Dominic Thiem’s first hard-court match since March 2021 featured a one-hour, 52-minute rain delay, two match points against and plenty of drama, but the Austrian found a way to advance on Monday evening at the Winston-Salem Open.

The former World No. 3 worked hard to defeat J.J. Wolf 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(6) after three hours and 10 minutes. Thiem will play 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, the top seed, in the second round.

“First of all I’m super happy to get that win, [my] first win on hard courts since a very long time, since March ’21, I guess. It was not easy at all today with the rain delay, coming back out there at 11:15 p.m. It was very late. I had trouble [getting] into the match again,” Thiem said. “But luckily I raised the level a little bit in the third-set tie-break and compared to Kitzbühel, where similar stuff happened with the rain, the luck was on my side today.”

After the lengthy rain delay at 3-2 in the third set, the players served their way into a tie-break, which Thiem led 4/1. When Wolf won five consecutive points to take a 6/4 lead, the home favourite was in good position to move on.

But Thiem found his best tennis when it mattered most, crushing a backhand winner on the first match point he faced and a forehand winner on the second to get out of trouble before curling a forehand passing shot to clinch his victory.

“I told myself, ‘It’s 4/6, now or never,'” Thiem said. “I released a little bit and it went perfectly. Four winners in a row from 4/6 to 8/6.” 

Thiem showed some inconsistency early on, making uncharacteristic errors. In the crucial moments of the first set, Wolf was able to take control of rallies and capture the first-set tie-break.

But 2020 US Open champion Thiem also flashed his trademark brilliance on Stadium Court, blasting one-handed backhands down the line and threading the needle with perfect passing shots on his main draw debut at the ATP 250.

In the same section of the draw, former Top 10 star Fabio Fognini defeated Dusan Lajovic 7-5, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2019 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final. The Italian will next play 13th seed Jack Draper.

Earlier in the day, #NextGenATP standout Chun-Hsin Tseng clawed past lucky loser Marton Fucsovics 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to earn a clash against 15th seed Jaume Munar.

There were two opening-round matches that went to final-set tie-breaks. Adrian Mannarino outlasted Christopher O’Connell 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 7-6(3) after three hours and 31 minutes, while James Duckworth rallied past Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) after two hours and 15 minutes.

Kyle Edmund continued his comeback from left knee surgery with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Greek ATP Cup team member Michail Pervolarakis 6-2, 7-5. The Briton will next challenge 10th seed Benjamin Bonzi.

Top Seeds Advance In Doubles Draw
Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have won four titles this year. On Monday, the top seeds began their charge for a fifth trophy in 2022 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi in Winston-Salem.

The second seeds’ day did not go as smoothly. Simone Bolelli and Marcelo Melo eliminated Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 6-4, 7-6(3). In a battle of Americans, Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson defeated Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-3, 5-7, 10-6.

Daniil Medvedev enters the US Open as the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings but there will be fireworks at Flushing Meadows, where five players have a chance to claim the top spot.

When players next Monday drop their 2021 US Open points, Nadal will be in pole position to recapture World No. 1 for the first time since 2 February 2020. Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud need deep runs to challenge him.

Since Nadal did not compete last year in New York, he is not defending any points. When 2021 champion Medvedev drops the 2,000 points he is defending, Nadal will be No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings with 5,630 points. 

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings Points (as of 29 August)

^{*Zverev is not competing in the US Open due to an ankle injury}
The 36-year-old lefty will have a 590-point lead over Alexander Zverev, who does not have a chance to claim No. 1 because he is not competing at the US Open due to an ankle injury. Medvedev, who has held World No. 1 since the week of 13 June, will be 745 points behind. 

Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Alcaraz and Ruud will all need to at least reach the US Open final to have an opportunity to leave New York as World No. 1.

Tsitsipas will be confident after reaching the Western & Southern Open final. However, the Greek has not moved past the third round at Flushing Meadows in four previous appearances.

Alcaraz, who defeated Tsitsipas at last year’s US Open en route to the quarter-finals, has a chance to make history. If the 19-year-old Spaniard climbs to World No. 1 on 12 September, he will become the youngest No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history, breaking the record Lleyton Hewitt set in November 2001 as a 20-year-old.

Ruud, who has climbed as high as World No. 5, can become the first Norwegian in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history to reach World No. 1.

Frenchman Constant Lestienne and Argentine Pedro Cachin built upon their formidable ATP Challenger Tour season this past weekend by adding to their title haul in 2022. Lestienne, who has reached four Challenger Tour finals post-Wimbledon, claiming three titles, triumphed in Vancouver, Canada. Cachin collected his Challenger Tour-leading fourth title of 2022 on Sunday in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Both players have won a Challenger Tour-best 38 matches this year.

Four out of Lestienne’s five matches in Vancouver went three-sets as the Frenchman extended his hot streak to 19-2 from his past 21 matches when he defeated countryman Arthur Rinderknech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to win the Odlum Brown VanOpen.

“I’ve continued working and fighting, and everything went on my side. I cannot believe that I’ve won so many matches in the last few weeks,” Lestienne said.

The Vancouver title marks the 30-year-old’s sixth Challenger Tour title and third this season (Malaga and Pozoblanco) and lifts him to a career-high No. 75 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“Arthur (Rinderknech) is a great server, so I knew the key was to return his serve and try to engage the rally and I would have more chances to win the point. In the first set, he didn’t serve too well, I won 6-0, then it was really tight.”

Rinderknech, 27, had a gruelling week in Canada, where he rallied from a set down in his first two matches, including a second-round win against Elias Ymer after the Frenchman saved three match points. In his semi-final, the former Texas A&M University standout ousted home favourite Vasek Pospisil to set up the all-French final. Rinderknech rises to No. 58 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, 10 spots shy of his career-high mark, which he reached in January after he was a finalist at Adelaide-2 (l. Kokkinakis).

Only two players have more Challenger titles than Lestienne in 2022: Cachin and Jack Draper (tied with four).

After rain postponed play in Santo Domingo for several hours, Cachin defeated countryman Marco Trungelliti shortly after 1am, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to claim the Republica Dominicana Open at Santo Domingo, presented by Milex.

Pedro Cachin has reached seven Challenger finals this year, winning four titles. Credit: David A. Martinez.

Cachin, who started the season as World No. 245, has reached seven Challenger finals this year and has been crowned champion in Madrid, Prague-2, Todi, and this week in Santo Domingo. The second seed’s title extends Argentina’s lead to 17 Challenger titles this year and lifts Cachin to a career-high mark of No. 66 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

In May, the 27-year-old made his Grand Slam main draw debut at Roland Garros and defeated Norbert Gombos in the first round before falling short to home favourite Hugo Gaston.

Tomas Machac won the Kozerki Open after rallying from a set down in the final to defeat China’s top-ranked player Zhang Zhizhen 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, ending Zhang’s nine-match winning streak.

“From the beginning, he was better. I didn’t take my chances on my serve, I played bad at the beginning but then I found my rhythm,” Machac said.

The Czech recently missed three months with an injury and in his second tournament back, the 21-year-old dropped just one set all week en route to capturing his second title (Traralgon) of the season in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland. Machac, now a four-time Challenger Tour champion, rises to No. 126 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Tomas Machac, 21, is a four-time Challenger Tour champion. Credit: JAROSLAW GASZYNSKI/FOTOJAGA.INFO

Zhang, currently on a 21-4 run from his past 25 matches, is No. 138 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and is two spots shy of matching his career-high (136), which he reached in 2020 and remains the highest ranking achieved by a male Chinese player.

Lestienne, Trungelliti, Machac, and Zhang will all attempt to qualify for the US Open this week while Cachin and Rinderknech are direct entries into the main draw, which begins 29 August.

Did You Know? After Borna Coric’s title at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Croatian became the fourth player to win on the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour in 2022. Coric won the Parma Challenger in June. Holger Rune won the Sanremo Challenger and the BMW Open in Munich. Francisco Cerundolo won the Santa Cruz de la Sierra Challenger and the Nordea Open in Bastad. Lorenzo Musetti won the Forli-6 Challenger and the Hamburg European Open.

Coric is the first player to win a Masters 1000 title and a Challenger Tour title in the same season since Mikael Pernfors in 1993.

Alexander Zverev withdrew from the US Open, the tournament announced on Monday.

The German has not competed since suffering an ankle injury during the Roland Garros semi-finals against Rafael Nadal. Zverev underwent surgery shortly thereafter.

“After further examination in Germany, we received confirmation that all three of the lateral ligaments in my right ankle were torn,” Zverev wrote on Instagram at the time. “To return to competition as quickly as possible, to ensure all the ligaments heal properly, and to reclaim full stability in my ankle, surgery was the best choice. My rehab starts now and I’ll do everything to come back stronger than ever!”

Zverev reached his lone Grand Slam final at the US Open two years ago and owns an 18-7 record at the hard-court major. He is currently the No. 2 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The US Open qualifying event will begin on Tuesday, with the main draw being held from 29 August through 11 September.

Borna Coric’s dream run to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Western & Southern Open propels the Croatian back into the Top 30 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since May 2021. Despite defeat to Coric in Sunday’s championship match in Cincinnati, Stefanos Tsitsipas returns to the Top 5 off the back of his strong week in Ohio.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week, as of Monday, 22 August.

No. 29 Borna Coric, +123
After a long journey back from shoulder surgery in May 2021, Borna Coric announced his return to the big stage in style in Cincinnati by charging to his first Masters 1000 crown. The Croatian upset three Top 10 opponents in Rafael Nadal, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas to clinch the biggest title of his career and his first since 2018. Coric’s stunning week sees him surge 123 places to No. 29 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Read Cincinnati Final Report & Watch Highlights.

View Latest Pepperstone ATP Rankings

No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, +2
Tsitsipas fell just short of his third Masters 1000 triumph in Cincinnati, but the Greek nonetheless returns to the Top 5 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after just a week away. The 24-year-old moved past Filip Krajinovic, Diego Schwartzman and John Isner, before a fine volleying performance carried him to a semi-final win against World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev as Tsitsipas reached the final in Ohio for the first time.

No. 9 Cameron Norrie, +2 (Career High)
One of the most consistent performers on the ATP Tour in 2022, Cameron Norrie moved to 41-19 for the season with his Cincinnati semi-final run. After opening wins against Holger Rune, Andy Murray and Ben Shelton in Ohio, Norrie prevailed in a thrilling three-set quarter-final victory against World No. 4 Carlos Alcaraz. He was undone by the inspired Coric in the semi-finals, but the Briton still rises two spots to a career-high No. 9 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

No. 12 Taylor Fritz, +1 (Joint Career High)
Taylor Fritz breezed past Sebastian Baez and the in-form Nick Kyrgios for the loss of just seven games in his opening two matches in Cincinnati, successes that he backed up with a third-round deciding-set victory against sixth seed Andrey Rublev. Fritz ultimately fell to World No. 1 Medvedev in the quarter-finals, but the American returns to his career-high No. 12 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as he eyes his Top 10 breakthrough in the coming weeks.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 8 Felix Auger-Aliassime, +1 (Career High)
No. 26 Nick Kyrgios, +2
No. 30 Lorenzo Musetti, +3 (Joint Career High)
No. 58 Arthur Rinderknech, +6
No. 66 Pedro Cachin, +22 (Career High)
No. 70 Thanasi Kokkinakis, +5
No. 75 Constant Lestienne, +19 (Career High)
No. 94 Daniel Elahi Galan, +5 (Career High)

Laslo Djere made a late start to his North American hard-court swing, but you could not tell by his performance on Sunday evening.

In his first match of the swing, the Serbian battled past former Top 10 star David Goffin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Winston-Salem Open.

“It was difficult. Really humid. We had an interruption at the beginning [due to rain], so it was both physical and mental, I think. I managed to stay calm and I prepared well for this U.S. swing, so my body was feeling right and this definitely helped me to push through in the tough moments,” Djere said. “I just tried to play point by point, give my best and fight for every point.”

Djere converted four of his 10 break points to earn a clash against 16th seed Joao Sousa.

In other action, former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet advanced past Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(5), 6-2, 1-0 when the Polish player retired. The Frenchman will next take on fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti.

It will be the first ATP Head2Head meeting between the players, both of whom hit a one-handed backhand.

South Korean Soonwoo Kwon also moved on when he ousted German Daniel Altmaier 6-1, 6-4. The 24-year-old will play Australian qualifier Jason Kubler in the second round.

Borna Coric put Stefanos Tsitsipas in the backhand cage and threw away the key.

Coric defeated Tsitsipas 7-6(0), 6-2 in the Western & Southern Open final on Sunday in Cincinnati by dominating baseline exchanges through the Ad court. The engine room of Coric’s game has always been a rock-solid backhand, and he led with his strong suit to win his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.

Coric was always looking to go backhand-to-backhand with Tsitsipas, where the Croatian proved to be more consistent and more powerful.

Coric Backhand Groundstrokes

• 86 backhands
• 4 errors
• 10 winners

Tsitsipas Backhand Groundstrokes

• 94 backhands
• 15 errors
• 0 winners

Tsitsipas raced to a 4-1 lead after 16 minutes of play on the back of making his first 16 backhands of the match. The Greek then went through a period missing four out of five backhands, and the early break and the momentum quickly dried up. Coric’s backhand went into lockdown mode for the rest of the set, making his last 25 backhands of the first set, which included four winners.

Overall for the match, Coric’s backhand groundstroke racked up 10 winners while yielding just four errors. Tsitsipas was unable to hit a single backhand groundstroke winner, committing 15 errors. Coric’s average backhand speed was 70 mph, which was significantly faster than Tsitsipas’ 60 mph. In fact, Coric’s average backhand speed was just one mile per hour slower than Tsitsipas’ average forehand speed (71 mph), and almost as fast as his own forehand (72 mph average).

The Croatian felt at home standing in the Ad court crushing backhands and using his run-around forehand to hit high and heavy back cross court. Coric had the perfect game plan of nullifying and frustrating Tsitsipas’ powerful game by keeping the ball flowing back and forth through the Ad court until the right ball presented itself to attack somewhere else.

Coric hit 43 run-around forehands for the match, which was almost identical to Tsitsipas’ 44. That stat alone is a win for Coric as Tsitsipas possesses a more penetrating forehand that can do more damage as a run-around shot. Both players hit five winners and committed five errors from run-around forehands.

The champion’s minor weak spot in the match was hitting regular forehands standing in the Deuce court. He hit 69 forehands for the match standing there, hitting three winners while contributing 14 errors. Deuce-court exchanges favoured Tsitsipas overall, but with Coric hitting 65 per cent (129/198) of all groundstrokes standing in the Ad court, Tsitsipas could not run his preferred strategy often enough.

Coric was simply more dominant from the back of the court. He won 56 per cent (46/82) of his baseline points, while Tsitsipas was way off that mark, winning just 41 per cent (29/71) from the baseline.

The 25-year-old also enjoyed serving success by going after Tsitsipas’ backhand return.

Tsitsipas Returns

• Forehand returns = 24, including five errors
• Backhand returns = 37, including 11 errors

Tsitsipas hit 61 per cent (37/61) of returns as a backhand return, yielding 11 return errors from that side.

Impressively, Coric managed to execute his favorite pattern of play to take his biggest title. Controlling the Ad court with his solid backhand and heavy run-around forehand was always going to be the preferred way to wrestle control of points against Tsitsipas.

It must feel good to win on the biggest ATP stage with your “go-to” pattern of play.

Stefanos Tsitsipas fell short of lifting the Western & Southern Open trophy against Borna Coric on Sunday, but it was still a productive week of work for the Greek star. The 24-year-old is up to second place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Tsitsipas, who earned 600 points by reaching the Cincinnati final, is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year. In 2019, he claimed the title at the year-end championships.

The Greek (4,620 points) trails first-placed Rafael Nadal (5,630) by 1,010 points. The Spaniard, who has qualified for the season finale on 16 previous occasions, will arrive at the US Open in top spot in the Live Race.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (as of 22 August)

Another Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, is in third place (4,460), 160 points behind Tsitsipas. Last year’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion is trying to make the same leap Tsitsipas did from 2018 to 2019 — winning in Milan one year and triumphing at the Nitto ATP Finals the next.

Briton Cameron Norrie, who competed in Turin last year as an alternate, is trying to return to the season finale. The lefty made good progress towards that goal in Cincinnati, where he advanced to the semi-finals. Norrie climbed three spots into 11th place (2,140), 555 points behind eighth-placed Andrey Rublev (2,695), who currently occupies the final qualifying spot.

Felix Auger-Aliassime continued the best season of his career by reaching his fourth straight Masters 1000 quarter-final. Only Coric was able to halt the Canadian’s run in the last eight.

Auger-Aliassime jumped one spot into sixth place in the Live Race (2,815), as he tries to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The 22-year-old owns a 115-point lead over seventh-placed Alexander Zverev (2,700) and a 120-point advantage over eighth-placed Rublev.

Coric soared 94 places into 22nd in the Live Race with 1,360 points. At the start of the week, he owned 360 points for the season. Now the Croatian has 1,360.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is sometimes nicknamed the ‘Greek Philosopher’ as he often uses Twitter to post thoughtful and analytical content, but following Sunday’s loss to Borna Coric in the Cincinnati final, the World No. 5 admitted that he was lacking answers to his straight-sets defeat.

“I’m still looking for the answer myself. I don’t have a clear answer,” Tsitsipas said of the loss. “He was obviously the opposite of what I was, very much involved. Sometimes it makes you not be that much present in the moment when you’re too relaxed.

“I think he was serving well. He was making me move a lot. I could have used my chances in the first set. I don’t know why I didn’t. I rushed a little bit.”

Despite the loss, Tsitsipas holds a Tour-leading 46 wins in 2022 and his run to the final at the Western & Southern Open lifts him to second in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. His runner-up finish Sunday in Ohio follows two semi-final exits at the event in the previous two years.

Boasting a Tour-leading 19 ATP Masters 1000 wins in 2022, Tsitsipas ousted World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the Cincinnati semi-finals to advance to his fifth final of the season. He also reached the final in Rotterdam and Rome and claimed the trophy in Monte Carlo and Mallorca.

The 24-year-old now sets his sights on his first run to the second week at the US Open, where he is one of several players who will have a chance to become World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Tsitsipas has endured heartbreaking losses in New York the past two seasons. Last year, he lost a fifth-set tie-break to Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. In 2020, the Greek held six match points against Coric in the third round, but failed to convert.

The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion offered this praise of Coric in his post-match press conference. “The less he misses, the more he makes your life difficult. He’s like a Daniil Medvedev almost but hitting the ball a bit harder, adding a bit more topspin to the ball, opening the court. Basically his ball has a little bit more weight to it when it comes off your strings.”