Tennis News

Tsitsipas Ready For "Serious Business" Against Musetti

Stefanos Tsitsipas says it will be “serious business” on Saturday when he meets Lorenzo Musetti in the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon semi-finals.

The World No. 5 beat the #NextGenATP Italian 6-1, 6-3 in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC semi-finals on 20 March, but knows that their Lyon last-four clash will be very different.

“We played in different conditions [and] on a hard court,” said Tsitsipas, following his 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final victory over Yoshihito Nishioka in Lyon.

“The conditions here are different. We share similar games with a one-handed backhand, which is beautiful to see. Tomorrow is going to be serious business and I know he can play well on this surface and elevate his game.”

The 19-year-old Musetti played seven matches in seven days on the Acapulco hard courts and has since gone 10-6 on the season, including wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda and Aljaz Bedene this week.

“He is one of the best guys on Tour,” said Musetti on Friday. “Acapulco was really tough for me as I played a lot of matches and I didn’t have enough energy to play 100 per cent. He served really well, and he played well with the forehand, moving me around a lot. I will try to lead the match and try not have him dominate me.”

Watch Tsitsipas v Musetti Acapulco Semi-final Highlights

Tsitsipas, the ATP Tour match wins leader this season with a 31-8 record, has been working on different aspects of his game at the ATP 250 clay-court event and has followed Musetti’s progress since their 20 March clash in Mexico.

“I have been following his performances, he has been improving a lot and has a good record on clay, beating some good opponents,” said Tsitsipas. “I expect big things for him.”

The 22-year-old will be attempting to reach his 16th ATP Tour final (6-9) on Saturday, and continue the kind of form that took him to last month’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown (d. Rublev).

For Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, it will be an opportunity to record the second Top 10 win of his career (he beat No. 9 Schwartzman in the Acapulco first round) for a place in his first championship match.

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Djokovic Leads Serbian Hopes In Belgrade; All You Need To Know

After being absent from the ATP Tour calendar for nine years, Serbia will host its second ATP 250 event in as many months at the Belgrade Open.

Held at the Novak Tennis Centre, the same location as the Serbia Open, which was contested in April, the Belgrade Open will be headlined by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic as he seeks his 83rd tour-level title. Djokovic lifted two trophies on home soil during Belgrade’s previous four-year run, triumphing in 2009 and 2011.

The World No. 1 leads a strong contingent of Serbian players vying for home glory, including Filip Krajinovic, No. 36 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, No. 37-ranked Dusan Lajovic and No. 49-ranked Laslo Djere. Top 20 player Gael Monfils and 2021 titlist Nikoloz Basilashvili will also feature.

Note: The 2021 Belgrade Open will be held behind closed doors due to COVID-19 precautions.

Established: 2021

Tournament Dates: 23-29 May 2021

Tournament Director: Djordje Djokovic

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 21 May at 7:30pm

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Schedule
* Qualifying: Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 May, 11am
* Main draw: Sunday 23 – Saturday 29 May, 11am
* Doubles final: Saturday, 29 May, 2pm
* Singles final: Saturday, 29 May, 4pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Novak Tennis Center
Surface: Clay

Prize Money: €511,000 (Total Financial Commitment: €511,000) 

View Who Is Playing, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Did You Know?
The world-class Novak Tennis Centre complex boasts 14 tennis courts, including 11 clay courts. It also features a ‘trophy room’ that holds on display dozens of trophies and mementos from the World No. 1’s legendary career.

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Ruud Moves Into First Final Of 2021 In Geneva

After three straight semi-final losses, Casper Ruud soared into his first final of 2021 with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over Pablo Andujar at the Gonet Geneva Open on Friday.

“It has been some time since my previous final and I was just very motivated to win this match,” Ruud said. “I started off well and was able to keep a high level throughout.”

The World No. 24 was appearing in his fourth semi-final after deep runs in Madrid, Munich and Monte-Carlo. All 12 of the Norwegian’s semi-final appearances have come on clay.

The 22-year-old has had a stellar season so far with a 19-6 record and four wins over Top 20 opponents (Pablo Carreno Busta, Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tstisipas).

Ruud faces second seed Denis Shapovalov or qualifier Pablo Cuevas in Saturday’s final. It will be his fourth career final; he’s 1-2 with one title in Buenos Aires last year.

“The last day of the tournament is what we’re all fighting to get to,” Ruud said. “You can say that every week there is one winner and everybody else is sort of a loser. In a way that’s the brutality of the sport.”

Earlier in the week, Andujar scored the biggest win of his career over Roger Federer. This marked his first tour-level semi-final since Gstaad in 2019 and his fifteenth overall (all on clay).

In the first set, Ruud capitalised on an early long game to break Andujar and set the tone. His relentless aggressive groundstrokes forced the 35-year-old Spaniard to make more errors than he normally would. Ruud’s excellent serving put even more pressure on Andujar — he won 74 per cent of his service points and faced zero break points.

Ruud converted his first break-point chance in the second set to go up 3-1. He’d quickly wrap up in the win 80 minutes with Andujar netting an overhead on match point.

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Tsitsipas To Meet Musetti In Lyon Semi-finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas competed with great intensity on Friday to move within one step of the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon final.

The second-seeded Greek, who has compiled an ATP Tour-best 31 match wins on the season (31-8), did little wrong in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in 66 minutes.

“It was a good match from my side, he was serving well,” said Tsitsipas. “His game is a little unpredictable and he is one of the best left-handers out there. It’s never easy to construct the point and he is able to penetrate and play shots you don’t expect. I knew he was going to fight and not give up. I am pretty glad to have won.”

The World No. 5, who leads the FedEx ATP Race To Turin for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, will now face 19-year-old #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti. Tsitsipas beat Musetti 6-1, 6-3 in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC semi-finals two months ago.

Tsitsipas put Nishioka under constant pressure, breaking courtesy of a backhand long for 4-2 in the first set, which ended after 31 minutes. Tsitsipas, who lost just eight of his service points (40/48), gained a 2-1 lead in the second set courtesy of another error and didn’t look back.

Nishioka, 25, is now 5-10 on the season.

Also in action, eighth seed Karen Khachanov celebrated his 25th birthday with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over Richard Gasquet to reach his first clay-court semi-final. After the victory, the fans in Lyon sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to the delighted Russian.

A special birthday sing-along for @karenkhachanov ?#OpenParc pic.twitter.com/tDnw8OkjBk

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 21, 2021

Khachanov dominated the first set with a double break, winning the last five games of the set on the trot. He had to come back from a break down in the second set twice as Gasquet, who won in Lyon in 2006 (indoor carpet), staged a late comeback effort.

With the French crowd behind him, Gasquet held a set point at 5-4 on the Russian’s serve. But Khachanov held firm, and claimed the victory in the tie-break after an hour and 26 minutes.

In his second semi-final of 2021, Khachanov will face the winner of French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech and Cameron Norrie. Norrie led Rinderknech 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 on Friday night when rain suspended play.

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Musetti Recovers From 'Crazy End' For Lyon Semi-final Spot

Lorenzo Musetti raised his level at the right time on Friday to reach his third ATP Tour semi-final at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 19-year-old #NextGenATP Italian recovered from 2-5 down in the second set, and served for the match at 6-5 before a concentration lapse, en route to a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in one hour and 34 minutes.

“It was a crazy end,” said Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. “I was 6-5 up, and at 30/30 played a really bad volley and hit an underarm serve. Sometimes I go out of my mind. I am really proud of myself as I was 2-5 down in the second set and I stayed focused. I tried to play each point at my best.”

The World No. 82, who reached the semi-finals at the 2020 Sardinia Open and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco, will next challenge top-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan on Saturday. Tsitsipas beat Musetti 6-1, 6-3 in Acapulco two months ago.

Musetti struck a forehand drop shot winner to break for a 3-2 advantage in the first set, and while the Italian couldn’t convert a set point on Bedene’s serve at 5-2, he clinched the 39-minute opener after Bedene hit a backhand drop shot into the net.

Bedene bounced back immediately, winning 12 of the first 15 points en route to a 3-0 lead. The Slovenian led 5-2, before Musetti started his four-game comeback that ended when he inexplicably hit an underarm serve at 6-5, 30/40, which Bedene pounced upon. From 2/2 in the tie-break, Musetti won five straight points for his 12th win of the season (12-6).

Bedene, who is now 11-9 on the year, had been attempting to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final since a run to the Moselle Open final (l. to Tsonga) in September 2019.

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French Open 2021: Simona Halep withdraws with left calf injury

World number three and 2018 champion Simona Halep withdraws from the French Open with a left calf injury.

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Klaasen/McLachlan Oust Cilic/Golubev To Reach Geneva SFs

Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan reached their third semi-final of the year as a team on Thursday when they defeated Marin Clic and Andrey Golubev 6-3, 7-6(4) at the Gonet Geneva Open. The third seeds will next play Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez, who eliminated Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic 6-3, 7-6(7).

Klaasen and McLachlan won their first ATP Tour title together in Cologne last year. They are pursuing their first final of the season.

Second seeds John Peers and Michael Venus also battled into the semi-finals with a 6-3, 1-6, 11-9 victory against home favourites Marc-Andrea Huesler and Dominic Stephan Stricker. In other action, Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar made the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

Herbert/Mahut Cruise In Lyon
Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut cruised past Artem Sitak and Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-1 to make the last four at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon. The Frenchmen have captured multiple titles together in each of the past six seasons, and this week they are trying to lift their first trophy of the season.

Herbert and Mahut will next play Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez, who defeated Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(1), 6-4. On the other half of the draw, Hugo Nys and Tim Puetz beat Lorenzo Musetti and Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-4. They will next challenge Matthew Ebden and John-Patrick Smith, who upset second seeds Henri Kontinen and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-0, 7-6(6).

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Shapovalov Shines In Geneva Double Duty

Denis Shapovalov successfully completed double duty on Thursday at the Gonet Geneva Open, winning two matches to advance to the semi-finals.

The left-handed Canadian clawed through a tight three-setter against Marco Cecchinato at the beginning of the day, and then he returned to the court to beat Laslo Djere 6-4, 6-4 in the last match of the day.

“I definitely think I played amazing today,” Shapovalov said. “Obviously a very tough day playing two matches, but super happy to get the win and super excited to be in the semi-finals.”

Shapovalov, who is pursuing his second ATP Tour title this week, is into his first semi-final since Dubai in March. The 22-year-old lost a three-set epic against Rafael Nadal in Rome last week.

The second seed will next play Uruguayan shotmaker Pablo Cuevas, who also earned two wins on the day. The 35-year-old qualifier backed up a triumph against 18-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux with a 7-6(3), 6-3 upset of fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov. Cuevas defeated Shapovalov 7-6(4), 6-3 in their only previous ATP Head2Head meeting three years ago in Indian Wells.

“We’ve only played once before on hard courts and he beat me there,” Shapovalov said. “He’s an amazing clay-court player, so it will definitely be a tough battle ahead of me.”

^{Photo Credit: Alexandre Hergott/Open Parc}
Third seed Casper Ruud only needed one victory to make the last four on Thursday. The Norwegian defeated German lefty Dominik Koepfer 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 58 minutes.

“It was a tough match. Dominik played very well in the first set, I think. He answered me with great backhands when I tried to play heavy down to his backhand corner,” Ruud said. “I think I was able to find a way today and I was happy with the way I was playing in the second and third sets.”

The 22-year-old is into his fourth consecutive semi-final and his 12th overall at tour-level, with all of those coming on clay. Notably, Ruud has made ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals in Monte-Carlo and Madrid this year (he did not compete in Rome). Next up will be Spaniard Pablo Andujar, who upset Roger Federer in the second round.

Andujar rallied past another home favourite, Dominic Stephan Stricker, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 12 minutes. Ruud defeated the veteran 6-2, 6-3 in Buenos Aires last year.

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Thiem On Lyon Loss: 'It's Just A Huge Step Back'

At his best, Dominic Thiem has proven a tremendous force on clay. But after winning just five games on Thursday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, the Austrian struggled to find a reason for his form.

“It was a huge disappointment just now. Just also a big, I would stay, step backwards after promising tournaments in Madrid and Rome. I don’t really know why,” Thiem admitted. “I was preparing well here, practising well and just didn’t find any rhythm, any strokes. Don’t really know what happened.

“But as I said, it’s just a huge step back. I was hoping to take the little positive signs from Madrid and Rome here, but it didn’t work out. I have to analyse [it] now and look [towards] Roland Garros.”

The World No. 4 took nearly two months off after losing in Dubai in March. Thiem competed well to make the Madrid semi-finals and dropped a physical slugfest against eventual semi-finalist Lorenzo Sonego in Rome, so he was expecting to improve even more in Lyon.

“It’s not good for the confidence. To be honest, the way I played today, I was expecting that more to come in Madrid because I hadn’t played for so long,” Thiem said. “But now I was back in the match rhythm and actually hoping for good tennis. I don’t know what to say or what to think. That’s why I need to analyse it and just need to work hard for Roland Garros and [I am] hoping for the best there.”

The two-time Roland Garros finalist said he might watch matches he played on clay two years ago to try to pick things up from when he was at top form.

“I was practising quite well the days I’ve been at home and the days before the match here, so it’s more the matches [I need to figure out],” Thiem said. “I need to find a way back somehow. The next match is already the first round at Roland Garros and until that day I need to hopefully sort it out.”

Thiem has quickly found his form before. At last year’s Western & Southern Open, which was held at Flushing Meadows, he only won three games in an opening-round loss against Filip Krajinovic. At the same site, the Austrian then won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open.

“I’m still [trying] to find the way I’m playing. I felt that I was on the right way in Madrid and Rome and the match against Sonego wasn’t bad at all. There were many long rallies,” Thiem said. “Today again I felt a little bit uncomfortable to play in these long rallies and rushing a bit [a few] of them. That’s how it is.”

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Former Champion Wawrinka, Murray Withdraw From Roland Garros

Stan Wawrinka has withdrawn from Roland Garros as he continues to recover from a left foot injury that required a procedure in March, and former World No. 1 Andy Murray has pulled out of qualifying.

Wawrinka, the former World No. 3, won the Roland Garros title in 2015, and he finished runner-up on the Parisian terre battue in 2017. Wawrinka owns a 44-15 record at the clay-court Grand Slam.

The Swiss star had a streak of 16 consecutive appearances at Roland Garros dating back to his major debut at the tournament in 2005. Last year, he lost a five-setter in the third round against home favourite Hugo Gaston.

Wawrinka last competed in Doha in March. The 36-year-old is currently the No. 24 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Murray, the 2016 Roland Garros finalist, will now focus on the grass-court season. The Scot played doubles with Liam Broady at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he also trained with the likes of Novak Djokovic. That was his only clay-court action this year.

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