Tennis News

Nishikori Battles Through In Toronto, Brooksby Falls

Japan’s Kei Nishikori backed up his run to last week’s Washington semi-finals by moving past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto.

The World No. 55, who advanced to the final in Toronto in 2016, struck the ball with great depth and accuracy, raising his level in the decider to advance in two hours and 10 minutes. The 31-year-old will next face seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz.

“I am happy to go through,” Nishikori said. “He played really well in the second set, it was really tough. I knew it was not going to be easy [for him] to play at that level throughout the second and third set, so I waited for him to drop his level a little bit. I just tried to stay focused.

“I am feeling pretty good. I think I am playing my best tennis of the year in the past couple of tournaments. I am happy with my result last week and I also did well at the Olympics.”

Nishikori defeated Brit Cameron Norrie in Washington en route to his first semi-final appearance since Barcelona in 2019. The 12-time tour-level titlist played with renewed confidence against Kecmanovic to level their ATP Head2Head Series at 1-1.

After a tight start in the first set, Nishikori gained control in the fifth game as he took the only break point of the set to move 3-2 ahead. The 31-year-old stepped inside the baseline to dictate with his forehand as he moved Kecmanovic around the court to lead.

The Serbian responded well at the beginning of the second set as he played aggressively to force Nishikori into errors to lead 2-0. However, Nishikori replied immediately, levelling at 2-2 before the set moved to a tie-break. Kecmanovic then held his nerve from 5/5 in the tie-break, forcing a decider when Nishikori hit a backhand into the net. It was one-way traffic in the third set though, as Nishikori raced 4-0 ahead. He won the last eight points, serving it out to claim his victory.

Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili also advanced on Tuesday in Toronto as he overcame #NextGenATP American Jenson Brooksby 2-6, 6-0, 6-4, denying the 20-year-old a victory on his ATP Masters 1000 debut.

Basilashvili, who has won titles in Doha and Munich this year, broke Brooksby six times to advance in one hour and 52 minutes and improve to 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series.

Brooksby has been in red-hot form recently. The wild card advanced to the Newport final in July on his ATP Tour debut and reached the Washington semi-finals last week. As a result, Brooksby has risen from outside the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 99 in the past four months.

However, Basilashvili ensured the 20-year-old would not enjoy another dream run this week as he improved on return throughout the match. The 29-year-old won just 18 per cent (2/11) of points on Brooksby’s first serve in the opening set, but improved to 58 per cent (7/12) in the second set. Basilashvili found the decisive break in the ninth game of the third set and will next face 12th seed Alex de Minaur.

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Deep Court Daniil: Inside Medvedev's Return

Try standing seven-plus metres behind the baseline to return serve. You may as well be halfway to the moon. Not only does Daniil Medvedev thrive from this ultra-deep return location, but he has also broken serve more times on hard courts in 2021 than any other player.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Medvedev’s prowess on hard courts reveals the Russian broke serve 75 times from 20 matches up to the Olympics, just edging compatriot Andrey Rublev, who at that point had broken 74 times from 24 matches.

Medvedev also leads the Tour with total points won on hard courts this season at 54.7 per cent (1637/2992). Rublev is once again in second place, winning 54.6 per cent (1791/3279) of hard-court points. It is now hard-court season in the U.S. and Medvedev is poised once again to be a pivotal player chasing ATP Masters 1000 and Grand Slam glory.

The investigation into why Medvedev thrives from such an impossibly deep return location reveals his extreme court position successfully morphs a traditional return into a pseudo-groundstroke. Traditional tennis mantra dictates that we are on defence against the power of a first serve and should therefore employ more of a blocking strategy. The thinking is to lower the speed of the first-serve return to ensure greater control and get more returns in. It’s always been just fine to swing away against a slower second serve.

Medvedev throws traditional tennis wisdom out the window. In fact, his average first-serve return speed (110 km/h) at the ATP Cup was exactly the same as his opponents’ second-serve return speed. That’s just laughing in the face of what has been accepted for generations. Medvedev’s extreme return location and vastly superior first-serve return speed are rewriting what’s possible returning serve on a hard court.

The following Hawk-Eye graphic compares Medvedev’s return hit points to Matteo Berrettini’s in the ATP Cup final on hard court in Melbourne in January. All of Medvedev’s returns were from four to seven metres behind the baseline, while Berrettini was a metre inside the baseline to around two metres behind.

Medvedev’s Return Contact Points

Berrettini’s Return Contact Points

^{Graphics courtesy Hawk-Eye Innovations/ATP Media}
Consider the following returns speeds from the ATP Cup on hard courts at Melbourne Park:

2021 ATP Cup – Average First-Serve Return Speed

2021 ATP Cup – Average Second-Serve Return Speed

In order to fully connect the dots on what Medvedev is really achieving, the average rally speed needs to be factored in as well.

2021 ATP Cup – Average Groundstroke Speed

Medvedev’s average second-serve return speed slightly edges his average groundstroke speed (117 km/h to 116 km/h). The real benefit of standing extremely deep to return serve compared to the more traditional location up closer to the baseline was found in the speed he can hit first-serve returns.

• Average First-Serve Return Speed Difference = 23 km/h (110 km/h – 87 km/h)
• Average Second-Serve Return Speed Difference = 7 km/h (117 km/h – 110 km/h)
• Average Groundstroke Speed Difference = 4 km/h (116 km/h – 112 km/h)

Essentially, Medvedev does not want to “return” serve in the traditional sense against a first serve. He wants to back up as far as he can to let the first serve slow down and then swing as hard as he can with a lot of runway to land the ball. What he gives up in court position he gains in raw speed.

Medvedev’s success begs the question: When facing a first serve, why hit a traditional forehand blocking return when you can rope a regular forehand groundstroke instead?

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Opelka Rises To Kyrgios Challenge In Toronto

Two of the best serves in the business were on show in Toronto on Monday night and it was Reilly Opelka who delivered in a three-set defeat of Nick Kyrgios. In the first ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, the American prevailed 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach the second round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The 23-year-old fired 22 aces to Kyrgios’ 16 and clocked 18 forehand winners on his way past the World No. 80. He dropped only six points on his first serve and faced only two break points.

“Yeah it’s as expected – he’s got one of the best serves in the world, his skillset is off the charts,” Opelka said of Kyrgios. “When you’re not on tour for a while it’s hard to be as sharp. It takes time. I know his best tennis of the season will probably come around at the US open but yeah he’s still a nightmare.”

Opelka has only won back-to-back matches twice this year from 14 events – on his run to a maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Rome and when he reached the third round at Roland Garros. He could string together consecutive match wins on hard courts for the first time in 2021 should he find a way past 14^th seed Grigor Dimitrov next, with the reward a potential showdown with second seed Rafael Nadal in the third round.

Opelka only conceded six points on serve in the opening set but four of those came in the seventh game when he was broken. Kyrgios had twice reached the last 16 in Montreal, but had won only one match previously in Toronto.

He looked on track when he carried the advantage to a one-set lead after 30 minutes and came within two points of victory as neither player could be separated on serve deep in the second set. With both on song throughout the tie-break, Opelka started to read his opponent’s serve better.

There was a point of contention when Kyrgios believed the American’s foot had touched the net during play. The ensuing argument with the chair umpire was to little avail as he surrendered the set on a double fault.

“Yeah that 5-4 point I guessed right and clocked the forehand and made it a difficult situation for him and then 6-4 he was a little frustrated,” Opelka said. “A guy like that, he returns so well, I thought he was going to make me serve for it but I got lucky, he was a little flustered.”

It was all square at the 82-minute mark and despite missing three break points in the opening game of the deciding set, Opelka pounced on his next opportunity to edge ahead 2-1. Two match points against the Kyrgios serve went begging, but there was no mistake at the third time of asking as Opelka served it out at the two-hour mark.

In the earlier night match, American Tommy Paul denied home favourite Vasek Pospisil 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3. Having taken the first set, the Canadian overcame a bout of cramps and stood toe-to-toe in the deciding set until he was broken in the eighth game.

Paul let two match points slip but kept his composure to serve out his first match win since Roland Garros on the back of 23 winners. He will meet 10^th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Meanwhile, a trio of Russian Tokyo Olympic medallists made winning starts in doubles on Monday. Men’s singles silver medallist Karen Khachanov and mixed doubles gold medallist Andrey Rublev opened their Toronto doubles campaign with a 6-4, 7-6(6) victory over Canadian wild cards Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexis Galarneau.

The Russians won 88 per cent of first-serve points and saved all seven break points faced. Aslan Karatsev teamed up with Serbian Dusan Lajovic to join his compatriots in the second round, following a 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-8 victory over Alex de Minaur and Cameron Norrie.

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Day 2 Preview: Medvedev Meets Familiar Foe In Toronto

Canada holds fond memories for top seed Daniil Medvedev, as the site of his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final two years ago. On Tuesday, the Russian will return for the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers to open his campaign against one-time doubles partner Alexander Bublik.

Medvedev defeated Dominic Thiem en route to a final showdown with Rafael Nadal in Montreal in 2019 and despite coming up short it paved the way for a scorching North American hard-court swing, which included a first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati a week later and his first Grand Slam final in New York.

?? pic.twitter.com/oGMYMIqZ0E

— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) August 9, 2021

The 25-year-old holds a 3-0 ATP Head2Head advantage over the flashy Bublik, of Kazakhstan, including a 6-4, 7-6(8) victory in the first round of last month’s Tokyo Olympic Games. Medvedev also claimed the honours in the opening round at Roland Garros this year on his way to a maiden quarter-final in the French capital.

Click Here For Full Day 2 Schedule

The Russian has picked up 10 of his 11 ATP Tour titles on hard courts and made no secret of how pleased he was to be back on his favourite surface at an event he has found success at before. “I like to play in Canada. I love playing in Toronto, I played only one time here,” he said. “I made… third round [having won through qualifying], which was a good result for me at the time.

“Feels great to be in a Masters 1000 again on hard courts, I like playing hard courts, so just want to show good tennis, play some good games, win as many matches as possible. That’s what I like to do.”

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas begins his campaign against dangerous Frenchman Ugo Humbert on Tuesday. The Greek, who climbed to a career-high of No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday, lost both ATP Head2Head encounters against the World No. 27 – in a third-set tie-break at the Rolex Paris Masters last year and at last month’s Tokyo Olympic Games.

Like Medvedev, the 22-year-old’s first Masters 1000 final came in Canada, in Toronto three years ago, when he became the youngest player to beat four Top 10 opponents at a single tournament since the ATP Tour was established in 1990. Humbert comes off a first-round win over Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

“I’m feeling good with my game, really happy to be back to Toronto, one of my favourite places to compete and play tennis,” Tsitsipas said. “The location is exactly as I remember it. I’m just generally happy to be competing here again.”

Sixth seed Casper Ruud will look to transfer a red-hot streak on clay to hard courts when he takes on former World No. 3 Marin Cilic in the second round. The Norwegian won three titles in as many weeks last month and will carry a 1-0 ATP Head2Head record into his match against the 32-year-old, a recent doubles silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics with Ivan Dodig. Cilic posted a three-set victory over Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

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Bublik Beats Evans In Toronto, Sets Medvedev Clash

In a clash of two of the ATP Tour’s most entertaining players, Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik beat Great Britain’s Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

Bublik, who has made finals in Antalya and Singapore this year, won 86 per cent of his first-serve points and converted three of his 10 break points to advance after one hour and 41 minutes.

“Obviously winning in straight sets is great. I kept my nerve after I lost the first break,” Bublik said in an on-court interview. “[I then] served better, maybe [got] a bit lucky in some points because Dan is a tricky player, he comes in so much. The key was to pass him in the right moment and I guess I did it well.”

The World No. 39 will next play top seed Daniil Medvedev. The Russian star leads the Tour’s 2021 aces leader 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, including a straight-sets victory at Roland Garros earlier this year. 

Former World No. 3 Marin Cilic also made a good start in Toronto with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win against Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

The Croatian saved five of the seven break points he faced to advance after two hours and 13 minutes, setting a second-round clash against sixth seed Casper Ruud. The Norwegian star has won the past three tournaments he has played, lifting trophies in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel.

Five-time National Bank Open Presented by Rogers champion Rafael Nadal learned his second-round opponent when South African Lloyd Harris eliminated Canadian qualifier Brayden Schnur 6-3, 6-2. Harris stunned Nadal at last week’s Citi Open in Washington.

In other action, Italian Fabio Fognini defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4 in a battle of strong baseliners. Fognini will next try to upset fourth seed Andrey Rublev, whom he leads 5-3 in their ATP Head2Head.

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Djokovic Withdraws From Cincinnati

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the Western & Southern Open, the ATP Masters 1000 tournament announced Monday.

Djokovic posted a note to his fans on social media after the announcement.

“Dear fans, I wanted to share with you that I am taking a bit longer to recover and recuperate after quite a taxing journey from Australia to Tokyo,” Djokovic wrote. “Sadly, that means I won’t be ready to compete in Cincinnati this year, so I’ll turn my focus and attention to the US Open and spend some more time with family. See you in New York soon!”

❤️ @CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/J1N19eKOp4

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 9, 2021

Djokovic has won the Western & Southern Open twice. In 2018, the Serbian completed the Career Golden Masters in Cincinnati. He also triumphed last year, when the event was held in New York at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World No. 1 has won the season’s first three majors at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Djokovic will try to become the first man to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.

The 34-year-old is 38-5 in 2021. Djokovic most recently competed at the Tokyo Olympics, where he lost in the semi-finals against German Alexander Zverev and the bronze-medal match against Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

The Western & Southern Open will be played from 15-22 August.

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ATP Updates Q4 2021 Calendar

The ATP has issued further updates to its Q4 2021 ATP Tour calendar, outlining a revised tournament schedule from September through to the culmination of the season in November at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

Under the updated calendar, the 2021 Rolex Shanghai Masters will not take place in 2021, due to the impact of COVID-19. The Chengdu Open and Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships (ATP 250s) have also confirmed their cancellation. In parallel, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells has been expanded to an 11-day event across weeks 40 and 41.

Elsewhere, the St. Petersburg Open (ATP 250) moves to week 43 alongside the Erste Bank Open in Vienna (ATP 500). The revised schedule also sees the addition of two single-year licenses: an ATP 250 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on indoor hard in week 38; and another ATP 250 in San Diego, California, on hard at the Barnes Tennis Center in week 39. The previously postponed Maharashtra Open in Pune (ATP 250) has also confirmed its cancellation in 2021.

The updated Q4 2021 ATP Tour calendar includes:
Week 38: Metz (ATP 250), Nur-Sultan (ATP 250), Laver Cup

Week 39: Sofia (ATP 250), San Diego (ATP 250)

Week 40 & 41: Indian Wells (ATP Masters 1000)

Week 42: Moscow (ATP 250), Antwerp (ATP 250)

Week 43: Vienna (ATP 500), St. Petersburg (ATP 250)

Week 44: Paris (ATP Masters 1000)

Week 45: Milan (Next Gen ATP Finals), Stockholm (ATP 250)

Week 46: Turin (Nitto ATP Finals)

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said: “We’ve maintained a flexible approach to the calendar this year due to the constantly evolving nature of the pandemic. It’s extremely unfortunate to announce the cancellation of our Asia swing this season and we look forward to returning in 2022. I would like to thank all tournament operators for taking on the challenge of staging in this environment, including the new single-year event operators that have stepped up. Players also deserve huge credit for putting on a world-class spectacle for fans week-in and week-out, as we build toward a thrilling finish to the season in Turin.”

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Andy Murray in US Open main draw after Stan Wawrinka withdrawal

Andy Murray is added to the US Open main draw after Swiss former champion Stan Wawrinka withdraws.

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Former Champion Wawrinka Withdraws From US Open

Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 champion, withdrew from the US Open due to his ongoing recovery from left foot surgery, the tournament announced Monday.

The former World No. 3 owns a 44-13 record at the season’s final major. He lifted his third Grand Slam trophy at Flushing Meadows five years ago, completing an impressive run by defeating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final.

Wawrinka has advanced to at least the quarter-finals of the US Open in six of his past nine appearances. In his most recent showing two years ago, he made the last eight before losing against eventual finalist Daniil Medvedev.

The Swiss star has not competed since Doha in March. Following Wawrinka’s withdrawal, former World No. 1 and 2012 champion Andy Murray moves into the main draw.

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My Masters 1000: Diego Schwartzman

Diego Schwartzman is set for his fourth appearance at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, Canada’s ATP Masters 1000 event. The 28-year-old is the eighth seed, and will begin his run against Washington finalist Mackenzie McDonald or Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Schwartzman recently spoke to ATPTour.com about his favourite Masters 1000 matches, memories and venues.

Which ATP Masters 1000 host city is your favourite and why?
I am going to choose Rome because I did so well [there in the] past two years and I love the city. It is like the chicken and the egg. Maybe because I enjoy the city, I have a good tournament or maybe I enjoy the city because I am winning matches.

Which Masters 1000 would you most like to win?
Monte Carlo. A lot of history there, Argentine history as well. We love that tournament, so maybe one year [I can win].

Do you remember your Masters 1000 debut? 
In Indian Wells [in 2015], I knew before the match that Roger Federer was [waiting] in the second round. It was a special match against [Jerzy] Janowicz. He was doing very well at that time… It was a very tough match, but I won 7-6 in the third set and I was really nervous at the end. I won the last point and I was jumping and doing something with my legs. I don’t remember exactly what, but it was really fun.

What do you consider to be your best Masters 1000 win?
Rafa last year in Rome. I was not playing my best tennis from the start of the [Tour resumption] and I arrived to the match against Rafa trying to be able to play good tennis and feel good on court again. I was able to play my best tennis ever. That match was special… I was able to take every chance he gave me in the match. It was a perfect match and obviously, against Rafa on clay, it was special.

What is your favourite off-court memory or activity at a Masters 1000?
I think in Shanghai, the first time I went there. China has a totally different culture, people and language. When I went there, I found many different things that I really loved to watch. The food, how the people sit [with their meals] is very difficult. I cannot do it… Everything was totally different for me at that time.

What is your dream match at a Masters 1000 (who would you play & at which tournament)?
Indian Wells, beating Roger in the final.

Toughest match you’ve played at a Masters 1000?
A lot of matches. In Rome last year against Shapovalov, it was a crazy match. He served for the match and I won 7-6 in the third. We were fighting to be Top 10… After that, I was able to be in the Top 10 for the first time [for] Roland Garros… We were both playing such good tennis. When you are feeling good, with good timing and good conditions, and you are able to play good tennis, sometimes you forget everything.

Greatest match you’ve ever seen at a Masters 1000 event?
I think the one I really remember was Juan Martin del Potro coming back against Roger [in the 2018 Indian Wells final]. He was able to come back from [three] match points down… against Roger in Indian Wells, [which Roger] won many times. It was a crazy match and I was watching it on TV. [It was] Delpo’s first time winning there and he was coming back from the injuries. It was special for him and Argentine tennis.

What is your favourite court at any of the Masters 1000 events?

Monte Carlo. It is a special place. Also being a Latin-American guy, on clay it is a different feeling. Rome and Madrid also are special places, but centre court in Monte Carlo… it is different.

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