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British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships: Andy Lapthorne and Gordon Reid reach semi-finals

  • Posted: Jul 26, 2019

Top seed Andy Lapthorne and Scot Gordon Reid both triumphed at the British Open to reach their respective semi-finals.

US Open champion Lapthorne will face third seed Sam Schroeder in the quad singles after a 6-3 2-6 6-2 win over Brazilian seventh seed Ymanitu Silva.

Seventh seed Reid saw off Dutchman Tom Egberink 6-3 6-2 to set up a meeting against world number one and 2017 champion Gustavo Fernandez.

Jordanne Whiley lost 7-5 3-6 6-2 to top women’s player Diede de Groot.

Meanwhile, Reid and compatriot Alfie Hewett came from a set down to defeat Joachim Gerard and Stefan Olsson 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 and reach the men’s doubles semi-final.

They will now face Fernandez of Argentina and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda.

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It's A Girl! Anderson And Wife Kelsey Expecting Their First Child

  • Posted: Jul 26, 2019

It’s A Girl! Anderson And Wife Kelsey Expecting Their First Child

World No. 11 shared the news on Twiitter

Kevin Anderson has enjoyed plenty of highlights in recent years, but his biggest one is around the corner. He and his wife, Kelsey, confirmed they will be adding a girl to their family in October.

Anderson retweeted the joyful news that his wife posted. Her photo included a pair of baby shoes, blanket, sonogram and a board with the name Keira Anderson.

The couple first met as students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he competed on the tennis team and she played on the golf team. They tied the knot in Illinois on 10 November 2011.

Anderson looks to join the trend of ATP Tour players who continued to produce great results in parenthood. Novak Djokovic has won nine of his 16 Grand Slams as a parent, Roger Federer has won five Grand Slams as a dad and all three of Stan Wawrinka’s Grand Slam titles have come as a father.

John Isner also won his first title as a dad last week at the Hall of Fame Open (d. Bublik). He took part in the tennis version of a gender reveal party this April to share that he and his wife, Madison, are expecting their second child.

You May Also Like: Read & Watch: Isner Announces Family Expansion With Unique Gender Reveal

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Djokovic, Del Potro To Miss Coupe Rogers In Montreal

  • Posted: Jul 25, 2019

Djokovic, Del Potro To Miss Coupe Rogers In Montreal

Four-time champion Djokovic still recovering from historic Wimbledon effort

The Coupe Rogers in Montreal will be without two of the game’s biggest stars as both Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro announced on Thursday that they will miss the ATP Masters 1000 event, which begins 4 August.

Djokovic, a four-time Coupe Rogers champion, needs more time to recover after winning his fifth Wimbledon title on 14 July. The World No. 1 beat Roger Federer 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3) in the first fifth-set tie-break in Wimbledon singles history.

The Serbian saved two match points against Federer, becoming the first player to save match points in the Wimbledon final and win in 71 years.

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I’m sorry to announce that I decided to pull out of Coupe Rogers. With the support of my team, I have decided to give my body longer rest and recovery time before coming back again to play,” Djokovic said.

I love Canada and I have many friends there that always make me feel like I’m at home, and I’m looking forward to coming back again to play in front of all of you in Montreal.”

Djokovic has won the event, which alternates between Montreal and Toronto, twice in both city: Montreal in 2007 and 2011, and Toronto in 2012 and 2016. He fell in the third round last year to #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who made his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Toronto (l. to Nadal).

Del Potro is continuing his rehab from a fractured right kneecap that he suffered on 19 June during his second-round match at the Fever-Tree Championships in London. The Argentine, No. 12 in the ATP Rankings, underwent surgery on 22 June.

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We would have loved for Djokovic to have the chance to be crowned champion for a third time in Montreal, but we understand his decision and we wish him a quick return for the rest of the season,” said Eugene Lapierre, Tournament Director of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal.

In Del Potro’s case, we wish him a speedy recovery, he who has experienced his share of injuries in the past few years. We look forward to seeing him back on court in the near future.”

Defending champion Rafael Nadal, the all-time Masters 1000 titles leader (34), will be the top seed. Frenchman Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Kukushkin will fill the two available spots in the main draw.

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Bautista Agut, Lajovic Keep Positive Momentum Going In Gstaad

  • Posted: Jul 25, 2019

Bautista Agut, Lajovic Keep Positive Momentum Going In Gstaad

Bautista Agut wins in first match since Wimbledon SF

Top seed and 2018 finalist Roberto Bautista Agut held off the leader of the next wave of Spanish tennis players, Jaume Munar, on Thursday at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad. Bautista Agut saved two of his three break points and overcame the 21-year-old Munar 7-6(6), 6-4 during the second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between the two Spaniards (2-0).

Munar competed at the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals among the world’s best 21-and-under players and reached the semi-finals in Milan. Bautista Agut, who is playing in his first ATP Tour tournament since reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals, his first at the Grand Slam level, will next meet fifth seed Joao Sousa of Portugal.

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Sousa notched a steady 6-4, 6-4 win against qualifier Gian Marco Moroni of Italy, saving both break points faced in the second set. Before Wimbledon, Sousa hadn’t won two tour-level matches in a row since the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. But the 30-year-old made the fourth round at SW19, the quarter-finals at the Swedish Open in Bastad last week and is into his second quarter-final of the season in Gstaad.

It may have lasted one hour longer than he’d hoped, but Dusan Lajovic let out a big sigh of relief on after he extended his winning streak to six matches. The Serbian beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(2) over two hours and 23 minutes, but last week’s Plava Laguna Croatian Open Umag champion endured several momentum shifts for his 18th victory of a career-best season.

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Lajovic led by a set and 5-1, and held a match point opportunity on his serve at 5-3, when a deep backhand return from Istomin caught the third seed off guard. Lajovic later recovered from 3-5 down in the decider, but failed to convert two more match points at 6-5 courtesy of a solid serve and backhand volley winner from Istomin. The 29-year-old eventually closed out with a volley winner and turned to his team, shaking his head, in relief.

“It was very tough,” said Lajovic. “I have everything under control and then everything changed. He started putting more balls into the court, putting pressure on me and I got really tight. I was unable to win the second set and at the end, he was the better player and should have won, but I managed to turn it around and in the tie-break I was lucky. I’m happy that I won somehow and I will try to recover for tomorrow.”

Last week, Lajovic lifted his first ATP Tour trophy in Umag (d. Balazs), three months on from reaching the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (l. to Fognini). He will now look to sufficiently recover to play seventh-seeded Spaniard Pablo Andujar, the 2014 champion, on Friday. Andujar also battled back in the third set, from 1-3 down, to beat Taro Daniel of Japan 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2) in two hours and 21 minutes.

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Zverev Fights Through To Hamburg QF

  • Posted: Jul 25, 2019

Zverev Fights Through To Hamburg QF

Second seed going for his second ATP Tour title of 2019

Alexander Zverev overcame an up-and-down performance on Thursday to reach his eighth quarter-final of 2019 at the Hamburg European Open.

Zverev broke at 5-5 in the second set with aggressive play from the baseline, but the second seed was broken to love while serving for the match at 6-5. Zverev, however, recovered with a consistent tie-break to beat Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-4, 7-6(5).

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I don’t think I played a bad game. I think he played an amazing game, the best game he played of the match. So mostly it was fine,” Zverev said of the 6-5 game in the second set. “The most important thing is that I won the tie-break afterwards quite easily. You will always have games where you lose and games where you get broken, and it’s how you come back from that and I did well today.”

The World No. 5 is playing at his home ATP 500 tournament for the first time since 2016, when he fell in the first round. The 2014 semi-finalist will next meet Filip Krajinovic.

You May Also Like: Opelka Knocks Out Five-Time Atlanta Champ Isner

The Serbian hit 12 aces in a 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-1 win over 2016 champion Martin Klizan, who recovered from 1-4 and 3-5 down to win the first set. Krajinovic won the last six games of the match.

Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta knocked out seventh seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 7-6(4) in 85 minutes. Struff served for the second set at 5-3. Carreno Busta will next meet the winner between third seed Fabio Fognini and #NextGenATP German Rudolf Molleker.

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Five Things To Know About Reilly Opelka

  • Posted: Jul 25, 2019

Five Things To Know About Reilly Opelka

American enjoys Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon

Reilly Opelka defeated Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday at Wimbledon to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. The victory was also his first five-set win. The 21-year-old is enjoying a breakout season that sees him projected to surpass his career-high ATP Ranking of No. 53 when the newest standings are released.

Read Opelka Hangs Tough To Edge Wawrinka

ATPTour.com takes a look at five things to know about the American.

1. He Already Has A Wimbledon Crown
Opelka is making his Wimbledon debut as a pro, but he’s no stranger to The All England Club. He beat Mikael Ymer to win his only junior Grand Slam title in 2015.

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'>Reilly Opelka</a> won the 2015 <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'>Wimbledon</a> boys' singles title

2. His 2019 Season Includes An ATP Tour Title
The American clinched his maiden trophy this February at the New York Open by defeating Brayden Schnur in a third-set tie-break. He also saved six match points against John Isner in a thrilling semi-final clash. Opelka finished the week with 156 aces, including 43 in the championship match, and closed out the tournament with 68 consecutive service holds.

You May Also Like: First-Time Winner Spotlight: Reilly Opelka

“This Five Things To Know About Reilly Opelka is definitely what I’m most proud of,” said Opelka. “I was tough mentally, especially losing a lot of first sets this week, and my first serve really helped me out. I was able to play clutch in those big moments.“

Opelka Wins 2019 <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/new-york/424/overview'>New York Open</a>

3. Opelka Is Part Of The “Triple Towers”
At 6’11”, Opelka joins Ivo Karlovic (6’11”) and Isner (6’10”) as the three tallest players on the ATP Tour. The trio also posed for a photo two years ago that could have passed for an NBA roster.

Isner Karlovic Opelka

4. He Gets Mistaken For Isner
Not all tall people look alike, but Opelka finds himself frequently mistaken for the other American giant in tennis. He told ESPN that fans came up to him in France and asked for autographs thinking he was Isner.

“That one I had to play along with,” joked Opelka. He admitted to intentionally spelling Isner’s name wrong at times and signing for fans as “Jon”.

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5. Opelka Graduated From Challengers
Opelka set up his solid 2019 season with a dominant run last year on the ATP Challenger Tour. He finished the year with back-to-back Challenger titles in the United States and reached the championship match in four of his last six Challenger events.

“Last year was huge for me,” reflected Opelka. “It was the first time I consistently put together a lot of matches in a row. I reached a lot of semi-finals and I think the year before there wasn’t one week where I had won three matches in a row. Being able to play on the Challenger Tour and not as many ATP Tour events, helped me string all those matches together. It gave me a lot of confidence and I learned a lot about myself and my tennis. It allowed me to work on some things that I knew needed to be addressed.”

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Opelka Knocks Out Five-Time Atlanta Champ Isner

  • Posted: Jul 25, 2019

Opelka Knocks Out Five-Time Atlanta Champ Isner

21-year-old going for second ATP Tour title of the season

There were 64 aces, five break points saved and one upset of a five-time BB&T Atlanta Open champion.

American Reilly Opelka beat countryman John Isner for the third time this season on Wednesday, giving the top seed his earliest Atlanta exit in 10 appearances 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(5).

Opelka saved three break points while serving at 4-5 in the third set, including two consecutively from 15/40 as he served his way out of trouble. The 21-year-old American also beat Isner at the Australian Open and en route to his maiden ATP Tour title at the New York Open in February.

“I was clutch on big moments in the match. First-set tie-break I played unbelievable, pretty much flawless, hit some great shots,” Opelka said. “John is just so consistent with his serve. It’s so hard to play three tie-breaks with him because there’s just so much pressure, there’s so much stress for three hours straight. It’s tough. I’m thrilled to get through.”

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Isner was the two-time defending champion and had reached the Atlanta final in nine of his 10 appearances. He also made the 2012 semi-final. The World No. 14 won his fourth Hall of Fame Open title on the Newport grass on Sunday.

“It’s his tournament. It always will be. Definitely a tough guy to beat in Atlanta,” Opelka said. “I’m really happy that I was able to find a way to win.”

Their New York Open semi-final featured a record number of aces (81) for an ATP Tour three-set match, and while they fell short of a new mark, to the surprise of no one, the mammoth serves of the 6’10” Isner and the 6’11” Opelka dominated play.

Opelka didn’t lose a first-serve point in the opener (17/17), but Isner rallied in the tie-break to force a decider. The top seed saved two match points on his serve from 3/6 in the third-set tie-break. But Opelka had to do more than serve to finish off the crowd favourite.

More About Opelka
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Opelka Crushing Aces, Milestones To Start 2019

Isner returned a second serve well and came in strong behind a forehand approach. But Opelka let loose on a backhand pass and followed it up with a forehand winner for his third win in four tries against Isner in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Eleven of their 13 sets have been decided by tie-breaks, including all 10 this year, seven of which have been won by Opelka.

The 2016 Atlanta quarter-finalist will next face Brit Daniel Evans, who saved 15 of 19 break points against Moldovan Radu Albot to advance 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-2. Evans also overcame 10 double faults to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of 2019 (Delray Beach, Eastbourne).

#NextGenATP Aussie Alexei Popyrin beat fourth seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 6-3 to make his first tour-level quarter-final. The 19-year-old Sydney native saved all six break points and will meet Brit Cameron Norrie, who eased past South Korean qualifier Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 6-4.

Popyrin is currently in 11th place in the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players who will compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 5-9 November in Milan. The eighth spot is reserved for an Italian wild card.

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Atlanta Open: Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans reach quarter-finals

  • Posted: Jul 25, 2019

British pair Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans both won at the Atlanta Open on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals.

Norrie, 23, enjoyed a straight-sets victory over South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo, with the British number two beating the world number 117 6-3 6-4.

Evans, ranked one place below Norrie at 55, then triumphed in a hard-fought match with world number 42 Radu Albot.

The 29-year-old, who reached the third round at Wimbledon this month, beat the Moldovan 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-2.

  • Dan Evans beats Jason Jung to reach round two

Norrie will now face Alexei Popyrin for a place in the last four after the 19-year-old Australian upset world number 39 Pierre-Hugues Herbert, beating the Frenchman 7-5 6-3.

Evans will play the winner of the last-16 match between Reilly Opelka and American number one John Isner, who won last year’s Atlanta Open.

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Déjà Vu For Ramos-Vinolas In Gstaad

  • Posted: Jul 24, 2019

Déjà Vu For Ramos-Vinolas In Gstaad

Fabbiano defeats fourth seed Sonego

At last week’s Swedish Open, Albert Ramos-Vinolas defeated Fernando Verdasco and Roberto Carballes Baena in back-to-back matches to reach the semi-finals.

The 31-year-old is half way to repeating that feat at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad after beating Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 7-6(4) on Wednesday to book another meeting with Carballes Baena.

Ramos-Vinolas recorded his 19th victory in 36 tour-level matches this year after one hour and 42 minutes, winning 72 per cent of service points en route to victory (48/67). The World No. 85 has now claimed four victories from nine FedEx ATP Head2Head clashes against the 2011 runner-up. Carballes Baena advanced to his second quarter-final in as many weeks after overcoming Stefano Travaglia 6-2, 6-4 in 80 minutes.

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Thomas Fabbiano produced a solid service performance to beat fellow Italian and fourth seed Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-1 in two hours and five minutes for a place in the quarter-finals.

“It is never easy to play against a close friend,” said Fabbiano. “Today was a tough match. Clay and altitude are not my favourite conditions and I’m very happy that I managed to win today. You have to adjust to the conditions every week and I hope that I can go a step further this week.”

You May Also Like: Read & Watch: Five Things To Know About Thomas Fabbiano

Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who is on the comeback trail from another wrist injury and came into the ATP 250 tournament with a 0-4 tour-level record in 2019, booked a place in his first ATP Tour quarter-final for more than two years (2017 Geneva). Stebe kept his nerve to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 14 minutes.

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Thiem Returns To Hamburg Quarter-finals

  • Posted: Jul 24, 2019

Thiem Returns To Hamburg Quarter-finals

Austrian to meet Rublev for semi-final spot

Dominic Thiem made it through to the Hamburg European Open quarter-finals for the second straight year on Wednesday, beating Marton Fucsovics 7-5, 6-1.

On a hot Wednesday afternoon, the top seed fired 20 winners and dropped just two points behind his first serve (26/28) to claim victory in one hour and 36 minutes. Thiem claimed eight of nine games from 5-5 in the first set to triumph in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter.

Thiem improves to 25-10 this season after reaching the last eight in Hamburg. The World No. 4 has lifted two ATP Tour trophies in 2019, capturing his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Open (d. Federer) and the ATP 500 title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Medvedev).

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Thiem quickly found his range on return in front of the Center Court crowd, earning break points in four of Fucsovics’ opening five service games. But the Hungarian remained calm under pressure to reach 5-5.

But, from that point, Thiem reduced his error count and motored to victory. With relentless aggression and depth, the World No. 4 dictated rallies with his forehand and extracted regular errors from his opponent to book a quarter-final clash against Andrey Rublev.

In the opening match on Center Court, Rublev rallied from a set down to defeat #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. The 21-year-old is through to his first tour-level quarter-final since the Open 13 Provence in February.

Thiem will aim to extend his 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series record against Rublev. The Austrian defeated Rublev in Vienna in 2017 and at last year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

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