Wheelchair tennis at Tokyo Paralympics: All you need to know
Who are the wheelchair tennis favourites at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics? What are ParalympicsGB’s prospects? All you need to know in one handy guide.
Who are the wheelchair tennis favourites at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics? What are ParalympicsGB’s prospects? All you need to know in one handy guide.
No. 23 Reilly Opelka, +9 (Career-High)
The American has risen nine spots to a career-high No. 23 in the FedEx ATP Rankings after he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto (l. to Medvedev). The 23-year-old captured his first Top 5 win en route to the championship match, upsetting World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals. Read Toronto Final Report & Watch Highlights
View Latest FedEx ATP Rankings
No. 26 John Isner, +4
The 36-year-old has moved 4 places after he reached the semi-finals in Toronto. The big-serving American lifted the trophy in Atlanta at the start of August, and backed this up in Canada to reach the last four at a Masters 1000 event for the first time since advancing to the championship match in Miami in 2019.
No. 69 James Duckworth, +16 (Career-High)
The Australian has climbed 16 spots to a career-high No. 69 after he came through qualifying to advance to the third round in Toronto. The 29-year-old, who defeated #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner in the second round, also reached the third round in Miami this year.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 11 Casper Ruud, +1
No. 12 Hubert Hurkacz, +1
No. 41 Dusan Lajovic, +3
No. 46 Lloyd Harris, +3
No. 83 Marco Ceechinato, +3
Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev prepares for the US Open with a Canadian Open final win against Reilly Opelka, while Italy’s Camila Giorgi claims the women’s title.
#NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner will look for a return to the form that carried him to a maiden ATP 500 title earlier this month when he opens his Western & Southern Open campaign against Argentine Federico Delbonis on Monday. The 11th seed captured the biggest title of his career with victory in the Citi Open final little more than a week ago but fell to Aussie James Duckworth in his opening match in Toronto.
He has never faced the left-handed Delbonis, who plays his first match on hard courts since a loss to Jordan Thompson in the first round of the Miami Open in March. At 19, Sinner is the youngest man in the Top 15 of the FedEx ATP Rankings since Juan Martin del Potro in 2008.
“It’s great to have fans back in the stands, had people watching my practice yesterday…it will be nice to play in front of big crowds and stuff. I’m really looking forward to that.” –@andy_murray #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/9feqoglHmR
— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 15, 2021
“When you see somebody is the youngest or whatever, I don’t put much weight on that. There are a lot of players who have done much, much better than me,” Sinner said following his triumph in Washington, D.C. “It’s not about who is the youngest or whatever. I just want to improve, work hard.”
The last time former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet squared off against former World No. 1 Andy Murray he claimed the honours at the same stage in Cincinnati two years ago. Now ranked No. 53 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, the French veteran had to win through qualifying to take his place in the main draw, while Murrray had to rely on a wild card.
[FOLLOW 1000]
A two-time champion in Cincinnati, Murray leads their ATP Head2Head 8-4 and will bid to improve on his 33-13 record at the tournament. His countryman, Daniel Evans, also opens his campaign on Monday when he faces 10th seed Diego Schwartzman.
The 31-year-old Evans is looking for his first win of the North American hard-court swing, while the Argentine comes off three-set round-of-16 defeats to Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov in his two hard-court outings since Wimbledon. Schwartzman fell to Khachanov at the Tokyo Olympics and in 7-5 in the third set to Robert Bautista Agut in Toronto last week.
Russians Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev saved a match point to deny Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez in the opening round of the Western & Southern Open on Sunday. The Tokyo Olympics doubles teammates rallied from a set down to see off the Italian-Argentine pairing 6-7(6), 6-3, 11-9 in one hour and 42 minutes.
Khachanov and Rublev reached ATP Masters 1000 finals in 2018 in Miami and 2019 in Paris and improved on their opening-round exit in Cincinnati last year. They boosted their record together this season to 6-8 and could win consecutive matches together for the first time in 2021 should they find a way past second seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers.
Earlier, the unseeded Alex de Minaur and Cameron Norrie proved too strong for Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik and Chilean Cristian Garin. The Australian-British duo prevailed 6-2, 6-2 and await the winner of sixth seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek and Matwe Middelkoop and Luke Saville.
Guido Pella has landed a confidence-boosting victory over David Goffin in the first round of the Western & Southern Open on Sunday for his first win over the Belgian in two years. The former World No. 20 snapped a five-match losing streak to oust the Belgian 6-3, 6-3.
In Pella’s first match since Wimbledon and Goffin’s first since Halle, due to an ankle injury, both struggled for rhythm. But the Belgian’s 31 unforced errors to his conqueror’s 16 ultimately proved telling. While the two were relatively even on first-serve points won – Pella 67 per cent to Goffin’s 65 per cent – the World No. 19 won only 41 per cent of his second-serve points and finished with five double faults.
It was only the Argentine’s fourth match win from 17 this season and improved his ATP Head2Head record against Goffin to 2-4. He has the chance to win consecutive matches for the first time in 2021 when he next meets either Fabio Fognini or Nikoloz Basilashvili.
In the only other first-round men’s singles match played, World No. 50 Benoit Paire fought back to deny Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. It was only the Frenchman’s ninth match win from 23 this season and he will next face sixth seed Denis Shapovalov.
Reilly Opelka came up short in his maiden appearance in an ATP Masters 1000 final in Toronto, but the 23-year-old was quick to draw on a host of positives following a defeat to one of the “top three returners in the world”. No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev prevailed 6-3, 6-4 in the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers final on Sunday.
Despite the result, it was a career-best week for Opelka that guaranteed his debut in the Top 30 of the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday. It was the 6′ 11″ American’s third ATP Tour final after his victories at Delray Beach last year and New York in 2019.
Opelka had outlasted Nick Kyrgios in three sets in the opening round, seen off former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, saved a match point against in-form Lloyd Harris and denied former World No. 9 Roberto Bautista Agut. In the semi-finals he posted his first Top 5 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas but felt Medvedev raised the bar in the final.
“It’s hard to disrupt him, hard to hurt him, hard to really hurt him,” Opelka said. “Medvedev is top three best returners in the world, you could say. I’d say especially for a big guy, maybe he’s No. 2 behind Novak for like a server like myself, because he’s long.
“He can afford to stand far back, because he’s lanky. He has like a really long reach. He’s got a good wingspan… Yeah, and he’s fast. He’s a good athlete… As fast as he is he’s able to get out of the corners quick, he’s able to play deep back in the corner to me. Yeah, it’s tough. There’s not many answers when he’s on like he was today.”
For only the third time in 15 tournaments this season, he strung together consecutive match wins after his charge to the Rome semi-finals and Roland Garros third round. The ATP Head2Head ledger now read 4-1 in the Russian’s favour, but prior to their two encounters this year, every match had gone the distance, the first two decided in a third-set tie-break.
“The discrepancy and level between me and those guys, it’s extremely small. It’s already small for anyone in general, but even for me it’s always going to come down to a couple of points,” Opelka said.
“So it’s just about the details, and I’m not gonna — I’m confident, obviously I’ve won matches, I’ll have some expectation of myself, but I’m not going to be riding this win for too long… Or not a win, but this week.
“I think this week was a great example of using that optimistic mindset as much as possible. I think it can extend some weeks, even if it’s just one tournament per year, maybe two a year. I mean, look what this does for my ranking. That’s all it takes.”
Alexander Zverev is happy but not content with the gold medal he won at the Tokyo Olympics, and is hoping to bring more silverware home during the US hard-court swing.
The German is adamant that although the euphoric feeling from achieving Olympic glory has not fully faded he is ready to get back to business at the Western & Southern Open.
“Am I still on Cloud Nine now? Yeah, a little bit,” Zverev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “Winning that medal is the biggest thing that can happen in any sport, because the Olympics are very special. You’re not only competing for yourself, you’re competing for a lot of people.
“It is a very special feeling. But I’ve got to get back to playing so I’ve got to forget that feeling a little bit and I’ve got to start working again and start competing again. I am extremely hungry. I’m not satisfied yet.”
The Western & Southern Open has not been the 24-year-old’s favourite tournament in terms of results, as Zverev is yet to win a match at the event in the six years that he has participated. Despite the poor record, the four-time ATP Masters 1000 champion is feeling confident heading into the week.
“I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to hopefully change how Cincinnati has usually gone for me. I’m looking forward to competing and proving that I’m still one of the best players,” Zverev said. “Yes, I know that I’m having a pretty good year, so I am extremely happy with that, but there is a Masters coming up and there is a Grand Slam coming up. Those are two very important and big tournaments.”
Zverev, who has a 33-11 match record in 2021 including three titles (Acapulco, Madrid and Tokyo Olympics), will play his opening match against the winner of South African Lloyd Harris and Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka. The German is overjoyed that a crowd will be in attendance for the event, as he believes fans are vital to the sport.
“I’m extremely happy to see so many people, because I have always said that live sports and sports in general need spectators, because the spectators bring emotions,” Zverev said. “I think it’s great to see the crowd back. It’s great to see that life is slowly going back to normal. I think a lot of people have missed that.”
Top seed Daniil Medvedev captured his fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown on Sunday in Toronto, overcoming American Reilly Opelka 6-4, 6-3 to become the first Russian champion at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers since Marat Safin in 2000.
The 25-year-old took down big-server John Isner in the semi-finals as he stood two or three feet closer to the baseline on return to counter the height and angle of the serve. Medvedev successfully repeated this against 6’ 11” Opelka, breaking twice as he recorded victory in 85 minutes.
”I could not have dreamt of [this] at one point,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “With Masters, with Novak [Djokovic] and Rafael [Nadal] playing, it seemed like an untouchable achievement. Now I have four wins in five finals, which is a good score. I am just happy. I want to achieve more. I am really happy I achieved this in Canada.
“Even today, he [Opelka] showed up, he played some really good points. He was fighting until the end, he saved break points in crucial moments. Playing your first [Masters 1000] final is not easy. I played my first in Canada and won only three games.
”Playing Canada and Cincinnati, the goal is to win as many matches as possible. I was able to do it two years ago and I will try and do it again.”
[FOLLOW 1000]The World No. 2 has now won 12 tour-level titles, with 11 of those triumphs coming on hard. He owns a 4-1 record in Masters 1000 finals, also capturing trophies in Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris, with his one defeat in a final coming in Montreal to Rafael Nadal in 2019.
The 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion has lifted trophies this year on hard in Marseille and grass in Marbella. Medvedev also guided Russia to the ATP Cup title in February before advancing to his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.
Medvedev’s First-Serve Placement vs Opelka
Medvedev’s Return Hit Points vs Opelka
Hawkeye data and visuals courtesy of ATP Media
Medvedev, who was competing in his first Masters 1000 championship match of the year, now holds a 4-1 ATP Head2Head Series lead against Opelka, having also defeated the 23-year-old at Roland Garros, in Miami and Washington.
“When you play Reilly, I think still the biggest factor is how you serve and how you return. Actually, my serve was not on top point today. That’s why I had breakpoints to save. That’s why it was sometimes close calls on my serve,” Medvedev said. “But I was very good on return. I managed to put pressure on him almost nonstop. I think he didn’t almost have maybe one or two easy games in the match. That’s what made the difference, if we talk about tennis.
“[When] I played my first Masters final, I was happy just to be there playing against Rafa. I always try my best, but something was wrong, so I lost super easy and super fast. It can be the same for everybody. I know for me I think experience is the key… This week he beat some really strong guys to be in the final, so probably next time in the final [we] can wait for a more dangerous Reilly than today.”
In a lively start, Opelka exerted early pressure on Medvedev, striking the ball with great power as he stepped inside the baseline to move 0/40 ahead on the Russian’s serve in the fourth game. However, Opelka was unable to take his chances, with Medvedev making five straight first serves to hold. It was then Medvedev who broke first, hammering his backhand down the line past Opelka on return to lead 3-2. Medvedev played consistently as he hit his flat backhand to great effect, causing Opelka problems, who won just 6/13 points at the net to clinch the first set in 38 minutes.
In the second set, Medvedev continued to stand deep behind the baseline during rallies as he soaked up pressure, forcing Opelka into errors. The American struggled to hit through Medvedev, with the Russian winning nine points in a row, breaking again to seize control. Medvedev raised his level in the key moments, fending off another break point at 3-2 when Opelka pushed a drop shot wide. Medvedev dominated the longer rallies in the second set, hitting with great depth as he sealed his victory.
?? Toronto
?? Cincinnati
?? Shanghai
?? Paris@DaniilMedwed now holds four of the nine ATP Masters 1000 titles ??: @TennisTV | #NBO21pic.twitter.com/hHs6olV10w
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 15, 2021
Opelka was competing in his maiden Masters 1000 final on Sunday, having enjoyed a run to the last four at Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome in May. The 23-year-old, who recorded his first Top 5 win against World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals, has won two tour-level titles in New York in 2019 and Delray Beach in 2020.
The World No. 32 was the first American to reach the final at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers since Mardy Fish in 2011, with Andy Roddick the last American to win the title in Canada in 2003.
”He [Medvedev] was flawless,” Opelka said. “I had one chance to break early. I don’t think that would have changed much because he was in so many of my service games. When I hit some big shots, he countered well and it was very tough to disrupt him at all.
“I have learned a lot about myself. I learned that the difference between some matches is so small, you’ve just really got to be optimistic. I was playing Lloyd Harris a couple days ago on the back court, and the guy was red hot. Returning unbelievably, playing well, not missing a ball. I could have lost there and still had a pretty good week, two good wins, on to the next one.
”But I stayed the course, stayed optimistic, and I came up with some clutch shots. Next thing you know I win that, I beat Roberto Butista Agut, I beat Tsitsipas, [and it] ends up being a longer week. I think this week was a great example of using that optimistic mindset as much as possible. Look [at] what this does for my ranking.”
Tennis great Roger Federer says he will be sidelined for “many months” as he prepares to have further knee surgery.
