Tennis News

Djokovic withdraws from Montreal

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Montreal, the tournament announced on Monday. 

The Serbian owns a 25-7 record this season following his second-round victory on Monday against Rafael Nadal in the Paris Olympics. The 37-year-old, a four-time ATP Masters 1000 Canada champion, is pursuing his first title of the season.

Djokovic enjoyed his best result of the season at Wimbledon, where he made the final before losing to Carlos Alcaraz. The 98-time tour-level titlist is currently in sixth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

The seven-time Nitto ATP Finals champion is trying to qualify for the season finale for the 17th time. Since 2007, the only year in which he missed out was 2017. The 2024 year-end championships will be held in Turin from 10-17 November.

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My Olympics: Casper Ruud

Norway made history at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with a record-breaking 16 gold medals, the most by a country in a single Winter Games. Fast forward two years and one of the athletes Norway will have its eyes on at the Summer Games in Paris is the country’s highest-ranked tennis player, Casper Ruud.

The 25-year-old, who has won 11 ATP Tour titles and made three major finals, looks to become the first Norwegian male to earn a medal in tennis. Ahead of Ruud’s campaign, the No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings sat down with ATPTour.com to discuss the Olympic sports he enjoys watching and which Norwegian athletes have inspired him.

What Olympic sport do you think you would be good at?
I think I’m just going to stick with my favourite sport outside tennis, which is golf. I love golf. That’s my favorite sport outside of tennis. I love playing, I love watching it. Easy for me to go with that one.

For which sports do you think you would not be well suited?
Probably gymnastics or swimming or these things that require an incredible amount of body control.

Which Norwegian Olympians have you looked up to?
Lately we’ve had a few gold medals in the Summer Olympics as well, with Jakob Ingebrigtsen winning the 1500 metres distance running gold medal in Tokyo. Karsten Warholm set a new world record at the 400 meter hurdle in Tokyo and won gold there so the last Summer Olympics was really good for Norway, so hopefully we can keep it up this year as well.

Is there an Olympic athlete from another country you have looked up to?
I think the highlight always for me was watching the 100 meter sprint, Usain Bolt was the fastest man alive, fastest man on the planet is always one of the highlights, so I guess watching him win gold and doing his ‘Arrow’ signature pointing celebration. I can’t even remember if it was before or after, but that was always fun to watch.

What are you most looking forward to about the Olympic Village?
I think it will be fun. Tennis in a way is a bit of a lonely sport at times, because you travel around by yourself. Of course you have your team and everything, but sometimes you’re by yourself stuck in a hotel room for most nights, during the year. So being in the Olympic Village together with other athletes, maybe sharing experiences or talking about sports in general is going to be hopefully a fun experience.

What is your country best known for in the Olympics?
I would say the Winter Olympics. We typically end up doing pretty good on the statistics in the Winter Olympics. Most of the time we’re able to win most golds because the biathlon and the cross country skiers and alpine downhill skiers, they kind of do rack up gold medal after gold medals, so I would say the Winter Olympics is more of Norway’s thing, but hopefully can be a surprise this year.

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Alcaraz saves set point against Griekspoor, reaches R3 at Paris Olympics

Carlos Alcaraz maintained his red-hot form on Monday when he defeated Tallon Griekspoor 6-1, 7-6(3) to reach the third round of the Paris Olympics.

The Spaniard, who has captured major titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, has now won 17 of his past 18 matches and is 35-6 this season. He will next play Roman Safiullin for a place in the quarter-finals. On Tuesday, he will partner Rafael Nadal in the second round of doubles.

“I’m not used to playing doubles. I’m used to focusing just on singles, but it’s a really special moment for me playing doubles as well,” Alcaraz said. “I love playing doubles. So the preparations could be tricky a little bit with the singles, with the practice, doubles. But I’m trying to play my best on both sides.”

Alcaraz was in imperious form in the first set. Every shot he hit and tactic he employed seemingly worked to perfection. But it was not all easy for the 21-year-old, who needed to save a set point on serve at 4-5 in the second set.

Griekspoor, the No. 28 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, found his rhythm in the second set and put plenty of pressure on the second seed. Before Alcaraz stepped to the line to serve at 4-5, he left the court with physiotherapist Per Bastholt for a medical timeout, which he later revealed was related to his adductor.

In that game, Alcaraz was a point away from needing to battle into a decider. But he played decisively, moving forward and hitting a great drop volley that set up an easy forehand-volley cutaway.

“It’s kind of normal this pain. I felt it before, I’ve been dealing with this problem before… in my adductor,” Alcaraz said. “I know how to deal with this pain. I think it’s not going to be serious so I’m going to be ready for for the doubles tomorrow.”

Alcaraz did not show any clear limitations and was able to close out the match in straight sets and take a 3-0 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the Dutchman.

The Spaniard converted two of his three break points, while Griekspoor was unable to convert either of his two break points.

Norwegian Casper Ruud, a two-time Roland Garros finalist, was under duress against Italian Andrea Vavassori. But the World No. 9 rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Ruud will next take on Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, who battled past home favourite and 10th seed Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5.

After needing three sets in his first-round match, eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece cruised past Briton Daniel Evans 6-1, 6-2. Tsitsipas will play 12th seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina, a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) winner against Lebanon’s Benjamin Hassan, in the third round.

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On top of the world: Re-living Murray’s unforgettable 2016 season

Even for a player who had already won 35 tour-level titles, including two Grand Slams, 11 ATP Masters 1000 crowns, and an Olympic gold medal, 2016 was something special for Andy Murray. After years of battling Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the top of the men’s game, the Briton elevated his level to eclipse them all.

Murray racked up a 78-9 record en route to nine tour-level titles in 2016, which he finished by becoming ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF in the most spectacular way. Ahead of the China Open in Beijing in October that year, World No. 2 Murray had trailed No. 1 Djokovic by 4,695 points in the PIF ATP Rankings. What followed was one of the most memorable season climaxes in ATP Tour history.

To celebrate the end of Murray’s glittering career, ATPTour.com looks back on Murray’s unforgettable 2016 season.

OCTOBER – Murray On A Mission
It was two weeks and 10 straight-sets Murray wins in China that injected late-season intrigue into the 2016 race to become ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF. The 29-year-old had put up a sustained bid to haul in Djokovic and become World No. 1 for the first time by winning 54 of his first 61 tour-level matches of the year, but he was in danger of losing momentum after a quarter-final defeat to Kei Nishikori at the US Open was followed by a Davis Cup loss to Juan Martin del Potro.

Yet back-to-back defeats against a pair of old rivals was to prove a mere blip for the in-form Murray. He took his tally to six titles for the season by claiming the trophy in Beijing and then another at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai, victories that reduced the gap between World No. 1 Djokovic and Murray from 4,695 to 2,415 points. The Scot was nonetheless keen to dampen any talk of him hitting World No. 1 before the year was done.

“Although points-wise it’s possible to do it this year, Novak is going to win a lot of matches between now and the end of the year. I’m aware of that, and I expect that to happen,” said Murray after defeating Roberto Bautista Agut in the Shanghai final. “There is more chance to do it next year, I think.”

However, Murray continued to turn the scenario on its head as the late-season wins kept coming. He headed to Vienna to start his European indoor season and promptly won his seventh title of the year. Then another Masters 1000 crown, the 14th and ultimately final one of his career, at the Rolex Paris Masters. Djokovic had fallen in the quarter-finals in the French capital, leaving Murray to secure his remarkable rise to No. 1 for the first time by reaching the championship match.

“It’s been really, really hard to do it, been really difficult,” said Murray, when asked about finally disrupting Federer, Nadal and Djokovic’s 13-year monopoly on top spot. “Obviously, they are three of the best players that have ever played the game and some of the years that they have had in that period have been ridiculous… It’s taken a great year to get there.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/09/59/murray-paris-2016-trophy.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />

_{^{Murray lifts his 14th and final ATP Masters 1000 crown at the 2016 Rolex Paris Masters. Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images}}

NOVEMBER – Fairytale Finish
Getting to No. 1 is a huge achievement, but ending an ATP Tour season in top spot earns a player membership of an even more exclusive club.

There was little time for Murray to celebrate becoming the world’s top player as he prepared for the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in London. The 29-year-old arrived on a 19-match winning streak but needed to perform well at the prestigious season finale to prevent Djokovic from an immediate return to No. 1, with the honour of finishing as the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF on the line.

Murray completed a perfect round-robin stage in London by defeating Marin Cilic, Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka, before pulling through for a nailbiting 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) semi-final triumph against Milos Raonic to make it six victories in six Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with the Canadian that year. With Djokovic also reaching the final, the stage was set for a winner-takes-all championship match in which both players were one win away from securing the year-end World No. 1 honour.

As he had done so often that season, Murray rose to the occasion in style. Roared on by his home fans, the Briton eased past Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 to complete a fairytale end to the year after winning 24 consecutive tour-level matches and five back-to-back titles.

“It was obviously a big match, a very important win for me,” reflected Murray, who finished 2016 with a 78-9 match record and a personal-best nine trophies for the season. “It was just a huge match to finish the year, to try and obviously finish No. 1. Obviously, this is a major event, as well, and one I’ve not done well in in the past, so it’s been a great week.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/19/21/00/murray-nitto-atp-finals-2016-backhand.jpg?w=100%25&hash=7A4AE9C8AABB80FDFD47A0433181DC81″ style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />
_{^{Murray in action during his dominant 2016 Nitto ATP Finals championship-match win. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images}}

JANUARY – Uncertain Beginnings
Murray’s seismic celebrations in London were a far cry from how his year had begun.

The Scot had wrapped the 2015 season in historic fashion by leading Great Britain to its first Davis Cup title in 79 years. Starting the new year at No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, the Briton picked up where he left off at his first tournament of 2016 by beating a then-18-year-old Alexander Zverev, David Ferrer and Raonic en route to his fifth Australian Open final.

Awaiting the 28-year-old in the championship match was the familiar face of World No. 1 Djokovic, who had beaten Murray in three of his past four title matches in Melbourne. Their fourth, and ultimately final, Australian Open final proved to be the most one-sided when the Serbian eased to a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(3) triumph.

Murray experienced the joy of becoming a father for the first time when his wife Kim gave birth to their first child in early February, but what was to become the best season of his career delivered two other early on-court disappointments. The Briton went 2-2 in March after falling at the third-round stage in both Indian Wells (to Federico Delbonis) and Miami (to Grigor Dimitrov). By the time the European clay season began in April, it had been eight months since Murray had won an individual title.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/11/murray-djokovic-australian-open-2016-ceremony.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />

_{^{Murray stands behind champion Novak Djokovic at the 2016 Australian Open trophy ceremony. Photo Credit: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images}}

APRIL – Bouncing Back On Clay
Murray demonstrated improvements in his clay-court game in 2015, when he won his first tour-level titles on the surface in Munich and Madrid (where he beat Nadal in the final at the ATP Masters 1000), respectively. Those triumphs laid the foundations for his consistently impressive 2016 outings on the surface as he went 18-3 across four of the biggest events on the calendar.

It took ‘King of Clay’ Nadal to stop Murray in the Monte-Carlo semi-finals, and the Scot earned swift revenge in front of the Spaniard’s home fans with a last-four win of his own in Madrid. His hopes of defending his title in the Spanish capital were dashed by Djokovic in three sets, but Murray again responded quickly. He charged to the title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia without dropping a set, dispatching Djokovic 6-3, 6-3 in the final to become the first British man to win the Rome trophy in the Open Era.

“It’s mostly great players that have won this event, so I’m very proud to have my name on the trophy,” said Murray after his victory.

At Roland Garros, with Federer absent and Nadal withdrawing before the third round due to a wrist injury, the draw appeared to have opened for one of the top two seeds, Djokovic or Murray, to clinch their first title at the clay-court major. They did both reach the final, but Djokovic proved too strong and wrapped a 3–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 victory.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/21/murray-rome-2016-backhand.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />

_{^{Andy Murray battles past Novak Djokovic in the 2016 Rome championship match. Photo Credit: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images}}

JUNE – Dominant Dozen On Grass
Despite falling just short of his third major title, Murray could turn his attention to the grass as the owner of a healthy 28-6 record for the year. He went on to make the momentum he had built on clay count, and in spectacular fashion, on the British grass. The World No. 2 went 12-0 across what was historically one of his favourite parts of the season to reconfirm his status as one of the elite grass-court players in the world.

Competing at the Queen’s Club as defending champion, Murray battled through a trio of three-setters from the quarter-finals onwards to lift the title. In doing so, he moved clear of former World No. 1s John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick with a record fifth title at the ATP 500. He beat his Top 10 rival Raonic, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match, and it was the Canadian who stood across from Murray again three weeks later in the Briton’s third Wimbledon final.

Murray, who had not dropped a set en route to the championship match aside from a five-set battle with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, delivered a masterful returning display to blunt the big-serving Raonic and claim his second Wimbledon crown. He described a markedly different title-winning feeling to his 2013 triumph, perhaps a reflection of how confident he was in his game.

“I feel happier this time,” said Murray after his 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) victory against Raonic. “I feel more content this time. I feel like this was sort of more for myself more than anything, and my team as well. We’ve all worked really hard to help get me in this position. Last time it was just pure relief, and I didn’t really enjoy the moment as much, whereas I’m going to make sure I enjoy this one more.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/28/murray-wimbledon-2016-match-point.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />

_{^{Andy Murray drops his racquet with joy after clinching his second Wimbledon title. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images}}

AUGUST – Summer Surge
Murray’s red-hot form continued long enough for him to win his second title at another prestigious event: the Olympic Games. Having won gold at London 2012, Murray became the first man to win two Olympic men’s tennis singles titles by downing Del Potro in four exhilarating sets in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 final.

“Tonight is one of the hardest matches that I’ve had to play for a big, big title,” said Murray after his 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 triumph. “I think the US Open final I played against Novak when I won my first Slam was very hard, but tonight I found really difficult.”

By next racking up four straight-sets victories to reach the championship match at the Cincinnati Open, Murray hit 50 tour-level wins for the season and extended his winning streak to 22 matches. It was the longest unbeaten run of the 29-year-old’s career up to that point.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/31/murray-del-potro-rio-olympics-2016.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray/Juan Martin del Potro” />

_{^{Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro after their epic final at the Rio Olympics. Photo Credit: Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images}}

Murray’s red-hot form did not stop the World No. 14 Cilic from claiming an upset to lift the Cincinnati title, and then came the Briton’s disappointments against Nishikori at the US Open and Del Potro in the Davis Cup. From there, however, Murray headed to Asia to begin what would become one of the most memorable season run-ins of all time.

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ATP makes history in Washington with player-worn microphones for doubles

History will be made this week at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington. For the first time, the ATP will trial player-worn microphones during doubles matches at the ATP 500 event.

This innovation, part of the 2024 ATP Doubles Trial, aims to enhance the fan and broadcast experience, while also amplifying the profiles of the players. This will take place across select doubles matches throughout the week.

Have you ever wondered what a doubles team is discussing before a critical deuce point, or what they are joking about during a changeover?

Now fans will be closer to the action than ever before with players mic’d up.

Fans will be able to hear these fly-on-the-wall moments live during broadcasts and clipped on the ATP’s digital channels throughout the tournament.

You can listen to NBA players chatting in their huddle, Formula 1 drivers speaking to their race engineers and MLB players sharing their thoughts mid-play. Now you can also hear tennis players live during the action.

ATP Chief Sporting Officer Ross Hutchins said: “The continuation of the 2024 ATP Doubles Trial with the introduction of player-worn microphones during competition is a transformative opportunity for players, fans and the sport as a whole. This will provide fans live, never-before-seen insight into tactics players use during critical points of a match, while also providing interesting glimpses into the lighter, funny moments of the action. Thanks to Mark Ein and the Mubadala Citi DC Open for their vision and collaboration on this project. We look forward to an impactful week in Washington.”

Mubadala Citi DC Open Tournament Chairman Mark Ein said: “I have wanted to bring live mic’ing to tennis for many years after seeing the powerful impact of it in other sports like the NBA and NFL, who collaborated with us on this pilot. We are thrilled that the Mubadala Citi DC Open will be the first tour event ever to use it and know that it will bring fans inside the court, allowing them to hear the most unique insights into the game. This will be an important innovation that will greatly benefit doubles and the sport more broadly.”

The following changes will also be trialed during the Washington doubles event:

• There will be a maximum of 21 seconds between all points.
• There will be 60-second changeovers with time called after 40 seconds.
• Each team may request a 10-second time extension on their serve once per set, including tie-breaks.
• Free crowd movement will be allowed on the sides of the court.
• Eight teams are seeded (up from four) to help create singles versus doubles team matches in the first round.
• When possible there will be a doubles-only court.

The 2024 ATP Doubles Trial began at the Mutua Madrid Open. Further trials have been held at Queen’s Club, Hamburg, Gstaad, Newport and Kitzbühel.

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When will Nadal, Murray play doubles R2 at the Olympics?

Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will both continue their doubles campaigns at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.

Nadal, who lost to top seed Novak Djokovic in singles on Monday, will return to action alongside fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz against Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof. The match will be the third on Court Suzanne-Lenglen after 12 p.m., following the men’s singles match between Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper and the women’s singles match between Jasmine Paolini and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Nadal and Alcaraz are playing doubles together for the first time. They defeated Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the first round.

Daniel Evans and Murray faced five consecutive match points on Sunday against Japan’s Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori, but the Britons saved them all and eventually advanced to the second round with a thrilling victory in Paris.

Evans and Murray will follow Alcaraz and Nadal on Court Suzanne-Lenglen when they play Belgians Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen or Frenchmen Arthur Fils/Ugo Humbert.

In singles, Tokyo gold medalist Alexander Zverev will play Czech Tomas Machac second on Court Philippe-Chatrier and fourth seed Daniil Medvedev will face Austrian Sebastian Ofner in the last match on the same court.

Former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings Stan Wawrinka will also be in action Tuesday against Australian Alexei Popyrin. The Australian won the pair’s only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in last year’s Umag final.

Ninth seed Tommy Paul will take on #NextGenATP Czech Jakub Mensik and 13th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will try to move past German Maximilian Marterer. There will also be men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles play Tuesday.

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Watch: Djokovic too strong for old rival Nadal

Watch highlights as Serbia’s Novak Djokovic beats long-time rival Rafael Nadal in two sets on day three of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

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Rincon, former US Open boys champ, wins first Challenger title

Daniel Rincon earned a career milestone Sunday at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Tampere, Finland, where the 21-year-old claimed his first title at that level.

The Spaniard joins elite company as a former US Open junior champion to win a Challenger title in the past 10 years, alongside Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Wu Yibing and Thiago Seyboth Wild. Rincon, a 2021 graduate of the Rafa Nadal Academy, defeated fourth seed Calvin Hemery 6-1, 7-6(4) in the Tampere Open final.

Following his title run, the lefty is up to a career-high No. 164 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Rincon is the youngest Spanish Challenger champion since Pablo Llamas Ruiz last July.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/29/15/10/rincon-tamperech-2024-trophy.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Daniel Rincon triumphs on the clay courts of Tampere, Finland.” />
^{Daniel Rincon triumphs on the clay courts of Tampere, Finland. Credit: Tampere Open}

In other ATP Challenger Tour action, Canadian Gabriel Diallo was unbroken across five matches to win the Chicago Men’s Challenger. The 6’8” 22-year-old faced just four break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, relying on his hefty serve to capture his third Challenger title and first of this season.

A Montreal native who played at the University of Kentucky before turning pro at the end of 2022, Diallo ousted Buyunchaokete 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final. China’s ‘Bu’ last week won the Granby Challenger, Diallo’s home tournament which he triumphed at in 2022.

“It means a lot because it’s hard work from the previous months that we’ve been putting in, my team and I,” Diallo told commentator Mike Cation. “Obviously with my height, the goal is to not get broken, but obviously it happens sometimes. But the fact that I was able to go the whole tournament without getting broken was very impressive. I think it goes to the hard work we put in, not only on the serve, but the serve plus-one and my game overall.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/29/13/29/diallo-chicagoch-2024.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Gabriel Diallo is crowned champion at the Chicago Men’s Challenger.” />
^{Gabriel Diallo is crowned champion at the Chicago Men’s Challenger. Credit: Eduardo Cantu}

Swiss Jerome Kym enjoyed a dream week on home soil at the Dialectic Zug Open, where he collected his second Challenger title. The 21-year-old last month won the Prostejov Challenger as a qualifier. Kym raced past fourth-seeded Argentine Roman Andres Burruchaga 6-4, 6-4 in the final and is up to a career-high No. 181 following his title run.

“It’s been an absolutely great atmosphere here in Zug every day,” Kym said while thanking the home crowd in the trophy presentation. “So many fans coming out to see the players. It always feels like playing Davis Cup when a Swiss player makes it to the finals at a Swiss tournament, the people are crazy for tennis.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/29/15/25/kym-zugch-2024.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Jerome Kym competes in front of a packed crowd Sunday in Zug, Switzerland.” />
^{Jerome Kym competes in front of a packed crowd Sunday in Zug, Switzerland. Credit: Fabian Meierhans/Dialectic Zug Open}

Frenchman Antoine Escoffier went one step further than last week’s runner-up finish in Pozoblanco to claim the Open Castilla y Leon in Segovia, Spain, where he was a finalist last year. The top seed defeated Spaniard Alex Martinez 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the title match.

At 32 years and four months, Escoffier is the second-oldest first-time winner in Challenger history. Only Joseph Sirianni (32 years, 10 months) was older when he won his maiden title in Caloundra, Australia (2007).

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/29/15/30/escoffier-segoviach-2024.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Antoine Escoffier wins the hard-court tournament in Segovia, Spain.” />
^{Antoine Escoffier wins the hard-court tournament in Segovia, Spain. Credit: Open Castilla y Leon}

“I feel very proud because last year it was a close match, I lost in the final. I really wanted to do my best today and hopefully get the title, which is done now,” Escoffier said.

Italian Federico Arnaboldi advanced through qualifying en route to winning the Internazionali di Tennis Verona. The 24-year-old downed #NextGenATP Vilius Gaubas 6-2, 6-2 in the final to win his first Challenger title. Arnaboldi is up 108 spots to a career-high World No. 251.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/29/13/45/arnaboldi-veronach-2024.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Federico Arnaboldi at the Verona Challenger.” />
^{Federico Arnaboldi at the Verona Challenger. Credit: Internazionali di Tennis Verona}

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Djokovic beats Nadal to keep Olympic dream going

Novak Djokovic outclasses long-time rival Rafael Nadal to win their Olympic second-round match and continue his bid to land an elusive gold medal.

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No sleep & breaking new ground: An unforgettable weekend for Mattia Bellucci

Mattia Bellucci will never forget the past weekend.

It all started in Atlanta, where the 23-year-old qualified for an ATP Tour event for the first time and took advantage by winning his first two tour-level matches and reaching the quarter-finals. That in itself was normal.

Then came his quarter-final Friday evening against Arthur Rinderknech. Due to rain, their clash did not end until nearly 1:30 a.m. local time, when Rinderknech prevailed in three sets. In the early hours of Saturday morning, the Italian knew he had to quickly travel to Washington for his first-round qualifying match at the Mubadala Citi DC Open later that day.

“I said, ‘I’m going to take the earliest flight to go there, and then I’ll try to sleep there’. And the earliest one was at 5:30 a.m,” Bellucci told ATPTour.com. “I basically just went back to my room, I packed and we went directly to the airport, so I didn’t sleep at all. And then we got to Washington around 8 a.m., maybe 8:30.”

Upon his arrival, Bellucci ate breakfast because he had still not eaten. From 9 a.m. until noon, he slept.

“Then I went to the club, I had lunch, and I hit for like 30 minutes, 25 minutes, just to try the conditions, which were completely different from Atlanta, actually,” Bellucci said.

That did not stop the three-time ATP Challenger Tour titlist, who defeated Tristan Boyer 7-6(6), 6-2.

“My mindset was actually to stay completely on what my attitude was on court, because I knew that physically speaking, I was not feeling great. And also about tennis, I couldn’t ask much [of] myself since… I didn’t sleep during the night. So I really tried to be as focused as I could,” Bellucci said. “But the beginning of the match wasn’t the best actually, yesterday, went a break down at the beginning and then managed to break back.”

Bellucci was not thrilled with how he played, but he tried to mentally remain engaged and to pump himself up with shouts of “Come on!” without losing too much energy.

“Otherwise, I would have fallen asleep, I think,” Bellucci said. “When he went to the bathroom, I was seated for four or five minutes. And I was not feeling great, this was between first and second set. It was definitely crazy.”

Saturday evening, Bellucci tried to rest as much as possible. On Sunday, the Italian was back at it and battled past Leandro Riedi 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(4) in two hours and 47 minutes to qualify for his first ATP 500 event.

“I’m very, very happy. And about my tennis, I actually feel that, yes, I’m playing good. But these two matches weren’t the best. And also in some matches of last week, I wasn’t completely happy about it, so that’s very, very good [that I’ve been winning],” Bellucci said. “It means that I can improve a lot. And at the same time, I really feel that I have many more solutions than a few weeks ago and a few months ago, mentally speaking. So when I’m in a bad situation, I know how to try to stay focused and how to stay in the match.”

It has been a memorable few days for the 23-year-old, who on Monday reached a career-high No. 125 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He will face American Mackenzie McDonald on Monday in the first round of the Washington main draw.

“I qualified for the first time in ATP event, then won the first time my first match, then first quarter-final, and right now qualified for my first 500 event, so I’m very, very happy,” Bellucci said. “I will obviously try to keep going and embracing it as much as I could.”

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