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From The Vault: Rublev & Tsitsipas First Pro Meeting In Quimper 2017

  • Posted: Oct 07, 2020

On Wednesday, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas will meet for a coveted spot in the Roland Garros semi-finals. The stage doesn’t get any bigger for the 22-year-olds, who have been battling ever since they first announced their arrivals in 2017.

It was that year that Rublev and Tsitsipas met for the first time as professionals and made their debuts in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. At the time, they were just teenagers looking to establish themselves on the scene. From battling in the first round of a Challenger to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, what a difference three years can make.

We open the vault ahead of the biggest encounter of their budding rivalry, going back to 2017 when they battled on the ATP Challenger Tour in Quimper, France.

Rublev was the defending champion at the Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale, having lifted his lone Challenger trophy one year earlier. He would triumph 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), saving two match points after one hour and 55 minutes.


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Forget Tomorrow, Sinner is A Clear & Present Danger

  • Posted: Oct 07, 2020

Rafael Nadal defeated Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, but the 19-year-old Italian proved that he belonged against the 12-time champion on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“I don’t [worry] about records. I know who is on the other side. I have a lot of respect for him. At the end you want to win. You go on court to play your tennis with your personality,” Sinner said. “You go on court trying to play your tennis, trying to win, obviously.

“You have to have, for every player, the right respect on court and especially off court as well. I think he’s a great example for everyone. He’s a nice guy. I’ve practised a little bit with him. It’s good.”

The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion was only competing in his fourth Grand Slam main draw. But he came out firing against the Spaniard, leaving impressed commentators and fans worldwide raving about his potential.

“I’m a person who looks not in the future and not in the past, always in the present,” Sinner said. “At the end you have to show everything. I didn’t win anything until now… It’s just [about keeping my] head down and trying to improve, trying to play hour after hour on court, which I need to do. I have a great team behind me.”

Under the tutelage of veteran coach Riccardo Piatti, the teen showed not just talent, but strategic awareness. He stepped into the court whenever possible to take time away from the legendary lefty. Sinner made 44 unforced errors, but it was that unrelenting aggression that positioned him to serve for the first set and lead by a break in the second set.

“You go on the court with the right mindset, with knowing or having a plan to play against him,” Sinner said. “I had actually quite a great plan. It worked quite well.”

Nadal was certainly impressed. The lefty advanced to his 13th Roland Garros semi-final, but it wasn’t easy.

“Sinner is a very, very young talent with a lot of power, great shots. For two sets it was tough, especially at the end of that first set. I was lucky to be back from 5-6, having to break him back. The conditions here were a little bit difficult because he was hitting every ball very hard,” Nadal said on court after his victory. “For me it was difficult to pull him out of position. I think in the third set I did much better and I finished playing much more aggressive. That was the only way.”

Sinner departs Paris with a wealth of experience after becoming the first player to reach the quarter-finals on his tournament debut since Nadal in 2005. The teen lost, but still enjoyed the best run of his young career.

“I had chances in the first and second set. Unfortunately I didn’t use them,” Sinner said. “He deserves where he is. Congrats to him.”

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QF Preview: Can Tsitsipas Earn Revenge Against Red-Hot Rublev?

  • Posted: Oct 07, 2020

On the Sunday Roland Garros started, reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and red-hot Russian Andrey Rublev were in Germany battling in the final of the Hamburg European Open.

Now, the 22-year-old stars are set to battle in the quarter-finals of the clay-court Grand Slam.

“He’s a very challenging player to play against,” Tsitsipas said. “I think he for sure brings the best out of me when I step out on the court to play against him.”

In their Hamburg final, Tsitsipas served for the championship, but Rublev rallied for the trophy and a 2-1 lead in their ATP Head2Head series. They played on multiple occasions in the juniors six years ago, clashed in a five-set thriller at the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals and now they will meet once more for a spot in a major semi-final.

“It is very important for me to take this opportunity and fight harder this time, maybe do something better. He’s a tough cookie,” Tsitsipas said. “He’s going to be difficult to play against. He has a very complete, solid game from all the departments. He has improved a lot his serve. He relies a lot on his power. He has very powerful shots. We share a similar game style.”

Watch Rublev-Tsitsipas Hamburg Highlights:

Tsitsipas has slightly more variety in his game. The Greek has a stronger serve — he began the tournament third on the ATP Tour in service games won compared to Rublev’s 12th — and is more comfortable using angles to open up the court and move forward. But Rublev, pound-for-pound, might have the most power in the sport.

Both players have also overcome adversity in Paris. They each rallied from two sets down for the first time in their opening match, with Tsitsipas overcoming Jaume Munar and Rublev ousting Sam Querrey.

“Both of us had a tough, tough week in Hamburg, tough final. Then both of us were down in the first round with two sets to love. Both of us come back,” said Rublev, the 2014 Roland Garros boys’ singles champion who had never won a main draw match at the event before this year. “Now we are here and we’re going to play each other in quarters… I hope it’s going to be interesting. I hope we’re going to show a good level, good match, and I hope people will enjoy [it].”

Novak Djokovic, Pablo Carreno Busta

Wednesday’s other quarter-final will see World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continue his pursuit of a second Roland Garros title. The Serbian has not dropped a set through four matches in Paris for the third time, and he will try to continue his impressive form against 17th seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

“Carreno Busta is someone that is obviously very solid. I think he actually improved his game in the last 12, 15 months on all the surfaces. I mean, playing semi-finals in the US Open proves it,” Djokovic said. “Has very good hands, great return. Puts you under a lot of pressure.

“He moves very well. Obviously, as all the Spanish players, he grew up playing on clay, even though probably his game fits the hard court, kind of slower hard courts, the most.”

The Spaniard, a two-time US Open semi-finalist, is bidding for his first trip to the last four at this event. In 2017, he reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros.

“Maybe these kind of conditions also fit him nicely because the ball doesn’t bounce too high, he plays quite flat from both corners. He actually likes [the] slower surface,” Djokovic said. “Similar to Bautista [Agut], he waits for the opponent’s mistake, but he can also come in, step in, play his backhand down the line. He’s a very complete player.”

Novak Djokovic
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Djokovic carried plenty of momentum, fresh off his victory at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The Serbian is 35-1 in 2020 and he can win his 18th major trophy this fortnight.

“Another match against the No. 1 of the world. He won two weeks ago in Rome. He’s winning his matches here in Paris not easily, but comfortably. It will be a really tough match,” Carreno Busta said, “For sure he will be at 100 per cent again. I will try to do my best to try to beat him.”

Djokovic leads their ATP Head2Head series 3-1, with two of those meetings coming on clay, both at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. In 2014, Djokovic only lost one game against the Spaniard. But in 2017, their clash went to three sets. If the top seed triumphs Wednesday, he will reach his 10th Roland Garros semi-final.

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Thiem: 'I Was Over The Limit Today'

  • Posted: Oct 06, 2020

Dominic Thiem admitted after his five-set fourth-round victory at Roland Garros against Hugo Gaston that he was, “not running on a full tank anymore”. For more than five hours over five sets on Wednesday he battled hard against Diego Schwartzman, but the recent US Open champion simply didn’t have anything left to give.

“To be honest, I was over the limit today,” Thiem said. “Maybe I would have recovered [for the semi-finals]. Even though I’m physically and mentally on the edge, you never know in a Slam, especially [with] tomorrow and Thursday off, two full days to recover. You never know what would happen. But at the end I gave everything I had out there.

“It was an amazing match. I think the first in my career over five hours. Diego fully deserves it.”

The World No. 3 arrived in Paris without having played since winning his maiden Grand Slam title in New York. But after a few matches on the terre battue he knew he did not have a full tank.

“I just tried to do everything I could on the days off to recover. [I] also tried something new, which I haven’t done before,” Thiem said. “Before the Round of 16, I did nothing the whole day. [I] just tried to be on 100 per cent again.”

It didn’t help that Thiem had to play five sets against Gaston after winning the first two sets. Their clash only lasted three hours and 32 minutes, but Thiem had to do a lot of sprinting to retrieve drop shots off the lefty’s racquet. Still, he played well enough to push recent Internazionali BNL d’Italia finalist Schwartzman to the brink.

“I was doing it quite well, I have the feeling. Also today I still could play at quite a high level for more than five hours,” Thiem said. “But he was keeping it up until the end. He was probably a little bit fresher than me in the fifth set, so that’s why he won.”

At the net Thiem told Schwartzman, his close friend, that he deserved the triumph. Thiem fell short of reaching a fifth consecutive Roland Garros semi-final, but while he is disappointed, the Austrian knows he gave it his best shot.

“I’m not sad with my performance here [at] Roland Garros. It was a pretty short time with the long trip home, jet lag and everything. Then, of course [this came after I won my] first Slam, which is a special thing,” Thiem said. “[I] came here, played in pretty brutal conditions, I would say. I cannot say it was a bad tournament, I’m pretty happy about it.”

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