In a battle of supreme offence against relentless defence, Novak Djokovic prevailed against Juan Martin del Potro, but just barely.
The Serbian saved two match points to fend off Del Potro’s best attacking tennis from both wings and reach the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4early Saturday morning. The four-time Rome champion led 5-2 in the second set, only to have to erase both match points in the tie-break, including one on Del Potro’s racquet.
But the top seed took control midway through the third set and will now face Argentine Diego Schwartzman for a place in his second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 final.
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“I never lost faith I could come back to the match. One break of serve, mini break in the tie-break when he was 6/4, more or less open forehand that he was making the entire match, that’s all it took for me to come back,” Djokovic said. “[He] missed a couple crucial points in the tie-break. Also break point third set, quite easy forehand. That’s what happens. That’s sport. I’m just really pleased to overcome.”
Djokovic had beaten Del Potro in both of their prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings on clay and in seven of their past eight meetings. But Del Potro, competing in only his third tournament of the season, battled Djokovic evenly from the baseline and often overpowered last week’s Mutua Madrid Open champion from both wings, using his backhand to open up the court and attack Djokovic’s forehand.
Del Potro broke in the seventh game and erased all six break points faced in the first set, including three while serving it out at 5-4. The Argentine ripped a backhand winner down the line to take the opener.
“I lost probably the positioning of the court over him. Towards the end of the first, he just started hitting the ball really well from both corners, also backhand side, backhand down the line. He was playing really well, gave me a lot of trouble,” Djokovic said.
The Serbian at last broke in the sixth game of the second when a bad bounce on the line caught Del Potro off guard. But the Argentine broke back in the ninth game when Djokovic tossed in a loose game while attempting to serve out the set at 5-3.
Del Potro, however, missed a forehand on his first match point at 6/4 in the second-set tie-break, and Djokovic locked in on his serve. The Serbian increasingly turned to his drop shot to break up the rallies and lure Del Potro forward, and he executed the shot to perfection while saving the second match point at 5/6.
As the midnight hour came and went, the third set saw both players egging the packed crowd inside Campo Centrale to get behind them. But it was Djokovic who broke in the fifth game as Del Potro netted a sitting forehand. The Argentine, who missed most of this season because of an injured kneecap suffered last October, didn’t see a break chance the rest of the way.
Did You Know? Del Potro’s 10 wins against the World No. 1 are the most by any player who has never been ranked No. 1 himself.
Great Britain’s men’s wheelchair tennis team stunned Japan to reach the final of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup.
Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett each won 6-4 7-5, helping them and team-mate Dermot Bailey past the top seeds.
They face France on Saturday and will ensure Britain end the tournament with a record-equalling three medals.
Great Britain’s junior team leave the event with silver after a final defeat to Australia, while the women’s team won bronze against South Africa.
The women’s team of Jordanne Whiley, Mariska Shuker, Louise Hunt and Cornelia Oosthuizen started quickly when Whiley overcame Mariska Venter 6-4 6-1 and progressed when Shuker’s opponent retired injured in the deciding set of their match.
The junior quartet of Dahnon Ward, Gregory Slade, Ben Bartram and Ruby Bishop had their hopes of gold dashed when doubles pairing Bartram and Ward lost 14-12 in the deciding match tie break.
Not since 2012 have Great Britain ended the tournament with three medals and it could have been four but for a 2-1 defeat for the quad team of Andy Lapthorne, Antony Cotterill and James Shaw against South Africa on Friday.
The World Team Cup is the wheelchair tennis equivalent of the Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions, with teams from 23 nations taking part in the finals in Ramat Hasharon, Israel.
The men’s final between Great Britain and France will see Reid and Hewett face off against Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, the duo who beat them in the Rio 2016 Paralympic final.
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Preview: Nadal & Tsitsipas Meet Again, Djokovic Takes On Schwartzman In Rome
May172019
Tsitsipas defeated Nadal one week ago in the Madrid semi-finals
Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas will square off for a second straight Saturday – this time in Rome with a place in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final on the line.
In the Rome night session, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will meet Argentine Diego Schwartzman. Djokovic won a record-tying 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday in Madrid. Schwartzman will be appearing in his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. All four semi-finalists have made it to the weekend without dropping a set.
Nadal has a chance for revenge on the #NextGenATP Greek after his shocking semi-final loss last week at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Spaniard leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 3-1, including a semi-final victory at this year’s Australian Open. The World No. 2 has been in brutal form from the first ball in Rome, dropping just six games to reach the semi-finals and recording a 6-0 set in all three of his victories.
He also has experience at this juncture of a Masters 1000 tournaments on his side. Nadal is appearing in a record 71st Masters 1000 semi-final and is trying to reach his 50th Masters 1000 final (33-16), while Tsitsipas is looking to reach his third final at this level.
The eight-time Rome champion seeks his first title of the season. Nadal recorded semi-final showings this clay season at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Madrid. But while Nadal gave high praise to Tsitsipas, he is confident he can turn the tables on Saturday.
“The theory is always easy, but the execution is much more difficult,” said Nadal. “Tennis is a simple sport. After a lot of years here, I know what happened last week and I’m going to try to do it better tomorrow.”
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Tsitsipas became the youngest player to beat Nadal on clay and looks to join Djokovic (2011 Madrid and Rome) as the only players to beat him in back-to-back clay tournaments. Although he was aided by a walkover quarter-final win over Roger Federer, Tsitsipas has been in top form this week and advanced to the last four without dropping a set.
Consistency has been the Greek’s mantra throughout 2019. He has more ATP Tour match wins (29) and more finals (4) than anyone this season. The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion (d. De Minaur) had to go through qualifying last year in Rome when he arrived at No. 43 in the ATP Rankings, but if he can beat Nadal on Saturday, he’ll move to No. 5 on Monday.
Djokovic leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Schwartzman 2-0, but they haven’t played in two years. The Serbian has put in a heroic effort by winning two matches on Thursday and then saving two match points to topple Juan Martin del Potro in an epic quarter-final.
Read & Watch: Djokovic Saves 2 MP Against Del Potro
Schwartzman has enjoyed a milestone week by defeating a Top 6 player for the first time in Kei Nishikori and reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final. He now looks to beat Top 10 opponents in back-to-back matches for the first time in his career. The Argentine has been stellar in return games this week, leading the tournament with 18 breaks of serve (out of 36 games).
Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head clash between these players?
The doubles semi-finals will also take place on Saturday. Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo face third seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the final match on Campo Centrale, while fifth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic square off with sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus on Pietrangeli.
ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2019
CENTRALE start 12:00 noon WTA match Not Before 2:30 pm ATP – [8] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) Not Before 5:00 pm WTA match Not Before 8:00 pm ATP – [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG) ATP – [1] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA) vs [3] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL)
PIETRANGELI start 12:00 noon 2 WTA matches Not Before 6:00 pm ATP – [5] Oliver Marach (AUT) / Mate Pavic (CRO) vs [6] Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venus (NZL)
Schwartzman, Who Faces Djokovic, Turned Around His Season With Double Duty In Rome
May172019
Argentine will face Djokovic in SF
Don’t misunderstand him: Diego Schwartzman was not excited about playing two matches in one day in Rome. A complete washout forced every Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finalist to play two matches on Thursday.
But the unfortunate double duty might have been what turned around Schwartzman’s week and his season at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome.
A year ago, the Argentine was closing in on the Top 10, week after week setting new career-highs in the ATP Rankings. He won the ATP 500 title at the Rio Open presented by Claro, his biggest title yet, and, by mid-May, he had risen to No. 12.
But heading into Rome this week, Schwartzman was struggling. His ATP Ranking had doubled from a year ago, to No. 24, and he was low on confidence and without a title. Despite the European clay-court swing nearing its end, Schwartzman, a two-time clay-court titlist, hadn’t reached a quarter-final since February at the Argentina Open.
“I was not playing my best tennis. I was not doing a great job with my mind… I think I lost a little bit of confidence at the beginning of the season,” Schwartzman told ATPTour.com.
In the Italian capital, however, the 26-year-old has had one of the best weeks of his career. On Friday, he beat No. 6 Kei Nishikori for the first time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (1-3) and reached his first Masters 1000 semi-final. Schwartzman had been 0-15 against Top 6 players.
“I didn’t start the clay season well, and I needed two matches in a row of playing good tennis,” Schwartzman said. “I’m very happy to get back [my confidence], to feel good again. It was really important for me. [Thursday] was a big day for me.”
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In truth, the Argentine made the overtime shift. He won four sets – 7-6(5), 6-1 against Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and 6-3, 6-4 against Italian Matteo Berrettini – in three hours and 10 minutes. Schwartzman also won his first-rounder in straight sets, and after his 6-4, 6-2 win against Nishikori, he is yet to drop a set in Rome.
“Maybe if you see just the scores it looks like an easy day, but it was really tough after the first match… The match against Ramos was really important. And after that I had a headache, and I slept for 35 minutes in the locker room, trying to recover well and be fine for the second match,” Schwartzman said. “Then I think I did a great job. Maybe Matteo was a little bit nervous in the match… because he’s from Italy… so I took every chance.”
Before this week, it wasn’t as if Schwartzman was having a terrible year; the 5’7” Argentine just wasn’t meeting the high standards his 2018 set for himself, especially on clay.
“It was just hard for him to have good tournaments and be more regular. This week everything is happening. He returned to his level,” said Juan Ignacio Chela, former No. 15 in the ATP Rankings and Schwartzman’s coach for the past three years.
“I think what changed the most was his confidence. He was working but, although you train very well every day, there are things that are achieved only by winning matches. Winning the matches here, the first and the second round, that gave him a lot of confidence and today he played his best tennis.”
Watch Hot Shot: Schwartzman’s Sweet Timing Against Nishikori In Rome
Everything worked for Schwartzman against Nishikori. He won 55 per cent of his second-serve points, eight percentage points higher than his season average (47.13%, 59th on Tour). Schwartzman, one of the Tour’s best returners, also won 50 per cent of his return points, seven percentage points more than his season average (43%).
“Today he played the best match of the tournament. He was very solid and very firm from the baseline. He was also aggressive. Against this level of a player [Nishikori], it is not enough to be solid. You have to hurt them. Diego did very well, and he served very well,” Chela said.
“Normally he is fast and moves very well. But today, in addition to moving and reaching the balls, he was very precise. He hit several important passing shots, at key moments of the match. Today he did everything impeccable.”
Schwartzman had reached two Masters 1000 quarter-finals and two Grand Slam quarter-finals (2017 US Open, 2018 Roland Garros) before Friday, but never a semi-final at either level.
“You always want to be overcoming and passing certain barriers. This is one and a very important one. More than anything because he beat a top player,” Chela said.
The 5’7” Argentine will face Novak Djokovic, who beat Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, for a place in the Masters 1000 final. Schwartzman is 0-2 against Djokovic, including a five-set third-round match at 2017 Roland Garros. But, as Schwartzman showed this week, he’s not one to dwell on the past.
British number one Johanna Konta reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open with a 6-3 3-6 6-1 win over Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova.
On her 28th birthday, Konta, who sealed the last of her three WTA titles in 2017, won in an hour and 53 minutes.
She faces Kiki Bertens in the last four after the Dutch player advanced because world number one Naomi Osaka pulled out with a hand injury.
Karolina Pliskova beat another former world number one, Victoria Azarenka.
Czech Pliskova’s semi-final opponent will be Greece’s Maria Sakkari, who won 11 of the last 12 games to beat Kristina Mladenovic of France 5-7 6-3 6-0.
Victory for world number 39 Sakkari, who overcame Konta in the final to claim the Morocco Open title this month, means there will be a qualifier in the final four in Rome for the first time since Daria Gavrilova in 2015.
With Vondruosova showing the effects of two three-set matches the day before, Konta quickly took control and sealed the opening set with a deft drop volley at the net.
But after an emotional discussion with her coach, the 19-year-old left-hander, who won their only previous meeting on the hard courts of Indian Wells last year, seized on a loose game from Konta to break in the fifth game of the next.
A wild forehand from the Briton went wide and long to take the match to a decider.
Konta, who also played two matches on Thursday, saved a break point in the second game with a backhand that clipped the line and then broke in the next in a run of six successive games.
Osaka will remain world number one next week, following Simona Halep’s second-round exit to Vondrousova on Thursday.
Pliskova recorded her 500th career win with a 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-2 victory over Azarenka, levelling their head-to-head record at 4-4.
She wrapped up victory in two hours 26 minutes to avenge a loss to Azarenka – who also has 500 career wins – in their most recent meeting on the indoor clay-courts of Stuttgart last month.
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Heilbronn Receives 2018 ‘Challenger Of The Year’ Award
May172019
The NECKARCUP celebrates in front of the home fans in Heilbronn
Two years. Back-to-back awards.
It is not an easy feat to earn ‘Tournament of the Year’ honours on the ATP Challenger Tour. It takes years of hard work, dedication and commitment to growing the game and providing a world-class experience for the players and fans.
That said, to take home the award on multiple occasions is an extraordinary accomplishment. The NECKARCUP in Heilbronn, Germany, did just that in 2017 and 2018, culminating with a special celebration on Thursday evening at the TC Heilbronn Trappensee E.V. 1892.
In front of a packed crowd on Center Court, ahead of the Day 4 night session, the tournament was presented with the 2018 Challenger of the Year award. Tournament founders and directors Metehan and Mine Cebeci received the crystal trophy along with event organiser Tom Bucher.
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 17, 2019
“It’s a pleasure for us to get the award for the second time,” said Metehan. “We work all year for this tournament and it’s especially nice that the players acknowledge this. Our efforts are for them and the NECKARCUP team as well.”
“To receive this award is really emotional for us and we’re really proud of it,” Mine added. “From the beginning, we planned everything really well. When players and the ATP provides feedback, we always work with them to find a solution. We’ve increased the prize money step by step and improved the ambiance of the centre court. It’s very important for us to make it better every year.”
Last year’s doubles finalists and this year’s top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies were also on court during the ceremony. With impressive crowds all week and a pristine facility, it’s easy to see why the tournament has become a favourite among all competitors. The Cebecis have put the players first, providing a massive indoor area, including a lounge, private areas for warm-up and cool down, dining centre and activities (table tennis, billiards, darts, etc.). And with a premier fan experience, featuring top food vendors from the region and live entertainment every night, it’s truly a world-class event top to bottom.
A 45 minute drive north of Stuttgart into the sprawling German countryside will lead you to the TC Heilbronn am Trappensee, a tennis club founded in 1892. Over a century has passed but the 600-member club is steeped in tradition in the tranquil rural surroundings.
The Challenger Awards are a recognition of excellence, selected by players from the global Challenger Tour of 160 events staged in 40 different countries. In its sixth edition, the NECKARCUP was once again recognised as being outstanding in terms of facilities, organisation, imagination, promotion and player welcome.
The commitment and hard work of the tournament team, the support of the municipality, local authorities, sponsors, the press and the public produced a wonderful week of professional tennis. Moreover, the tournament joined the Sparkassen Open in nearby Braunschweig, as well as the Odlum Brown VanOpen in Vancouver, Canada, and the former Ethias Trophy in Mons, Belgium in winning the award on multiple occasions.
In 2018, three tournaments were recognised with the Challenger of the Year award, with Heilbronn accompanying the Puerto Vallarta Open presentado por La Aficion in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the Odlum Brown VanOpen in Vancouver, Canada, in the winners’ circle. Puerto Vallarta was presented with their trophy two weeks ago, with Vancouver holding their ceremony in August.
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