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Mahut/Herbert Reach Paris QFs

  • Posted: Nov 04, 2021

Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert moved into the quarter-finals at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday, downing Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 7-6(6), 6-4.

The Frenchmen won the title as a team in 2019 and set the wheels in motion for a similar run this week, winning 85 per cent (35/41) of their first-serve points against Behar and Escobar to advance after 83 minutes.

The third seeds will next face Benjamin Bonzi and Arthur Rinderknech after the French pair upset eighth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-7(5), 12-10 in one hour and 44 minutes.

Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic were aiming to win their 10th tour-level crown together as a team this season in Paris, but lost to Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, with the Belgians notching an impressive 6-3, 7-6(6) victory in 89 minutes.

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In a day of surprises, Tim Puetz and Michael Venus shocked second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 7-6(12), 7-6(8) to advance after one hour and 57 minutes. The German-New Zealand team will next play Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies after the unseeded pair moved past Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-3.

There were no such issues for fifth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, with the Colombians moving past Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski 7-6(6), 7-5 in one hour and 48 minutes.

Cabal and Farah will next meet Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The British-Brazilian tandem produced a dominant performance to cruise past Roberto Bautista Agut and Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-3.

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Rune To Compete In Milan

  • Posted: Nov 04, 2021

Following Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal, Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune has qualified for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, to be played from 9-13 November. 

The 18-year-old Danish star began the year at No. 473 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, and he rose to a career-high No. 118 on 1 November.

Read the full story at NextGenATPFinals.com

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Fritz Derails Norrie’s Turin Bid In Paris

  • Posted: Nov 04, 2021

Taylor Fritz soared into his second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on Thursday at the Rolex Paris Masters, damaging Cameron Norrie’s Nitto ATP Finals hopes in the process.

The World No. 26, who enjoyed a run to the last four at the BNP Paribas Open last month, played consistently and aggressively from the baseline, saving two set points in the second set to down Norrie 6-3, 7-6(3) in one hour and 33 minutes.

“I played incredibly well,” Fritz said. “A lot of pressure situations I got through and played really well. He is in so many games and he really makes you come up with a lot. Fortunately for me I came up with the shots I needed to, to stay in the match.”

Fritz has now won 11 of his past 13 matches, having reached the final in St. Petersburg last week. The American earned his third Top 10 win of the year in the second round in Paris when he upset World No. 6 Andrey Rublev.

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With his victory, Fritz has levelled his ATP Head2Head series against Norrie to 4-4. The 24-year-old had never been beyond the second round in two previous main-draw appearances in Paris, but will next face Novak Djokovic for a place in the semi-finals after the World No. 1 received a walkover from Gael Monfils.

“I am not playing important situations scared or tight,” Fritz added. “I am trusting my forehand as a weapon and just attacking with it. My forehand has become such a weapon I can rely on.”

Norrie has earned a career-best 50 tour-level victories this season and is 11th in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin (2,945 points), battling to clinch one of the final two remaining singles spots available at the season finale, to be held at the Pala Alpitour from 14-21 November.

However, the Briton now faces a tough battle to qualify. Seventh-placed Casper Ruud (3,185) will secure his spot in Turin with victory over Marcos Giron later on Thursday, while eighth-placed Hubert Hurkacz (3,135) can stamp his ticket with a win against James Duckworth on Friday.

”Taylor was too good today,” Norrie said. [In the] really big moments he served well, came up with big shots, played aggressively, he was moving extremely well. All credit to him. He played a very clean match and was very consistent throughout the whole match, so it was too good.”

On his chances of qualifying for Turin, Norrie said: “It’s looking unlikely, I guess. I haven’t done the math or anything, but I think they [Ruud and Hurkacz] were ahead of me already and for them to still be in the tournament it looks difficult.”

In a strong first set, Fritz struck the ball with power and depth on his forehand to dictate, forcing Norrie deep behind the baseline. The 24-year-old found the decisive break in the sixth game to lead, before sealing the set on serve.

The American continued to push in the second set but Norrie showed great resilience, fending off both break points he faced. However, the 26-year-old was unable to convert two second set points on Fritz’s serve at 5-4, 40/15 and 40/30 as they moved to a tie-break. Fritz pulled away in the tie-break as he found his best tennis, securing his victory with one of the 25 winners he hit in the match.

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Hurkacz Improves Turin Hopes, Plays Duckworth In Paris QFs

  • Posted: Nov 04, 2021

Hubert Hurkacz improved his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals on Thursday when he booked his place in the Rolex Paris Masters quarter-finals.

The seventh-seeded Pole battled back to overcome Dominik Koepfer, a German lucky loser and conqueror of Andy Murray and Felix Auger-Aliassime, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and six minutes.

Hurkacz currently sits in the final automatic qualification spot, with 3,135 points in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin, 120 points ahead of ninth-placed Italian Jannik Sinner, who lost to #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old Hurkacz will next challenge James Duckworth, who advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final with a 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin in one hour and 47 minutes. Duckworth recovered from 1-3 down in the first set.

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Koepfer’s athleticism reaped dividends in the third game, when he scrambled up a drop shot to strike a lob that Hurkacz could not return cleanly. The German’s confidence soared and he completed the 41-minute first set with an ace.

The second set started with four straight service breaks and while Koepfer recovered from 0/40 when serving at 4-5, Hurkacz stepped up two games later to take the pair’s first meeting to a decider.

Errors crept into Koepfer’s game and he struck a backhand wide to gift Hurkacz a 3-2 advantage in the third set. Hurkacz applied the pressure, won the mental battle and broke serve once again at 5-2 to stay in contention for a place in Turin later this month. It was his 35th match win of the year, which includes three ATP Tour titles.

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Thursday Preview: Medvedev, Zverev & Nitto ATP Finals Hopes Feature In Paris

  • Posted: Nov 04, 2021

While Daniil Medvedev headlines play at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday, the FedEx ATP Race To Turin is heating up and three Nitto ATP Finals contenders — Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz and Cameron Norrie — are also in action.

Two singles spots remain up for grabs with less than 10 days left in the regular ATP Tour season, which includes next week’s Stockholm Open.

Seventh seed Hurkacz will be wary of lucky loser Dominik Koepfer, who has started strongly in wins over 2016 champion Andy Murray and Felix Auger-Aliassime this week. The Pole sits in the final automatic qualification spot and will be watching 10th seed Norrie closely, when the Briton challenges Taylor Fritz second on Court Central. Norwegian Casper Ruud, who is seventh in the battle for a spot at the season finale, to be held from 14-21 November at the Pala Alpitour in Turin meets Marcos Giron, an American qualifier.

If the second-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev loses to #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda during the night session, then Novak Djokovic will secure year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for a record-breaking seventh time. Djokovic had been due to play Gael Monfils, but the French 15th seed withdrew due to a right adductor strain. Fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev, last week’s Erste Bank Open titlist (d. Tiafoe), also plays No. 16 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria for the fourth time, while 18-year-old #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz plays French qualifier Hugo Gaston.

Watch Wednesday Highlights From Paris

VIEW REVISED SCHEDULE – THURSDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2021

COURT CENTRAL start 11:00 am
[LL] D. Koepfer (GER) vs [7] H. Hurkacz (POL)
[10] C. Norrie (GBR) vs T. Fritz (USA)
[16] G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs [4] A. Zverev (GER)

Not Before 7:30 pm
S. Korda (USA) vs [2] D. Medvedev (RUS)
C. Alcaraz (ESP) vs [Q] H. Gaston (FRA)

COURT 1 start 11:00 am
[LL] A. Popyrin (AUS) vs J. Duckworth (AUS)
[WC] B. Bonzi (FRA) / A. Rinderknech (FRA) vs [8] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA)

Not Before 3:00 pm
[3] P. Herbert (FRA) / N. Mahut (FRA) vs A. Behar (URU) / G. Escobar (ECU)
[5] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) vs D. Evans (GBR) / N. Skupski (GBR)

Not Before 7:30 pm
[6] C. Ruud (NOR) vs [Q] M. Giron (USA)

COURT 2 start 11:00 am
[1] N. Mektic (CRO) / M. Pavic (CRO) vs S. Gille (BEL) / J. Vliegen (BEL)
[7] K. Krawietz (GER) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs [PR] F. Martin (FRA) / A. Mies (GER)
J. Murray (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA) vs [Alt] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) / A. Bublik (KAZ)
T. Puetz (GER) / M. Venus (NZL) vs [2] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)

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After Hiccup, Medvedev Powers Home In Paris

  • Posted: Nov 04, 2021

Daniil Medvedev was forced to work harder than he wanted Wednesday night in Paris, squandering a commanding first-set lead before steadying to defeat Ilya Ivashka at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The defending champion had three set points and a 5-1 lead before allowing the Belarusian to claw back to even terms in the opening set at 5-all. But after doing all the hard work to push back into the match, the World No. 46 sprayed four unforced errors to drop serve to love to cede momentum back to Medvedev, who would eventually claim a 7-5, 6-4 victory.

The reigning US Open champion has a faint hope of denying Novak Djokovic a record seventh finish as year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. At a minimum, by winning the Paris title the World No. 2 can ensure that Djokovic won’t clinch World No. 1 honours before the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Medvedev will next face #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda, who defeated last week’s St. Petersburg champion Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4. Korda did not face a break point and dropped just seven points on serve.

There are several scenarios in which Djokovic can clinch the achievement in Paris:

  • Djokovic wins Paris title (regardless of Medvedev’s Paris finish)
  • Djokovic reaches Paris final + Medvedev does not win Paris title
  • Djokovic reaches Paris SF + Medvedev does not reach Paris final
  • Djokovic reaches Paris QF + Medvedev does not reach Paris SF
  • Djokovic reaches Paris 3R + Medvedev does not reach Paris SF
  • Medvedev does not reach Paris QF (regardless of Djokovic’s Paris finish)

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In-Form Zverev Makes Good Start In Paris

  • Posted: Nov 03, 2021

One year after reaching the final of the Rolex Paris Masters, Alexander Zverev appears poised to go one step further at the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event.

The German got off to a good start at Paris-Bercy on Wednesday when he defeated Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 7-6(5) in one hour and 40 minutes to reach the third round. The fourth seed will next face 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who eliminated 2018 champion Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Zverev is playing some of the best tennis of his career, having won 26 of his past 28 matches dating back to the start of the Tokyo Olympics, where he claimed the singles gold medal. Nineteen of those 26 victories have come in straight sets.

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It was not a stress-free win for Zverev against Lajovic, though. The Serbian battled hard to stay in contact in the second set, and came within two points of sending the match to the decider. But loose errors that landed beyond the baseline late in the tie-break cost the World No. 34, who was pursuing his first ATP Head2Head win against the five-time ATP Masters 1000 champion.

Zverev will try to play even better against Dimitrov, whom he has not faced since the 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, when the German had just turned 19. The fourth seed has triumphed in two of their three previous meetings.

Did You Know?
Zverev is second on the ATP Tour this season with 53 tour-level wins (53-13). He only trails Stefanos Tsitsipas (55-18), who retired during his second-round match in Paris on Wednesday due to injury.

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Peers/Polasek Eliminate Djokovic/Krajinovic In Paris

  • Posted: Nov 03, 2021

John Peers and Filip Polasek maintained their impressive form on Wednesday with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win against Novak Djokovic and Filip Krajinovic in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters. 

The sixth seeds, who became partners in August, have won 15 of their past 18 matches, including a run to the BNP Paribas Open title in Indian Wells. Peers and Polasek saved five of the six break points they faced to triumph after one hour and 25 minutes.

Djokovic was playing doubles for the third time this season after doing so at the ATP Cup and the Mallorca Championships. The No. 1 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings was pursuing his second ATP Tour doubles title and his first since the 2010 cinch Championships with Jonathan Erlich.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares continued their push for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals with a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory against Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and Argentine Andres Molteni. The British-Brazilian tandem are eighth in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings, putting them in the final qualifying spot for the season finale, to be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 14-21 November.

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Alcaraz Dents Sinner's Quest For Nitto ATP Finals Spot

  • Posted: Nov 03, 2021

Carlos Alcaraz showcased his growing confidence on Wednesday by denting Jannik Sinner’s chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.

In the first match of what is sure to be a great rivalry, the 18-year-old Spaniard outclassed his fellow #NextGenATP opponent in an intense 7-6(1), 7-5 victory over two hours and eight minutes.

“I’m so happy for this win as Jannik was fighting for a spot at the [Nitto] ATP Finals,” said Alcaraz. “It’s my third Top 10 win of the year. I think Jannik and I will have a great rivalry in the future… I think that I played really, really aggressive, more than him. I think that was one of the keys.”

With Alcaraz’s victory over Sinner, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz is now up to eighth position — and the final automatic qualification spot — in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin. Hurkacz, who beat qualifier Tommy Paul earlier on Wednesday, is battling to clinch one of the two remaining singles spots up for grabs at the season finale, to be held at the Pala Alpitour from 14-21 November.

Alcaraz, who came into the ATP Masters 1000 tournament on the back of a semi-final run at last week’s Erste Bank Open in Vienna (l. to Zverev), will meet French qualifier Hugo Gaston in the third round. Gaston produced an inspired performance earlier on Wednesday to beat 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5.

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After a nervous start from both players, it was Alcaraz’s consistency that reaped dividends with a strong performance in the first-set tie-break. Sinner twice recovered three break points in the second set — at 1-1 and 2-2 — but the eighth-seeded Italian couldn’t create opportunities on Alcaraz’s serve.

Having come up with big serves earlier in the second set, Sinner’s defences were finally broken at 5-5, 15/40, when the Italian struck a forehand into the net. Alcaraz, who had beaten Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 as a unranked 15-year-old on his ATP Challenger Tour debut at Alicante in April 2019, coolly closed out his 27th match win of the year (27-16 overall).

“Today was not my day, but I hope we can play some more matches,” said Sinner. “I knew that he was going to be top [player] already when I played him in 2019 on the clay on the [ATP] Challenger Tour. Because these kind of players you feel that they have something special, for sure.”

Alcaraz recorded his first Top 10 win over No. 3-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the US Open quarter-finals in September and beat World No. 7 Matteo Berrettini in the Vienna quarter-finals last week.

Sinner, who broke into the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time this week, has enjoyed a career-best season with a 45-20 match record and four ATP Tour trophies. 

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