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Allez, Gael! La Monf Saves MP To Advance

  • Posted: Feb 21, 2018

Allez, Gael! La Monf Saves MP To Advance

Feb212018

Delbonis earns his 100th tour-level victory

Could a Gael Monfils match possibly end quietly? It looked that way as Horacio Zeballos led 5-2 in the third set of their first-round encounter at the Rio Open presented by Claro on Tuesday evening. The Frenchman even faced match point as the left-hander served for the match at 5-3.

But Monfils would find his entertaining best to win the final five games of the match to clinch a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 victory against the Argentine.

The recent Qatar ExxonMobil Open champion, who also advanced to the semi-finals at the Argentina Open last week, is now five-for-five in opening-round matches this season. He continues his pursuit of a second title in 2018 — if he wins another trophy this year, it will be the first time Monfils has won multiple titles in an individual season.

But more immediately, ‘La Monf’ set up a blockbuster second-round battle against top seed and World No. 3 Marin Cilic, who advanced on Monday. Monfils has won both matches in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, including a meeting less than two years ago in Rio at the Olympics.

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Third seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who lost in his first match at his past two events (Quito, Buenos Aires), got back on track by defeating qualifier Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-1 in 64 minutes. That evens the Spaniard’s tour-level record for the year (4-4) as he attempts to defend finalist points from Rio de Janeiro last year (l. to Thiem).

Sixth seed Diego Schwartzman moved on when #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud retired down 1-4 in the opening set. The Argentine next plays someone who will certainly be riding high on confidence. 

Delbonis

His opponent, Federico Delbonis, captured his 100th tour-level win when Czech Jiri Vesely retired down 2-6, 2-3.

“It means a lot,” Delbonis said. “To have 100 match wins, it’s a big challenge and I’m so happy to reach it.”

Nine of the Argentine’s victories have been against opponents inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings. The left-hander is in-form, too, having made the semi-finals in Buenos Aires last week (l. to Bedene).

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Serena Williams: Former world number one says she almost died giving birth

  • Posted: Feb 21, 2018

Former world number one Serena Williams said she almost died giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr in September.

The American, 36, made her competitive return earlier in February when she teamed up with sister Venus for the United States in the Fed Cup.

But the 23-time Grand Slam winner has revealed that giving birth “sparked a slew of health complications”.

“I am lucky to have survived,” she wrote in an article for CNN on Tuesday.

“My daughter was born by emergency C-section after her heart rate dropped dramatically during contractions. The surgery went smoothly.

“But what followed just 24 hours after giving birth were six days of uncertainty.”

Williams, the most successful female player of the Open era, has previously said she was bedridden for six weeks after giving birth.

‘I live in fear of this situation’

Williams’ victory at the Australian Open in 2017 was her 23rd Grand Slam title, achieved while she was eight weeks pregnant.

The American is now just one shy of the all-time record held by Australian Margaret Court, but missed this year’s Australian Open in January to give her more time to recover from the birth.

  • How can you win a Grand Slam when you’re pregnant?
  • Bumps, boobs and bouncing back – an athlete’s path through pregnancy

Speaking about the birth, Williams continued: “It began with a pulmonary embolism, which is a condition in which one or more arteries in the lungs becomes blocked by a blood clot.

“Because of my medical history with this problem, I live in fear of this situation. So, when I fell short of breath, I didn’t wait a second to alert the nurses.

“First my C-section wound popped open due to the intense coughing I endured as a result of the embolism. I returned to surgery, where the doctors found a large haematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, in my abdomen.

“When I finally made it home to my family, I had to spend the first six weeks of motherhood in bed.”

Williams, who has not yet decided whether she will compete at this year’s remaining three Grand Slams, has thanked the medical team for keeping her alive.

“I am so grateful I had access to such an incredible medical team of doctors and nurses at a hospital with state-of-the-art equipment.

“They knew exactly how to handle this complicated turn of events. If it weren’t for their professional care, I wouldn’t be here today.”

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Fabio Loses Racquet, Wins Point!

  • Posted: Feb 20, 2018

Fabio Loses Racquet, Wins Point!

Feb202018

World No. 21 pulls off miracle to win point against Bellucci

Fabio Fognini completed a tremendous comeback from down a set and 0-4 in the second to oust home favourite Thomaz Bellucci 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the Rio Open presented by Claro on Monday evening.

But the comeback was not the only impressive part of the World No. 21’s performance.

At 6-5 40/30 in the second set — on set point, no less — Fognini’s racquet went flying out of his hand as he served. But somehow, not only did the serve go in, but the racquet bounced vertically off the red clay and Fognini snatched it straight out of the air. He miraculously went on to win the point.

“The replay of that point was incredible. I don’t know how [I did it],” Fognini said. “It’s really humid. I was just serving on set point and the racquet went flying. I think it was lucky, also. That was something incredible.”

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