England head coach Eddie Jones warns fly-half Marcus Smith of the “flood of distractions” that may come his way – comparing them to those faced by US Open winner Emma Raducanu.
Alfie Hewett beats Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez to claim the men’s singles title at the season-ending Wheelchair Masters in Orlando.
Following a thrilling week at the Rolex Paris Masters, the ATP Tour’s stars are in action at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals and the Stockholm Open. Carlos Alcaraz leads the way in Milan at the prestigious 21-and-under event, while former World No. 1 Andy Murray pursues his first tour-level crown since Antwerp two years ago in Stockholm.
ATPTour.com looks at what you should watch for this week.
DRAWS: MILAN | STOCKHOLM
SIX THINGS TO WATCH IN MILAN
1) Alcaraz Leads The Way: The top seed in Milan is Alcaraz, who has climbed from No. 141 in the FedEx ATP Rankings into the Top 50 in 2021. The Spaniard, who is coached by former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, leads Group A, which also consists of American Brandon Nakashima, Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Denmark’s Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune. Alcaraz has earned 27 of his 28 tour-level victories this year, and he will try to add to that total in Milan.
2) Home Favourite Musetti: The Italian crowd will fully back Lorenzo Musetti, the third seed at the 21-and-under event. Musetti has enjoyed success in Italy before, having broken onto the ATP Tour last year by qualifying for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and beating Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori in back-to-back matches. He also won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title last year in Forli. The 19-year-old will try to follow in the footsteps of Jannik Sinner, who became the first Italian to win the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals two years ago.
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
3) In-Form Gaston: Hugo Gaston arrives in Milan with plenty of momentum. The Frenchman is fresh off a run to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he thrilled his home fans with play that included wins against Musetti in qualifying and Alcaraz in the main draw.
4) Americans On The Rise: There are two Americans in action, with Nakashima in Group A and Sebastian Korda in Group B. Nakashima this year advanced to the Los Cabos and Atlanta championship matches to become the youngest player from his country to reach multiple tour-level finals since Andy Roddick accomplished the feat in 2002. Korda had his biggest breakthrough in Italy when he lifted his maiden ATP Tour trophy in Parma. The Floridian also made the quarter-finals in Miami and the fourth round at Wimbledon.
5) Argentines Make History: In the first three editions of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals (2017-19), no South Americans competed. This year there are two, and both are from Argentina: fifth seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo and sixth seed Sebastian Baez. Cerundolo in Cordoba became the youngest player in 17 years to earn the title on his ATP Tour debut. Baez claimed five ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2021, making him the youngest in history to do so.
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
6) Rolling Rune: Denmark’s Rune on Sunday triumphed in Bergamo to become the second-youngest player to win four ATP Challenger Tour titles in a season. He also did well on the ATP Tour, battling to the quarter-finals in Santiago and Metz. The 18-year-old Dane, who took a set from Novak Djokovic at the US Open, is the second-youngest competitor in Milan, just one week older than Alcaraz.
FOUR THINGS TO WATCH IN STOCKHOLM
1) Murray Marching Back: Former World No. 1 Murray continues to work towards his top level following his most recent hip surgery in 2019. The Scot accepted a wild card into the ATP 250 in Stockholm this week, and will have to be sharp immediately. Murray, who is making his tournament debut, will open against Norwegian Viktor Durasovic. If he advances, top seed Jannik Sinner, a five-time ATP Tour titlist, will be waiting.
2) Shapo Back For More: The third seed is Denis Shapovalov, who lifted his lone tour-level trophy in Stockholm two years ago, when the tournament was last held. The Canadian did not lose a set during that run, and he will try to start off well against Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori or Russian qualifier Pavel Kotov. Shapovalov’s countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime is the second seed.
Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
3) Botic Chasing A Title: It has been a year of firsts for Botic van de Zandschulp, including his maiden major main draw (Australian Open), first major quarter-final (US Open) and first ATP Tour semi-final (St. Petersburg). The Dutchman will hope to add a maiden tour-level crown to his resume this week in Stockholm, where he will open against Aussie Jordan Thompson.
4) Doubles At Large: Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo are the top seeds in the doubles draw, but will there be a surprise team that goes all the way? Two-time Roland Garros champion Andreas Mies (w/Krawietz) is partnering Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop, and British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski, who triumphed together in Acapulco this year, are a dangerous duo as the third seeds.
Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune is carrying some serious momentum into his Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals debut.
The 18-year-old Dane enters Milan on the heels of a historic victory in nearby Bergamo, Italy, claiming his fourth ATP Challenger title of the year. He battled past Cem Ilkel 7-5, 7-6(6) to triumph in Sunday’s championship.
Rune has taken the Challenger circuit by storm in 2021 and he would etch his name in the history books with his latest title. At the age of 18 years and six months, the teen became the second-youngest player to win four titles in a single season. Only a 17-year-old Richard Gasquet was younger when he achieved the feat in 2003.
In addition, Rune joins the exclusive list of players to win four titles before their 19th birthday, along with Gasquet (7), Tomas Berdych (5), Carlos Alcaraz (4), Felix Auger-Aliassime (4), Mario Ancic (4), Guillermo Coria (4) and Hyeon Chung (4). It was yet another statement victory in a season of breakthroughs for the Danish sensation.
“It doesn’t happen every week to have such support, but in Italy it does,” said Rune. “I have always liked playing in this country. I have an attitude and an approach similar to that of the Italians.”
Photo: Antonio Milesi
Rune, who improved to 36-9 on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, has enjoyed the majority of his success on Italian soil. Three of his four titles came in Italy, prevailing on the clay of Biella and Verona, before adding a first hard-court crown in Bergamo on Sunday.
The 18-year-old enters the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals having been battle-tested in Bergamo. After rallying from a set down to defeat Filip Horansky in the second round, he overcame former World No. 23 Damir Dzumhur and top seed Alex Molcan in deciding sets to reach the final. There, he stormed back from a break down in the second set to defeat Ilkel.
“I think the most difficult thing about this final was the mental aspect,” said Rune. “He played an excellent tournament, he expressed his best tennis. We had played in similar conditions a couple of years ago and it was a battle, but again I found a way to win.”
Youngest Players With Four Titles In A Season
| Player | Age | Year |
| Richard Gasquet | 17 years, 3 months | 2003 |
| Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune |
18 years, 6 months | 2021 |
| Guillermo Coria | 18 years, 10 months | 2000 |
Rune follows in the footsteps of fellow #NextGenATP star Jannik Sinner in lifting the Bergamo trophy. The Italian was the defending champion this week, having claimed his maiden Challenger title at the Trofeo Faip–Perrel in 2019. In fact, Rune is the youngest player to win a hard-court crown since Sinner two years ago.
“It could have been the last Challenger of my career,” Rune added. “Maybe I could play a couple more to get into the Top 100, then I’ll focus on the Grand Slams and ATP Tour tournaments. I am enthusiastic about the idea.”
Rune will open play in Milan on Tuesday, facing Carlos Alcaraz. Also in Group A are Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Brandon Nakashima.
For many players competing on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning one title in a season is an accomplishment.
How about seven?
On Sunday, Tallon Griekspoor did just that. The 25-year-old Dutchman triumphed on the hard courts of Tenerife, Spain, securing his place in the history books with a dominant display. A 6-4, 6-4 victory over Feliciano Lopez gave the Dutchman a single-season record seventh Challenger crown of 2021.
“It’s been an amazing season, winning a record seventh title, and an amazing win streak,” said Griekspoor after the final. “I’m just really happy with this season and looking forward to next year playing on the ATP Tour.”
Photo: Marta Magni Images / MEF Tennis Events
Not only did Griekspoor become the first player in Challenger history to win seven titles in one year, but he did so in stunning fashion. A 20-match win streak carried him to the winners’ circle once again, featuring back-to-back-to-back titles on the clay of Murcia, Napoli-1 and Napoli-2 last month, and a first career hard-court crown on Sunday in Tenerife.
Located just steps from the beach on the picturesque Canary Islands, it was a tennis paradise at the inaugural Tenerife Challenger. The top seed and the player to beat, Griekspoor embraced the pressure all week at the Abama Tennis Academy. It all culminated with consecutive wins over an in-form Altug Celikbilek and former Top 20 Spanish stars Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez.
Griekspoor, who is projected to rise to a career-high No. 72 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday, is ready to test his talents at the tour-level in 2022. The Haarlem native is no stranger to the bright lights and the big stages, having defeated former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam in 2018. And two months ago, he won his first Grand Slam match at the US Open, outlasting Jan-Lennard Struff in five sets, before battling top seed Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It’s nice to get the record but all I am trying to do is to improve my game and move up the rankings,” Griekspoor told Tennis TourTalk. “I hope it stays for a while. My goal for this year was to end the year in the Top 100. I did well on that. Top 50 is probably the next goal and let’s see how far I can get. I really don’t want to put a number on it. Let’s see what’s possible and I am confident in myself. I have had a good time on the Challenger Tour but I think it’s time for the next step, playing ATP Tour events. I am really looking forward to that and can’t wait to start.”
Griekspoor hopes to end his ATP Challenger Tour career with an eighth title of 2021, as he concludes his remarkable campaign next week in Bratislava.
You can’t regularly serve and volley in today’s game.
The statement above is worth reading again because it needs to be the last time you ever see it in print. It’s a myth. The death of serve and volley in our sport is pure misconception, and Novak Djokovic may as well have put the final nail in the coffin of this delusional fallacy once and for all in the Rolex Paris Masters final on Sunday.
World No. 1, Djokovic, defeated No. 2, Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 15 minutes minutes on the back of winning 19 of 22 serve and volley points. Djokovic won a stunning 86 per cent of his serve and volley points to completely throw a monkey wrench into the Russian’s monotonous baseline strategy of sticking the Serb in the backhand cage deep in the Ad court.
For the record, Djokovic served and volleyed 22 times – including once a second serve which he won – and also attempted another 17 serve and volley points that were a fault.
He wanted to serve and volley 39 times in a Masters 1000 final against the second-best player in the world. Nothing dead about that strategy.
Djokovic initially served and volleyed on the third point of the match, trailing 0/30 in the opening game. He lost that point and was broken soon after. He did win five of seven serve and volley points in the opening set but lost the set 6-4. The game plan was forming. The execution was improving. The mindset was patient.
Instead of abandoning the aggressive serve-and-volley play to focus on trying to dismantle Medvedev in baseline exchanges, Djokovic doubled down on serve and volley in set two, winning all 12 serve and volley points played. It’s worth noting that he also hit five faults that he wanted to serve and volley on in set two as well. Djokovic won two of three serve and volley points in set three as Medvedev unravelled early in the point. The constant forward pressure had finally paid off.
The net was Djokovic’s safe haven in the Paris final.
Net Points Played
Djokovic came to the net almost three times as often as Medvedev as he rocked the Russian in the critical 0-4 shot rally length.
Rally Length Won
Djokovic ended up +19 (54 won / 35 lost) in the short rallies up to four shots. This is where serve and volley reigned supreme. A key component of the Serb’s instant forays to the net was to avoid hitting his first volley deep, where Medvedev would enjoy another crack at a passing shot. Instead, Djokovic’s first volley was cleverly hit short in the court with angle, which was ideal considering Medvedev stands very deep in the court to return serve.
Our sport has recently entered into an era where players such as Medvedev are taking up extremely deep return positions. Their goal is to let the serve slow down to commit fewer return errors, while also allowing them to swing as hard as possible, making the return behave much more like a regular groundstroke than a blocking, abbreviated stroke. Djokovic showed time and time again in the final that serve and volley is the perfect antidote for that tactic.
Once rallies began in the Paris final, Medvedev attempted a copy/paste of the recent US Open final, which he won against Djokovic by overdosing on backhand-to-backhand exchanges. Djokovic hit 188 backhand groundstrokes in the Paris final and only 155 groundstroke forehands.
Medvedev was on course for a rinse and repeat of New York. Serve and volley came to the rescue for Djokovic.
Djokovic committed 12 backhand groundstroke errors and only hit one backhand groundstroke winner for the match. If he didn’t have serve and volley to constantly stay on the front foot and keep the points short, he would have had no way to short-circuit Medvedev’s incessant Ad court exchanges.
The Serb’s goose would surely be cooked in the absence of serve and volley.
Serve and volley gets little respect in today’s game. We gave up on it long ago, but it never gave up on us, constantly delivering strong win percentages. The No. 1 player in the world took it off life support in the Paris final and gave this “old school” pattern of play the love it thoroughly deserves. If anyone tells you that serve and volley doesn’t work, send them a link to Sunday’s final.
Welcome back, old friend.
Seventh-seeded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics swept past Adrian Mannarino of France on Sunday at the Stockholm Open. Fucsovics won eight straight games from 4-4 in the first set to win 6-4, 6-0 in 72 minutes. The World No. 40 will play Australia’s Jordan Thompson or Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in the second round.
Elsewhere, American Tommy Paul knocked out Swedish wild card and ATP Tour main draw debutant Leo Borg, the son of 1980 titlist Bjorn Borg, 6-4, 6-2 in 67 minutes. Paul will next face fifth-seeded compatriot Taylor Fritz or lucky loser Egor Gerasimov of Belarus.
[FOLLOW ACTION]Denis Istomin, Pavel Kotov, Viktor Durasovic and Andrea Vavassori all came through qualifying for a place in the main draw. Durasovic will play former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the first round.
Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will also compete at the ATP 250 indoor tournament.
Emma Raducanu says she will have a new coach in place for January’s Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic won a record-breaking 37th ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday at the Rolex Paris Masters, extending his lead in the ‘Big Titles’ race over Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The World No. 1 now has 62 ‘Big Titles’, pushing him further ahead of Nadal (57) and Federer (54). A ‘Big Title’ is a trophy at a Grand Slam championship, the Nitto ATP Finals, an ATP Masters 1000 tournament or an Olympic singles gold medal. Djokovic surged ahead of Nadal, who has 36 Masters 1000 trophies.
The 34-year-old suffered a crushing defeat in the US Open final against Daniil Medvedev, who ended his pursuit of the Grand Slam at the final hurdle. But Djokovic got his revenge on Sunday 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in front of a raucous crowd in Paris-Bercy.
Djokovic will now turn his attention to the Nitto ATP Finals, to be played from 14-21 November at the Pala Alpitour in Turin. The Serbian will have a chance to increase his ‘Big Titles’ lead even further there, where Nadal and Federer will not be competing. Djokovic could tie Federer’s record for most victories at the season finale (6).
The World No. 1 has the best ‘Big Titles’ win-rate at one title won per 3.3 events played (62/202), while Nadal has claimed a ‘Big Title’ for every 3.5 tournaments played at this level (57/197). Only two other players have converted more than once per five events: Roger Federer (4.4, 54/240) and Pete Sampras (4.9, 30/147).
Current and Former Champions’ Big Titles Won (Records Since 1990)
| Player | Grand Slams | Nitto ATP Finals | 1000s | Total^ (Avg) |
| Novak Djokovic | 20/65 | 5/13 | 36/119 | 62/202 (3.3) |
| Rafael Nadal | 20/62 | 0/10 | 36/123 | 57/197 (3.5) |
| Roger Federer | 20/80 | 6/17 | 28/138 | 54/240 (4.4) |
| Pete Sampras | 14/52 | 5/11 | 11/83 | 30/147 (4.9) |
| Andre Agassi | 8/61 | 1/13 | 17/90 | 27/164 (6.1) |
| Andy Murray | 3/52 | 1/8 | 14/103 | 20/166 (8.3) |
| Boris Becker* | 2/26 | 2/6 | 5/51 | 9/84 (9.3) |
| Thomas Muster | 1/29 | 0/4 | 8/53 | 9/87 (9.7) |
| Stefan Edberg** | 3/28 | 0/4 | 4/45 | 7/79 (11.3) |
| Gustavo Kuerten | 3/33 | 1/3 | 5/67 | 9/105 (11.6) |
| Jim Courier | 4/38 | 0/4 | 5/71 | 9/114 (12.6) |
| Marcelo Rios | 0/26 | 0/1 | 5/56 | 5/84 (16.8) |
| Marat Safin | 2/41 | 0/3 | 5/87 | 7/133 (19) |
| Michael Chang*** | 0/50 | 0/6 | 7/86 | 7/144 (20.6) |
| Andy Roddick | 1/46 | 0/6 | 5/75 | 6/129 (22.5) |
^ Includes Olympic Games gold medals and tournament participations
* Becker’s four other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
** Edberg’s three other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
*** Chang’s one Grand Slam title came before 1990
Daniil Medvedev was full of praise for Novak Djokovic on Sunday, believing that the Serbian superstar is gaining more respect for his record-breaking career.
“I have the feeling that people [are] starting more and more to… respect what he has done in tennis more and more, because he continues to beat the records,” said Medvedev, after he lost to Djokovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Rolex Paris Masters final.
“Only this year he beat the records for being No. 1 for most weeks, 310 it was, and now it’s much more [345]. He got to 20 [Grand] Slams [and] almost [completed] a calendar Slam.
“There are going to be new people coming to tennis [in the future] who are just going to read in Wikipedia, or whatever, what were the results, who was the World No. 1 for most weeks, for most times in the end, and they are going to see Novak everywhere. That’s when people are going to start to understand, ‘Okay, that’s amazing what he has done.’”
Medvedev has also enjoyed a strong season, which includes the US Open (d. Djokovic) title, and having seen Djokovic embrace his children after the final in south-west Paris, the Russian star also praised his wife, Daria, who watched courtside.
“She helps me a lot,” said Medvedev. “She knows I support her in many ways. So we enjoy being with each other, we enjoy living with each other, we love each other, and that helps me on the tennis court. It’s as easy as that. She will not teach me to play forehand or backhand, but she’s going to give me some mental strength and mental stability to be a better tennis player.”
When asked what it would have meant if he’d beaten Djokovic for a second time in a row, Medvedev was quick to admit, “It’s impossible to have any upper hand psychologically speaking on him.
“But this could be the case for me as well. If we take for instance the last weeks, I lost against Grigor [Dimitrov], [Andrey] Rublev and Novak. So the next time that I will play these three opponents this question shouldn’t be raised. ‘Will Daniil be affected psychologically?’ No.
“When I played Novak, I knew that he would try to take his revenge. What was at stake was not the same. Of course, I’m not talking about the prize money here. I could feel he really wanted to win no matter what, and this is what competition is all about.”
The 25-year-old, who had trained with Djokovic at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Nice prior to the Rolex Paris Masters, will next compete in Turin at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he is the defending champion. The prestigious season finale, which features Djokovic, Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Matteo Berrettini, Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz, takes place at the Pala Alpitour from 14-21 November.
