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Duckworth Soars Into First ATP Tour Final

  • Posted: Sep 25, 2021

Australia’s James Duckworth is into his first ATP Tour final after he defeated eighth seed Ilya Ivashka 6-3, 7-6(4) on Saturday at the Astana Open.

The World No. 65, who is yet to drop a set in Nur-Sultan, saved two set points at 4-5 in the second set as he hit with great depth to pin Ivashka behind the baseline to advance after two hours and two minutes.

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“I am really excited,” Duckworth said. “I am thrilled. It was a really tough match. Ilya has been playing some great tennis this year. We have played twice already this year, both times went to three sets.

“I knew it was going to be really difficult but I managed to win that second set in a tie-break. it was a very close set that could have gone either way. I think I played the big points well.”

Duckworth has now won his last nine matches, having triumphed in Istanbul at an ATP Challenger Tour event last week. The 29-year-old was competing in his first tour-level semi-final since he enjoyed a run to the last four in Pune in 2020.

Ivashka, currently at a career-high No. 52 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, was aiming to win his second tour-level title this week, after triumphing in Winston-Salem last month. The 27-year-old had won 11 of his past 12 matches before his match against Duckworth.

The Australian will face Soonwoo Kwon in the championship match after the South Korean upset second seed Alexander Bublik 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach his first tour-level final.

Kwon, who enjoyed a run to the semi-finals in Eastbourne in June, broke three times and fired seven aces to advance after two hours and four minutes.

”It will be a tough match,” Duckworth added. “Kwon is more of a baseliner. I will have to be ready. I am just going to recover the best I can and come out tomorrow and see what happens.”

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Murray-Nishikori Blockbuster Headlines San Diego Draw

  • Posted: Sep 25, 2021

Wild cards Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori will meet in a first-round blockbuster at the San Diego Open, it was revealed at the ATP 250’s draw ceremony on Friday evening.

It will be the 12th meeting in the pair’s ATP Head2Head rivalry, which Murray leads 9-2. They have not played since the Roland Garros quarter-finals in 2017, when the Scot triumphed in four sets.

The winner between former World No. 1 Murray and former World No. 4 Nishikori will face a stiff test in the second round against second seed Casper Ruud, who is competing this weekend for Team Europe in the Laver Cup. The Norwegian recently cracked the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time and has won four ATP Tour titles this year.

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Top seed Andrey Rublev will open his run against Italian Fabio Fognini or #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima, who received a wild card. This will be the first clash between Fognini and Nakashima.

Rublev will play sixth seed Diego Schwartzman in the quarter-finals if both men make it that far. Rublev beat Schwartzman 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 on Friday in a Laver Cup thriller.

Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will begin his tournament against 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics and fourth seed Denis Shapovalov will play American Taylor Fritz or a qualifier in the second round.

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Rublev Rallies Past Schwartzman At Laver Cup

  • Posted: Sep 25, 2021

Diego Schwartzman put himself in strong position to narrow Team World’s deficit on Friday at the Laver Cup, but Team Europe’s Andrey Rublev did not allow the Argentine to finish the job.

The World No. 5 rallied past Schwartzman 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 to give Team Europe a 3-0 lead, before John Isner and Denis Shapovalov earned Team World’s first win in the evening’s doubles match.

Rublev rallied from 2/6 in the Match Tie-break to triumph after one hour and 51 minutes.

“It’s amazing. I know most of the people were supporting Diego, which is normal because he is from Team World. But the atmosphere tonight was amazing,” Rublev said in his on-court interview. “I want to say thank you so much for coming to support your favourite players, your favourite teams. This means a lot to us.”

The Boston crowd was fully behind Schwartzman, chanting “Ole! Ole, Ole, Ole! Diego! Diego!” at points during the match. The Team World bench — including Nick Kyrgios, John Isner and Jack Sock — also urged the fans inside TD Garden to complete the wave around the arena.

But Rublev spoiled the party, and prevented the Argentine from earning his team’s first win of the weekend. The Russian made uncharacteristic unforced errors on the forehand side early in the Match Tie-break to dig himself a hole.

But the recent Cincinnati finalist clawed his way out of it by eliminating his baseline mistakes and playing with controlled aggression. It was not easy to close out the match, however.

Rublev bent over in disbelief after hitting a double fault on his first match point at 9/8. Two points later, he made amends by finishing off an incredible rally at the net, putting away the scrappy Schwartzman with a final forehand volley.

“It was so close. Diego was leading all the super tie-break, but in the end I found a way to win,” Rublev said. “It happens. This is tennis, this is sport and it’s emotions. Someone has to win and someone has to lose.”

Team World bounced back when Isner and Shapovalov beat Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-1.

Isner, one of the biggest servers in tennis history, was broken at love to start the match. But the crowd went crazy in support of the American and Shapovalov, who improved their level as play went on and won some incredible points with jaw-dropping shotmaking. 

“Honestly I think the credit goes big-time to John. The guy played incredibly today. He carried me after a couple of those misses and he really helped lift my game up as well,” Shapovalov said in the on-court interview. “This guy talks about being a servebot, but today I think he was more of a returnbot as well.”

Each match on Saturday will be worth two points, giving Team World an opportunity to continue its comeback.

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Berrettini Battles Past Felix In Laver Cup Thriller, Extends Team Europe Lead

  • Posted: Sep 25, 2021

Matteo Berrettini was down for most of his Laver Cup match against close friend Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday in Boston. But the Italian did not panic, and clawed past the Canadian 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-8 to give Team Europe a 2-0 lead against Team World.

The Italian faced 13 break points, but saved 12 of them to remain in touch with the recent US Open semi-finalist. And after a thrilling two hours and 52 minutes inside the TD Garden, Berrettini triumphed by hitting a backhand passing shot that a diving Auger-Aliassime was unable to reach.

“I felt the match was really hard. Felix was playing really good, not giving me anything, no mistakes, serving really well. I felt a different energy. I was playing for my team, not just for myself,” Berrettini said in his on-court interview. “I felt great and they helped me a lot.”

Berrettini entered the match with a 2-1 advantage in the pair’s ATP Head2Head rivalry. But the margins were razor-thin on the slow indoor hard court, and the World No. 7 rallied from 5/7 down in the Match Tie-Break to claim his victory after a gruelling two hours and 52 minutes.

The friends are two of the biggest hitters on the ATP Tour. But with their shots not moving quickly through the court, it became a tactical battle, with both men showing a willingness to move forward to finish points.

At 8/8 on Berrettini’s serve in the Match Tie-break, Auger-Aliassime worked his way into the point. But the World No. 11 mishit a neutral forehand, which gave his opponent match point, which the Italian converted.

Casper Ruud
Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup
Casper Ruud got Team Europe off to a good start on Friday afternoon by beating Team World’s Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6(4) after one hour and 46 minutes. The Norwegian star forced the big-serving American to play grinding baseline rallies and saved all three break points he faced to take a 3-0 lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head Series.

“I was quite nervous in the beginning,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “It’s a big stadium, big crowd. You get chills when you walk on court. You have the intro, the music and seeing all the legends. But luckily I handled it well.”

Ruud needed three sets to win his first two matches against Opelka, most recently triumphing against him in a final-set tie-break in Cincinnati. But on the slow court, the Norwegian was at home as he limited the free points he gave the home favourite and controlled rallies from the baseline. Opelka prefers to be the aggressor, but he was too often left chasing after balls just to try to put them back into play.

Captain John McEnroe, Nick Kyrgios and John Isner urged Opelka to mix things up and go for more on certain points to plant seeds of doubt in Ruud’s mind. The American rushed the net and served and volleyed on occasion. In the second-set tie-break, he hit a backhand drop volley with so much backspin, it bounced on Ruud’s side and back into the net.

But Ruud never panicked and pumped his fist after hitting a deep return that forced Opelka to make his final error of the match into the net.

“I got an early break, which kind of calms the nerves down a little bit. I’m sure it was the same for Reilly, he’s playing at home,” Ruud said. “I was just trying to enjoy the moment and play without pressure. It was a very good match for me.”

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Goffin, Herbert & Krawietz Celebrate Weddings

  • Posted: Sep 24, 2021

David Goffin has climbed as high as No. 7 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, won five ATP Tour titles and advanced to the championship match at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals. But on 18 September, the Belgian earned a victory beyond the tennis court.

Goffin married Stephanie Tuccitto in a ceremony in the south of France. The 30-year-old announced their wedding on social media, writing on Instagram: “The beginning of our new chapter #Mr&MrsGoffin”.

Goffin was not the only ATP Tour star who recently tied the knot.

Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the former World No. 36 in singles and five-time major doubles champion, made it official with Julia Lang. In his announcement on Instagram, Herbert wrote, “Monsieur et Madame Herbert ? #7yearslater”.

German Kevin Krawietz, the two-time Roland Garros doubles champion alongside countryman Andreas Mies, married Judit Csonka. 

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Carreno Busta Beats Rune In Metz

  • Posted: Sep 24, 2021

Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta produced an impressive performance on Friday at the Moselle Open, overcoming #NextGenATP Dane Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a high-quality match to reach the semi-finals in Metz.

The second seed, who defeated Mikael Ymer in his opening match, hit with great consistency and depth against Rune, winning 77 per cent (43/56) of his first-serve points to advance in two hours and 11 minutes.

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“He is playing really well, he is going to improve a lot in the next months,” Carreno Busta said in his on-court interview. “I am happy as it was a very important victory for me. When you play this kind of player you have all the pressure to win and at the end it was a really good battle.”

The 30-year-old is making his third appearance in Metz and has enjoyed a strong season. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist lifted the trophy on home soil in Marbella, before capturing his first ATP 500 title on clay in Hamburg.

#NextGenATP star Rune was aiming to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final, having upset fifth seed Lorenzo Sonego en route to the last eight. The 18-year-old qualifier will look to finish the season strongly as he aims to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

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Third seed Gael Monfils awaits Carreno Busta in the semi-finals after the Frenchman cruised past Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-3 to improve to 2-0 in their ATPHead2Head Series.

“At the beginning I was more comfortable but then in the second set he started to be more and more aggressive with the returns and I wasn’t as comfortable then,” Carreno Busta added. “It will be a tough match [against Monfils]. I will be younger in the next match! I will try to do my best, Gael is an incredible player.”

It is the first time Monfils, who lifted the title in Metz in 2009, has reached the last four at a tour-level event since February 2020 when he enjoyed a run to the semi-finals in Dubai. The 35-year-old fired 11 aces and broke four times to advance in 68 minutes.

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Hurkacz Halts Murray In Metz

  • Posted: Sep 24, 2021

Top seed Hubert Hurkacz continued his push to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday by overcoming Andy Murray 7-6(4), 6-3 at the Moselle Open. The Polish star moves into his fourth tour-level semi-final of the season.

In a hard-fought first set against the Brit, Hurkacz fended off all three break points he faced and then took his chance in the tie-break to lead. The Pole then raced clear in the second set to advance after one hour and 50 minutes.

“Andy is an unbelievable competitor, he has achieved so much throughout his career,” Hurkacz said. “He is coming back from a tough injury and playing at a very high level, so he is amazing and you can be inspired by his results.”

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Hurkacz has enjoyed a strong season, capturing the title in Delray Beach, before winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami. The top seed is currently ninth in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin as he aims to qualify for the season finale, which will be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 14-21 November.

The 24-year-old now holds a 2-0 lead against Murray in their ATPHead2Head Series, having also defeated the former World No. 1 in Cincinnati last month. Hurkacz will next face Peter Gojowczyk after the German moved past American Marcos Giron 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

“I really like it here, I enjoy the atmosphere,” Hurkacz added. “I think the surface suits me and I am happy to be in the semi-finals. His [Peter Gojowczyk] recent results are really good, he has improved a lot so it will be an interesting match.”

Murray defeated sixth seed Ugo Humbert and Canadian Vasek Pospisil en route to his first tour-level quarter-final of the season.

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