Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players and tournaments during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 2 August 2018.

It took 539 tour-level main draw matches for brothers Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev to finally meet on the ATP Tour. So when the brothers posed for a picture after the coin flip at the 2018 Citi Open, the emotions of the moment truly set in.

“We walked back, and the crowd was cheering, I almost had tears in my eyes,” Mischa told Tennis Channel. “I was like, ‘This feels so special. I wonder what my parents are thinking right now?’ I needed a few seconds to actually bite my tongue and focus. To me, that was incredibly special.”

Once the match got going, it was ‘Sascha Zverev’, as chair umpire Mohamed Fitouhi referred to him during the match, who beat his older brother 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals in Washington, D.C. in the first tour-level meeting between brothers since the 2016 Generali Open, where Gerald Melzer beat Jurgen Melzer.

The Zverev brothers had met on two previous occasions at the professional level — in qualifying of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Dallas six years ago and in qualifying of the 2014 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. But it was the 21-year-old Zverev who clinched their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting after one hour, 51 minutes.

“[It was] very special. As Mischa said, who can say you played your brother in one of the biggest tournaments in the world?” Sascha said. “It was unbelievably special. I hope this is not the last time. I hope we play a final one day or something like that. So hopefully [this was] the first of many.”

And while the stats show that Sascha saved two of three break points he faced while breaking his older brother three times, the memory they will retain came after Mischa sprinted forward and hit a drop shot into the net on match point. The brothers made a lengthy embrace on Sascha’s side of the court.

Sascha, the top seed, is the reigning champion in Washington, D.C. He is also the defending titlist at the Rogers Cup, which means he is defending a massive 1,500 ATP Rankings points between this week and next. Zverev is at a career-high World No. 3, and he has done well to back up his breakthrough five-title 2017. The 21-year-old clinched his third ATP Masters 1000 triumph at the Mutua Madrid Open, and also reached the final at the Miami Open presented by Itau and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Zverev will next face seventh seed Kei Nishikori, who defeated ninth seed Denis Shapovalov 7-6(1), 6-3. The Canadian had won their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting earlier this year on the hard courts of Acapulco, but the Japanese star evened their series with more consistent play from the baseline throughout the match. 

Nishikori is into his fifth tour-level quarter-final of the season, as he continues his comeback from a right wrist injury. The 2015 Washington, D.C. champion’s clash against Zverev will be a rematch of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semi-finals, which Nishikori won in three sets to become the first Japanese player to reach the final of the event. The pair also played in the Citi Open semi-finals one year ago, with the German coming out on top. 

“I’ve got to do something better,” Nishikori said. “I’ll try to do my best, and see what happens.”

Did You Know?
The Zverev brothers were opponents for just a moment. Later the same evening, they completed their rain-delayed first-round doubles match, ousting top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.

In honour of Roger Federer’s 39th birthday, the ATP Tour is celebrating by reliving 39 facts, moments or memories that have made his tennis career spectacular thus far.

39 – Combined wins against Novak Djokovic (23) and Rafael Nadal (16)
38 – Winner of a record 38 ATP Tour Awards: ATP Tour No. 1 (2004-07, 2009), Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of Year (2006, 2013), Comeback Player of the Year (2017), Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship (2004-09, 2011-17) and Fans’ Favourite (2003-19)
37 – Age when Federer won his 100th tour-level title at the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The only player who has also reached that milestone is Jimmy Connors, who captured 109 trophies
36 – Federer’s age the last time he was No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on 18 June 2018, making him the oldest World No. 1 in history
35 – Consecutive service points won against Lukas Lacko at 2018 Wimbledon and Feliciano Lopez at the 2007 US Open, both Open Era records at each event
34 – Combined wins against former Top 10 players David Ferrer (17-0) and Mikhail Youzhny (17-0) without losing a match
33 – Wins needed to pass Jimmy Connors’ 1,274 victories for the most in the Open Era
32 – Five-set wins in his career
31 – Different tournaments won in 19 different countries
30 – Consecutive Grand Slams as the first or second seed between the 2003 US Open and the 2011 Australian Open
29 – Days to win three titles on three different surfaces in 2004 (Wimbledon, Gstaad, Toronto)
28 – ATP Masters 1000 titles
27 – Longest Grand Slam win streak of his career (twice), snapped by Rafael Nadal in 2006 and 2007 Roland Garros finals
26 – Indoor titles, leading all active players. Andy Murray is second among active players with 15 indoor trophies
25 – Years old when he won his 500th tour-level match, defeating David Ferrer in the quarter-finals of the 2007 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters
24 – Straight finals won from 2003 Vienna through 2005 Bangkok
23 – Consecutive Grand Slam semi-final appearances (2004 Wimbledon through 2010 Australian Open)
22 – Years since winning his first ATP Tour match at 1998 Toulouse against Guillaume Raoux
21 – Age when he won his first Grand Slam title at 2003 Wimbledon
20 – Grand Slam titles
19 – Grass-court titles, nine more than second on the Open Era list, Pete Sampras
18 – Age when Federer reached his first ATP Tour final at 2000 Marseille (l. to Rosset)
17 – Seed at the 2017 Australian Open when he came back from knee surgery to win the title
16 – Number of times Federer has won at least 50 tour-level matches in a season. This is a record
15 – Losses in a three-year span (2004-2006) in 262 matches
14 – Consecutive years spent inside the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings (2002-2016)
13 – Number of match wins in his first full season on the ATP Tour in 1999
12 – Career-high titles won in 2006
11 – Grand Slam runner-up finishes
10 – Consecutive Grand Slam finals reached from 2005 Wimbledon through the 2007 US Open.
9 – Or more titles on clay, grass and hard courts – only Jimmy Connors has matched the feat
8 – Wimbledon titles/Age at which Federer began playing tennis
7 – Number of Grand Slam finals won before first loss (2006 Roland Garros to Nadal)
6 – Nitto ATP Finals trophies
5 – Year-end No. 1 finishes
4 – Number of children Federer has with his wife, Mirka Federer. They have two sets of twins: Myla & Charlene (born 23 July 2009) and Leo & Lenny (born 6 May 2014)
3 – Won three Grand Slams in a calendar year on three occasions, in 2004 and 2006-07. Federer is the only player to accomplish that feat
2 – Tournaments at which Federer has won 10 titles. He has done so at the Swiss Indoors Basel and the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle
1 – Federer has spent a record 310 weeks atop the FedEx ATP Rankings, finishing atop the year-end standings five times

– Statistical assistance provided by Joshua Rey.

It normally wouldn’t be a good idea for Alexander Zverev to challenge fellow German Dirk Nowitzki to a game of one-on-one. Nowitzki is one of the best NBA stars of his generation.

But on this week’s episode of Tennis United, Zverev skips the basketball and puts his thinking cap on to test his countryman in a different type of one-on-one: a quiz. In the segment, which debuts Friday on the ATP Tour’s Facebook channel, find out who knows more about one another’s career.

Is Zverev taller than Steve Nash and Luka Doncic, shorter than them both, or in between? What team was Nowitzki originally drafted by?

“You don’t even need to give me the options. I know straightaway,” Zverev says.

#NextGenATP stars Brandon Nakashima and Thiago Seyboth Wild also join the show, playing a game of ‘Truth or Dare’.

One truth Nakashima answers: What are three wishes he’d request from a genie?

“Be No. 1 in the world,” Nakashima says for one of them.

Find out what other wishes the American has and what Seyboth Wild, this year’s Chile Dove Men+Care Open champion, adds to the game.

Roberto Bautista Agut last played an ATP Tour match on 25 February at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. A few weeks later, the world came to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Five months later, in this interview with ATPTour.com, Bautista Agut looks back at everything he has done during this exceptional period before returning to the Tour at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

It was difficult to imagine something like this happening looking back five months, which is practically the period for which the ATP Tour has been suspended due to the pandemic.
On a social level I’ve been very on top of everything that has been happening, helping with various local and national initiatives. It has been a difficult time, but if sport teaches you anything, it’s the ability to overcome. I am sure we will come out of this stronger.

Now, finally, the return of the Tour is on the horizon at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. How excited are you?
I can’t wait to return to competition. After so much training, I feel that the wait is getting a little long for me. In the end, what you want is to get back to the courts as soon as possible.

Perhaps this period has been like an unusual preseason, just longer than normal?
The main difference has been that this time we’ve had many more weeks of training than usual. A ‘normal’ preseason is much shorter, three or four weeks, which means they are more intense than what this return to the courts after isolation has turned out to be. We’ve had three months on top of the preseason, so we’ve had to take breaks and be patient.

Have you worked on any specific part of the game with your team?
We’ve been able to work calmly on my net game. Also, [we have put] more emphasis on the physical side of things than normal because we didn’t have any tournaments in the short term. The on-court work is the most similar to normal, working in the same way as before isolation. The main difference has been that the training time before the tournament is bigger, so there’s been time to work on all aspects on court: the serve, return and the net game.

If this break has benefitted a certain type of player in any way, would it be the veterans or the young players?
It doesn’t help us veterans, because we have less of our career left. We’ve been practically a year without playing. In the end, I think that the best players will be back at the top as always and everyone will have to fight for their position, their new [FedEx ATP] Ranking.

Has this situation had any positive sides for you?
I would say the biggest thing is that I’ve been able to better combine training with life off the court, to enjoy being at home, sleeping in my bed, things that you miss during the season.

Has it meant more time for doing other things?
Not exactly. When I train, I do long sessions both on court and in fitness training. I have very little time the rest of the day for other things beyond tennis and I’m already pretty tired from training. So all I can do is be at home and rest.

Where have you been able to train during these months?
In Castellon. I’ve also managed to train in other parts of Spain like Alicante, at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy in Villena and in Valencia. Above all, it’s been on clay. This week I made the switch to fast courts.

In this time have you played with various ATP Tour players?
In Spain in general, and in the Valencian community in particular, there are a lot of very good tennis players. I’ve trained with Pablo Carreno Busta, Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur, Pablo Andujar, Jaume Munar and Carlos Taberner, among others. They’re very good players, and I’m able to complete demanding training sessions with them. 

How has this situation affected your goals?
All I want is to return to competition. From there, I think that the ATP’s points system is a very good one. It’s pretty logical and fair with everyone. We will have to see exactly how many tournaments we’ll be able to play. The more tournaments we can, the better.

Is there anyone on the Tour that you would like to meet up with that you haven’t been able to because of the pandemic?
Of course, many of my peers I’m with in my daily life in competition. You are often with them. We’re used to living this kind of life 80 or 90 percent of the year and of course you miss it. I’ve also missed the tournaments.

Did it hurt not being able to play any one specifically?
All of them. I’m a player that doesn’t have favourite weeks. I like playing everywhere, I find something to like in every surface and at every tournament. Everywhere is unique.

Is there anything you haven’t missed?
The airports [laughs]. The travel time, the stress and pressure of competition. Tennis is a very demanding sport and being able to be at home, with peace of mind, has been good for me.

If there’s one match that shows how much tennis means to Andy Murray, it might be his third-round battle against Marius Copil at the 2018 Citi Open. After the match, which ended at 3:02 a.m., the former World No. 1 sat in his chair and broke into tears.

That January, Murray had undergone hip surgery, but he was nowhere near full health. The three-time Grand Slam champion mustered all the energy he could to defeat the big-serving Copil 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4) after three hours and two minutes.

“I told him I’m happy that he’s back and it’s great to play against him again,” Copil told ATPTour.com. “I really enjoy playing against him. He always brings the best out of me. I was happy that he came back to the Tour. When we went back to the locker room we spoke again and he was still crying, maybe because he had the pain in his hip.”

Marius Copil, Andy Murray” />

A couple hours later, Murray laid in his hotel bed and recorded a video message on his phone at 5:09 a.m., as seen in the documentary ‘Andy Murray: Resurfacing’, which came out last year.

“I feel like this is the end for me,” Murray said. “I really want to keep going, but my body is telling me no.”

Murray told reporters that evening that his tears simply came from the emotions of a long match finishing late in the evening, but the former World No. 1 had more on his mind. His Romanian opponent didn’t realise it at the time.

“When I watched the documentary, I felt something in my stomach, it was weird. It was a weird feeling, because I know it was tough for him,” Copil said. “I respect Andy so much because he’s a really great fighter and warrior and this is something to admire and for a lot of sportsmen to look up to. The way he fights is just unbelievable.”

Many people will remember the moment because of Murray’s emotions, but the match itself was memorable, too. Copil crushed 20 aces and won three more points than Murray in their clash, which was suspended by rain, leading to the late finish.

“It was a crazy match. We both played well and when we finished, we just had 200 to 300 people watching us, maybe less,” said Copil, who has lost each of his three ATP Head2Head matches against Murray, with two of those going to a deciding set. “Normally when you play against Andy it’s a full stadium, and that time when we played there were not many people left.

“I saw by the way he was walking that I thought he had something, but during the match I thought he moved well. I cannot say his level was lower. I think he played well against me, but I didn’t think about his injury and that his level could be lower because he is one of the top four guys who will remain in history [from this era]. His level, even if he’s not 100 per cent, is still very, very high.”

Copil sliced a backhand into the net on match point to give Murray the victory. While the Brit was recording his video in the early hours of the morning, the Romanian was still awake trying to find a flight to Toronto, where he had to play Rogers Cup qualifying about 31 hours later.

Copil couldn’t find any direct flights, so he was forced to fly to a city in the United States — he can’t remember where — and then ride in a car for more than five hours, arriving in Toronto at around 6 a.m. the morning of his 12 p.m. qualifying match against Yoshihito Nishioka. After winning the first set easily, he was too tired to maintain his level, falling in another final-set tie-break, just like he did against Murray. That completed a wild two-day stretch for Copil.

“I was sad because I finished [against Murray] with a backhand slice into the net. I was just disappointed at that particular shot. The rest of the match I played really well. I liked the way I was playing and the attitude I had. It was a great match,” Copil said. “One guy has to lose and I was the guy who lost.”

Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 28 July 2018..

It’s not often that you find two iconic athletes from different sports on the same court. But on Friday, British stars Andy Murray and Wayne Rooney met at the Citi Open for a short hit and game of football-tennis.

“He’s obviously had an incredible career, one of the best players ever in English football history,” said Murray, whose grandfather played for Scotland’s Hibernian F.C. “It’s nice to finally meet him. I’ve never met him before, so it’s very cool.”

Rooney, the leading goal-scorer in England National Team and Manchester United history, currently plays for local club D.C. United of Major League Soccer, so he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to meet Murray. The football legend was in the stands when the Scot captured his first Wimbledon title in 2013 to end Great Britain’s 77-year wait for a home champion.

“It was incredible, a real achievement, and [Novak] Djokovic at the time looked unbeatable, so it was a great victory and a great experience to be there,” Rooney said. “It was the first time I was at Wimbledon, and [it was] history for Britain, so it was a fantastic moment to be there.”

Murray, who was joined by brother Jamie Murray — the fourth seed in the doubles draw with Bruno Soares at the Citi Open — on Stadium Court, grew up playing football and follows the Premier League as he travels the world. Rooney hasn’t been able to pick up a tennis racquet much, but he says he loves watching the sport. His game was put to the test when the pair rallied, and Murray hit some serves to the football star.

“It was decent. Forehand was alright, he almost returned a couple serves. But yeah, not bad. Backhand needs a bit of work,” Murray joked. “He did alright for someone who doesn’t play much. It was good.”

Murray will now turn his attention to the ATP World Tour 500-level tournament in Washington D.C. The 31-year-old will face American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round, and could face compatriot and fourth seed Kyle Edmund in a second-round blockbuster.

Robert ‘Bob’ Ryland, the first African-American pro tennis player and a coach to future trailblazing generations of global stars including Arthur Ashe, Venus and Serena Williams, passed away on Monday aged 100.

His parents, Irishman Robert Sr., and mother, Gussie, who died of tuberculosis when Ryland was aged two, were forced to move from Alabama to Chicago. Upon the death of his mother, Ryland, who received his first tennis racquet at the age of eight, was raised by his grandmother in Mobile, Alabama, where his father taught him to play on clay courts in the segregated Brooklyn Park.

Returning to Chicago after almost 10 years away, Ryland went on to become the first African-American to win the Illinois State title, beating Chris Evert’s father, Jimmy, in the 1939 final. Around this time, he received a scholarship to Xavier University, a Historically Black College and University in New Orleans, and served in the U.S. Army between 1941 and 1945.

Ryland returned to another scholarship at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he resumed his tennis career. But during away matches was forced to eat separately from his teammates and occasionally slept on the team bus. He was one of the first African-Americans to play in the NCAA Championships, and gained a bachelor of science degree at Tennessee A&I in Nashville, where he coached and led the team to two small college national championships.

A combination of American Tennis Association (ATA) advocacy, an open letter from Alice Marble to the American Lawn Tennis Magazine in 1950, and a perception shift helped to start breaking down barriers in tennis across the next decade. Ryland, who moved to California after his studies, played tennis with Pancho Gonzalez and competed in ATA tournaments, becoming singles champion in 1955 and 1956.

In 1955, the United States Lawn Tennis Association awarded Ryland a wild card into the US Nationals at Forest Hills, having picked up that year’s ATA crown, and four years later, at the age of 39, he received an invitation to join promoter Jack Kramer’s World Pro Tour Championships, receiving $300 a match. At 5’9″ and 155 pounds, Ryland had a powerful serve, a solid game, backhand and net game. 

For a short time, Ryland was a YMCA physical education director in Montclair, New Jersey, taught tennis in Washington D.C., including to the Kennedy family, and coached at the Mid-Town Tennis Club in New York City from 1963 to 1990, honing the games of Arthur Ashe, a young Harold Solomon, Bruce Foxworth, and dozens of celebrities including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett and Dustin Hoffman. Richard Williams also brought Ryland to Florida to oversee his daughters, 14-year-old Venus and 13-year-old Serena.

Ryland, who continued to volunteer his services at Harlem’s Frederick Johnson Playground each Saturday, passed away alongside his partner, Nancy, at his home in New York City, the oldest of more than 13,000 tennis court permit holders in the metropolis.

Robert Ryland, tennis player and coach, born 16 June 2020, died 3 August 2020.

Photo courtesy: BurroughsLamarPhotographs.com