Tennis News

Thiem Sets Rublev Showdown In Vienna QFs

Dominic Thiem said before this week’s Erste Bank Open that triumphing on home soil in Vienna last year remains his second-greatest accomplishment. Based on his performance Thursday, the second seed is hungry to add another Austrian trophy to his collection.

Thiem cruised past World No. 22 Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-2 in 66 minutes to reach the quarter-finals at his home tournament for the third consecutive year and the fourth time overall. The second seed will play fifth seed Andrey Rublev in a big-hitting encounter for a spot in the last four.

The 27-year-old, who recently captured his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, was ruthless on the indoor hard court. Without overplaying, he overpowered Garin. Thiem did not face a break point in the match, winning 83 per cent of his first-serve points and only making 12 unforced errors.

Garin has won two ATP Tour titles this year in Cordoba and Rio de Janeiro, but both of those victories came on clay. The 24-year-old struggled to get the Austrian out of his comfort zone, making 24 unforced errors, including 15 on the forehand side.

The Chilean certainly tried to make an impact on Thiem’s game, even trying moving into the forecourt, where he showed good touch. But for the most part Thiem’s typical baseline shots were enough and he was never forced to go for too much.

Garin got off to a slow start, mis-hitting a forehand to lose his first service game. That set the tone for the match, as he later relinquished another break with a double fault.

Thiem will take a 2-1 ATP Head2Head series lead into his showdown against Rublev in the last eight. Rublev won their most recent clash last year in Hamburg 7-6(3), 7-6(5). The Austrian has already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, where he made the final last year. Rublev is making a push to earn his first season finale qualification.

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Vienna Open: Dan Evans beats Jurij Rodionov to reach quarter-finals

British number one Dan Evans beats Jurij Rodionov to reach the quarter-finals of the Vienna Open.

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Kukushkin Fights Back To Beat Paire In Nur-Sultan

Mikhail Kukushkin played with great pride on Thursday at the Astana Open, recovering from a set and 1-4 deficit against Benoit Paire for a place in the quarter-finals.

Kukushkin recorded his sixth victory of the season with a 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-1 win over Paire in two hours and 14 minutes at Kazakhstan’s first ATP Tour 250 event.

Kukushkin broke at 2-4 in the second set, played aggressively in the tie-break and won the first three games of the decider. The 32-year-old will next contest his first ATP Tour quarter-final for 13 months (2019 St. Petersburg Open) against Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori.

Ruusuvuori advanced to his first tour-level quarter-final by beating eighth seed Jordan Thompson of Australia 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and three minutes.

Third seed Adrian Mannarino needed just 62 minutes to sweep past Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita 6-1, 6-1 for a place in the quarter-finals.

Mannarino won nine straight games from 0-1 in the first set and will next face American Mackenzie McDonald, who knocked out Italian wild card Andreas Seppi 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in just over two hours. McDonald is through to his first ATP Tour quarter-final since February 2019 at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (l. to Nadal).

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Hewitt Tops International Tennis Hall Of Fame Class Of 2021 Fan Vote

It was announced on Wednesday in a press release that former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt received the most votes in the Class of 2021 International Tennis Hall of Fame Fan Vote presented by BNP Paribas. Swede Jonas Bjorkman received the third-most votes.

“Being nominated for the Hall of Fame is such a huge honour for me already, and to experience this incredible support from the fans while going through the Hall of Fame process just makes it even more special,” Hewitt said according to the release. “There are four additional great candidates with me on the ballot for the Hall of Fame, and I’m really honoured and appreciative of all the support I’ve received from tennis fans in Australia and around the world.”

To be elected into the Hall of Fame, a candidate must receive an affirmative vote in 75 per cent or more of ballots submitted from the Official Voting Group, which is comprised of tennis media and experts, or a combined total of 75 per cent or higher from their Voting Group result and any bonus percentage points earned in the Fan Vote.

As the first-place finisher in the International Tennis Hall of Fame Fan Vote presented by BNP Paribas, Hewitt will receive three bonus percentage points on his results from the Official Voting Group, while Bjorkman will receive one bonus percentage point. In addition to Hewitt and Björkman, Spaniards Juan Carlos Ferrero and Sergi Bruguera as well as American Lisa Raymond are on the ballot in the Player Category for Class of 2021 induction.

“In today’s digital world, sports fans are more knowledgeable and connected to athletes than ever before. We are pleased to give them the opportunity to express their opinions in determining who will be the recipients of tennis’ ultimate honour,” said International Tennis Hall of Fame CEO Todd Martin. “It’s been great to see fans embrace this opportunity with a strong voter turnout from all over the world. In such an unusual year for tennis, we are glad to offer this unique and important way for fans to engage with the sport, and we are grateful for our longstanding partner BNP Paribas for their support of the 2021 Fan Vote.”

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‘Can You Endure?’ Djokovic’s Advice For The #NextGenATP

The next generation of tennis stars has already arrived according to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, but their biggest challenge will be to endure at the top in order to establish themselves as great champions in the sport.

Speaking to press after his hard-fought victory against 23-year-old Borna Coric in the second round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Djokovic reflected on the rise of young stars — including Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev — and what they can do to establish themselves at the top.

“I definitely see a lot of quality in the young players,” said Djokovic, highlighting 19-year-old Sinner as ‘one to watch’. “[Sinner] definitely possesses a game that is powerful and is with a lot of quality, and you can say he has the potential to be a top player of the world.

“Sinner is definitely, I would say, the leader of the guys younger than Zverev and Tsitsipas, who I think by many experts’ opinions [is] the next ‘top’ top player.”

Djokovic also reserved some words of praise and caution for 23-year-old Zverev and 22-year-old Tsitsipas, who have become fixtures in the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings and lifted the trophy at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

“These are the guys of the ‘next’ generation, so to speak,” said Djokovic. “They’re still very young, but they have a lot of titles. Both Zverev and Tsitsipas won the [Nitto ATP] Finals, which after Slams is the biggest event in our sport. So those guys are already established top guys. I can’t speak of them as ‘potential’ in tennis, because they already have achieved some great heights in tennis… But let’s see.

“Many things have to come together in a career and life of a tennis player in order for him to be able to find his best and maximise his potential and to thrive every single year,” he added. “And to endure, because I think you have a much better chance to have a great Grand Slam or a great season. But can you endure for three, four, five, 10 years? Fifteen years?”

It’s something that Djokovic has a career of experience in doing, ever since lifting his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open at 20 years old. He’s since gone on to break some of the longest standing records in the sport, racking up 17 Grand Slam titles as well as holding the No. 1 spot in the FedEx ATP Rankings for 292 weeks and counting.

“Obviously winning a Grand Slam is one of the biggest successes and achievements that you can have in our sport. And of course, anyone can have an unbelievable couple of weeks, but then can you really do that year after year, be No.1 in the world and finish the year as No.1?” Djokovic pondered.

“I think that’s probably the ultimate goal really, is how to find your balance in your private and professional life in order for you to thrive throughout the entire year and to be one of the contenders for No.1 in the world.”

Djokovic continues his Vienna quest against Hubert Hurkacz or Lorenzo Sonego in the next round for a spot in the semi-finals.

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Rublev & Sinner Face Off In Vienna

When Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner meet for the first time Thursday in Vienna, fans may be forgiven for seeing double when two of the ATP’s brightest young stars kick off the evening session on Next Gen Court. Both are lanky 6’ 2” right-handers with flowing red hair and thunderous groundstrokes. The pair even shares the same kit sponsor in Nike, making it hard at times for fans to tell them apart.

Just don’t get their names mixed up, as Rublev’s countryman Daniil Medvedev found out the hard way during the Australian Open in January. “Andrey gets really, really angry if you call him ‘Jannik’ because he looks like Jannik Sinner a little bit,” said Medvedev with a laugh on Tennis United in July.

“During this Australian Open he comes into the locker room and I said, ‘Hi Jannik, how are you?’ He got angry, he [went] away for 10 minutes, came back 10 minutes later, and goes, ‘You are Davydenko then!'”

Rublev eased into the second round of the Erste Bank Open after a 6-3, 6-2 victory over qualifier Norbert Gombos 6-3, 6-2 on Monday, while 19-year-old Italian Sinner had to battle past Casper Ruud, 7-6(2), 6-3 on Wednesday to advance to win his opener.

Rublev and Sinner will hope that their best tennis stands out on the court, as they clash for a spot in the Vienna quarter-finals against No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem or Chile’s Cristian Garin.

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Daniell/Oswald Continue Hot Streak In Nur-Sultan

Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald have been one of the most in-form teams on the ATP Tour in recent weeks and they continued their hot streak on Wednesday in Nur-Sultan.

The third seeds beat veterans Dominic Inglot and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round of the Astana Open. Daniell and Oswald broke serve four times and won 87 per cent of their first-serve points to triumph after 67 minutes.

The tandem recently won their first title together at the Forte Village Sardegna Open, where they defeated Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the final. They also reached the semi-finals last week in Cologne.

Luke Bambridge and Divij Sharan also advanced in Kazakhstan, battling past Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 7-5, 4-6, 10-6. In the other doubles match of the day at the ATP 250, Sander Arends moved on with a 6-3, 4-5 lead when Nikola Cacic and Marcelo Demoliner retired.

Kubot/Melo Continue Push For London
Third seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo began the Erste Bank Open in 11th place in the FedEx ATP Battle For London. But the team that has competed together in London in the season finale’s past three editions made a good start in Vienna. Kubot and Melo beat Raven Klaasen and Jean-Julien Rojer 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 10-7 to reach the second round.

John Peers and Michael Venus, who began the week sixth in the Battle, fell against two-time Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies. The Germans, who have already qualified for this year’s Nitto ATP Finals, triumphed 6-4, 6-4. 

Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski moved into seventh on Monday with a first-round win in Austria, but Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin retook that position with a 6-2, 7-5 victory against Daniel Evans and Oliver Marach. 

In the only quarter-final of the day, Robert Farah and Fabrice Martin reached the last four with a 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-2 triumph against Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev.

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Sinner Shines Against Ruud, Felix Falls In Vienna

Nineteen-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner needed nearly two hours on Wednesday to claim a straight-sets victory over Casper Ruud in a first-round battle between rising stars at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The Italian’s win booked him a second-round meeting against fifth seed Andrey Rublev as he seeks his third quarter-final of the season on indoor hard courts, after posting last eight appearances in Cologne and at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion came into Vienna with a career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 43 after a scintillating run of tennis saw him reach the semi-finals at last week’s bett1HULKS Championship in Cologne, backing up a breakthrough at Roland Garros, where he reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Sinner continued the momentum against World No. 27 Ruud in his Vienna opener, dropping serve only once across both sets and winning 76% of his first-serve points en route to a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory.

Fellow #NextGenATP star Felix Auger-Aliassime faced a different fate on Wednesday in Vienna. The Canadian crashed back to earth after a successful fortnight in Cologne, where he reached his sixth ATP final at the bett1HULKS Indoors and backed it up with a semi-final run at last week’s bett1HULKS Championship.

But he ran up against a battle-tested Pospisil, who was contesting his third match in Vienna after going the distance in back-to-back qualifying matches. Pospisil posted his first straight-sets victory of the week in style, triumphing against Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 7-5 after a one-hour, 50-minute clash.

Pospisil broke Auger-Aliassime’s serve in the final game of each set, helped along by a double fault on set point in the opening tilt. He honed in on 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime’s vulnerable second delivery, winning 53% of his return points and breaking the World No. 21 three times from eight chances.

The victory is Pospisil’s first against Auger-Aliassime, who is currently ranked 60 places higher, and improves his count in their ATP Head2Head record to 1-3.

Like Sinner, Pospisil advanced to face a high-seeded Russian opponent in the second round of Vienna in the form of fourth seed Daniil Medvedev. Pospisil and Medvedev have split their ATP Head2Head series at a win apiece, with Pospisil stunning Medvedev in their most recent clash at Rotterdam in February.

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Vienna Open: Novak Djokovic into quarter-finals & all but secures year-end top ranking

World number one Novak Djokovic beats Borna Coric to reach the Vienna Open quarter-finals and all but secure the year-end top ranking.

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Djokovic Survives Coric Scare, Reaches Vienna QFs

Borna Coric pulled Novak Djokovic into deep waters in the first set of their second-round match at the Erste Bank Open on Wednesday. But the top seed drowned the Croatian with unrelenting play to reach the quarter-finals.

Djokovic saved four set points in the opener before stepping on the gas in a 7-6(11), 6-3 victory over two hours and eight minutes against the two-time ATP Tour titlist. Djokovic is now guaranteed to finish as year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for a record-tying sixth time unless Nadal takes a wild card into Sofia. Should the Serbian win the Vienna title, he is certain to finish year-end No. 1 regardless of whether the Spaniard competes in Sofia.

“It was very tiring and very challenging. Obviously Borna is a great fighter. He’s a very good friend of mine. Off the court we’ve known each other for quite a long time. We speak the same language, we train a lot,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “He has kind of a similar style of tennis as I do. From the backhand corner [he’s] very solid, trying to create points with his forehand. He was serving very well, especially in the first set. It was very difficult for me to return his serve.”

Coric entered the clash with an 0-3 ATP Head2Head record against the World No. 1, losing all six of their previous sets. But the 23-year-old played tremendous tennis all-court tennis to earn four chances to win the first-set tie-break.

”The tie-break again like yesterday against Krajinovic decided the match, I guess. I read his passing shot at 5/6 in the tie-break. He had quite an easy backhand, I read him, I made a short forehand volley,” Djokovic said. “These kinds of things happen and I’m just really glad to stay focussed and play my best at the right time.”

At 5/6, Djokovic floated a backhand volley deep in the court, giving Coric plenty of time to unleash a backhand passing shot. But the top seed guessed the right direction and although he didn’t hit his forehand volley cleanly, he did enough to win the point. 

Coric missed forehands on set points at 7/6 and 8/7 before Djokovic painted the line on the fourth set point he faced at 9/10. The 2007 Vienna champion then escaped trouble when the Croatian missed a backhand long.

Djokovic is now 21-2 in tie-breaks since the start of last year’s Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. Once he got through the opener, he raised his level even higher. Coric hit his first double fault of the match when facing break point at 1-1 in the second set, and that proved costly.

Although Coric showed great baseline play throughout the match and even won some cat-and-mouse points against the Serbian, Djokovic consistently found a way to win the big points. The World No. 1 increased his aggression in the second set and saved all three break points he faced.

Djokovic will play Hubert Hurkacz or Lorenzo Sonego for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Did You Know?
Sampras holds the record with six year-end No. 1 finishes in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Jimmy Connors have accomplished the feat five times.

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