Tennis News

Will Felix's Sixth Final Be His Title Charm? 'I Can't Look Back'

Felix Auger-Aliassime has long been one of the brightest #NextGenATP talents to watch. One thing he hasn’t done is lift an ATP Tour trophy.

Five times the Canadian has reached a tour-level final and on each occasion he has lost in straight sets. Will the sixth time be the charm? Auger-Aliassime has another chance on Sunday in the bett1HULKS Indoors championship match against World No. 7 Alexander Zverev.

“Obviously it’s unfortunate [what happened in] the past five finals, but that’s in the past now. I think we all try to be as much in the present as we can. It’s not easy to be honest,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I really want to win the final tomorrow. But at the same time, those were five different matches. They were great opponents. The other guys played well. Tomorrow is a new opponent, new venue, new match. I’m a different player and person, also. I can’t look back at all the finals and put them all together in one pot.

“Tomorrow is going to be another one, so I’m going to try to bring the best that I have, which I do every day, and try to win.”

It is seemingly only a matter of time before the 20-year-old, who is currently the No. 22 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings, earns ATP Tour glory. The Canadian won his first ATP Challenger Tour title when he was 16 and he has already tallied two Top 10 victories. But he’ll certainly be happy to earn a trophy at this level.

“It would be great. I’ve been looking forward [to] for the past year-and-a-half. You never know when it’s going to come,” said Auger-Aliassime, who reached his first tour-level final in February 2019 when he was 18. “Maybe it comes tomorrow, maybe it comes later. Every week you really have a chance.”

Auger-Aliassime faces a difficult foe in top-seeded Zverev, who leads their ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-0. The German, competing in his home country, is fresh off making his first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

“Sascha is a great player. He’s been playing well. [He made the] final in New York, which he was so close to winning. He has the level to beat any player in the world and he’s proven it many times,” Auger-Aliassime said. “This is going to be a tough challenge like my past two finals playing against the Top 10. I accept the challenge, I’m up for it and it can only be exciting for me.”

Zverev won both their previous meetings in straight sets, with none of their four sets going past 6-4, but one of those matches was on clay at last year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. This will be their first battle indoors. Could this be the first of many finals between Auger-Aliassime and Zverev?

“I want to be at the top level, I want to play well for many years, so does he. Will we be able to do it? We’ll see,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I lost the past two times against him. We’ve practised a lot together. He knows my game well, I know his game well. Tomorrow is going to be a tough battle and hopefully I can get my first win against him in an important match like this.”

This Cologne clash will be Auger-Aliassime’s third final of the season. In both Rotterdam and Marseille, he played Top 10 opponents for the trophy. If Felix is to break through, he will have to earn it against Zverev.

“For sure it would mean a lot. I think I’ve done some good work since that first final, I’ve been improving,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I would be really happy.”

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Zverev, Murray To Compete In Cologne For Second Straight Week; When Is The Draw

For a second week in a row, Cologne will stage an ATP 250 indoor hard-court tournament. Alexander Zverev and Andy Murray are set to return for the bett1HULKS Championships, and will be joined this time by Diego Schwartzman and Denis Shapovalov. 

Zverev is currently through to the final at the bett1HULKS Indoors, where he is attempting to win his first title of the season. Two of the German’s 11 ATP Tour titles have come on home soil, back-to-back victories in Munich in 2017-18. Meanwhile, former World No. 1 Murray will be looking to bounce back from his first-round loss to Fernando Verdasco. 

Schwartzman, 28, will be playing his first tournament as a member of the Top 10, having risen to World No. 8 following his semi-final run at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal). The 21-year-old Shapovalov reached a career-high No. 10 in September after his appearance in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals (l. to Schwartzman).

Roberto Bautista Agut and Felix Auger-Aliassime will also compete in the second Cologne ATP 250. Auger-Aliassime beay Bautista Agut Saturday for a place in the bett1HULKS Indoors final.

Here’s all you need to know about the Cologne tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, when is the draw and more. 

Established: 2020

Tournament Dates: 19-25 October 2020

Tournament Director: Barbara Rittner

Draw Ceremony: Sunday, 18 October

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Schedule
* Qualifying: Saturday and Sunday
* Main Draw: Monday – Sunday at 2:00pm.

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Lanxess Arena
Surface: Indoor Hard

Prize Money: €325,610 (Total Financial Commitment: €325,610)   

View Who Is Playing, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Social
Hashtag: #bett1hulks
Twitter: @bett1hulks

Did You Know… The ATP has announced the addition of four new ATP 250 events to the 2020 provisional schedule. In addition to the back-to-back Cologne tournaments, the calendar also features the Forte Village Sardegna Open in Sardinia, Italy, and the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

We are absolutely in love with our #Bett1 Center Court at the Lanxess Arena ?. Are you too? ? pic.twitter.com/ClD9YZugFG

— bett1_HULKS (@bett1hulks) October 11, 2020

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Goffin, Carreno Busta Lead Title Charge In Antwerp; All You Need To Know

The European Open has crowned four different champions since its first edition in 2016. Top 20 stars David Goffin, Pablo Carreno Busta, Karen Khachanov and Grigor Dimitrov will be among the players looking to continue the trend as they vie for their first title of the 2020 season.

Goffin achieved his best finish at his home country’s tournament in 2016, when he reached the semi-finals (l. to Schwartzman), while Carreno Busta, Khachanov and Dimitrov will be making their Antwerp debuts. Carreno Busta has been in good form since the ATP Tour’s return in August, advancing to the US Open semi-finals (l. to Zverev) and Roland Garros quarter-finals (l. to Djokovic). 

The field will also feature Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Alex de Minaur and 2016 champion Richard Gasquet. Daniel Evans will attempt to become the third straight British player to win the title, following in the footsteps of Kyle Edmund (2018) and Andy Murray (2019). 

Here’s all you need to know about the Antwerp tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more. 

Established: 2016

Tournament Dates: 19-25 October 2020

Tournament Director: Dick Norman 

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 17 October

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Sunday from 12:00pm, Monday from 1:00pm
* Main draw: Tuesday – Friday from 2:00pm; Saturday at 1:30pm
* Doubles final: Sunday, 25 October at 3:30pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 25 October at 5:30pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Lotto Arena
Surface: Indoor Hard

Prize Money: €394,800 (Total Financial Commitment: €472,590)  

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Kyle Edmund, Richard Gasquet, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (1)
Most Titles, Doubles: Edouard Roger-Vasselin (2)
Oldest Champion: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 32, in 2017
Youngest Champion: Kyle Edmund, 23, in 2018
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 15 Kyle Edmund in 2018
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 243 Andy Murray in 2019
Most Match Wins: Diego Schwartzman (9)

2019 Finals
Singles: [PR] Andy Murray (GBR) d [4] [WC] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 36 64 64   Read & Watch
Doubles: [1] Kevin Krawietz (GER) / Andreas Mies (GER) d [2] Rajeev Ram (USA) / Joe Salisbury (GBR) 76(1) 63  Read & Watch

Social
Hashtag: #EuropeanOpen
Facebook: @EuropeanTennisOpen
Twitter: @EuroTennisOpen
Instagram: @europeantennisopen

Did You Know… The European Open is the only ATP Tour tournament in Belgium.

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Felix Beats Bautista Agut In Cologne, Earns Shot At First Title

“It’s a good win. It’s good for my confidence to be able to beat Roberto since he beat me last time last year in a tough match,” Auger-Aliassime said on court after his one-hour, 50-minute victory. “Obviously I’m happy to beat a player like this today.”

Auger-Aliassime has previously reached five ATP Tour finals and fallen short in the championship match on each occasion. But on Sunday in Cologne, he will have an opportunity to reverse that trend against top seed Alexander Zverev.

“I’ve practised with him many times back home… hopefully tomorrow I can give myself chances to win. It’s going to be a great battle,” said Auger-Aliassime, who trails their ATP Head2Head series 0-2. “We’ve already played twice and for sure it’s the start of our careers and we’re going to play many times. This is our first final playing and hopefully not the last.”

To get to the final, Auger-Aliassime had to battle past the always solid Bautista Agut. In the first set, the 20-year-old Canadian played jaw-dropping tennis, hitting through the court and his opponent, winning 48 per cent of his return points and breaking twice to clinch the opener.

“I think in the first set I played one of the best sets of my career. I was doing everything well,” Auger-Aliassime said. “The ball was going exactly where I wanted to, I was putting pressure and I felt really good from the start.”

Felix hit a down-the-line forehand into the net to relinquish an immediate break in the second set, which allowed Bautista Agut to settle into the match. The Spaniard made the third seed work hard and used his consistency to force a deciding set.

“In my mind I knew it was going to still be a difficult match, but the way I started playing and with what I had today in me, I just felt like I would get chances at one point during the match. Things got a little more difficult in the second set. I didn’t feel like I played so bad, so I kept believing,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I served way better in the third set than I did in the first two sets and that helped me close the deal.”

The World No. 22 only lost three first-serve points in the third set (19/22) and he saved the one break point he faced to advance to the final. He is now level at 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Bautista Agut.

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Coric Makes Second Straight St. Petersburg Final

Borna Coric weathered an early storm from Milos Raonic on Saturday to reach his second straight St. Petersburg Open final.

The seventh seed found himself down a set in just 37 minutes, but produced an impressive 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 comeback to record his seventh win in nine matches at the event. Coric is through to his seventh ATP Tour championship match (2-4) and will attempt to improve on his runner-up finish at this event last year.

”I am just very happy that I won the match. It was a really, really tough match,” said Coric in an on-court interview. “In the first set, I don’t remember playing that bad ever and also Milos was just serving huge. I didn’t have any response, but luckily in the second set I did find my rhythm and I started to play much better.”

Coric earned three straight comeback wins en route to last year’s final, before falling to Daniil Medvedev in the championship match. The Croatian has experience of improving on runner-up finishes, having claimed his maiden ATP Tour crown at the 2017 Grand Prix Hassan II one year after losing the 2016 final. Coric will attempt to earn his first win against Andrey Rublev when he meets the Russian for the fourth time in the final.

”It is going to be a very difficult match, for sure,” said Coric. “The last time I played him was in 2019 in Shanghai and I lost. Obviously, he is playing some of the best tennis of his whole life. I was watching many of his matches and he was playing absolutely great. I am just happy to be in the final and hopefully tomorrow I can play my best match.”

Coric levelled his ATP Head2Head series against Raonic at 1-1. The World No. 27 lost his only previous clash against the 29-year-old at the 2017 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.

Raonic was also aiming to reach his second St. Petersburg championship match. On his tournament debut in 2015, the Canadian beat Joao Sousa to capture his fifth and most recent indoor ATP Tour trophy.

For the second straight match, Raonic broke serve in his opening two return games. The Canadian powered through Coric’s defence with inside-out forehands and capitalised on forehand errors from his opponent to take control of the match. Raonic also moved to the net well, finishing multiple points with overhead winners to claim the first set.

Raonic entered the second set having won all 33 service games he had played in the tournament, but Coric turned the tables on the 29-year-old to get back in the match. The Croatian took advantage of double faults and found his targets when Raonic approached the net to earn back-to-back breaks. Coric sealed the second set with his third ace of the match.

Coric struggled with his timing and was forced to save three break points in his first service game of the third set. But the two-time ATP Tour titlist soon rediscovered the form he showed in the second set, extracting errors from Raonic in extended rallies with great court coverage to claim a crucial break. Coric converted his first match point with a cross-court forehand winner.

Did You Know?
This is the first time in tournament history that both St. Petersburg finalists have rallied from a set down to win their semi-final matches.

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Daniell/Oswald Upset Cabal/Farah In Sardinia For First Team Title

Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald completed an impressive run at the Forte Village Sardegna Open on Saturday, upsetting top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3, 6-4 to lift the trophy.

Daniell and Oswald did not lose a set en route to their first team title, triumphing in their second tour-level championship match together (2020 Auckland). The Kiwi-Austrian team broke three times en route to a 73-minute victory.

“They’ve been the best team in the world for quite a while now, so we knew we had to play a really high level of tennis to beat them,” Daniell said. “I’m really proud with the level of tennis we brought to the court today. I think from the very start we really played aggressively and played well. Very happy with the win.”

The key was first-serve returns. Cabal and Farah only won 59 per cent of points behind their first delivery, while Daniell and Oswald had a 78 per cent success rate. The third seeds saved two of the three break points they faced on Saturday and they were broken only three times all week.

“Clay I think is not our strongest surface, but still we chose this tournament because we felt Sardinia is such a nice place, this hotel is unreal,” Oswald said. “We had a really nice week and we enjoyed every minute here. At the end a title is more than we could ask for.”

Oswald now has 11 ATP Tour doubles titles and Daniell has five. It was the first triumph of the season for both players. They each earn 250 FedEx ATP Doubles Ranking points and a share of €6,030.

Cabal and Farah, who won five titles last season — including two Grand Slam championships — are still pursuing their first trophy of 2020. The Colombians depart Sardinia with 150 points each and a split of €5,000.

Kubot/Melo Reach Cologne Final
Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo beat third seeds Raven Klaasen and Oliver Marach 6-4, 6-3 to reach the bett1HULKS Indoors final in Cologne. The Polish-Brazilian duo will play second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut for the trophy on Sunday.

Demoliner/Middelkoop To Play For St. Petersburg Title
Marcelo Demoliner and Matwe Middelkoop eliminated Alexander Bublik and Reilly Opelka 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to reach the St. Petersburg Open final. They will face second seeds Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin for the trophy.

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Rublev Claims Big Win In Battle For London, Reaches St. Petersburg Final

Andrey Rublev claimed an important win in his bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time on Saturday, beating fellow London contender Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the St. Petersburg Open final.

The Russian saved five of six break points to recover from a set down for the second time this week. Rublev, who also trailed Ugo Humbert by a set in the second round, moves ahead of Diego Schwartzman into eighth position in the FedEx ATP Battle For London with 3,229 points following his semi-final win.

Just two qualification positions remain vacant for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 15-22 November at The O2 in London. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have already qualified for the elite eight-man event.

Rublev gains 120 FedEx ATP Rankings points for reaching his fourth final of 2020 (3-0). Shapovalov remains in 12th position with 2,830 points, 350 points behind ninth-placed Schwartzman who occupies the final qualification spot.

FedEx ATP Battle For London

The World No. 10 levels his ATP Head2Head series against Shapovalov at 2-2. Rublev entered the semi-final encounter on a two-match losing streak against the Canadian, having claimed his only previous victory against Shapovalov in a final-set tie-break at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017.

Rublev is attempting to capture his second ATP Tour trophy in Russia and his fourth crown this year. Last year’s Moscow champion has already claimed trophies in Doha, Adelaide and Hamburg this season and is in second place on the 2020 ATP Tour wins leaderboard with 33 wins this year. Only Novak Djokovic, who owns a 37-2 record in 2020, is ahead of Rublev in this category.

Rublev will face last year’s runner-up Borna Coric or 2015 champion Milos Raonic in the final. The 22-year-old is unbeaten in three ATP Head2Head matches against Coric and is yet to meet Raonic at tour-level.

Shapovalov played with consistent depth and aggression to gain the only break of the first set at 3-3. The Canadian forced his opponent behind the baseline and fired multiple forehand winners up the line to take the lead. Shapovalov closed the set after 45 minutes, striking a powerful first serve into Rublev’s backhand.

Shapovalov gifted Rublev a route back into the match in the second set, committing four double faults in a single service game at 1-2. Rublev served well to maintain his advantage and moved forward to strike short balls and drag his opponent out of position.

The five-time ATP Tour titlist returned with depth and often struck early in rallies to gain the initiative in the deciding set. Rublev finished the match in top form and claimed victory on his second match point when Shapovalov drove a backhand into the net.

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Zverev Surges Into Cologne Final

Alexander Zverev is now just one win from claiming his third ATP Tour title on home soil.

The top seed defeated 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5, 7-6(3) to reach the final of the bett1HULKS Indoors in Cologne. Zverev has now won nine of his past 10 matches on hard courts and he will play third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday for the crown.

“I want to go one step further. It’s nice to be playing in Germany as well,” Zverev said. “It’s going to be a difficult final no matter who I play. I’m looking forward to it.”

The World No. 7 is into his second final since the ATP Tour restarted in August. Zverev, who is 23, made his first Grand Slam championship match at the US Open, where he became the youngest major finalist since Novak Djokovic at the 2010 US Open.

In the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, the German only lost five games against Davidovich Fokina. His three-set victory took just one hour and 34 minutes. But Zverev had to work much harder in their second ATP Head2Head encounter, breaking serve twice and hitting 10 aces in a one-hour, 57-minute triumph.

“He played much better tennis and I think he’s somebody who is going to go up the [FedEx ATP] Rankings very quickly,” Zverev said. “For me he’s a great guy as well. He’s very talented, extremely good with the hands. I think he’s somebody who’s going to find his way up and it’s going to be interesting to see what the future weeks [hold for him] this year and next year as well.” 

On the slower indoor Cologne court, Zverev remained steady throughout most of the match, as did his 21-year-old Spanish opponent. Davidovich Fokina was not able to hit through Zverev, but he tracked down many balls and mixed in his drop shot well. One slip in the final game of the first set was enough to give the top seed the advantage.

Zverev appeared in complete control at 7-5, 4-1, but Davidovich Fokina continued battling hard from the baseline. The German missed an aggressive cross-court forehand wide to relinquish his break advantage, allowing the Spaniard back in the match. But after giving up an opening mini-break in the tie-break, Zverev raised his level to close out the match.

This will be Zverev’s fifth final in Germany, where he is 2-2 in championship matches. The Hamburg-native is a two-time Munich titlist and a two-time Halle finalist.

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Federer, Nadal Or Djokovic? Raonic On 'The Greatest' Debate

When Rafael Nadal tied Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles last Sunday by triumphing at Roland Garros, fans and analysts once again began debating who the best player in history is. After reaching the St. Petersburg Open semi-finals on Friday, former World No. 3 Milos Raonic said there is no simple answer.

“I think it’s hard to debate it now because there are a lot of open-ended things,” Raonic said. “You have Rafa who’s going to be around to play more tennis. We have Roger who’s going to be coming back next year to play more tennis. You have Novak who’s maybe got age on his side and has been definitely the healthiest of them, especially over the past few years.

“It’s not only about Grand Slams. Weeks at No. 1 matter, head-to-head results against each other, those matter. How many times you win each Grand Slam, that matters, how many Masters series you win, there’s a lot. There is always going to be an argument about who is the greatest of all-time.”

As Raonic said, there is no clear-cut metric. Federer and Nadal are tied for the most majors (20), Federer has the most tour-level titles of the trio (103) and if Djokovic maintains World No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings through 8 March 2021, he will eclipse Federer for the most weeks at top spot.

If nothing else, it’s exciting to watch three legends competing at the same time, pushing each other to even greater heights.

“I think we are very lucky to be able to have that argument all in the same generation where you can compare these guys rather than comparing some players from now to players from 20 years ago or to players from 40 years ago,” Raonic said. “It’s really a pleasure to have the guys in front of you all at the same time so that you can have this comparison.”

Raonic has earned three wins against Federer (3-11) and two victories against Nadal (2-8). He is still pursuing his first triumph against Djokovic (0-11). But more than anything else, the Canadian is impressed by what the ‘Big Three’ has accomplished, with Nadal’s 13th Coupe des Mousquetaires being the latest achievement on a long list.

“It’s incredible what Rafa has done, to win the tournament 13 times in 16 years,” Raonic said. “Before these three guys started, the Grand Slam record was 14. He has a good chance to have 14 at one event, so who would have thought that was possible?”

Raonic plays Borna Coric on Saturday for a spot in the St. Petersburg final.

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Djere To Face Cecchinato In Sardinia Final

Laslo Djere advanced to his second ATP Tour championship match on Saturday at the Forte Village Sardegna Open.

The 25-year-old was leading Lorenzo Musetti 2-6, 6-2, 4-1 when the #NextGenATP Italian was forced to retire with a right elbow injury. Last year’s Rio Open presented by Claro champion will meet Marco Cecchinato in the final on Sunday. The 28-year-old charged through to the championship match with a 6-1, 6-0 win against lucky loser Danilo Petrovic.

Djere will be seeking his first victory against Cecchinato when he meets the Italian on Sunday. In the pair’s only previous ATP Head2Head encounter, Cecchinato claimed a straight-sets win en route to his second of three ATP Tour titles at the 2018 Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag.

Musetti made a fast start to his first ATP Tour semi-final, ripping a cross-court forehand return winner to break serve in the opening game. The Italian showed great court coverage throughout the first set, forcing Djere to increase his aggression, which extracted multiple errors.

“I knew that he was playing really well, had a lot of confidence and had some great results in the past few weeks, but I didn’t expect the high level that he played in the first set,” said Djere. “It surprised me a bit and I didn’t have the answer.”

Djere responded well in the second set, racing out to a 4-0 lead. The Serbian dropped just two points behind his first serve in the second set (11/13) and dictated baseline play with powerful groundstrokes to force a decider.

“I managed to stay focussed and fought back in the second set, which I am really happy about,” said Djere. “My level was higher in the second set, [as was] my intensity. I changed tactics a little bit and I was more focussed on my serve.”

Serving at 1-2 in the third set, Musetti pulled out of his service motion as he began to feel pain in his right elbow. Djere rushed Musetti into errors to break and held serve for a 4-1 lead, before the Italian took a medical timeout. After dropping the opening point of his service game upon the resumption of play, Musetti walked to the net to touch racquets with Djere, ending the match.

Musetti was attempting to become the youngest Italian in the Open Era to reach an ATP Tour final. The 18-year-old entered last month’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia with no Top 100 wins at No. 249 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Musetti now owns seven Top 100 victories, an ATP Challenger Tour trophy (Forli) and his first tour-level semi-final. Musetti rose to a career-high No. 138 on 28 September.

“There was one month of tournaments at ATP level with a lot of Top 100 players,” said Musetti. “I think I did an amazing job and now I will take a rest and see what is happening with the elbow… I am going to rest a bit because I am a little bit tired after playing a lot of matches in a row.”

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