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Herbert/Mahut Keep Title Hopes Alive

Jun062018

Frenchmen to face Mektic/Peya in semi-finals

France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut claimed the last spot in the Roland Garros semi-final line-up on Wednesday, defeating South American duo Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 7-6(8).

Herbert and Mahut won 75 per cent of first-serve points and saved four set points at 5-6 down in the second set before securing victory in one hour, 54 minutes.

The sixth seeds, who won their 11th team title at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in February, will face Mutua Madrid Open champions Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya in the last four, as they aim to move one step closer to becoming the third all-French team in the Open Era to lift the Roland Garros title.

On the other side of the draw, second seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic will meet 2016 champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez.

Marach and Pavic have beaten the Spaniards in both their FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings this year, triumphing in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals before edging an 11-9 Match Tie-break in the first round at the Miami Open presented by Itaú.

Did You Know?
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut are just one win away from reaching all four Grand Slam finals as a team. The Frenchmen lost their first major final at the 2015 Australian Open (l. to Bolelli/Fognini) before clinching their two Grand Slam titles at the 2015 US Open and The Championships in 2016.

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Nadal Regoups Against Schwartzman, As Rain Stops Play

Jun062018

Roland Garros quarter-final to resume on Thursday

Rafael Nadal used a 40-minute rain delay to regroup and returned with greater self-belief to turn the tables on Diego Schwartzman in their Roland Garros quarter-final on Wednesday. Schwartzman deservedly led by a set and 3-2, but upon the resumption of play 10-time champion Nadal won three consecutive games for a 5-3 advantage in the second set, after a 20-minute passage of play between rain delays. Play was officially cancelled for the day at 7:30 p.m. local time.

Schwartzman, who has never beaten Nadal in five previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, won 70 per cent of his first-service points in the opening set, striking 20 winners to Nadal’s four. He took a 3-2 lead in the second set when they first returned to the locker room, following three straight service breaks. But Nadal stepped back onto Philippe-Chatrier Court and rediscovered his serve and forehand timing to win 13 of 18 points to seize the momentum.

The winner will next play third-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic, who has reached the final of two of the past three Grand Slam championships, or fifth-seeded compatriot and 2009 semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro. Cilic and Del Potro are level at 6-6, 5/5 in the first set tie-break.

You May Also Like: Del Potro, Cilic Even As Rain Postpones QF

Schwartzman

Schwartzman did what he does best right from the start, playing close to the baseline; moving fluently, striking aggressively, particularly on return, and cutting down on Nadal’s time between strokes. The diminutive Argentine cannot match Nadal’s power, but his work rate, discipline and adherence to his game plan earned him the first service break, one of two in a long opening set. Nadal immediately broke back, but unable to rely on his first service and forehand he was soon in trouble again.

Schwartzman was fearless, quick to move up the court on short balls that Nadal uncharacteristically struck with regularity, and broke for 5-4, prior to clinching his third set point chance with a forehand – his 20th winner of the 73-minute set. The final point of the last game was delayed as medical staff rushed to a spectator that was taken ill high up on Philippe-Chatrier Court.

Schwartzman carried the momentum into the second set, with Nadal struggling to find groundstroke timing and rhythm. Schwartzman led 3-2 when rain in Paris halted proceedings, after three straight breaks of serve. But upon the resumption of play, it was all Nadal, who got the crowd involved and soon led 5-3, 30/15 when the weather stopped play for a second time.

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French Open 2018

Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June

Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live, the BBC Sport website and app.

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Kerber, 30, earned a double break in the first set but Halep recovered to 5-5 only for the pair to exchange a further break before Kerber won the tie-break.

The German lost her first set of the tournament in the second set after Halep broke her serve in the opening game, and the Romanian surged clear in the deciding set.

“It’s always a tough match when I play against her. After the first set I just stayed strong and didn’t give up,” said Halep.

“I missed a lot in the beginning. I tried to do too much. I changed the tactics a bit and it worked.”

Muguruza to test Halep to the full – analysis

BBC Sport tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Halep has won just one of the four matches she has played with Muguruza, but that was the only one played on clay.

Halep is hoping to reach her third French Open final, and knows her defensive skills will be tested to the full if Muguruza lives up to the standard she set in her quarter-final win over Sharapova.

The world number one ranking will be on the line, but that feels very secondary to the prize of a place in a Grand Slam final.

The other semi-final is between two Americans who are becoming familiar faces in the closing stages of a Grand Slam.

Keys says clay “grows on” her a little bit every year, while Stephens thinks they have both prospered by taking a more positive attitude to clay than some Americans have in recent years.

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Garbine Muguruza beats Maria Sharapova in French Open quarter-finals

Posted: Jun 06, 2018

French Open 2018
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June
Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app.

Garbine Muguruza moved a step closer to regaining the title by beating two-time winner Maria Sharapova in a one-sided French Open quarter-final.

The Spanish third seed, who claimed the title in 2016, dominated from the start and ended the Russian 30th seed’s hopes with a 6-2 6-1 victory in 70 minutes.

The reigning Wimbledon champion, 24, has not dropped a set at Roland Garros.

She will play Romania’s world number one Simona Halep or Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the last four.

Both Muguruza and Halep, who is searching for her first Grand Slam title, could finish the tournament as the world number one.

Live coverage of the quarter-finals
Live scores, schedule and results
Murray delays return from surgery

No dream ending for Sharapova

Sharapova was making her comeback at Roland Garros, having been refused a wildcard last year shortly after her return from a 15-month drugs ban.

After a confidence-boosting run to the last four in Rome, she was eyeing her first Grand Slam semi-final since she went on to reach the 2015 Australian Open final.

That never looked like happening as Muguruza dominated from the start.

Sharapova had not played for four days after long-time rival Serena Williams pulled out of their last-16 match with a pectoral injury.

Muguruza, meanwhile, barely played either as Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko pulled out of their fourth-round match with a hip problem after only 20 minutes.

But the lack of court time appeared to affect Sharapova more as she made a sloppy start.

Three double faults from Sharapova in the opener gifted an early advantage to Muguruza, another in the sixth deuce of an 11-minute third game helping the Spaniard go 3-0 ahead.

With momentum behind her, Muguruza continued to dominate and served out to win the opener set in 42 minutes.

Ruthless Muguruza shows pedigree

Muguruza had not enjoyed a successful clay-court season before arriving in Paris, winning just twice on the surface in Madrid and losing her opening matches in Stuttgart and Rome.

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However, she always seems to peak in time for Roland Garros and Wimbledon, having won or finished runner-up at one of the two Slams in each of the past three years.

Now only Halep or Kerber stand in her way of a second final appearance in three years at Roland Garros after she demolished the five-time Slam champion.

Muguruza’s three previous meetings with Sharapova had all ended in defeat – including a 2014 Roland Garros quarter-final where Sharapova had also eased to the opening set.

This ruthless victory demonstrated how much Muguruza has matured since that loss.

She refused to let Sharapova gain a foothold this time, breaking in the opening game of the second set, then three times more as the Russian won just 11 points.

Muguruza’s dominant serve was key throughout, winning 72% of her first serve points, 46% on her second serve and taking six of her 12 break points.

Sharapova, in contrast, won just 61% of her first serve points, 19% on her second and earned just one break point.

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Andy Murray delays comeback but still has Wimbledon hopes

Posted: Jun 05, 2018

Britain’s Andy Murray has delayed his comeback from surgery but still hopes to play at Wimbledon in July.

The 31-year-old Scot, who has not played since Wimbledon last year, had a hip operation in January.

He had hoped to play in the grass-court Libema Open in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, starting on 11 June.

“I am not quite ready to return. I am still aiming to play in the coming weeks, but I want to be 100% when I do return,” said Murray.

“It is with regret that I won’t be ready to play in Hertogenbosch. I was excited to play there for the first time.”

Murray, the British number two, has won Wimbledon twice – in 2013 and 2016 – and this year’s tournament starts on 2 July.

The Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s in London takes place from 18 to 24 June, and there are grass-court tournaments in the Turkish city of Antalya and Eastbourne in the week before Wimbledon.

“I’ve been out close to a year now, which is a lot longer than me or any of my team expected, but I’m getting closer to playing again,” added Murray.

“I’ve started training a few days ago and am hoping to make my comeback during the grass-court season.”

Earlier this week, his mother Judy told BBC Sport that Andy would not risk playing at Wimbledon unless he was fully fit.

“The most important thing is he gets fit again for the long term and any top athlete would tell you they would not come back until they felt they could give 100%, especially in a major like Wimbledon,” she said.

Analysis

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent

After withdrawing on the weekend before last year’s US Open, and then heading to Australia in January in a second attempt to make his comeback, Murray has promised not to return this time until he is 100% fit.

And so time is against him – as far as the grass-court season is concerned.

Murray returned to the practice court in late March, following his surgery of 8 January, but was only able to play for about three weeks until his hip problem flared up again.

It is encouraging to hear he is now back on court, but after five weeks on the sidelines – and with the Queen’s Club tournament starting in less than a fortnight – it is hard to see how he can be truly competitive on the grass this year.

Of greater long-term importance, however, is how the hip responds when Murray starts to up the intensity of his on-court sessions, and begins to play practice sets against other ATP players.

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Cecchinato Believing Anything Is Possible Now

Jun052018

Italian meets Thiem for the first time at tour-level

If you were Italy’s Marco Cecchinato, who beat Novak Djokovic to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals on Tuesday, wouldn’t you also be believing anything is possible?

Defeat Dominic Thiem, a three-time Roland Garros semi-finalist, on Friday? “Why no?” Cecchinato said.

Who cares that the last time Cecchinato beat Thiem was five years ago, during a Futures final, and on hard courts, a much different setting than where they’ll play their on Friday, on Court Philippe-Chatrier, at Roland Garros, during a Grand Slam semi-final.

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But at least Cecchinato has some past experience to rely on against Thiem, who swept Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 earlier Tuesday to reach his third Grand Slam semi-final. Before Roland Garros, Cecchinato had never won a Grand Slam match, losing at the 2015 US Open (l. Mardy Fish), 2016 Australian Open (l. Nicolas Mahut), 2016 Roland Garros (l. Nick Kyrgios), and 2017 Wimbledon (l. Nishikori). The Italian fell in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying last year.

Get To Know Cecchinato: Read Q&A | From Zero Slam Wins To Paris QF | Italian Wins Maiden ATP Title

And after his first two sets in Paris this year, Cecchinato couldn’t have been thinking, ‘Here I come semi-finals.’ He lost the first two sets against Romania’s Marius Copil before coming back to win 10-8 in the fifth. It was Cecchinato’s first five-set match.

But round by round, the first Italian Grand Slam semi-finalist since Corrado Barazzutti at the 1978 Roland Garros has believed a little bit more. Cecchinato celebrated his biggest win on Tuesday, beating former No. 1 Djokovic 6-3, 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-6(11).

“I’m very, very happy,” Cecchinato said. “When I won the first match in a Grand Slam, I felt good. And match by match, I feel now I can won also the next round. And also against Carreno Busta, before the match I was very focused, and now I’m, it’s a special moment for me.”

Pablo Carreno Busta was the first of two Top 10 opponents (David Goffin) Cecchinato knocked out at Roland Garros, which doesn’t include his win against Djokovic, No. 22 in the ATP Rankings. If the 25-year-old Italian can transform belief into action again on Friday and beat the seventh-seeded Thiem, Cecchinato will have beaten three Top 10 opponents and find himself in a Grand Slam championship.

“Amazing tennis today. I was two sets up against Novak. In the third, I was a little bit tired. Also, in the fourth, I was… down, and I start to play very well. And on the tie-break, I played very, very well in the tie-break,” Cecchinato said.

“I work very hard on my team, and I’m very focused every match. I work out every day on preparation and also in the tournament. I think this is the key… [It] is a dream for me.”

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