Dominic Thiem: Former US Open champion to return after long injury
Dominic Thiem is hoping to return at the Indian Wells Masters after a seven-month injury lay-off.
Dominic Thiem is hoping to return at the Indian Wells Masters after a seven-month injury lay-off.
Richard Gasquet’s love affair with the Open Sud de France continued Thursday. The Frenchman downed Soonwoo Kwon 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals in Montpellier for the ninth time.
The World No. 75 has triumphed on home soil at the ATP 250 event three times, lifting the trophy in 2013, 2015 and 2016. In a solid performance, Gasquet won 15 consecutive points on serve in the first set to clinch the opener before he broke at the start of the second set to gain further control.
“I was solid on the court,” Gasquet said in his on-court interview. “I didn’t make many mistakes, which was the key in the match. I played well and I didn’t lose my serve. When playing indoors the court is fast, so I had to serve well and I did. I am really happy to win because he is a great player.”
The 35-year-old, who also advanced to the final in Montpellier in 2014, 2017 and 2018, has now recorded a leading 28 match wins at the tournament after his one-hour, 40-minute triumph against Kwon. Gasquet will face third-seeded countryman Gael Monfils or Swede Mikael Ymer in the last eight.
In other action, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino maintained his strong form, moving past defending champion David Goffin 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
The World No. 58 arrived at the ATP 250 event on the back of his best-ever run at the Australian Open where he reached the fourth round, earning Top 20 victories against Hubert Hurkacz and Aslan Karatsev.
Mannarino played with consistency from the baseline throughout against the eighth seed as he dictated the rallies with his flat groundstrokes to advance after 90 minutes. With his win, the 33-year-old has improved his ATP Head2Head record against the Belgian to 2-5. Mannarino will next play top seed Alexander Zverev or World No. 56 Mackenzie McDonald.
Qualifier Damir Dzumhur advanced to his first tour-level quarter-final since last July (Umag), upsetting fourth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in one hour and 38 minutes. The World No. 152 meets fifth seed Filip Krajinovic in the last eight.
Indian pair Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan continued their perfect start to the season on home soil Thursday, edging Alexander Erler and Jiri Vesely 7-6(3), 7-6(4) to reach the semi-finals at the Tata Open Maharashtra.
The second seeds hammered 17 aces and saved all three break points they faced, advancing after 87 minutes to improve to 7-0 on the season as a team.
Bopanna and Ramanathan triumphed together at the Adelaide International 1 in January and are now two wins away from capturing their second tour-level title this year.
They will next face Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul after the Frenchmen battled back to defeat Italians Federico Gaio and Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-3, 10-2 in 77 minutes. Doumbia and Reboul are aiming to win their first tour-level title as a team in Pune, having lifted nine ATP Challenger Tour trophies together.
Top seeds Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith survived a scare to move through, overcoming Indians Mukund Sasikumar and Saketh Myneni 3-6, 7-5, 10-3. The Australians will play N.Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan in the semi-finals. The Indians received a walkover from Gianluca Mager and Emil Ruusuvuori.
Erlich/Roger-Vasselin March On In Montpellier
Third seeds Jonathan Erlich and Edouard Roger-Vasselin booked their spot in the semi-finals at the Open Sud de France with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over French duo Fabrice Martin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Erlich and Roger-Vasselin are teaming for the first time this week and are yet to drop a set in Montpellier. They saved both break points they faced to advance in 65 minutes.
Jonny O’Mara and Hunter Reese also advanced in Montpellier, clawing past Roman Jebavy and Alex Molcan 6-1, 4-6, 10-5. The British-American duo converted five of their six break points in their 74-minute win. They will meet Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara in the last four.
IOC president Thomas Bach will meet Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai to “convince us in person of her wellbeing and state of mind”.
Serbian prosecutors have hit back at claims he submitted falsified Covid test certificates.
Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer earned his first Top 20 win Thursday at the Tata Open Maharashtra, shocking top seed Aslan Karatsev 6-2, 7-6(3) to reach the quarter-finals in Pune.
In a dominant performance, a pumped-up Ymer was strong on serve as he fired 10 aces and won 80 per cent (24/30) of his first-serve points to capture the biggest victory of his career after one hour and 36 minutes.
“It is my highest win ever,” Ymer said in his on-court interview. “I am really happy. It is big for me. I have been fighting a lot and I was serving amazing today. I hope to keep it going. I am so happy to finally get this win.”
[FOLLOW ACTION]It is the first time the World No. 163 has advanced to the last eight at a tour-level event since 2016, when he reached the quarter-finals in Gstaad. With his triumph, it is just the second time Ymer has defeated a Top 50 opponent, with his only other success coming against then-World No. 41 Nick Kyrgios in Barcelona in 2015.
Ymer, who is making his debut in Pune, held his nerve in the second-set tie-break against the World No. 15, sealing his win with an ace. The 25-year-old will next face eighth seed Stefano Travaglia after the Italian overcame Indian Yuki Bhambri 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes.
In other action at the ATP 250 event, fourth seed Jiri Vesely moved past Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-4 as he looks to retain his title in Pune.
The World No. 80 lifted the trophy at the Tata Open Maharashtra in 2020 and set the wheels in motion for another deep run, breaking the 25-year-old four times to advance after 90 minutes.
Vesely will next play sixth seed Emil Ruusuvuori in the quarter-finals after the Finn downed Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-3, 6-3 in their first ATP Head2Head meeting. Ruusuvuori has enjoyed a strong start to the season, having advanced to the last four at the Melbourne Summer Set last month.
Daniil Medvedev has withdrawn from the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament following his run to the Australian Open final, the tournament announced Thursday.
“Unfortunately I will not play in Rotterdam this year,” Medvedev said. “I just got back from Australia and am not ready to compete. Rotterdam is one of the favourite stops on the Tour and Richard does a great job for the players there. I look forward to coming back in the future.”
The World No. 2 lost to Rafael Nadal in a five-set thriller in his fourth Grand Slam championship match last week in Melbourne. The Russian has competed in Rotterdam four times, with his best result a run to the semi-finals in 2019.
Andy Murray has accepted a wild card into the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, an ATP 500 held in Rotterdam, the tournament announced on social media Thursday. The event will be played from 7-13 February.
The former World No. 1 will be making his seventh appearance at the tournament, with his best result a run to the title in 2009 when he defeated Rafael Nadal in the final.
Murray, who advanced to the second round in Rotterdam last year, has enjoyed a strong start to the season, having reached his first tour-level final since 2019 (Antwerp) at the Sydney Tennis Classic in January.
The Scot will be joined in the field by 18-time tour-level champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after the Frenchman also accepted a wild card into the indoor-hard event. The Frenchman has fond memories in Rotterdam, lifting the trophy in 2017.
Playing as a pair for the first time this season, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut picked up where they left off at the Open Sud de France on Wednesday.
The 2021 Nitto ATP Finals doubles champions scored a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili and Dustin Brown in Montpellier. The top-seeded French duo raced to 3-0 and 4-0 leads in sets one and two, and held on for the win behind a perfect five-for-five mark on break points. Brown and Basilashvili threatened on the return as well, but could only take one of their eight break chances.
With Herbert not travelling to Australia in January, Mahut teamed with countryman Fabrice Martin but suffered a first-round exit after three sets at the year’s first Grand Slam event.
One of three all-French teams to reach the last eight, Herbert/Mahut will face countrymen Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg and Luca Van Assche in the quarters. Martin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also through following a straight-set win on Monday.
Also in opening-round action, Jonny O’Mara of Great Britain and Hunter Reese of the United States knocked off the second-seeded duo of Matwe Middelkoop and Philipp Oswald, 6-3, 6-4. One quarter-final match has already been completed, with Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara getting past Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, 6-4, 6-4. Nedovyesov/Qureshi, the fourth seeds in Montpellier, beat Mahut/Martin to reach the second round at the Australian Open.
Top Seeds Survive In Cordoba
Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni battled through three tie-breaks, including a Match Tie-break, to reach the semi-finals at the Cordoba Open. The top seeds edged the Italian duo of Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori, 7-6(6), 6-7(2), 10-3.
The Mexican-Argentine duo trailed by a break in both sets but answered back each time.
They also had to claw back from 1/4 down in the first set tie-break, but never trailed in the Match Tie-break after opening up a 4/0 lead.
The only other doubles match of the day completed the opening round, as the fourth-seeded Argentine pairing of Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez beat Facundo Bagnis and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the quarter-finals.
Quarter-finals Set In Pune
Four matches completed the opening round at the Tata Open Maharashtra on Wednesday, with all but one decided in straight sets.
Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan, the tournament’s second seeds, went the distance in a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win over Americans Nicholas Monroe and Jamie Cerretani. Bopanna/Ramanathan are one of three Indian teams still in contention in Pune. Saketh Myneni and Mukund Sasikumar also advanced to the quarter-finals on Wednesday, while N.Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan are already into the semis after a win and a quarter-final walkover.
Diego Schwartzman bounced back from an early Australian Open exit with a comfortable win at the Cordoba Open in his native Argentina.
The top seed needed just over an hour to defeat countryman Juan Pablo Ficovich, 6-3, 6-2, and progress to the quarter-finals. A finalist in Cordoba in 2020, Schwartzman is chasing his second ATP Tour title in Argentina, following his triumph in his hometown of Buenos Aires last year.
“I’m trying to keep focus, to win matches every tournament. For me, winning two or three matches per tournament is very important,” Schwartzman said post-match.
“When you are not serving 210 [kph], you have to run, you have to have a good feeling. Winning matches is the easy way to have the confidence for the next tournament… If I play good tennis, I know that I have chances to win many matches every tournament.”
Against the 25-year-old qualifier, the World No. 14 controlled the rallies throughout on the red clay and closed out the match with a down-the-line backhand winner. The key difference in the contest was on first serve: Schwartzman won 89 per cent of points (25/28) on his first delivery, while winning half (19/38) of his first-serve return points.
Following a first-round bye, the victory puts the Argentine through to the quarter-finals. After another off day, he’ll face lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan. The Colombian World No. 127 defeated Spain’s Jaume Munar, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, earlier on Wednesday on centre court.
Also through to the last eight is Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Londero, who upset eighth seed Pedro Martinez, 6-3, 7-6(3). He will face lucky loser Nikola Milojevic, who closed out the evening session with a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Argentine wild card Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The Serb replaced the injured Dominic Thiem on the draw’s bottom line and inherited the Austrian’s first-round bye.