Winston-Salem Open: Andy Murray beats lucky loser Noah Rubin after Nick Kyrgios withdraws
Britain’s Andy Murray beats American lucky loser Noah Rubin in the Winston-Salem Open first round after his scheduled opponent Nick Kyrgios withdraws.
Britain’s Andy Murray beats American lucky loser Noah Rubin in the Winston-Salem Open first round after his scheduled opponent Nick Kyrgios withdraws.
Britain’s Andy Murray beats American lucky loser Noah Rubin in the Winston-Salem Open first round after his scheduled opponent Nick Kyrgios withdraws.
A fifth ATP Masters 1000 trophy, an Olympic gold medal and an 11-match winning streak to boot have Alexander Zverev arguably in the hard-court form of his life. The German’s comprehensive triumph over Andrey Rublev in the Western & Southern Open final on Sunday came as a further boost as he shifted his focus to next week’s US Open.
It was the World No. 5’s fourth title of the season and took his ATP Head2Head to 5-0 against his former junior doubles partner. Victory means he has not lost a match since his fourth-round exit at Wimbledon seven weeks ago (l. to Auger-Aliassime) and ensures he will arrive in Flushing Meadows as one of the favourites to go one better than he did a year ago in a five-set defeat to Dominic Thiem in the final.
This is Zverev at his very best ? #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/XoVmbfZk2m
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 22, 2021
“The US Open is a week that everybody is looking forward to. I think Novak [Djokovic] will be back. He’s obviously going to be the favourite, as well. But I think other guys are going to be in great shape,” Zverev said following his 6-2, 6-3 victory.
“I’m looking forward to the week. Let’s see how it goes. But there is still one week to go. I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I have to find my rhythm in New York, as well.”
Zverev ended World No. 1 Djokovic’s bid for the Golden Grand Slam this season on his way to Olympic gold in Tokyo last month. The Serbian has not played an event since Tokyo, but Zverev holds no doubt he will still be the man to beat at the US Open.
“I do think that he’s still the favourite. I do think he’s going to be playing incredible tennis there,” Zverev said. “He’s going to be fresh, and I think there is also other guys that are in very good form. I think Rublev is in very good form, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, all those guys are playing great tennis.
“It’s definitely going to be an interesting US Open. But I’m also looking forward to it, because I know where I stand, I know how I’m playing, and I hope I can continue the work and hopefully play even better in New York.”
While Djokovic remained at No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Race to Turin, the next four behind him filled the semi-final berths in Cincinnati. Tsitsipas and Medvedev held down second and third places, respectively, while Zverev jumped ahead of Rublev following his win on Sunday. Given all are 23 to 25 years old, could it be a glimpse into a burgeoning new Big Four?
“I mean, we have to see. The other guys are still there, right? I mean, Novak is still World No. 1. Let’s not forget that. Rafa is still top 10, as well. They are still there. I think… they’re going to come back even stronger,” Zverev said.
“But we’ll see. I think tennis is in a good spot, I would say, because the other guys are still there. Novak is still at the top of his game, but the young guys all look quite strong. It’s going to be interesting to see who will do what in the next few years.”
Barely an hour before Noah Rubin took the court to face former World No. 1 Andy Murray at the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday, the American had good cause to believe his shot at a main draw berth was over.
Murray ensured his opponent’s stay would not last another hour following a 6-2, 6-0 victory under the lights, but it was a main draw reprieve Rubin never expected in the first place. The 25-year-old had held a match point on serve before he fell in a dramatic final-round qualifying match to Lucas Pouille earlier on Sunday.
Then came an 11th-hour main draw call-up, following Nick Kyrgios’ withdrawal due to a knee injury. Murray said it was quite the change from preparing to face the unpredictable Kyrgios, over whom he held a 5-1 ATP Head2Head record, to then taking on a lucky loser at No. 306 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time.
Rock solid, Andy ?
?? @andy_murray beats lucky loser Rubin 6-2, 6-0 to set up a 2R clash with Tiafoe at the #WSOpen. pic.twitter.com/UHqARhzAxE
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 23, 2021
“Originally I was playing Nick and he had an injury to his knee so wasn’t going to play. I didn’t know if I was going to play tonight. They said if I was playing against a qualifier then I wouldn’t play and then I drew a lucky loser… so then I was playing Noah… It was tricky,” Murray said in his on-court interview.
“It was obviously difficult for 45 minutes and then the first couple of games because you’ve gone over a strategy with your coach about the match you’re going to play and then obviously that changes.
“… Twenty minutes before you go on court you’re playing someone you haven’t played against.”
Murray kicked off his North American hard-court swing last week with a first-round victory over Richard Gasquet before putting up a tough fight against ninth seed Hubert Hukacz in a second-round defeat. He continued to build up valuable match-play in only his sixth tour-level singles event this season on Sunday as he won 92 per cent of first-serve points and broke five times to book a second-round meeting with 13th seed Frances Tiafoe.
“It’s a bit tricky but obviously after the first few games I started to get a bit more comfortable and then towards then end he was struggling a bit,” Murray said of the 58-minute win. “Unfortunately I know he’s from here and that’s great. It was a nice atmosphere to play in and everything but my job is to try to win the match.”
Alexander Zverev won his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday at the Western & Southern Open, and by doing so made a big move in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin.
Thanks to the 1,000 points he earned in Cincinnati, the 24-year-old climbed from sixth to fourth in the Race, moving past Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini. Zverev now has 4,195 points and is within 185 points of third-placed Daniil Medvedev, who reached the semi-finals in Ohio.
The 17-time tour-level titlist is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals — which will be held in Turin from 14-21 November — for the fifth consecutive year. Zverev has wins against Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in his career at the season finale, which he won in 2018.
FedEx ATP Race To Turin Standings (as of 23 August)
| Player | Points |
| 1) Novak Djokovic | 7,170 |
| 2) Stefanos Tsitsipas | 5,380 |
| 3) Daniil Medvedev | 4,380 |
| 4) Alexander Zverev | 4,195 |
| 5) Andrey Rublev | 3,940 |
| 6) Matteo Berrettini | 3,595 |
| 7) Rafael Nadal | 2,985 |
| 8) Casper Ruud | 2,630 |
| 9) Hubert Hurkacz | 2,460 |
| 10) Jannik Sinner | 2,075 |
Rublev, who reached his second Masters 1000 final, jumped ahead of Berrettini by 345 points as he tries to qualify for the season finale for the second consecutive year. Berrettini is also attempting to earn a spot at the year-end championships for the second time (2019) in the event’s first year in Italy.
There was no movement this week between positions seven and 14. But with seventh-placed Nadal announcing the end of his season, that will make the battle for one of the final positions at the Nitto ATP Finals even more fierce.
Norwegian Casper Ruud, who made the quarter-finals in Cincinnati, is in eighth place with 2,630 points, and Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz of Poland is 170 points behind in ninth place with 2,460 points.
The only player who has qualified is World No. 1 Novak Djokovic (7,170 points). Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion, is in second place with 5,380 points.
Andrey Rublev is a firm believer streaks are meant to be broken. But having snapped one against compatriot Daniil Medvedev in the Western & Southern Open semi-finals on Saturday, a repeat of the feat against Alexander Zverev proved a bridge too far on Sunday.
Zverev captured his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory and took his ATP Head2Head record to 5-0 against the Russian. Rublev was attempting to win his first match in five ATP Head2Head meetings for the second day running, after he had done so against top seed Medvedev.
The 23-year-old had lost all 10 sets against Medvedev and all nine against Zverev coming into Cincinnati. While he managed to turn the tide in the semi-finals, he admitted there was still a hurdle to figure out the Zverev puzzle at tour level.
“Maybe you need to win at least once… to find this key,” Rublev said. “Sometimes when you’re losing match by match, in the end it’s not easy. And you can see that the way I lost a couple of times to him [did not feel] real, because it’s a bit too easy, the score is much easier, and the match is much easier than it should be.
“We play in practices, and it’s always… tough sets. You can see that we play a similar level. And then when you go [into the] match and you’re losing like today, 2 and 3, it’s more mental. It’s not about game.
“It’s all about [the] mental [side] that you need to find the key how to behave inside of yourself in these matches. Because the game is there, so it’s not about the game.”
In the second ATP Masters 1000 final of his career, following a runner-up showing to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in May, Rublev made a nervous start as he lost his opening two service games. It was the only opening Zverev required to extend his winning streak to 11 matches, following his Tokyo Olympics gold medal run.
“In the end that was the key to the beginning that I couldn’t save my serve. I said then you feel a bit more down that he’s serving so good, and it’s going to be super tough to break him,” Rublev said. “Even if he [makes] some mistakes, he still has [the] advantage. Plus he’s now on super confidence after the Olympic Games, winning some great matches here.
“… When you start a break down – even I know by myself when I break someone in the first game – it’s double easier to play after. So that was, in the end, the key.”
Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday evening due to a left knee injury before a scheduled first-round showdown against former World No. 1 Andy Murray. Murray will now play lucky loser Noah Rubin.
“I was in Florida, in Bradenton rehabbing and training and came here obviously excited to play here. I love the facility, it’s really great,” Kyrgios said. “To play Andy Murray, one of my good friends and a tennis icon would have been amazing, but obviously I have to look after my body.
“I just didn’t feel as if the risk was worth [playing] today. I’ve got to be more cautious with it, keep rehabbing, keep training.”
OUT.
Kyrgios withdraws from the 2021 Winston-Salem Open.
Details to follow.Tune in to our Twitter feed or download our mobile app for a live stream of his press conference. pic.twitter.com/5ZsrZ6MNxD
— Winston-Salem Open (@WSOpen) August 22, 2021
Kyrgios and Murray were set to clash for the seventh time in their ATP Head2Head series (Murray leads 5-1) and for the first time since the Aussie triumphed at The Queen’s Club in 2018.
“I feel when I play it’s a bit of a rarity these days and and to have someone like Andy going through what he’s gone through and to be back on Tour as well, I think this match was very hyped up,” Kyrgios said. “I was obviously excited to play him.”
Kyrgios, who said he has felt the left knee pain for about two weeks, was at IMG Academy in Florida to try to improve it. The 26-year-old most recently competed in Toronto, where he lost a three-setter in the first round against eventual finalist Reilly Opelka. The Aussie plans to play the US Open.
“I just need a bit more time,” Kyrgios said. “As a professional athlete playing on Tour for this long I want to look after my body, I want to do it right.”
Ashleigh Barty warms up for the US Open by winning the Cincinnati Open with a straight-sets victory over Jil Teichmann in the final as Alexander Zverev takes the men’s title.
Alexander Zverev completed his dominant week at the Western & Southern Open Sunday by cruising past Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 to lift his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title and become the first German champion in Cincinnati since Boris Becker in 1985.
The World No. 5 had never won a match in six previous appearances at the tournament, but produced high-quality tennis all week to back up his Olympic singles gold medal in Tokyo and capture his fourth tour-level trophy of the season.
“The first win I ever had on these courts was on Wednesday, four days ago, and now I have my first title here,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “It has been an incredible week, a lot of great matches. It is an incredible feeling going into the US Open.”
Zverev, who the night before rallied from a double break down in the third set against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals, extended his winning streak to 11 matches. He also stretched his ATP Head2Head Series against Rublev to 5-0. The third seed was aggressive throughout against Rublev, firing six aces and winning 93 per cent (26/28) of points behind his first delivery to record victory in 59 minutes.
“I was playing pretty good tennis,” Zverev added. “I did not do a big celebration because I know how Andrey feels as well because we have been best friends since we were 11 years old and I know he is seeking his first Masters 1000 win, but it is going to come very soon I think.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself yet. I won the gold medal and just won a Masters, which I am very happy about and am looking forward to New York.”
[FOLLOW 1000]Earlier this year, the 24-year-old captured the Mutua Madrid Open crown in May to end a three-year Masters 1000 title drought, while he also won the trophy in Acapulco on hard in March.
Zverev is now tied in ninth position for the most Masters 1000 titles won since the series started in 1990 and is the first player to win the Western & Southern Open crown and the Olympic singles gold medal in the same year since Andre Agassi in 1996.
MOST ATP MASTERS 1000 TITLES (since 1990)
| Player | Titles |
| Novak Djokovic | 36 |
| Rafael Nadal | 36 |
| Roger Federer | 28 |
| Andre Agassi | 17 |
| Andy Murray | 14 |
| Pete Sampras | 11 |
| Thomas Muster | 8 |
| Michael Chang | 7 |
| Alexander Zverev | 5 |
| Boris Becker | 5 |
| Jim Courier | 5 |
| Gustavo Kuerten | 5 |
| Marcelo Rios | 5 |
| Andy Roddick | 5 |
| Marat Safin | 5 |
In a lively start, Zverev flew out of the blocks as he played consistently and aggressively. The German hit with great depth and power on his groundstrokes to dictate from the baseline as he raced 3-0 ahead. Zverev was strong on serve throughout the first set, dropping just three points on it as he closed out the opener in 27 minutes with a forehand volley.
The second set started in a similar manner as Zverev soaked up Rublev’s heavy-hitting to force the Russian into errors as he broke again in the first game. Zverev then kept Rublev pinned behind the baseline as he produced heavy forehands and closed the net well to manouver the 23-year-old around the court. The 17-time tour-level champion continued to return well and broke for the fifth time to secure his impressive victory.
Fourth seed Rublev was competing in his second Masters 1000 final, having enjoyed a run to the championship match in Monte-Carlo in April. The Russian, who triumphed in Rotterdam in March to capture his fourth ATP 500 title, earned his first win over countryman Daniil Medvedev en route to the final in Cincinnati.
The World No. 7 was aiming to become the sixth different Russian to win a Masters 1000 title since the series began in 1990 and sixth different champion at this level this season.
Emma Raducanu misses out on claiming her maiden WTA title as she falls to a 6-1 2-6 6-4 defeat by Clara Tauson in the WTA Chicago Challenger final.