Carlos Alcaraz is among the first four players to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan after his historic run to the US Open quarter-finals last week.
The 18-year-old Spaniard has qualified for the innovative 21-and-under tournament, to be played 9-13 November, along with Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Sebastian Korda.
Read the full story at NextGenATPFinals.com
Emma Raducanu’s “very special” US Open win has gives British tennis with a “huge opportunity” to attract more people to the sport, says winner Andy Murray.
British teenager Emma Raducanu rewrites the history books as she wins her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open
US Open champion Daniil Medvedev says he did not feel there was any hostility towards him personally from the crowd during his victory over Novak Djokovic.
Gordon Reid is eager to celebrate but also rest following his latest wheelchair tennis success.
Britain’s Christine Truman Janes reflects on her US Open final when she was also aged 18.
Novak Djokovic needed forehands. He settled for backhands. The rest is history.
Daniil Medvedev defeated Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the US Open final Sunday evening in New York, stopping the Serb from being the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four majors in a season. Making Djokovic’s forehand a non-factor in the final was the strategic engine room of the stunning victory.
Medvedev’s cunning plan was to overload the Ad court with a plethora of backhand-to-backhand exchanges, where he could neutralise and torment Djokovic with his ultra-flat backhand that proved extremely difficult to attack. It worked in spades. Djokovic ended up hitting more backhand groundstrokes than forehand groundstrokes for the match.
Total Groundstrokes (excluding returns, volleys & overheads)
Surprisingly, Djokovic ended up hitting 39 more backhands than forehands for the match. As a comparison, when Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters 1000 this year (4-6, 7-5, 7-5), he hit 58 per cent (266) forehands and 42 per cent (194) backhands.
Djokovic is partly to blame for the overload of backhands against Medvedev, as there were dozens of balls he could have hit a run-around forehand instead of a backhand. He either chose not to upgrade the stroke, did not fully comprehend Medvedev’s maddening strategy, or didn’t have enough gas left in the legs to seize the opportunity.
Medvedev struck almost triple the number of groundstroke winners (16-6) in the match while committing fewer errors overall (33-38).
All tournament, Djokovic didn’t show his typical thirst to upgrade to a run-around forehand over a backhand standing in the Ad court. He was content to go toe-to-toe with opponents banging backhands back and forth. That strategy helped get him to the final, but it wasn’t a winning game plan against Medvedev’s menacing backhand, which gives you nothing to work with.
Djokovic Run-Around Forehands (Standing in the Ad court)
Djokovic hit 39% of total forehands as a run-around in the Ad court, but they were not the lethal blows we are used to seeing from the Serb. He only struck one winner from a run-around forehand in three sets while committing four errors. More than 80 percent came back in play, rendering this normally potent tactic insignificant in the final outcome.
Djokovic hit only six groundstroke winners in 283 shots, which averages at one winner every 47 shots. That’s not the Novak Djokovic that won three majors this year. Medvedev hit 16 groundstroke winners from 295 shots, which averages as one winner every 18 shots. Medvedev clearly turned the baseline into his playground in the final.
Game plans can succeed, fail, or get lost in the wash and dissolve in a player’s mind in the heat of battle. Once Djokovic reacted emotionally to not breaking Medvedev when leading 0-40 at 0-1 in the second set, and failed to convert two break points in the following service game, the clarity needed to find a winning game plan vanished.
In the second set, Djokovic hit just 39 per cent (46) forehands and 61 per cent (73) backhands. That was good for just one groundstroke winner and 15 errors. Djokovic had defining moments of tactical lucidity after losing the opening set in his four previous matches in New York. That mental strength proved to be a bridge too far in the final.
In the 2021 Australian Open final, Djokovic defeated Medvedev by mauling his forehand. Medvedev committed seven forehand errors in the first three games of the final. The Russian only committed four in the entire first set in New York last night.
Ultimately, Medvedev attained victory because Djokovic did not copy and paste a winning strategy from Melbourne in January as well as not being able to diffuse Medvedev’s Ad court dominated backhand strategy with run-around forehands. In the end, Medvedev made Djokovic bend to his intentions, having to contend with ultra-flat backhand knuckleballs in endless, backhand-to-backhand exchanges.
As Emma Raducanu basks in her new-found New York fame, she explains where she found the mental strength to win a Grand Slam title.
Casper Ruud on Monday became the first Norwegian to crack the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings when he climbed to a career-high World No. 10. The 22-year-old is the 173rd player to join the elite group and is now the youngest in the current Top 10.
“I am very excited and happy of course to reach this milestone,” Ruud told ATPTour.com. “It’s something I’ve looked up to and worked hard for for many years. To achieve it is a very nice feeling.”
The Next Gen ATP Finals alumnus made history earlier this year by winning titles in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbühel in three consecutive weeks. Ruud was the first player to lift three trophies in as many weeks since Andy Murray did it in October 2011.
More On Ruud
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Tennis has been part of Ruud’s life as long as he remembers. His father, Christian Ruud, had a mini-tennis court in their backyard and would help Casper get a feel for the ball from the age of four. It did not take long for Ruud to start dreaming big and following in his father’s footsteps.
“I thought about playing tennis on the big screens around the world,” Ruud said. “It was always on my mind and my dream from eight years old.”
Casper remembers watching tennis on television and his father quizzing him on who was in the world’s Top 10.
“I would pretty much always be on point and know exactly who was in the Top 10,” Casper said. “I think it’s a big milestone, something many players look up to, including myself. I’ve done it for many years. To be able to be part of that group is something very special and something I feel very humbled and proud to be part of.”
Christian reached a career-high of World No. 39. Casper surpassed that mark last February and has now ascended to the upper echelon of the ATP Tour. His father, who is also Casper’s coach, has enjoyed the process.
“It is super fun. He always seems to do small steps, which I know is difficult. He is going one way in the [FedEx ATP] Rankings,” Christian said. “I am surprised he hasn’t had many setbacks. He is steadily going in the right way and I know his goal is to stay up there. I think he is surprising me with how comfortable he is in his position.”
Ruud is happy with his accomplishment, but there is plenty more he wants to achieve in the sport. According to his father, the five-time ATP Tour titlist — a four-time champion this year — has his sights set on the Nitto ATP Finals, to be played at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 14-21 November.
“It is to reach Turin and finish in the Top 10,” Christian said. “He is focused on getting to the [Nitto] ATP Finals. Without clay, it may be a little bit tougher, but he can play well on hard courts, and mentally he is prepared.”
Andrew Richardson, the coach who guided Emma Raducanu to her astonishing US Open triumph, says her mental strength is “truly special”.