Tennis News

Tsitsipas Earns Humbert Revenge In Toronto

Stefanos Tsitsipas bounced back after dropping an epic 22-minute second-set tie-break to Ugo Humbert – letting five match points slip by – and raised his level to win 6-3, 6-7(13), 6-1 on Tuesday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The newly minted World No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings has been in red-hot form all year, and arrived in Toronto with the most victories on the ATP Tour in 2021 with 42. He added to that count as he claimed his first victory over the 22-year-old Frenchman, improving to 1-2 in their ATP Head2Head. 

The victory also earned Tsitsipas a dose of revenge over Humbert, the player who defeated him in both their previous meetings – including knocking him out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Round of 16 last month. 

“It’s all about the fighting spirit,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m someone who doesn’t like to give up… It wasn’t easy out there today. I had to do a lot. I put a lot of effort into stepping it up and to be my best today.”

Tsitsipas moved into the third round, where he will await the winner of 15th seed Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov. Khachanov took down Cameron Norrie 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 on Tuesday to ensure the all-Russian clash.

The third seed was strong on serve as he raced out of the blocks against the Halle champion Humbert, keeping him under pressure on serve. He created seven break points in the opening set and converted at 4-3 after a double fault. He continued his momentum in the second set, charging ahead to a late break to take a 5-3 lead. 

But just as the Greek player was serving for the match, a shaky service game opened the door for Humbert, and the Frenchman gladly muscled through to level the score at 5-5. Humbert hit a purple patch at just the right time, out-rallying Tsitsipas from the back of the court and hitting outrageous winners off both wings. 

Both players wrestled for the momentum as the second set went into a tie-break, each having ample opportunities to take the deciding tilt. Tsitsipas created five match points, but Humbert showed his grit to save them all as he forced errors out of the Tsitsipas racquet. He needed four set points of his own to close out the marathon 22-minute tie-break and win the second set. 

After such a titanic effort, a letdown seemed inevitable and Tsitsipas was quick to capitalise as his opponent struggled to hit through the court. The Greek player won five unanswered games and served out the contest on his seventh opportunity to win in two hours and 36 minutes. 

“I took a break, I went to refresh myself. I kind of put it behind,” Tsitsipas said of how he mentally re-set ahead of the third set. “I didn’t want to think about it. Whatever happened happened, and I don’t want anything to affect me. I don’t want anything to get inside my head. I just showed incredible mental balance and mental strength to overcome this difficult tie-break that I just experienced… I still had high hopes that I could pull something good off.”

Tsitsipas is seeking his third title of the year in Toronto, after clinching his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and lifting the trophy in Lyon.

Elsewhere in Toronto, sixth seed Casper Ruud extended his winning streak to 12 matches with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic. The Norwegian turned heads in recent weeks with dominant performances to win three ATP 250 titles in consecutive weeks in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. 

Ruud showed no signs of slowing down on hard courts, battling for two hours and five minutes against Cilic in a rain-interrupted second-round clash. The sixth seed won 87 per cent (39/45) of points behind his first serve and converted two of three break opportunities to advance. He awaits the winner of ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Dusan Lajovic in the next round. 

Reilly Opelka backed up his big win over Nick Kyrgios with another confident victory as he took down 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4. The big-serving American kept the points short against Dimitrov, who has not won back-to-back matches since April. Opelka fired 22 winners, including 12 aces, and won 81 per cent (22/27) of points behind his first serve.

Opelka awaits the winner of Lloyd Harris and lucky loser Feliciano Lopez, who replaced Rafael Nadal in the draw (left foot injury). The American downplayed talk that Nadal’s absence was a boost for him. “It’s not much of an opening. Lloyd Harris beat Rafa last week in Washington. Everyone here is good,” Opelka said.

Source link

Rafael Nadal: Foot injury forces former US Open champion to pull out of Canadian Open

Rafael Nadal withdraws from the Canadian Open with an ongoing foot injury, less than three weeks before the US Open begins.

Source link

Bolelli/Gonzalez Begin Toronto Campaign

Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez began their National Bank Open Presented by Rogers campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Canadians Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur on Tuesday in Toronto.

The Wimbledon semi-finalists, who have captured three tour-level titles this year in Mallorca, Parma and Santiago, won 81 per cent (21/26) of their first-service points to advance in 71 minutes.

Bolelli and Gonzalez will next face Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig after the Indian-Croatian tandem defeated Italians Fabio Fognini and Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 27 minutes.

Fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo also advanced with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner. It is just the third tournament of the year for the Polish-Brazilan team. After starting new partnerships at the beginning of the season, Kubot and Melo, who won the Wimbledon title in 2017, reunited at Roland Garros. 

Source link

Nadal Withdraws From Toronto

Second seed Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers due to a left foot injury, the tournament announced Tuesday.

“I have had this issue for a couple of months, as people know,” Nadal said. “Of course, it is not a happy situation after all the success that I had here in Canada, not being able to play this year after missing a year. It’s a tough one, but that’s how it is today. I need to go back and try to find a way to be better again. At the end of the day, for me the most important thing is to enjoy playing tennis. Today, with this pain, I am not able to enjoy it, and I really don’t believe that I have the chance to fight for the things that I really need to fight for.”

Nadal’s left foot injury forced him to miss Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics. The legendary lefty returned last week at the Citi Open in Washington, where he battled through his opening match against Jack Sock in a final-set tie-break before losing against South African Lloyd Harris in three sets in the third round.

“I really wanted to play here a lot, but now is the moment to make a decision,” Nadal said. “This is unfortunately the decision that I have taken, and probably in the next couple of days we are going to know more.”

Fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez will replace Nadal in the draw as a lucky loser. The 39-year-old will play Harris in the second round.

Source link

Medvedev Survives Scare In Toronto

Top seed Daniil Medvedev made a winning return at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers on Tuesday, the tournament in which the Russian enjoyed a breakthrough run to his first ATP Masters 1000 final in 2019.

The World No. 2 was made to work hard, overcoming Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a rain-disrupted clash in Toronto to kick start his North American hard-court swing.

“[The rain delay] helped a lot,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “I don’t know if the conditions changed with the humidity, but I was not playing well before the rain. I had my opportunities. I was missing second-serve returns, missing balls. I knew I had to play better if I was to win.

“When back on the court, from the first game I felt much better. I only felt better and better during the match, he did not have one break point [after the rain]. I turned around the match completely. It is a tough draw, even without Rafael Nadal. It does open up the draw [though] for sure.”

Medvedev is looking to capture his 12th tour-level title this week in a country where he has fond memories. In 2019, the 25-year-old broke new ground at Canada’s Masters 1000 event. He cruised through to the final in Montreal, not dropping a set before falling to Nadal.

It was a run that helped propel Medvedev to his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati one week later and his first Grand Slam final at the US Open the following month.

Medvedev, who has since won two more Masters 1000 titles and captured the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals crown, served well throughout against Bublik. The Russian caused the World No. 39 problems with his flat backhand to improve to 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series.

It is the third time Medvedev has defeated Bublik this season, having downed the 24-year-old at Roland Garros and the Tokyo Olympics in straight sets. The top seed will next face either #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner or James Duckworth in the third round.

Medvedev, who guided Russia to the ATP Cup title in February before reaching the Australian Open final, has won trophies on hard in Marseille and grass in Mallorca this season.

Bublik made a fast start in Toronto as he looked to move the Russian around. After Medvedev fended off three break points from 0/40 in the fifth game, he was unable to do so again moments later, misfiring on serve to fall 4-5 behind. Bublik, who brought his usual variety and entertainment to court, held serve to move ahead.

After rain temporally halted play with Medvedev leading 2-1 in the second set, the 25-year-old returned to court just under an hour later in a determined mood. He won three of the first four games on resumption as he stepped inside the baseline to close out points quickly. Having drawn level, Medvedev then dropped just three points on serve in the third set to seal his win in two hours.

Bublik, who leads the ace count on tour this year, has enjoyed a strong season. The 24-year-old advanced to finals in Antalya and Singapore, while also reaching the quarter-finals at two Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid.

Source link

Khachanov Battles Past Norrie In Toronto

Karen Khachanov maintained his high level on Tuesday when he defeated in-form Briton Cameron Norrie 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the second round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The previous meeting between Khachanov and Norrie was a much different story, with the Brit winning 6-1 6-1 in Lyon earlier this year.

Norrie recently won his first ATP Tour title at the Mifel Open in Los Cabos, and this defeat is only his second loss in the first round in the 18 tournaments that he has played in 2021.

Khachanov took firm control of the match immediately, racing to a double-break lead in the opening set. Norrie’s level rose towards the end of the set, putting pressure on Khachanov, but he was ultimately unable to prevent Khachanov from taking a one-set advantage.

The second set was a tense affair, with neither player able to break serve until the final game, with Norrie taking it 7-5 on his fourth break point of the set.

In the deciding set it was the World No. 28 Khachanov who held his nerve, moving on to the second round where he will play fellow Russian Aslan Karatsev. Both Khachanov and Karatsev won medals in Tokyo, with Karatsev taking silver in mixed doubles.

Source link

Johanna Konta and Harriet Dart win in Canadian Open first round

Britain’s Johanna Konta and Harriet Dart are both through to the second round of the Canadian Open.

Source link

Nishikori Battles Through In Toronto, Brooksby Falls

Japan’s Kei Nishikori backed up his run to last week’s Washington semi-finals by moving past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto.

The World No. 55, who advanced to the final in Toronto in 2016, struck the ball with great depth and accuracy, raising his level in the decider to advance in two hours and 10 minutes. The 31-year-old will next face seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz.

“I am happy to go through,” Nishikori said. “He played really well in the second set, it was really tough. I knew it was not going to be easy [for him] to play at that level throughout the second and third set, so I waited for him to drop his level a little bit. I just tried to stay focused.

“I am feeling pretty good. I think I am playing my best tennis of the year in the past couple of tournaments. I am happy with my result last week and I also did well at the Olympics.”

Nishikori defeated Brit Cameron Norrie in Washington en route to his first semi-final appearance since Barcelona in 2019. The 12-time tour-level titlist played with renewed confidence against Kecmanovic to level their ATP Head2Head Series at 1-1.

After a tight start in the first set, Nishikori gained control in the fifth game as he took the only break point of the set to move 3-2 ahead. The 31-year-old stepped inside the baseline to dictate with his forehand as he moved Kecmanovic around the court to lead.

The Serbian responded well at the beginning of the second set as he played aggressively to force Nishikori into errors to lead 2-0. However, Nishikori replied immediately, levelling at 2-2 before the set moved to a tie-break. Kecmanovic then held his nerve from 5/5 in the tie-break, forcing a decider when Nishikori hit a backhand into the net. It was one-way traffic in the third set though, as Nishikori raced 4-0 ahead. He won the last eight points, serving it out to claim his victory.

Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili also advanced on Tuesday in Toronto as he overcame #NextGenATP American Jenson Brooksby 2-6, 6-0, 6-4, denying the 20-year-old a victory on his ATP Masters 1000 debut.

Basilashvili, who has won titles in Doha and Munich this year, broke Brooksby six times to advance in one hour and 52 minutes and improve to 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series.

Brooksby has been in red-hot form recently. The wild card advanced to the Newport final in July on his ATP Tour debut and reached the Washington semi-finals last week. As a result, Brooksby has risen from outside the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 99 in the past four months.

However, Basilashvili ensured the 20-year-old would not enjoy another dream run this week as he improved on return throughout the match. The 29-year-old won just 18 per cent (2/11) of points on Brooksby’s first serve in the opening set, but improved to 58 per cent (7/12) in the second set. Basilashvili found the decisive break in the ninth game of the third set and will next face 12th seed Alex de Minaur.

Source link

Deep Court Daniil: Inside Medvedev's Return

Try standing seven-plus metres behind the baseline to return serve. You may as well be halfway to the moon. Not only does Daniil Medvedev thrive from this ultra-deep return location, but he has also broken serve more times on hard courts in 2021 than any other player.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Medvedev’s prowess on hard courts reveals the Russian broke serve 75 times from 20 matches up to the Olympics, just edging compatriot Andrey Rublev, who at that point had broken 74 times from 24 matches.

Medvedev also leads the Tour with total points won on hard courts this season at 54.7 per cent (1637/2992). Rublev is once again in second place, winning 54.6 per cent (1791/3279) of hard-court points. It is now hard-court season in the U.S. and Medvedev is poised once again to be a pivotal player chasing ATP Masters 1000 and Grand Slam glory.

The investigation into why Medvedev thrives from such an impossibly deep return location reveals his extreme court position successfully morphs a traditional return into a pseudo-groundstroke. Traditional tennis mantra dictates that we are on defence against the power of a first serve and should therefore employ more of a blocking strategy. The thinking is to lower the speed of the first-serve return to ensure greater control and get more returns in. It’s always been just fine to swing away against a slower second serve.

Medvedev throws traditional tennis wisdom out the window. In fact, his average first-serve return speed (110 km/h) at the ATP Cup was exactly the same as his opponents’ second-serve return speed. That’s just laughing in the face of what has been accepted for generations. Medvedev’s extreme return location and vastly superior first-serve return speed are rewriting what’s possible returning serve on a hard court.

The following Hawk-Eye graphic compares Medvedev’s return hit points to Matteo Berrettini’s in the ATP Cup final on hard court in Melbourne in January. All of Medvedev’s returns were from four to seven metres behind the baseline, while Berrettini was a metre inside the baseline to around two metres behind.

Medvedev’s Return Contact Points

Berrettini’s Return Contact Points

^{Graphics courtesy Hawk-Eye Innovations/ATP Media}
Consider the following returns speeds from the ATP Cup on hard courts at Melbourne Park:

2021 ATP Cup – Average First-Serve Return Speed

2021 ATP Cup – Average Second-Serve Return Speed

In order to fully connect the dots on what Medvedev is really achieving, the average rally speed needs to be factored in as well.

2021 ATP Cup – Average Groundstroke Speed

Medvedev’s average second-serve return speed slightly edges his average groundstroke speed (117 km/h to 116 km/h). The real benefit of standing extremely deep to return serve compared to the more traditional location up closer to the baseline was found in the speed he can hit first-serve returns.

• Average First-Serve Return Speed Difference = 23 km/h (110 km/h – 87 km/h)
• Average Second-Serve Return Speed Difference = 7 km/h (117 km/h – 110 km/h)
• Average Groundstroke Speed Difference = 4 km/h (116 km/h – 112 km/h)

Essentially, Medvedev does not want to “return” serve in the traditional sense against a first serve. He wants to back up as far as he can to let the first serve slow down and then swing as hard as he can with a lot of runway to land the ball. What he gives up in court position he gains in raw speed.

Medvedev’s success begs the question: When facing a first serve, why hit a traditional forehand blocking return when you can rope a regular forehand groundstroke instead?

Source link

Opelka Rises To Kyrgios Challenge In Toronto

Two of the best serves in the business were on show in Toronto on Monday night and it was Reilly Opelka who delivered in a three-set defeat of Nick Kyrgios. In the first ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, the American prevailed 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach the second round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The 23-year-old fired 22 aces to Kyrgios’ 16 and clocked 18 forehand winners on his way past the World No. 80. He dropped only six points on his first serve and faced only two break points.

“Yeah it’s as expected – he’s got one of the best serves in the world, his skillset is off the charts,” Opelka said of Kyrgios. “When you’re not on tour for a while it’s hard to be as sharp. It takes time. I know his best tennis of the season will probably come around at the US open but yeah he’s still a nightmare.”

Opelka has only won back-to-back matches twice this year from 14 events – on his run to a maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Rome and when he reached the third round at Roland Garros. He could string together consecutive match wins on hard courts for the first time in 2021 should he find a way past 14^th seed Grigor Dimitrov next, with the reward a potential showdown with second seed Rafael Nadal in the third round.

Opelka only conceded six points on serve in the opening set but four of those came in the seventh game when he was broken. Kyrgios had twice reached the last 16 in Montreal, but had won only one match previously in Toronto.

He looked on track when he carried the advantage to a one-set lead after 30 minutes and came within two points of victory as neither player could be separated on serve deep in the second set. With both on song throughout the tie-break, Opelka started to read his opponent’s serve better.

There was a point of contention when Kyrgios believed the American’s foot had touched the net during play. The ensuing argument with the chair umpire was to little avail as he surrendered the set on a double fault.

“Yeah that 5-4 point I guessed right and clocked the forehand and made it a difficult situation for him and then 6-4 he was a little frustrated,” Opelka said. “A guy like that, he returns so well, I thought he was going to make me serve for it but I got lucky, he was a little flustered.”

It was all square at the 82-minute mark and despite missing three break points in the opening game of the deciding set, Opelka pounced on his next opportunity to edge ahead 2-1. Two match points against the Kyrgios serve went begging, but there was no mistake at the third time of asking as Opelka served it out at the two-hour mark.

In the earlier night match, American Tommy Paul denied home favourite Vasek Pospisil 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3. Having taken the first set, the Canadian overcame a bout of cramps and stood toe-to-toe in the deciding set until he was broken in the eighth game.

Paul let two match points slip but kept his composure to serve out his first match win since Roland Garros on the back of 23 winners. He will meet 10^th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Meanwhile, a trio of Russian Tokyo Olympic medallists made winning starts in doubles on Monday. Men’s singles silver medallist Karen Khachanov and mixed doubles gold medallist Andrey Rublev opened their Toronto doubles campaign with a 6-4, 7-6(6) victory over Canadian wild cards Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexis Galarneau.

The Russians won 88 per cent of first-serve points and saved all seven break points faced. Aslan Karatsev teamed up with Serbian Dusan Lajovic to join his compatriots in the second round, following a 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-8 victory over Alex de Minaur and Cameron Norrie.

Source link