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Cuevas Completes Montevideo Treble With Stunning Hot Shot

  • Posted: Nov 13, 2017

Cuevas Completes Montevideo Treble With Stunning Hot Shot

Nov132017

Revisit the week that was on the ATP Challenger Tour as we applaud the achievements of those on the rise and look ahead to who’s in action in the week to come

A LOOK BACK
Uruguay Open (Montevideo, Uruguay): They were dancing in the streets of Montevideo, as home hope and top seed Pablo Cuevas streaked to the title. It was a celebration of tennis all week at the Uruguay Open, which featured a visit from football legend Diego Forlan. Raucous crowds packed the tournament from start to finish. On Sunday, Cuevas lifted his third tournament trophy with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Gastao Elias, adding to triumphs in 2009 and 2014. The win had added significance for the Uruguayan, who moved to No. 32 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, putting him in position to be seeded at the Australian Open.

Cuevas, who fired arguably the shot of the year on the ATP World Tour at the Mutua Madrid Open, replicated the feat in Montevideo with a stunning tweener pass.

You May Also Like: Football Legend Diego Forlan Visits Montevideo Challenger

Peugeot Slovak Open (Bratislava, Slovakia): Cuevas wasn’t the only player to complete a title treble on Sunday. Lukas Lacko also prevailed on home soil, notching his third title in Bratislava with a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over Marius Copil. The Slovak, who previously triumphed in 2011 and 2013, emerged victorious in dramatic fashion after challenging an ‘out’ call on a backhand pass on match point. The call would be overturned, giving Lacko his 10th ATP Challenger Tour title.

Internationaux de Vendee (Mouilleron-le-Captif, France): Elias Ymer had fallen on tough times earlier in the year, dropping to No. 293 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, but the #NextGenATP Swede has since rediscovered his rhythm on the ATP Challenger Tour. Ymer took the title on Sunday at the presitigous indoor event in Mouilleron-le-Captif, defeating Yannick Maden 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 35 minutes. It was Ymer’s second crown of the year, having lifted the trophy in Cordenons, Italy, in August. He has vaulted to No. 146, solidifying his place in the Top 150 to conclude the 2017 season.

Hyogo Noah Challenger (Kobe, Japan): Stephane Robert claimed a slice of ATP Challenger Tour history on Sunday in Kobe, becoming the third-oldest winner ever. At 37 years and five months, he overcame fellow Frenchman Calvin Hemery 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 6-1 in two hours and five minutes for the title. Only Dick Norman (38 years, one month) and Bob Carmichael (37 years, six months) were older when they won at Mexico City 2009 and Hobart 1978, respectively. It was Robert’s eighth Challenger victory in total and first since February of last year, when he won in New Delhi, India. He soared 92 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings to No. 231.

Knoxville Challenger (Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A.): Canada’s Filip Peliwo enjoyed the best week of his career, surging to his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Knoxville. Peliwo prevailed as a qualifier, dropping just one set in eight matches, capped by a 6-4, 6-2 win over Denis Kudla in the final. A highly-touted junior, having reached No. 1 behind Wimbledon and US Open titles in 2012, the Canadian has struggled thus far in his pro career. But the 23-year-old is poised to turn around his fortunes, rising to a career-high No. 195 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He is the 10th qualifier to lift a trophy this year.

A LOOK AHEAD
The penultimate week of the season features five tournaments on four continents. Santiago, Chile, is one of the jewels of the ATP Challenger Tour in South America and welcomes home hope Nicolas Jarry as its second seed. Top seed Rogerio Dutra Silva won the title in 2015, while unseeded Argentine Maximo Gonzalez is the defending champion.

India begins its two-week swing with the $50,000 event in Pune. The city, which will host an ATP World Tour event in January, features Blaz Kavcic as its top seed and Yuki Bhambri as its top native son. Meanwhile, second seed and two-time defending champion Henri Laaksonen returns to Champaign, while 2013 winner Tennys Sandgren leads the field.

Marton Fucsovics is the top seed in Brescia, Italy, while Lacko eyes back-to-back crowns as the fourth seed. Robert eyes consecutive victories on Japanese soil in Toyota, where Taro Daniel is the top seed. Second seed Matthew Ebden won the title in 2013.

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Federer sees off Sock in ATP Finals opener

  • Posted: Nov 13, 2017
ATP Finals
Venue: The 02 Arena, London Dates: 12-19 November
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, Red Button, BBC Sport website and mobile app, listen on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and follow text updates online.

Six-time champion Roger Federer opened with a straight-set win over Jack Sock at the ATP Finals in London.

The 36-year-old Swiss, making his 15th appearance at the season-ending event for the top eight players in the world, won 6-4 7-6 (7-4) at the O2 Arena.

American Sock was making his tournament debut, having qualified by winning the Paris Masters a week ago.

Alexander Zverev beat Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-4 in Sunday’s second round-robin match in the Boris Becker Group.

German third seed Zverev broke serve in the opening game with a deft volley and took the first set, but Croatian fifth seed Cilic grew stronger as the match progressed and looked set for victory at 3-1 up in the decider.

However, 20-year-old Zverev showed why he has won two Masters titles this year as he reeled off five of six games, breaking serve to love to clinch victory.

“For the most part of the second and third sets he was the better player, I was just happy to come back and get the win,” said Zverev.

The Pete Sampras Group starts on Monday, with Dominic Thiem taking on Grigor Dmitrov at 14:00 GMT followed by Rafael Nadal against David Goffin at 20:00. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares begin their doubles campaign at 12:00.

Defending champion Andy Murray, five-time winner Novak Djokovic and three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka are among a number of players who chose to end their seasons early to recover from injuries.

  • Live scores and results
  • Federer v Sock as it happened
  • ATP Finals – BBC TV and radio coverage

‘I got off to a great start’ – Federer

Federer lost just four points behind his first serve as he came through an entertaining match without facing a break point.

Sock, 25, never looked like causing an upset after dropping his opening service game but clung on impressively in the second set before the pressure eventually told.

Federer served out the opener after 36 minutes but could not close it out in the second as five break points slipped by across the seventh, ninth and 11th games.

For the first time in four meetings. Sock managed to take the 19-time Grand Slam champion to a tie-break, but a double fault from the American at 4-5 handed Federer a match point that he clinically converted.

“I got off to a great start, my big hope was I was going to be able to play a bit more freely after that,” said Federer.

“The second set was tight, I missed some opportunities, the breaker could have gone either way and in the end he helped me with some double faults and some mistakes.

“I’m really happy that I got through somehow.”

Federer last won the season-ending title back in 2011, but he is the favourite to add a seventh victory to his extraordinary CV at the end of a year when he has won two more Grand Slam titles.

It is a far cry from 12 months ago, when the Swiss was absent through injury, while Murray and Djokovic – themselves missing this year – battled for the year-end number one ranking.

“It’s wonderful to be back, especially after missing last year with injury,” said Federer.

“It was tough not to be here but at the same time I really enjoyed the battle for number one between Andy and Novak.”

Nadal, 31, has had a similarly spectacular return to form in 2017, winning the other two major titles and ending the year as world number one.

Receiving a trophy on court following the opening match, the Spaniard said: “It has been a fantastic season, a very emotional one after all of the things I have been going through in the last couple of years with injury.

“To have this trophy again is something I never thought was possible.”

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Fed Cup final: United States beat Belarus to win first title since 2000

  • Posted: Nov 12, 2017

The United States won the Fed Cup for the first time in 17 years with a dramatic victory over Belarus in Minsk.

Coco Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers beat Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in the deciding doubles rubber to give the visitors a 3-2 win in the best-of-five tie.

Sasnovich had earlier beaten US Open champion Sloane Stephens 4-6 6-1 8-6 in a thrilling match to force a decider.

Stephens has now lost all six matches since winning the title in New York.

Belarus were playing in their first Fed Cup final, and were without their leading player as two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka is unwilling to travel during a custody battle over her son.

Vandeweghe, the world number 10, put the US into a 2-1 lead with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 win over Sabalenka, ranked 78th, in Sunday’s opening singles rubber.

However, the 87th-ranked Sasnovich then came back from 5-2 down in the final set to upset world number 13 Stephens and set up a doubles decider.

The class of the American squad, missing Serena and Venus Williams, eventually told as Vandeweghe and Rogers came from behind in the second set to win in straight sets.

It is the first US victory since the team of Lisa Raymond, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati in 2000.

They have now won the Fed Cup 18 times, extending their lead over the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia, who have 10 titles.

“I’m just really thrilled for all four players,” said US captain Kathy Rinaldi.

“CoCo came out and just played unbelievable, Shelby stepped up, and Sloane – my heart was broken for her, but she battled this whole weekend, she battled all the way to the end. I’m so proud of all four of them.”

Vandeweghe, 25, is the first player to win eight Fed Cup rubbers in a year since the current format was introduced in 2005.

“It was a lot of work and a lot of dedication to the Fed Cup, in each and every round,” said Vandeweghe.

“To dedicate my time and energy through my season to be able to perform the best I could for Team USA.”

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Harrison/Venus Win Group Opener On Debut

  • Posted: Nov 12, 2017

Harrison/Venus Win Group Opener On Debut

Nov122017

Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus got off to a winning start in Group Eltingh-Haarhuis at the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday by denting the aspirations of Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who are vying to become year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus got off to a winning start in Group Eltingh/Haarhuis at the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday by denting the aspirations of Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who are vying to become year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

Eighth seeds Harrison and Venus, this year’s Roland Garros champions and making their debuts at The O2 this week, defeated second seeds Kontinen and Peers 6-4, 7-6(8) in 90 minutes.

Peers came under extreme pressure in his first three service games – resulting in deciding deuce points on each occasion. Harrison and Venus got their reward on Peers’ serve at 4-4, when Kontinen hit a forehand volley into the net.

Harrison and Venus continued to play aggressively and in the ninth game broke Kontinen on a deciding deuce point. However, Venus was unable to close out the match as Kontinen and Peers upped the power level to take the set to a tie-break.

Harrison and Venus were unable to convert match points at 6/5 and 8/7, saving a set point at 6/7, prior to closing out their 19th match win of the season. They now have a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Kontinen and Peers, including a victory at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August.

 Watch Full Match Replays

It was Kontinen and Peers’ first loss at the Nitto ATP Finals, which they won last year.

Harrison and Venus’ victory means that Lukas Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who are competing in Group Woodforde/Woodbridge this week, could clinch the year-end doubles team No. 1 ranking on Monday should they win their first round-robin group match.

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