Spanish/Greek duo 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 10-8 in just over two hours.

The team to most recently book its Nitto ATP Finals berth in Turin, Cabal/Farah, missed four match points in the second-set tie-break and another in the match tie-break before its passage was sealed. They await Sander Gille and Dominik Koepfer or top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. Gille/Koepfer scored a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over recent Antwerp champions, Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin.

At the St. Petersburg Open, American duo Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul combined for a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Uruguayan-Ecuadorian pair Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar. The unseeded partnership will meet Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner for a place in the semi-finals.

Mexican-Argentine pair Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni also booked a quarter-final spot after they edged past Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic in 91 minutes. Gonzalez/Molteni set a showdown with fourth seeds Hugo Nys and Andrey Golubev following their 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 win.

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Andy Murray loses to Carlos Alcaraz at Vienna Open

Britain’s Andy Murray loses for the first time in his career at the Vienna Open after a straight-set defeat by Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz.

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Rublev Cool Under Pressure, Ousts Ivashka In St. Petersburg

Andrey Rublev dealt with the pressure of a tough opponent and competing on home soil Thursday. But the top seed overcame those obstacles to reach the St. Petersburg Open quarter-finals.

The Russian star defeated Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 29 minutes, marking his second win against Ivashka in St. Petersburg. Rublev saved all seven break points he faced to reach the quarter-finals at the event for the third time.

The top seed is the defending champion, and is trying to secure his third trophy on home soil after an opening-round loss last week in Moscow. He triumphed in St. Petersburg in 2020 and Moscow in 2019.

Ivashka is a dangerous player, whose aggressive game helped him claim his first tour-level crown in August in Winston-Salem. But Rublev was strong on serve, hitting 10 aces and winning 84 per cent of his first-serve points.

Rublev will next play eighth seed Sebastian Korda or Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp, who reached this year’s US Open quarter-finals. 

On the same half of the draw, Russian Karen Khachanov and Croatian Marin Cilic set an intriguing second-round clash. Sixth-seeded Khachanov blasted through French lefty Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3  in one hour and 25 minutes.

The home favourite has advanced to the quarter-finals just once in St. Petersburg, and he will attempt to do so again when he plays Cilic. The former World No. 3 is competing here for the first time since 2011, when he won the title.

Cilic defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 23 minutes. He carries a 1-0 ATP Head2Head edge over Khachanov into their meeting.

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Alcaraz Earns Revenge Against Murray In Vienna

After beating Andy Murray on Wednesday evening in Vienna, Carlos Alcaraz put both arms in the air and nodded his head in approval of his performance. The 18-year-old had earned his revenge.

The #NextGenATP star, who lost to the former World No. 1 in Indian Wells earlier this month, defeated Murray 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Erste Bank Open. The scoreline appears straightforward, but the action was anything but.

Alcaraz needed to summon all his skill and fighting spirit to claw past the Scot in a two-hour, six-minute battle that featured 25 break points and seven service breaks. The Spaniard will next face third seed Matteo Berrettini.

“For me it’s a great feeing to play against Andy Murray and to be able to beat him,” Alcaraz said in his post-match interview. “I played really, really well and I’m just really happy for the performance today.”

It was clear from the first game of the match that Murray would be under pressure, as his teenage opponent broke his serve immediately. Alcaraz was intent on punishing the ball and controlling rallies, especially on points played behind the wild card’s second serve.

Murray fought hard and led 4-2 in the second set, using every opportunity he had to attack short balls, move forward and beat this year’s Umag titlist to go on offense. But Alcaraz had too much firepower on the day, as evidenced by the penultimate point of the match, when he finished a physical rally with a booming crosscourt forehand winner.

Alcaraz, a pupil of another former World No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero, certainly did not take Murray by surprise. When ATPTour.com asked the Scot in August about current players who could potentially reach No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Murray mentioned him.

“I think Alcaraz is really, really good,” Murray said at the time. “I think he’s got a good chance at it.” 

The 46-time tour-level titlist was able to battle past Alcaraz in three sets in Indian Wells in their first ATP Head2Head clash. But indoors in Vienna, the #NextGenATP star showed he is getting better by the day.

“Indian Wells was the first time that I met Andy Murray on court and now I knew a little bit more [about] Andy Murray, so I just knew his game, how to play,” Alcaraz said. “I was just trying to play aggressive, not let him play his game.”

Alcaraz’s next opponent, third-seeded Berrettini, rallied past Indian Wells finalist Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3. The Italian, who became the sixth player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals on Monday, saved all three break points he faced to advance.

The 25-year-old blasted 22 aces — including two on the last two points of the match — to earn his two-hour, five-minute victory. Berrettini will try to replicate that serving performance in his first ATP Head2Head meeting with Alcaraz.

Did You Know?
Alcaraz is the second-youngest player to defeat Murray. Borna Coric, who was 18 when he beat the Scot in Dubai in 2015, was the only player to do it at a younger age.

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Sinner Sharp Against Opelka In Vienna

Jannik Sinner was focussed on avoiding a letdown following his Antwerp victory last week. The Italian star does not need to be concerned after his performance on Wednesday in Vienna.

The seventh seed dispatched big-serving American Reilly Opelka 6-4, 6-2 in 64 minutes to reach the second round of the Erste Bank Open. The 20-year-old will next play home favourite Dennis Novak, who beat Italian Gianluca Mager on Tuesday in straight sets.

“I think I had not so many chances and I used them. I think that was the key today,” Sinner said in his post-match interview. “I served well. My service holds were always quite fast and good. I felt well on the baseline, so I knew when I went in a rally that somehow I was going to win the point. But it’s never easy playing against him. You never have rhythm.”

Every win is critical for Sinner in his pursuit of a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals. He began the week in 10th place in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin, just 110 points behind ninth-placed Hubert Hurkacz for the final qualifying spot (eighth-placed Nadal is out for the year due to foot injury).

Since Hurkacz lost in the first round in Vienna, Sinner has an opening to make a big move at the ATP 500 in Austria. The Italian will pass the Pole if he advances to the semi-finals.

The five-time ATP Tour titlist dominated on serve against Opelka, losing just six service points. His American opponent has one of the biggest serves on the ATP Tour, but Sinner broke him three times.

At 2-2 in the second set, when Opelka was still battling to maintain contact, Sinner unleashed a series of forehand returns, and played stellar defence to break. He did not lose a game in the rest of the match.

“I had time to adapt to the court and I used it,” Sinner said. “I think it was a great match today.”

Did You Know?
Sinner has won nine consecutive indoor matches — including titles in Sofia and Antwerp — and not lost a set in any of them. 

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Shapovalov Battles Back In St. Petersburg Opener

Is this the year that Denis Shapovalov will break through at the St. Petersburg Open?

The Canadian, who made the quarter-finals and semi-finals in his first two appearances at the event, got off to a slow start on Wednesday. But the lefty recovered to defeat Spaniard Pablo Andujar 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 for a spot in the last eight.

“Definitely very tough to play Pablo [in my] first round of a tournament. He’s a great player and it was a tough start to the match,” Shapovalov said in his on-court interview. “I didn’t feel so great, but I just told myself to keep going.

“Obviously there was a lot of tennis to play, so [I] wanted to really turn it around in the second set and I did a really good job.”

In the deciding set, the second seed won 72 per cent of his return points to finish well and triumph after one hour and 49 minutes.

Shapovalov will face a big-hitting righty in the last eight: seventh seed Alexander Bublik or German Jan-Lennard Struff. The Canadian is chasing his second ATP Tour title and his first since his maiden triumph in Stockholm in 2019.

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Australian Open 2022: Unvaccinated players face fresh doubts about eligibility to play

Doubts have been raised whether unvaccinated players will be allowed to take part in the Australian Open after contradictory statements from key politicians.

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