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Nadal Accepts Wild Card Into Washington

  • Posted: Jul 08, 2021

Rafael Nadal has accepted a wild card into the Citi Open, the tournament announced Thursday. The Spaniard will compete in the ATP 500, to take place in Washington, D.C. from 2-8 August, for the first time.

“I am very excited to come to Washington for the first time,” Nadal said according to a tournament press release. “I have never been there and it’s one more place I wanted to come and play. I am looking forward to playing again and Washington shall be the best start for the U.S. Summer Swing for me. Looking forward to seeing again my U.S. fans that I haven’t seen since I won the 2019 US Open in NYC! Vamos!”

Nadal joins a loaded field that includes Canadian stars Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz, Nick Kyrgios, Jannik Sinner, Sebastian Korda, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Aslan Karatsev and plenty more.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rafael Nadal, who is not just one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, but also a global sporting icon and inspiring role model to our Washington community this summer,” Citi Open Chairman and CEO of MDE Tennis Mark Ein said. “I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the joyous return of the things we cherish like live sports, coming together as a community and our historic event than having Rafa and the rest of our very deep and exciting player field competing for the Citi Open title.”

This will be Nadal’s first tournament since reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals in June. The World No. 3 has a 23-4 record on the season and he will chase his third crown after the season following triumphs in Barcelona and Rome.

Players who have lifted the Citi Open trophy include Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Lleyton Hewitt, Ivan Lendl, Andy Roddick and Guillermo Vilas.

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Felix On 'Tough' Wimbledon Loss: 'I Really Felt There Was A Match'

  • Posted: Jul 08, 2021

Felix Auger-Aliassime acquitted himself well in his first Grand Slam quarter-final on Wednesday at Wimbledon. But the Canadian simply lost to the better player on the day in Italian Matteo Berrettini, who advanced to his second major semi-final.

“I really felt like there was a match, there was a battle. It’s really unfortunate that I had small opportunities in rallies in the end of the third set,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Credit to him because I think he really deserves it. He’s shown how consistent he is over the past few weeks. He just won in Queen’s. He deserves to be in the semi-finals right now.”

The 20-year-old praised Berrettini’s “amazing” serving, but he felt in the middle of the match that he was positioned well. But one key stretch proved decisive in the match at the end of the third set.

“I think the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth is where I lost the match. I played a poor game on my serve. He did some good shots,” Auger-Aliassime said. “After the [beginning of the] fourth [set], when I started like this, he served better and better. He was more relaxed. I was trying to stay, to fight, to find a way, but it was a bit too late.”

It was an interesting dynamic on No. 1 Court, since Auger-Aliassime and Berrettini are close friends. On Tuesday, they watched the Italy-Spain UEFA European Championships football match together with their girlfriends in player dining.

“It was tight. I thought Spain was dominating in the first half, and then Italy came back well, scored a good goal,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Penalties, it was a good comeback from Italy. Good game.”

That did not stop the men from competing for the win. Both were trying to reach their first Wimbledon semi-final, so they had to put their friendship aside for more than three hours.

During the match, Auger-Aliassime realised that on Centre Court, Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz had upset eight-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer. But the Canadian said the opportunity to play another first-time major semi-finalist on Friday did not distract him against Berrettini.

Listen To Radio Wimbledon | List Of Broadcasters (PDF)

“I believed that Hubert can win. He plays amazing. But just the score was a bit surprising,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But it didn’t change anything from my part. I was in the middle of a battle, a match. I was just trying to find a way to get through this one.”

The #NextGenATP star will leave the grass-court season with his head held high. Auger-Aliassime made the final in Stuttgart, beat Federer en route to the semi-finals in Halle, and made his best run at a major yet at the All England Club.

The Canadian has climbed into contention in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals and shored up his spot in second in the ATP Race To Milan for a place at the Next Gen ATP Finals. But for now, his loss against Berrettini will still sting.

“It’s been a good couple of weeks on grass, definitely. There’s some good to take from my tournament here, a lot of positives,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But today I just felt like I had a rough start again, like other matches. It was just tough.”

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How Hurkacz Turned A Nightmare Streak Into A ‘Dream Come True’ At Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 07, 2021

After a nightmare of a summer, Hubert Hurkacz has been living a ‘dream’ fortnight at Wimbledon after defeating former World No. 1 Roger Federer, his childhood idol, in emphatic style to reach the semi-finals.

“Walking off the court realizing that I won against Roger, I mean, [it was] just kind of a dream come true, especially here on grass in Wimbledon,” Hurkacz grinned in his post-match press conference. “[It] felt so special with the crowd around, as well.”

With a 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0 stunner over the eight-time champion Federer, 14th seed Hurkacz booked a place into his first Grand Slam semi-final, becoming the first Polish man to reach the last four at Wimbledon since Jerzy Janowicz’s run in 2013. 

But a milestone like this seemed out of reach at the start of the tournament, as he arrived at the All England Club on the back of a six-match losing streak. Hurkacz had been in his best form of the season after capturing the Miami Open presented by Itau title, his first ATP Masters 1000 triumph, backing up his strong start to the year at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.

Learn More About Hubert Hurkacz: 
Food Court: Hurkacz’s Vegan Diet & Guilty Pleasures
Boynton, Hurkacz’s Coach: Causing Chaos & Weathering Storms At SW19

He struggled to string together match wins as the ATP Tour season turned to clay and then later to grass, going 0-6 since winning his opening match at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April. But he never stopped believing in himself and trusting his game, Hurkacz said. 

After falling in the first rounds of the MercedesCup in Stuttgart and NOVENTI OPEN in Halle, he recorded a confidence-boosting run to the Halle doubles final (w/ Auger-Aliassime) in the week before Wimbledon.

“I didn’t play on grass in a while. So coming into that match [against Stricker in the first round of Stuttgart], I didn’t have much confidence, much grass-court game,” he reflected. “Here, after winning a couple of matches, I really gained confidence and gained momentum. I believed in myself a lot before that [match] today.”

He has continued to make the most of his regained momentum and find the positives out of tough situations all fortnight long. Case in point: Hurkacz had to fight through World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in five sets to claim his biggest win-by-ranking in a match which started on No. 2 Court on Monday and finished under the Centre Court roof on Tuesday – leaving him with one less day of rest heading into the quarter-final.

Rather than bemoan his tough luck, Hurkacz told press that he used the experience to improve his game and prepare himself for the big test to come against Federer on Wednesday.

View Schedule | Listen To Radio Wimbledon | List Of Broadcasters (PDF)

“I think it helped me a lot actually, feeling the atmosphere, feeling the court there,” Hurkacz said. “Obviously playing against Roger here in Wimbledon is always special with the crowd cheering so much. I didn’t experience that yesterday, but playing on the Centre Court, feeling the court helped a lot.”

Hurkacz will hope to keep the momentum going as he takes on seventh seed Matteo Berrettini for a palace in the Wimbledon final. He’s looking to become the first Polish player to contest the championship match here since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012, and the first man from his country to do so in the Open Era.

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Federer To 'Reassess… [But] The Goal Is To Play'

  • Posted: Jul 07, 2021

Roger Federer was delighted with the ovation he received as he walked off Centre Court at the end of his 22nd Wimbledon campaign on Wednesday, but the soon-to-be 40-year-old isn’t going to retire anytime soon.

“[The] crowds were amazing,” said Federer, after a 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0 quarter-final loss to Polish 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz. “The ovation was fantastic. I loved it. That’s why I play. That’s why I still play now… I’m super grateful for all the support I’ve gotten here over the years. Today again was special.

“I’m actually very happy I made it as far as I did here, and I actually was able to play Wimbledon at the level that I did, after everything I went through. Of course, I would like to play it again, but at my age you’re just never sure what’s around the corner.”

Federer underwent two arthroscopic right knee surgeries in February and May last year, but the Swiss was clearly happy to have returned to the All England Club, the scene of his eight Wimbledon triumphs, over the past fortnight.

“I was able to make it this year, which I’m really happy about,” said Federer, who was contesting just his fifth tournament of 2021. “I’ve got to take a few days. Obviously, we’re going to speak a little bit tonight, depending on how I feel, then the next couple of days as well. Then we go from there. Just see, ‘Okay, what do I need to do to get in better shape so I can be more competitive?’

“I’m not sure if it’s necessarily matches, to be honest, because the body actually overall feels fine from the matches. I’m happy I went through all the process of taking losses and trying to play in Paris, Geneva, Doha and Halle, getting myself into match toughness and fitness here in Wimbledon. I definitely need to be a better player if I want to be more competitive at the highest of levels. I knew that coming in.”

View Schedule | Listen To Radio Wimbledon | List Of Broadcasters (PDF)

The Swiss superstar, who has won a record-equalling 20 Grand Slam trophies, will now regroup with Ivan Ljubicic and Severin Luthi and plan his next tournaments.

“You know you need a goal when you’re going through rehab with what I did,” said Federer. “You can’t think of the entire mountain to climb as once. You got to go in steps. Wimbledon was the initial first super step, if you like.

“Now that that’s over, you just got to reassess everything. You got to sit down, talk about it, what went well, what didn’t go so well, where is the body, where is the knee, where is the mind? The goal is to play, of course.”

After his first straight sets loss at Wimbledon since 2002, when he fell as a 20-year-old to Mario Ancic 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 in the first round, Federer went on to admit, “Clearly, there’s still a lot of things missing in my game that maybe 10, 15, 20 years ago were very simple and very normal for me to do. Nowadays, they don’t happen naturally anymore. I got to always put in the extra effort mentally to remind myself, ‘Remember to do this’ or ‘Do that’. I have a lot of ideas on the court, but sometimes I can’t do what I want to do.

“I felt very disappointed in the moment itself. I still am. At the same time there’s always a weight that falls off your shoulders when a tournament is over, when a huge goal is made or missed. It doesn’t matter actually. You feel the weight is gone and you’re exhausted. I feel horribly exhausted. I could go for a nap right now. That’s how I feel.

“The past 18 months have been long and hard. Then again, if I take perspective, I’m always very happy about a lot of things that happened [in the past few weeks, the past few months. I know [I] will be upbeat again shortly. I know how I am in these situations. I feel like I go maybe very hard on myself, I get very sad, and then a few days go by…. Then I’ll be totally fine again and be my old self.

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