Tsonga Takes Down Nadal In 2015 Shanghai Classic Moment
Tsonga Takes Down Nadal In 2015 Shanghai Classic Moment
Oct142016
The unique drying method took place during a Friday rain delay at the Challenger
Move over, squeegees: The ATP Challenger Tour event in Casablanca took a more extreme approach in drying Court Central on Friday by setting part of the court on fire.
The blaze took place during a delay in the semi-final match between sixth seed Arthur De Greef of Belgium and qualifier Maxime Janvier of France, with Janvier leading 6-4 4-2. But while lighting a court on fire to address standing water might be an uncommon practice, it isn’t unheard of.
“We had a long rain break and the side of the court was still holding a lot of water in the surface. To solve this, you pour gas on it and set it alight,” said ATP Challenger Tour supervisor Carl Baldwin. “This isn’t commonly done, but I have seen it before.”
Janvier returned to the court and found that his groundstrokes were still on fire, allowing him to hold onto the lead and move into his first ATP Challenger Tour final. The 19-year-old Frenchman will square off for the championship on Saturday against fellow teenager and World No. 1 junior Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who is also seeking his first Challenger title.
British number one Johanna Konta will have to rely on other players’ results if she is to qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time.
Konta will not play on the tour next week having pulled out of this week’s Hong Kong Open through injury.
The world number nine is in the eighth and final qualifying place for the event in Singapore from 23 October.
Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova will overtake her if she beats Carla Suarez Navarro on Saturday.
The pair are competing in the last four of the WTA event in Linz, Austria.
If Cibulkova loses, she, along with her Spanish opponent Navarro and Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, would still have a chance to pass Konta next week.
The WTA events next week include the Kremlin Cup in Moscow and the Luxembourg Open, which both start on Monday.
An additional place could become available for the end-of-season event if Serena Williams, who is currently second in the race to qualify, withdraws having not played since the US Open.
Konta withdrew from the Hong Kong Open with an abdominal strain shortly before her second-round match against Wang Qiang.
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Britain’s Andy Murray continued his fine form in China as he beat David Goffin in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
The second seed maintained his 100% record against the Belgian with a 6-2 6-2 win in one hour 35 minutes.
The Scot will play either American Jock Sock or France’s Gilles Simon next.
“It was a tough match. I struck the ball really well and created a lot of chances on my return game,” said the world number two.
The 29-year-old Wimbledon champion squandered six break points in the second game of the second set, a battle that lasted over 15 minutes, and with the score at 2-2 had to save two break points on his own serve.
But Goffin failed to convert any of his opportunities in that crucial period and Murray went on to break his opponent in the fifth game.
World number one Novak Djokovic suffered a major scare against world number 110 Mischa Zverev before fighting back to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
The Serbian top seed came back from a set and a break down to win 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in two hours 20 minutes, setting up a last-four tie against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.
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Djokovic, 29, made a number of uncharacteristic errors against Germany’s Zverev – including two double faults and 14 unforced errors in a nervy 62-minute second set – but was far more comfortable in the decider, breaking early as the qualifier ran out of steam.
World number one Angelique Kerber has been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open by Australia’s Daria Gavrilova.
The German – who went out of last week’s China Open at the last-16 stage – lost 6-3 6-1 in an hour and 14 minutes against the world number 38.
Kerber, 28, struggled with her serve and hit six double faults in the match.
Gavrilova, 22, will face Kristina Mladenovic of France or American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the last four.