Tennis News

Q2 Review: Two Italian #NextGenATP Stars Continue March To Milan

Five #NextGenATP stars have continued to impress on the ATP Tour this season, with the quintet all in strong contention to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in November.

Two Italians, Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, sit in first and fourth place respectively in the ATP Race To Milan, with both building on their early season success with successful results on clay at Roland Garros and ATP Tour events. The 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz broke into the Top 100 for the first time in May after claiming a fourth ATP Challenger Tour title in Portugal.

The talented teenager sits one spot behind Musetti as he bids to compete in Milan from 9-13 November. North American stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Sebastian Korda enjoyed strong grass-court swings and also remain in strong contention to qualify.

ATPTour.com takes a look at the five men who lead the Milan qualification race at the conclusion of the second quarter of the 2021 season:

View Latest ATP Race To Milan Standings

No. 1 Jannik Sinner, 1520 points
Jannik Sinner’s season has gone from strength to strength after his strong start to the year when he became only the fourth teenager to reach the Miami Open presented by Itau final (l. to Hurkacz) in the tournament’s 36-year history.

The Italian experienced further success at the start of the clay swing as he reached his second tour-level semi-final at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in April. The 19-year-old defeated Top 10 stars Roberto Bautista Agut and Andrey Rublev in straight sets before falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Catalonia.

Fuelled with confidence after saving a match point against Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round at Roland Garros, Sinner marched past countryman Gianluca Mager and Mikael Ymer to reach the fourth round on the Parisian clay.

Despite then falling to Rafael Nadal, the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion looks well on course to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals again.

No. 2 Felix Auger-Aliassime, 1365 points
The Canadian built on his impressive start to the season by adding Toni Nadal to his coaching team before the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April. Auger-Aliassime was delighted to join forces with the Spaniard, who formerly coached nephew Rafael Nadal to 16 Grand Slam titles before stepping down in 2017.

“I feel super privileged and lucky to have Toni in my team,” Auger-Aliassime said in May. “He’s been around for a long time and has won everything the sport has to give as a coach so it’s extremely motivating to have him by my side.”

The impact has already shown, with the 20-year-old advancing to his eighth ATP Tour final, and second of the season (Murray River Open), at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart at the start of June. He did not drop a set en route to the final before falling to Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

Auger-Aliassime then backed this up as he recorded a fifth Top 10 victory of his career at the time against 10-time NOVENTI OPEN champion and long-time idol Roger Federer in the second round in Halle. The World No. 19 went on to reach the semi-finals (l. to Humbert) in Germany.

The 20-year-old then overcame World No. 6 Alexander Zverev in five sets at Wimbledon as he advanced to his first quarter-final at a Grand Slam.

Read More: Felix Says Uncle Toni ‘Adds Calm & Confidence, Not Pressure’

No. 3 Sebastian Korda, 1045 points
Sebastian Korda broke new ground in May as he capped off a great week at the Emilia-Romagna Open with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over home favourite Marco Cecchinato to win his first ATP Tour trophy. The 21-year-old did not drop a set en route to the title and became the first American since Sam Querrey in 2010 at the Serbia Open (d. Isner) to win a trophy on European Clay.

“This is something that I’ve dreamed of. I really thought I was going to get it done in Delray Beach [earlier this year], and I was a little heartbroken,” Korda said after the tournament.

“But I stayed positive. I took a couple of days off, recharged my batteries, and had a really good practice week in Prague with my dad and my coach. I came back hungrier, and I’m playing some really good tennis now.”

Korda, who defeated World No. 9 Diego Schwartzman at the Miami Open in March, then secured a second Top 10 win of his career over Roberto Bautista Agut at the NOVENTI OPEN in June.

The American continued to flourish on grass at Wimbledon, advancing to the fourth round on his debut at The Championships. He impressively defeated seeded duo Alex de Minaur and Daniel Evans in London.

No. 4 Lorenzo Musetti, 811 points
Along with Sinner, Musetti is another rising Italian star who is aiming to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in November.

The 19-year-old reached a career-high No. 58 in the FedEx ATP Rankings in June after impressive results on clay. Musetti, now at No. 62, advanced to his second semi-final of the season at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (l. to Tsitsipas). The Italian defeated fellow #NextGenATP stars Auger-Aliassime and Korda in France.

He then had a dream run at Roland Garros on his Grand Slam debut, as he reached the fourth round in Paris. Musetti toppled 13th seed David Goffin in straight sets in the opening round and led by two-sets-to-love against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 before the Serbian Superstar fought back.

“For me [it] was a fantastic experience. I think I was playing my best tennis, for sure. I have never played like today,” Musetti reflected after his defeat to Djokovic. “Now I know how can I play, how far I am from the biggest [players on] the Tour, like Nole, so I know that if I play good I can stay at this level.”

No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz, 529 points
The youngest #NextGenATP star on the list is 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard reached his first-tour level semi-final at the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open trophy in Marbella (l. to Munar) in April, defeating Norway’s Casper Ruud en route to the last four.

Alcaraz then enjoyed a memorable May as he became the youngest match-winner in the history of the Mutua Madrid Open, breaking 18-year-old Rafael Nadal’s record from 2004 when he overcame Adrian Mannarino in the Masters 1000 event.

One month later, Alcaraz became one of just seven players to win four ATP Challenger Tour trophies at the age of 18 & under when he lifted the Oeiras Open 125 trophy in Portugal.

Having cracked the Top 100 with this victory, he then became the youngest man to reach the third round at Roland Garros since 17-year-old Andrei Medvedev in 1992 on his debut in Paris.

Source link

Tokyo 2020: Jamie Murray replaces Dan Evans in Team GB tennis squad

Jamie Murray has been selected for Team GB’s tennis team for the Tokyo Games following the withdrawal of Dan Evans.

Source link

Top Seeds Krawietz/Tecau Cruise Into Hamburg Semi-finals

Top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau continued their serene progress at the Hamburg European Open as they took down German wild cards Daniel Altmaier and Rudolf Molleker in straight sets on Wednesday.

Krawietz and Tecau lifted the trophy in Halle and are going for their second title of the year on German soil. They saved both of the break points they faced against Altmaier and Molleker, and needed just 49 minutes to win 6-3, 6-2 and reach the semi-finals. The German-Romanian duo has yet to drop a set, and have lost only six games en route to the last four.

Other seeded teams in Hamburg had different fates: third seeds Matwe Middelkoop and Hugo Nys suffered a 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 upset to Jamie Cerretani and Hans Hach Verdugo, while fourth seeds Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic fell to Andrey Golubev, a Roland Garros doubles finalist (w/ Bublik) and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 7-6(5).

Elsewhere, at the Nordea Open in Bastad, Marco Cecchinato and Roberto Carballes Baena were the first team into the semi-finals after a nail-biting win over fourth seeds Nicholas Monroe and Andrei Vasilevski. The Italian-Spanish tandem came back from a set down and escaped in a tight tie-break to win 3-6, 7-5, 10-8.

At the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, third seeds Harri Heliovaara and John-Patrick Smith grabbed the last spot into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-7 victory over American duo Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

Source link

Bublik Battles Back Against Karlovic In Newport

Top seed Alexander Bublik out-aced and outlasted Ivo Karlovic to kick off his Hall of Fame Open campaign with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1 victory on Wednesday.

In his first match as a tournament’s first seed in his career, 2019 finalist Bublik withstood 21 aces from the big-serving Karlovic, who lifted the Newport trophy in 2016. He broke serve twice and served up 22 aces of his own en route to the quarter-finals.

“Ivo is a great player and there is not much to say about this match other than it was server versus server,” Bublik said. “In the first set, I got a bit lucky and he gave me two double faults, in the second set I gave him [four] and he gave up five in the third. I’m happy to get through and I’m happy to be in the quarter-finals.”

The No. 37 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings reached his first tour-level final two years ago here in Newport. Bublik looked as comfortable as ever on the stadium court, going toe-to-toe with the 6’11” Karlovic through a tightly contested, 50-minute opening set. 

The 42-year-old fought off two break points to take them into a tie-break but, under pressure from Bublik, he surrendered the first set with just his second double fault of the match. Karlovic brushed it off in the second set, and won 94 per cent (15/16) of points behind his big first serve to level the score.

But Bublik, who kept Karlovic on his toes throughout the contest with his variety and signature underarm serves, raised his level in the decider. He only dropped one point behind his serve, and reeled off the last five games of the match before sealing the victory with his 22nd ace. 

Through to his fifth quarter-final of the season, Bublik will next face Chinese Taipei’s Jason Jung, who stunned fifth seed Tennys Sandgren in a 6-2, 6-2 rout. Jung saved all six of the break points he faced and won 82 per cent (32/39) of points behind his first serve to advance.

Seventh seed Jordan Thompson and eighth seed Kevin Anderson also made their way into the Newport quarter-finals in straight sets. Thompson raced past Yuichi Sugita at the expense of just two games, 6-0, 6-2. He will await the winner of second seed Sam Querrey and Maxime Cressy, who is contesting his first ATP Tour main draw on grass this week.

Anderson took down Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner in a close contest, needing an hour and 33 minutes to secure a 7-5, 7-6(3) victory. Anderson served up 18 aces and did not face a break point as he won 94 per cent (31/33) of points behind his first serve. He will next face Jack Sock, who toppled third seed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-3 in his first tour-level main draw since last year’s Roland Garros. 

Source link

Tokyo 2020: Dan Evans withdraws from Olympics after positive Covid-19 test

British number one Dan Evans withdraws from the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer after testing positive for Covid-19.

Source link

Q2 Review: Djokovic’s Destiny, Tsitsipas & Berrettini Break Through

The second quarter of the 2021 ATP Tour season saw long-awaited breakthroughs, streaks of dominance, and destiny fulfilled.

We saw Novak Djokovic tighten his grip on the top of the FedEx ATP Rankings and add two Grand Slam titles to his record-tying haul – putting him one major win away from a historic feat.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini reached their first Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, respectively. The Greek player dominated the clay-court swing, but Rafael Nadal was not to be left behind as he set record after record on the surface. Berrettini went from barely being able to serve, to serving up a major breakthrough on grass courts.

Daniil Medvedev learned that variety is the spice of tennis, while one doubles duo forgot how to lose as they secured a spot into the Nitto ATP Finals before anyone else.

Below, ATPTour.com reflects on a head-turning chapter of the 2021 season.

The Limit Does Not Exist For Djokovic 
The sport’s greats work hard to achieve incredible results and accomplish unprecedented feats. But only the best of the best can make it look easy, and even fewer can make victory seem inevitable. That’s exactly what World No. 1 Novak Djokovic managed to do when he took his already historic 2021 season and dialed it up to a legendary level.

After taking a two-month break following his record-extending ninth Australian Open victory, Djokovic returned to action on clay with his sights set on extending his historic streak of most all-time weeks at No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. But as the wins piled up, another goal was now within reach: the calendar-year Grand Slam. 

“I will definitely go for the title at Wimbledon, the US Open and any other tournament and any other Slam that I play. I always have the highest ambition and expectations of myself, but I try to be in the present moment,” Djokovic said. “I know that if I do everything in the right way, if I put myself in the right state of mind — my body and soul, so to say — I’m able to win against anybody on any surface.”

Read Tribute: Djokovic, Serial Champion

Djokovic fought through 13-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal and defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in a dramatic final in Paris to lift his second Coupe des Mousquetaires – becoming the first man in the Open Era to win all the Grand Slams twice. At Wimbledon, he only dropped one set on his way to his sixth Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy (d. Berrettini), an all-time record-tying 20th major title. He is now one major win away from emulating Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) in winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season.

Nadal Sends A Message In Rome
For years, the ATP Tour’s clay-court season has been synonymous with Nadal season, as the Spaniard has long dominated the red dirt with 62 of his 88 tour-level titles coming on the surface, including a record 13 Roland Garros victories. This year, two of the biggest titles may have eluded him, with Roland Garros going to Djokovic and the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid to Alexander Zverev. But Nadal sent a message that he’s not ready to relinquish his grip after reaching the quarter-finals or better at all clay-court events he contested, and adding two more titles to his ever-growing haul.

In fact, in the six tournaments that he has played so far in 2021, Nadal has yet to lose before the last eight. After taking a two-month break following the Australian Open (l. to Tsitsipas), he raced out of the gates at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he ran up against an inspired Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals.

He was back in business on the courts of his beloved Barcelona, where he claimed a tournament-record-extending 12th title at the ATP 500 event and lifted the trophy at his namesake court, Pista Rafa Nadal. Nadal backed up a quarter-final run in Madrid by shattering another tournament record in Rome, claiming his 10th Internazionali BNL d’Italia title (d. Djokovic). 

“I really wanted this 10th here in Rome… After achieving 10 at Roland Garros, 10 in Monte-Carlo, 10 in Barcelona, I really wanted this one,” he said. “It’s [a] super important tournament for me… I want to win every day and every tournament that I am playing. Something that I know [is] not going to happen. But the passion and the motivation to try is always the same.”

Tsitsipas’ Clay-Court Dominance
It would have been easy for Stefanos Tsitsipas to get down on himself after letting a golden opportunity slip by after the Miami Open presented by Itau, where a wide-open field gave the 22-year-old a chance at his first ATP Masters 1000 event. In the end, he didn’t give doubters very long to question it. Tsitsipas made his long-awaited breakthrough in the very next tournament, tearing through the draw at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Rublev) without dropping a set.

It would have also been easy to stop there, with Tsitsipas satisfied after his sixth tour-level title and his first above the ATP 250 level. But that’s not his style. Rather than the peak, Tsitsipas’ triumph in Monte-Carlo was just the start of a season of clay-court dominance. 

Read More: Tsitsipas Reveals ‘What I’m Fighting For’

The Greek player racked up a 22-4 record on the surface, adding to his tour-leading 39 matches won (39-10 on the season). Tsitsipas reached the Barcelona final – holding match points against Nadal – and went on a 10-match winning streak that took him to another title in Lyon title and his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic). 

As a result Tsitsipas led the field in the FedEx ATP Race to Turin and occupied the first position for most of Q2, before being overtaken by Djokovic. But don’t expect the Greek to be satisfied with second place for long.

“That’s what I’m fighting for; that’s where most of my attention is right now,” Tsitsipas said. “It’s a priority and I’m trying to gain as many points in the Race To Turin this year. It’s going well so far. I’ve been playing good tennis. I’ve been consistent and that has helped me be where I am right now. I have a goal of achieving 7,000 or 8,000 points this year. I think it’s a good goal and with this consistency, I see no reason not to get there.”

Berrettini Bounces Back In A Big Way
After sitting out most of the first half of the season with an abdominal injury, it would have been understandable if Matteo Berrettini needed a few tournaments to find his feet again on clay courts and kept expectations low. 

Instead, Berrettini blew expectations out of the water as he claimed his fourth tour-level title in his second tournament back in action, cooling the red-hot Aslan Karatsev in the Serbia Open final. He made it eight wins in a row as he powered his way to his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Zverev). Not bad, considering that just a few weeks earlier he was struggling to even land a serve.

Read More: Berrettini’s Road From Painful Sneezing To Madrid Final

“It’s crazy because after three days [when] I got injured, I could do a crunch with my abs, but I couldn’t turn. When I was getting in the car, when I took flights, I was struggling. I was feeling it. When I was sneezing, I was feeling it… I couldn’t serve for a long time.” he described in Madrid.

But the best was yet to come, as the Italian reached an even higher level on the lawns of London. Berrettini took down five-time Queen’s Club champion Andy Murray en route to his first ATP 500 title at the cinch Championships (d. Norrie). At Wimbledon, a tournament where he had never been past the fourth round, Berrettini made his biggest move yet. Only Djokovic was able to halt the big-serving Berrettini and snap his 11-match winning streak as he powered his way into his first Grand Slam final.

Medvedev Masters All The Surfaces
With two Grand Slam finals and 10-tour level titles, there’s no question that Daniil Medvedev has been one of the top hard-court players of the past few years. But after rising to World No. 2 and having next to no FedEx ATP Ranking points to defend between April and August 2021, the Russian seized the opportunity to challenge himself on clay and grass courts.

In Madrid (0-2), Rome (0-2) and Roland Garros (0-4), the goal was simple: win at least one match. He did that and more. After breaking his duck with his first win in Madrid and the falling at the first hurdle in Rome, Medvedev defied the odds with a run to his first Grand Slam quarter-final away from hard-courts at Roland Garros. After years of being vocal with his dislike for clay courts, the Russian was starting to change his tune. 

“The clay at Roland Garros feels great this year,” said Medvedev. “Now I know that to beat me here, the guys have to play well.”

He continued to thrive outside of his comfort zone as the tour turned to grass, a surface that he historically enjoys playing on but where he had not achieved professional success. He translated a run to the title at the Mallorca Championships (d. Querrey), his 11th tour-level title and his first away from hard courts, into his best Wimbledon result, reaching the fourth round (l. to Hurkacz) with a victory over former finalist Marin Cilic along the way.

Mektic/Pavic Book Their Nitto ATP Finals Ticket
In singles, no one has dominated the 2021 season more than Djokovic. In doubles, that title goes to the unstoppable Croatian duo of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, whose incredible streak of success has earned them the first spot into the Nitto ATP Finals.

The No. 1 and No. 2 players in the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings teamed up at the start of the year, and everything their partnership touched has turned to gold. They reached four consecutive ATP Masters 1000 finals, and won three of those in Miami, Monte-Carlo and Rome.

After being bested by Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in Madrid, Mektic and Pavic claimed their revenge a few weeks later on grass. They won 10 matches in a row to lift the trophy at Eastbourne, and then triumphed at Wimbledon (d. Granollers/Zeballos) for their first Grand Slam title as a team. 

Source link

Garin Begins Bastad Campaign

Second-seeded Chilean Cristian Garin moved past Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-3 in his opening match at the Nordea Open on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals in Sweden.

Garin, currently at a career-high No. 18 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, broke the Spaniard’s serve twice in each set, winning 55 per cent (23/42) of first-service return points in the match to advance in one hour and 36 minutes.

The 25-year-old improved to 2-0 in his ATPHead2Head against Martinez. Garin lifted the Chile Dove Men+Care Open title on home soil (d. Bagnis) in Santiago in March to claim his fifth tour-level title, with all five trophies coming on clay.

Garin will next face Argentine Federico Coria at the ATP 250 event after the World No. 77 rallied to overcame Marco Cecchinato 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and ten minutes. Coria, who reached the semi-finals at the Cordoba Open (l. Cerundolo) in March, won 72 per cent (34/47) of his first-service points to advance.

Source link

Krajinovic Battles Into Hamburg Quarter-Finals

Sixth seed Filip Krajinovic fought past German wild card Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at the Hamburg European Open on Wednesday to reach his third quarter-final of the season.

The Serbian, who also advanced to the last eight on home soil in Belgrade (l. to Berrettini) and Munich (l. to Struff) this year, hit nine aces and won 73 per cent (47/64) of his first-service points to defeat the former World No. 16 in two hours and 25 minutes.

The 29-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Hamburg in 2019 in his last appearance at the clay-court ATP 500 event. Krajinovic will next face top-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or World No. 59 Dominik Koepfer as he aims to reach a first tour-level semi-final since his run to the last four at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (l. to Monfils) in Rotterdam last February.

Kohlschreiber overcame Jaume Munar in the first round and was aiming to reach his second quarter-final (NOVENTI OPEN) of the season on Wednesday.

Countryman Laslo Djere also made his way into the quarter-finals after the Serbian defeated Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-6(1), 6-1. The World No. 57 came back from a break down in the first set to advance in one hour and 48 minutes. Djere will next face third seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Source link

Wimbledon: Two matches investigated over irregular betting patterns

A singles match and a men’s doubles match from this year’s Wimbledon Championships are assessed after the gambling industry flagged up alerts.

Source link

Roger Federer To Miss Tokyo Olympics

Roger Federer has announced that he will miss this month’s Tokyo Olympics due to a knee injury.

Posting on Twitter, the five-time year-end World No. 1 said, “During the grass-court season, I unfortunately experienced a setback with my knee, and have accepted that I must withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games. I am greatly disappointed, as it has been an honor and highlight of my career each time I have represented Switzerland.

“I have already begun rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to the tour later this summer. I wish the entire Swiss team the best of luck and I will be rooting hard from a far. As always Hopp Schwiz!”

pic.twitter.com/ngIlD6MYew

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) July 13, 2021

Source link