Highlights Herbert Mahut Reach Montreal 2017 Doubles SF
Highlights Herbert Mahut Reach Montreal 2017 Doubles SF
Aug122017
The dream lives. #NextGenATP Denis Shapovalov continued the run of his life on Friday night, overcoming a slow and nervy start to advance to the semi-finals of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal.
The 18-year-old Canadian beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Court Central, where Shapovalov has earned legions of supporters this week at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.
He first knocked off Juan Martin del Potro, then World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the third round, and Mannarino was the latest established ATP veteran to go down against the spirited left-hander, who’s fiery play has created an electric atmosphere on the main court.
Shapovalov, at No. 143 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was already projected to break the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 100. But he’s now expected to jump to No. 67.
His semi-final run will also help him surge to third place in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, which will determine seven of the eight 21-and-under players who compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. The eighth player will be determined by wild card.
Shapovalov continues to make Masters 1000 history as well. He became the youngest player to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-final (since 1990), and he’ll try to do the unthinkable before this week and advance to the Coupe Rogers final. He’ll face either South African Kevin Anderson or #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals.
Zverev owns a 3-0 record against Anderson in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a straight-set win in the Citi Open final last week.
Perhaps it was the late finish from his riveting upset against Nadal or nerves from his first Masters 1000 quarter-final, but either way, Shapovalov started slowly against Mannarino, who was also looking to make his first Masters 1000 semi-final.
The Canadian struggled to stay in rallies against the Frenchman, and Mannarino took advantage, breaking the Canadian twice and cruising to a one-set lead. Shapovalov won just 55 per cent of his first-serve points in the first set.
Oh. My. Word!
What a backhand pass! ?#CoupeRogers pic.twitter.com/7YELpdHJNK
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 12, 2017
He settled in during the second set, though. After a brief rain delay, the Canadian broke immediately for 4-2, helped by a Mannarino double fault. He sealed the set on serve and encouraged the crowd, as he’s done all this week, lifting his arms to elicit their praise.
In the third set, Mannarino recovered from an early break, but the Canadian showed fearlessness in the big moments. He broke Mannarino for a 5-4 advantage when the Frenchman netted a forehand. The 18 year old clinched the quarter-final with a body serve that Mannarino struck wide.
Roger Federer remains on course to lift his 27th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and put pressure on Rafael Nadal in the two-man battle to replace Andy Murray at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
Bidding to capture his first trophy in Montreal – and his third overall in Canada – Federer produced a spellbinding blend of power and finesse to outclass No. 12 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4 in 68 minutes on Friday afternoon at the Coupe Rogers. It was his seventh straight win over the Spaniard and Federer is now 34-2 on the season, which includes an ATP World Tour-high five titles.
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There is no denying ‘The Great One’ Wayne Gretzky’s control of the puck on a hockey rink in his heyday. Not so great it would seem when it comes to controlling his phone.
The retired four-time Stanley Cup champion was taking in Thursday night’s Coupe Rogers match between Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Rafael Nadal when he managed to drop his phone under the stands in the front row of Court Central. Fortunately, a trio of ball boys came to the rescue and after a considerable search the wayward phone was located.
Sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki beat Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 in a rain-hit match at the Rogers Cup for her first win over a world number one.
Wozniacki was 5-1 down in the first set and 4-2 down in the third but recovered to beat the Czech after three hours.
The Dane, 27, will play either American Sloane Stephens or Czech Lucie Safarova in the semi-finals in Toronto.
Simona Halep faces Caroline Garcia and Garbine Muguruza plays Elina Svitolina in the remaining quarter-final matches.
“Almost every tournament I’ve played this year there has been a rain delay, so at this point I just have to laugh because I feel like it is following me,” said Wozniacki.
“Every time this year when it has been raining I’ve had a great tournament, so I thought this must be luck.”
Roger Federer extended his winning streak to 15 matches as he beat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the Rogers Cup semi-finals in Montreal.
The 36-year-old Swiss won 6-4 6-4 in 68 minutes to set up a meeting with unseeded Dutchman Robin Haase.
Federer is aiming for the third Rogers Cup win of his career and sixth title of a remarkable 2017 season.
Denis Shapovalov plays Adrian Mannarino and Alexander Zverev faces Kevin Anderson in the other quarter-finals.
Federer secured the decisive first break at 4-4 in the opening set, then got the better of three consecutive breaks early in the second.
The 19-time Grand Slam champion has now won all 16 sets in his seven matches against Bautista Agut.
Haase, ranked 52nd in the world, fought back to beat Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 4-6 6-3 6-3.
Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram advanced to their second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final of the season on Friday, beating Frenchmen Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 5-7, 7-5, 10-8 at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal.
The South African and American pairing hit 10 aces and claimed 87 per cent of their first-serve points to move into the last four. They also reached the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where they won their first Masters 1000 title (d. Kubot/Melo).
The sixth seeds will next face Indian Rohan Bopanna and Croatian Ivan Dodig, who beat another French team in Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire 6-2, 7-5. Bopanna/Dodig saved three of four break points to advance in 74 minutes.
Fifth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut escaped two tight sets against fourth seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 7-6(5), 7-6(11) to reach their third Masters 1000 semi-final of the season. The Frenchmen fell in the semi-finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Lopez/Lopez) and won the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title in Rome (d. Dodig/Granollers).
They will face top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers or Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in the last four.
World No. 52 making deep run in Canada
Robin Haase dared to dream and delivered on Friday when he booked a spot in the Coupe Rogers semi-finals, his first at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.
Haase extended his perfect record to 5-0 against Argentinean Diego Schwartzman in a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 quarter-final victory over two hours and four minutes.
The Dutchman, competing at his 35th tournament at the Masters 1000 level, will next face Swiss second seed and two-time former champion Roger Federer or No. 12 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. Haase’s previous best result had been one quarter-final exit at the 2012 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Djokovic).
Schwartzman played aggressively from the outset, pouncing on any half chance in the opener, but lapses in concentration coupled with tiredness – after three straight three-setters – let Haase back into the match. While Haase tightened up and let slip a 3-0 lead in the decider, from 3-3 he lost only six points for his 24th match win of the year.
“The week for me was very good, but I am now disappointed as I don’t think I played well in the second and third sets,” Schwartzman told ATPWorldTour.com. “I didn’t play too well from the baseline, but Haase served better to get back into the match.”
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Former world number one Victoria Azarenka has pulled out of the Cincinnati Open next week because of “a family matter”.
The 28-year-old from Belarus only returned to tennis in June after giving birth to her son, Leo, in December.
Azarenka reached the fourth round of Wimbledon before withdrawing from last month’s WTA event in Stanford, California, with a viral illness.
Defending champion Marin Cilic is also out of the Cincinnati Open.
The Croat has pulled out with the adductor injury which has sidelined him since Wimbledon, where he lost to Roger Federer in the final.
“I still don’t feel at 100% to compete at the top level and to defend my title,” said Cilic, who beat Andy Murray to win the Cincinnati title last year.
The US Open – the final Grand Slam tournament of the year – gets under way in New York on 28 August.
