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Former College stars Quinn, Spizzirri win in Newport

  • Posted: Jul 16, 2024

One year ago, American Ethan Quinn earned his first tour-level victory at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport. On Tuesday, he scored his second ATP Tour win at the same event with a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-1 result against Aussie Marc Polmans.

The win lifted Quinn five places to 10th place in the PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah. With another victory against fourth seed Christopher Eubanks, the former NCAA singles champion would move into the top eight, further boosting his chances to to qualify for the NextGen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

Quinn was a constant threat on return in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Polmans, converting on seven of 14 break chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“Just make sure to put the pressure on him,” the 20-year-old said of the key to the third set. “Second set he was serving very well. I just wanted to to make sure I put in a lot of returns, a lot of first balls on my own serve and put a lot of pressure.”

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Another former college standout, Eliot Spizzirri, also advanced to the second round Tuesday with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win over Australian qualifier Li Tu. The former University of Texas star, who saved four of five break points, next faces another Australian, World No. 65 Aleksandar Vukic.

Seventh seed Arthur Rinderknech also advanced on the Newport lawns with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win against Shintaro Mochizuki, while American Mackenzie McDonald was a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 winner against Rinky Hijikata.

McDonald upset the eighth-seeded Aussie to claim his second tour-level win of 2024. He recorded a personal-best 33 wins in 2023 but has missed several months of this season with a shoulder injury. The 29-year-old’s win against the World No. 74 is his best win by PIF ATP Ranking since he beat countryman J.J. Wolf at the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters.

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Tsitsipas brothers save 3 MPs to win Gstaad doubles opener

  • Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas survived three match points to pull off an opening-round doubles upset on Tuesday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad. The Greek brothers edged fourth seeds Nicolas Barrientos and Luke Johnson 4-6, 6-4, 14-12, capping off the victory by winning the final three points of the Match Tie-break.

The pair won two of three break points and dominated on first serve with a 72 percent win rate, according to Infosys ATP Stats. After being broken three times in the opening set, they saved all four break points against them in set two.

One of the match point saves came on return at 11/12 in the Match Tie-break, sparking that run of three points to close out the win.

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Seeds advance in Hamburg
Both main-draw doubles matches at the Hamburg Open were won by seeded teams on Tuesday. Third-seeded Frenchmen Fabien Reboul and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Dustin Brown and Daniel Masur 6-4, 6-3 to open their campaign at the ATP 250 breaking four times on seven chances.

 

Their quarterfinal opponents will be Lloyd Glasspool and Jean-Julien Rojer, who earned a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory against singles stars Francisco Cerundolo and Pedro Martinez. The seventh seeds saved nine of 11 break points against them while converting on an efficient three out of four break chances.

 

Cash/Galloway make winning start in Newport

Second seeds Julian Cash and Robert Galloway made a strong start at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport, earning a 6-3, 6-4 win against Frenchmen Adrian Mannarino and Harold Mayot. This season’s Delray Beach and Mallorca champions hit seven aces and dropped serve just once in the victory.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/16/19/13/cash-galloway-newport-2024-tuesday.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Julian Cash, Robert Galloway” />
Julian Cash and Robert Galloway. Photo credit: ITHF/Kyle Prudhomme

Aussies Luke Saville and Aleksandar Vukic earned an upset at the ATP 250, knocking off the eighth-seeded Indian pairing of Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha 6-1, 6-4.

French success in Bastad
Two all-French teams advanced on Tuesday at the Nordea Open in Bastad. Alexandre Muller and #NextGenATP star Luca Van Assche earned a 6-3, 6-4 win against Karol Drzewiecki and Sumit Nagal, while Manuel Guinard and Gregoire Jacq beat fourth-seeded Brazilians Fernando Romboli and Marcelo Zormann 6-3, 6-4.

France’s Theo Arribage, teaming with Roman Safiullin, also advanced at the ATP 250 courtesy of a 6-3, 6-2 win against Mariano Navone and Cameron Norrie.

Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud, who upset second seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes-Varela on Monday, will be back in doubles action on Wednesdsay when they face Arribage and Safiullin in the quarter-finals.

What to know about the 2024 ATP Doubles Trial implemented this week in Hamburg, Gstaad and Newport

  • Singles versus doubles team matches in the first round whenever possible by increasing the number of doubles seeded teams to 8 (up from 4)
  • 21 seconds between all points
  • 60-second changeovers with a time call after 40 seconds. Points should start at the 60-second mark at the latest
  • Free crowd movement
  • Doubles-only court (when possible)
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Q2 In Review: Alcaraz wins two majors, Sinner reaches No. 1

  • Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Between a change of surface and a change atop the PIF ATP Rankings, the second quarter of the ATP Tour season was filled with exciting action.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were the two standout players while three ATP Masters 1000 events featured as many different titlists: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev. ATPTour.com looks back on the champions of the second quarter, when the game’s leading players continued their bid to earn enough PIF ATP Rankings points to qualify for November’s Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Carlos Alcaraz: Roland Garros, Wimbledon
Dealing with an arm injury across April and May, the Spaniard recovered to perform at his best level during the second quarter’s pair of majors. Alcaraz captured his first Roland Garros title and second Wimbledon crown. He needed a marathon effort in the closing stages of the clay-court major, winning his semi-final and final match in five sets.

Alcaraz then became just the sixth man in the Open Era to complete the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double, joining Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, whom the World No. 3 has defeated in back-to-back Wimbledon finals. “In an interview when I was 11 or 12 years old I said my dream was to win Wimbledon, so I am replaying my dream,” Alcaraz said after triumphing at the All England Club.

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Jannik Sinner: Rise to World No. 1 & Halle crown
The 22-year-old star became the first Italian and 29th player to reach World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Sinner, who boasts a 42-4 season record, rose to the top spot after a semi-final run at Roland Garros and the Australian Open champion showed no signs of slowing down.

Sinner’s relentless pursuit of excellence continued as he won his maiden grass-court title in Halle, but it was not easy. The top seed needed a deciding set to claw past his first three opponents, only giving Sinner more time to adapt to the surface. A 14-time tour-level titlist, Sinner became the eighth player in PIF ATP Rankings history (since 1973) to claim a trophy in his first tournament as World No. 1. 

Andrey Rublev: Madrid
“I would say this is the most proud title of my career,” Rublev said after winning the Mutua Madrid Open, his second ATP Masters 1000 title. Despite entering the tournament on a four-match skid, the 26-year-old showed grit and determination to win in the Spanish capital, where he upset two-time reigning champion Alcaraz in the quarters and ousted Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final.

Rublev later revealed he struggled with a tonsillitis abscess, yet still managed to produce one of the best performances of his career. “I was almost dead every day. I was not sleeping at night. The last three, four days I didn’t sleep,” he said after the final. “One day I woke up with my throat [twice as big] as it should be. The throat is in super pain. It’s tough to swallow because it’s painful,” Rublev told ATP Media.

Alexander Zverev: Rome
The German’s triumph at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia marked his biggest title since his catastrophic ankle injury in the Roland Garros semi-finals in 2022. “This one is special in its own way because it proves to me that I can win these kinds of tournaments again,” said Zverev, who
defeated 21st seed Nicolas Jarry in the final. The 27-year-old produced a first-serve masterclass and relied on his baseline firepower to capture his sixth ATP Masters 1000 title and second in Rome (2017).

Hat-tricks for Tsitsipas, Ruud, Fritz
Stefanos Tsitsipas produces his best tennis in the Principality, where he has won three of the past four Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. The Greek overcame Sinner in a dramatic semi-final, the Italian’s second loss of the season, before ousting Casper Ruud in the final, during which Tsitsipas saved all eight break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“This is an unbelievable win for me. Capturing that win today was nerve-wracking. I really wanted this trinity,” Tsitsipas said.

Casper Ruud won his biggest career title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, avenging his previous week’s Monte-Carlo final loss to Tsitsipas in the championship match.

Joining Tsitsipas as players to win three titles at a single tournament, the Norwegian Ruud triumphed at the Gonet Geneva Open for the third time in four years and Taylor Fritz was unbroken at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, where the American previously won in 2019 and 2022.

Other Q2 Champions…
Alex de Minaur, No. 6 in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, Tommy Paul and Alejandro Tabilo claimed their second titles of 2024. The Australian continued his push for maiden Nitto ATP Finals qualification with a title run in ‘s-Hertogenbosch while Paul won his first ATP 500 title at the cinch Championships. Alejandro Tabilo triumphed at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard announced himself to the big stage with a dream run at his home tournament, the Open Parc in Lyon. The 6’8” Frenchman, competing in just his third tour-level event, saved a championship point against Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Jack Draper won his maiden tour-level title at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart.

Ben Shelton lifted his first clay-court crown at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, where he became the youngest Houston champion since 19-year-old Andy Roddick in 2002. Matteo Berrettini returned to the winners’ circle for the first time since 2022 with a title run at the Grand Prix Hassan II. Hubert Hurkacz (Estoril), Jan-Lennard Struff (Munich) and Marton Fucsovics (Bucharest) also collected clay-court titles.

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Fils fires up, rallies past Munar in Hamburg opener

  • Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Arthur Fils took his time to find his best level on Tuesday at the Hamburg Open. It was worth the wait.

The #NextGenATP Frenchman overcame Jaume Munar 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 after delivering a classy third-set performance. Fils, who reached his first ATP 500 semi-final in Hamburg a year ago, struck a series of scintillating winners off both wings in the closing stages of his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Munar.

“The first set was very tough. I think that I was playing quite good, but the level he was playing was unbelievable, actually,” said Fils, who will play 2023 finalist Laslo Djere next. “I tried my best to stay composed, to stay focused in the second set, because maybe if I got an early break his level could drop.

“I think I did a great job in the second set and put my foot on the accelerator. I played my best level in the third set.”

Fils converted five of 10 break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in his two-hour, 11-minute win. The 20-year-old endured a tough first few months of 2024 and won just seven matches across nine tournaments in February, March and April, but he is now 20-17 for the year after backing up his fourth-round run at Wimbledon with Monday’s Hamburg win.

“I think that I just worked very hard,” said Fils, when asked how he had turned his year around. “In the first part of the season I was working hard. Of course, the results were not there, but I think that if you trust the process, if you still play the best that you can and every day give the best effort that you can, at the end it pays off.”

With his victory against Munar, Fils also extended his lead in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. He is in a strong position to reach the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, where he reached the championship match in 2023.

Luciano Darderi was also an early winner in Hamburg on Tuesday. The Italian defeated lucky loser Nick Hardt 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 to set a second-round clash with Alexander Shevchenko.

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Nearly 2 years on, Opelka makes successful return in Newport

  • Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Reilly Opelka last played a tour-level match nearly two years ago, in August 2022, in Washington. The American picked up where he left off on Monday in Newport.

Wild card Opelka defeated Frenchman Constant Lestienne 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(2) in two hours and five minutes to reach the second round of the Infosys Hall of Fame Open.

“It was super nice. It took me a while to find certain things. My return was there in the beginning, which was weird, and my serve wasn’t. Then the return went away and the serve came back and it kind of ended right where I left off,” said Opelka, whose only match during the past 23 months came at an ATP Challenger Tour event last October. “It was nice to be back. It felt like longer than two years. So yeah, it was just nice to find my level again. I’m still just getting my sea legs and trying to figure everything out. But yeah, it’s great to be back.”

Opelka underwent surgery on his hip and later his wrist, which kept him out for this prolonged period. In 2022 he had reached his career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 17.

“It is what it is. It’s part of sports. Luckily, I feel like I’m just kind of picking right back up from where I left in D.C.,” Opelka said. “From where I was a couple months ago, this is a great step for me. I wasn’t sure if I’d be playing this year or not. But I feel really good for now about my body, knock on wood. It seems to change every week, but it’s definitely heading in the right direction.”

According to Infosys ATP Stats the 26-year-old won 89 per cent of his first-serve points and hit 16 aces against Lestienne. He will next play defending champion and top seed Adrian Mannarino, against whom he owns a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead.

“Obviously there are going to be some setbacks, I assume, with my body. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I haven’t played this much tennis in two years,” Opelka said. “But Adrian is tough, defending champion, really good on grass, tricky opponent. I haven’t seen a guy like him at his level in a while. I haven’t played a lefty in a long time, so it’ll be fun. It’ll be interesting. A great test for me and a good opportunity to get another look at a top guy.”

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Maxime Cressy, the 2022 Newport champion, survived a stern test from Radu Albot 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) despite hitting 23 double faults.

“It’s very special being back here. [I won] my first ATP title here,” said Cressy, who will next play 2023 finalist and third seed Alex Michelsen. “It’s the best memory of my career by far and looking forward to the next rounds.”

In other action, sixth seed Aleksandar Vukic eased past Coleman Wong 6-1, 6-2 and Aleksandar Kovacevic ousted Harold Mayot 7-6(1), 6-4.\

The final match of the evening between Benoit Paire and Zachary Svajda was suspended due to darkness with the match level at one set all.

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