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.
British number one Dan Evans withdraws from the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer after testing positive for Covid-19.
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.
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.
[WATCH LIVE 1]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.
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.
[WATCH LIVE 1]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.
A singles match and a men’s doubles match from this year’s Wimbledon Championships are assessed after the gambling industry flagged up alerts.
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!”
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) July 13, 2021
Former champion Ivo Karlovic rallied to take down 24-year-old Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 and score his 17th win at the Hall of Fame Open on Tuesday afternoon.
The 42-year-old Croatian, who lifted the Newport trophy here in 2016 and reached the 2015 final, fired 24 aces and saved all six of the break points he faced en route to victory. The 6’11” right-hander won 87 per cent (47/54) of points behind his booming first serve.
“It was really difficult after losing that tie-break, but after that I just continued. I was a little bit more aggressive and it paid off at the end,” Karlovic said in an on-court interview. “It’s always nice to be here in Newport, especially this week as there is no more ‘bubble’ and everything is open again. That is really, really nice.”
Karlovic will next face top seed Alexander Bublik for the first time, as he bids to become oldest ATP Tour quarter-finalist since Jimmy Connors, 42, in Halle in 1995.
Fifth seed Tennys Sandgren also made his way into the second round after edging past Joao Sousa 6-4, 7-6(3). The American reeled off five games in a row in the opening set, and dominated the tie-break to advance after an hour and a half. He will be joined by countryman Jack Sock, who came back from a set down to defeat Alex Bolt 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in his first tour-level main-draw match since last year’s Roland Garros. Sock set up a clash with third seed Yoshihito Nishioka.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Sandgren will next face Chinese Taipei’s Jason Jung, who defeated qualifier Brayden Schnur in a three-hour and 17-minute epic. In a match with 29 break points on offer, it was Jung who capitalised on his opportunities to break Schnur five times and claim a tightly contested third-set tie-break for a 7-5, 6-7(1), 7-6(4) victory.
Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner booked a meeting with big-serving Kevin Anderson, the eighth seed, after defeating Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-4, 6-4.
Did You Know?
At 42 years old, Karlovic is the oldest player to compete in an ATP Tour match since Thomas Muster, 44, in 2011 in Vienna (l. to Dominic Thiem in R1).
ATP players looking for a little extra confidence in their knees when lunging and sliding need two key things: high-quality kinesiology tape and the experieince of a qualified ATP physio to apply it.
So if you’re a player lying on your back in the locker room, you hope that you find yourself looking up at six-year ATP Tour physio Seif Wardani holding a roll of Nitto kinesiology tape. The unique properites of Nitto’s tape allows for a more unrestricted, explosive movement than more rigid tape. Below, we go behind the scenes with Seif as he walks through a typical taping process.
Nitto is an ATP Gold Partner and Title Partner of the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held in Turin 14-21 November.
Eighth seed Emil Ruusuvuori rallied from a set down to see off wild card Mikael Ymer of Sweden and start his Nordea Open campaign with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory on Tuesday.
The Finnish player lost the first five games of the match, but he saved six of the seven break points he faced in the second set to level the score against Ymer, who was seeking to become the first home champion in Bastad since Robin Soderling in 2011. Ruusuvuori won 75 per cent (18/24) of points behind his first serve en route to victory in two hours and three minutes.
“It was a very difficult start for me. I was very slow getting into the conditions, and it was much slower than I thought,” Ruusuvuori said. “But slowly I got into it, and I just started playing smarter. Point by point, I felt like I was a little bit better. It was a tough fight in the end, and this time it came home so it was a good match in the end.”
Ruusuvuori improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head against Ymer, and will next face Norbert Gombos. The Slovakian also turned around a one-sided start in his 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over Pablo Cuevas to advance after two hours and three minutes.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Also in action, Danish wild card Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune rallied against Radu Albot to set up a second-round meeting with top seed Casper Ruud. After being down a set and a break, the 18-year-old raised his level and claimed 12 of the next 13 games to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti suffered a first-round upset at the hands of Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen. The qualifier converted six of the 24 break points he created en route to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over the 19-year-old Italian. Seventh seed Jiri Vesely also advanced, as he cruised against Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-2 to next face Yannick Hanfmann.
Sixth-seeded Serbian Filip Krajinovic battled hard on Tuesday to book his place in the Hamburg European Open second round with a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-1 victory over German wild card Daniel Altmaier, who captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title last week in Braunschweig (d. Laaksonen). Krajinovic let slip a 3-1 advantage in the second set, but won the first five games of a one-sided decider and now plays Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Another Serbian, Laslo Djere, saved seven of eight break points to upset seventh-seeded German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 50 minutes to set up a clash against Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. Struff, who beat World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the NOVENTI OPEN first round in Halle, drops to an 11-8 record on clay this year that includes a BMW Open runner-up finish (l. to Basilashvili).
[WATCH LIVE 1]Qualifier Carlos Taberner recorded just his third tour-level match win by winning 80 per cent of his first-service points in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in two hours and 10 minutes. The World No. 114 will next challenge second seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday.
Elsewhere, Belgrade Open runner-up Alex Molcan fought past Gianluca Mager of Italy 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in two hours and 19 minutes. The Slovakian qualifier awaits the winner between fifth-seeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic or Lucas Pouille of France.