Roger Federer doubt for US Open after Toronto & Cincinnati withdrawals
Roger Federer pulls out of the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters events – putting his participation in the US Open in doubt.
Roger Federer pulls out of the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters events – putting his participation in the US Open in doubt.
Lloyd Harris earned the biggest win of his career on Thursday evening, defeating Rafael Nadal 6-4, 1-6 6-4 to reach the Citi Open quarter-finals.
Nadal overcame a lingering foot injury on Wednesday evening to beat home favourite Jack Sock in a final-set tie-break in front of an energised crowd. But the South African would not allow the top seed to work his magic again.
“Today was really special. I think I have had some big wins, and this year I have beat some Grand Slam champions,” Harris said. “But to beat a 20-time Grand Slam champion, and especially in front of a full crowd and with such an amazing atmosphere, it was definitely something very special.”
24-year-old @LloydHarris63 defeats No. 1 seed and World No. 3 Rafael Nadal 6-4 1-6 6-4 for biggest win of his career in @CitiOpen 3R.
Harris becomes 1st player to win his 1st meeting with Nadal since 18-year-old @Denis_Shapo upset the Spaniard in 2017 @OBNMontreal 3R. #CitiOpen
— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) August 6, 2021
The pain did not impact Nadal’s fighting spirit — and the Spaniard said he felt better against Harris — but it was not enough to topple the South African. The World No. 50 improved to 2-5 against Top 10 opponents after two hours and 11 minutes.
“I did a lot of good things. I think the best thing was to stay in the moment, keep my composure, and I think I just stayed with my game and stayed playing a consistently good level throughout the match,” Harris said. “It was a good, quality match, I think. Not easy for me out there. It was pretty physical, but all in all, I’m just super happy with how everything turned out.”
There was no Citi Open last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fans have come out in full force this year, especially for Nadal’s matches. As the top seed won critical points, roars echoed from the stands and many Nadal supporters leapt to their feet. But they were fair to Harris as well, especially when the unseeded right-hander hit a stunning lob on match point to complete his victory.
Harris showed no apprehension early in his first ATP Head2Head clash against the 88-time tour-level titlist. The South African held his ground on the baseline and went hard and flat to Nadal’s forehand, pushing the lefty back as he continued to fire away.
The 20-time major winner has become known for his unrelenting offence and ability to control play with his forehand. But stunningly, Harris hit nine forehand winners to just two for the Mallorcan in the opener, seizing the only break of the set to take the lead.
[WATCH LIVE 1]But Nadal claimed the momentum with one wicked forehand passing shot. The Spaniard broke for 3-1 in the second set with a curler down the line. The lefty took a quick skip and unleashed a massive “Vamos!” as the fans roared. From there, he began to play more aggressively and cruised through the rest of the set as Harris fell further behind the baseline.
The third set, however, became a battle of wills. Nadal did not want to give ground, but Harris was unafraid of the moment and went after his shots to put pressure on the top seed. Screams of “Vamos!” became more frequent from Nadal as he attempted to claw through.
But on his first break point of the decider, Harris did not panic when a Nadal shot bounced off the top of the net. Although he was unable to put away the passing shot, he curled a lob on the next ball over a helpless Nadal’s head.
This was another demonstration of the 24-year-old’s potential. The South African this year became the first qualifier to advance past the Dubai quarter-finals in the tournament’s 29-year history. At that event, Harris won seven matches in seven days to advance from qualifying to the championship match.
Harris defeated Nishikori during that run and he will try to do it again on Friday. The Japanese star beat in-form Briton Cameron Norrie 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to make the quarter-finals.
“It’s going to be a very tough battle and I think a very different game style than I faced today,” Harris said. “It’s going to be a new challenge and I look forward to it.”
In the same half of the draw, Americans Denis Kudla and Mackenzie McDonald will meet in the other quarter-final. Kudla beat #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 and McDonald eliminated Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 6-4, 6-4.
Daniil Medvedev will headline the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, Canada’s ATP Masters 1000 event, where Spanish legend Rafael Nadal and Greek star are also set to compete.
Medvedev and Tsitsipas made their first Masters 1000 final at this tournament, in 2019 and 2018, respectively, and both men lost to Nadal in in that championship match. The lefty has captured the trophy at the Canadian event five times. Other players to watch in a loaded field include Russian Andrey Rublev, home favourite Denis Shapovalov and #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner.
Here’s all you need to know about Toronto: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won, how to buy tickets and more.
Established: 1881
Tournament Dates: 9-15 August 2021
Tournament Director: Karl Hale
Draw Ceremony: Saturday 7 August at time TBC
Schedule: (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday, 7 August – Sunday, 8 August at 11:00 a.m.
* Main draw: Play Monday – Sunday begins at 11:00 a.m. and 7 p.m.
* Doubles final: Sunday, 15 August from 1:30 p.m.
* Singles final: Sunday, 15 August from 1:30 p.m.
How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV
TV Schedule
Venue: Aviva Centre
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $2,850,975 (Total Financial Commitment: $3,487,915)
Tickets On Sale: Buy Now
View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds
Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Ivan Lendl (6)
Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan and Mahesh Bhupathi (5)
Oldest Champion: Rafael Nadal, 33, in 2019
Youngest Champion: Michael Chang, 18, in 1990
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1969): No. 95 Mikael Pernfors in 1993
Most Match Wins: Ivan Lendl (57)
2019 Finals
Singles: [1] Rafael Nadal d [8] Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-0 Read & Watch
Doubles: Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos d Robin Haase/Wesley Koolhof 7-5, 7-5 Read More
Social
Facebook: @nbotoronto
Twitter: @NBOtoronto
Instagram: @nbotoronto
Did You Know?
Every year, in alternation, Montreal and Toronto share hosting duties of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers with former champions including Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Roger Federer.
Jenson Brooksby’s all-red kit was fitting on Thursday, because the #NextGenATP American is red-hot. The 20-year-old upset second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Citi Open.
This is Brooksby’s first ATP 500 event, but the Californian has shown poise throughout his impressive run. The World No. 130 walked on court to face the Canadian star without a Top 50 win on his resumé, but he emphatically changed that in front of his home crowd after one hour and 25 minutes.
“I have definitely gotten mentally tougher this year, and it’s only kept improving. I just really love, truly love playing on these stages,” Brooksby said. “No opponent will faze me. I can compete with anyone. This was definitely a very good match today for me.
“I stayed really focussed throughout. I didn’t really have any lapses in my strategy or mentally. I’m happy with that match.”
Brooksby won three ATP Challenger Tour titles earlier this year, and he has not stopped there. In his first ATP Tour event last month in Newport, he made the final, where only former World No. 5 Kevin Anderson was able to stop him.
But Brooksby has improved weekly, and that has shown in Washington, where the wild card upset Anderson in the first round. Frances Tiafoe, whom Brooksby beat in straight sets in the second round, called his countryman’s game “super unorthodox. Obviously everything he does is pretty strange.” Even so, it works, and continues to frustrate the world’s best players, including Auger-Aliassime.
Felix is at a career-high No. 15 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and fresh off a run to his first major quarter-final at Wimbledon. But Brooksby did not allow the aggressive Canadian to gain confidence in Washington. Auger-Aliassime came out misfiring in the early stages of the match, and his opponent never allowed him to find a rhythm by playing solid tennis with plenty of variety.
The American is rock-solid, making few unforced errors. And by changing the pace of rallies with his deadly drop shot and surprise direction changes, Brooksby prevented the powerful Canadian from controlling play.
[WATCH LIVE 1]The big-serving second seed did not hit an ace in the match, and he double-faulted to relinquish the deciding break in the second set. Brooksby never showed any nerves, and after Auger-Aliassime missed a final backhand return, the home favourite pumped his fist and shouted “Come on!”
Brooksby will next play 11th seed John Millman, another grinding baseliner, who defeated eighth seed Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6(4) earlier in the day.
“I’m really excited to play against him. He’s had a good year,” Brooksby said. “I know he’s a very solid, very good player. But I’m very confident going in with my level and my mental state.”
In a battle of two #NextGenATP stars, it was Jannik Sinner who came out on top on Thursday at the Citi Open in Washington. The fifth-seeded Italian overcame American Sebastian Korda 7-6(3), 7-6(3) to reach the quarter-finals.
“Obviously it was a tough match, because we never practised together. We never played [a singles] match, so it was kind of new for both of us,” Sinner said. “[We have a] very similar game style, so… [I was] trying to stick to my game plan, trying to serve well in the important moments, trying to have a good balance on court.”
The 19-year-old snapped a four-match losing streak in his opening-round victory against Emil Ruusuvuori and backed it up against Korda, who Sinner will partner in the doubles quarter-finals later on Thursday as they team for the first time this week. The Italian served well and batted from 2-5 down in the second set to advance in one hour and 56 minutes.
Sinner is currently first in the ATP Race To Milan, two spots ahead of Korda in third. The Italian was victorious at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne earlier this year and became just the fourth teenager to reach the final at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March.
The World No. 24 is making his debut at the ATP 500 hard-court event and will next face Steve Johnson after the American beat Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 6-1.
Both Sinner and Korda struck the ball with great depth in the first set as they looked to dictate from the baseline. After Sinner broke to lead 5-4, he was unable to serve the set out, as Korda found good angles on return to move the 19-year-old around. However, the Italian regained focus and raised his level to come through the tie-break to move ahead.
After receiving treatment at the end of the first set, Korda began to have more joy on return in the second set. He stepped inside the baseline to attack Sinner’s serve with his variety of shot, racing 5-2 ahead. However, with the match looking set for a decider, Sinner began to disrupt Korda’s rhythm to gain both breaks back and level at 5-5. Sinner then played aggressively in the tie-break to seal his victory.
“Everyone thinks it’s easy, but it’s not that easy to close it out,” Sinner said. “There is a little bit of pressure. When I made the break, for me it was important to [make] him serve out [at] 5-4.”
Korda won his first ATP Tour title at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma in May and broke into the top 50 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time following this triumph. The American was also making his debut in Washington.
Rafael Nadal scored in more ways than one Wednesday evening.
After the legendary Spaniard battled past American Jack Sock in a final-set tie-break in the second round of the Citi Open, the top seed received a special gift. NHL star Lars Eller, who won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, presented Nadal with a customised “Nadal” Capitals jersey.
When ? meets ? @Capitals center @lellerofficial presented @RafaelNadal with his own custom jersey ?#CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/f204c37LhA
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 5, 2021
“It’s a sport I very much enjoy playing in my free time and also watching,” Eller said. “Especially having Nadal and this level of talent here, it’s a blessing to the city if you’re a tennis fan. We’ve got a Capitals jersey for him that I’m happy to hand over to him.”
Eller scored the game-winning goal in the Capitals’ Stanley Cup-clinching victory against the Las Vegas Golden Knights in 2018.
Nadal, who is making his debut in Washington, will play South African Lloyd Harris in the third round on Thursday evening. The Spaniard is chasing his third ATP Tour title of the season after lifting the trophy in Barcelona and Rome.
Former World No. 1 Roger Federer has withdrawn from the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati due to a knee injury, the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments announced Thursday.
The 39-year-old underwent two right knee surgeries in 2020 after the Australian Open before returning to the Tour in Doha this March. Federer has competed in five tournaments this year, recently missing the Tokyo Olympics due to injury.
When he announced his withdrawal from the Olympics, Federer tweeted: “During the grass-court season, I unfortunately experienced a setback with my knee.”
The World No. 9’s best result this season was a run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The 28-time Masters 1000 champion also competed at Roland Garros, where he reached the fourth round before withdrawing. Federer has enjoyed success in Canada, winning two titles in Toronto, and is a record-holding seven-time champion in Cincinnati.
It was also announced Thursday that Tokyo Olympics singles gold medallist Alexander Zverev will not compete in Toronto.
“I regret to inform you that, unfortunately, I have to withdraw from the National Bank Open in Toronto,” Zverev said in a statement. “Due to the intense past couple of weeks and my incredible experience at the Olympics, I need to recover so that I can hopefully be at my best for the remainder of the U.S. summer swing. It was a difficult decision for me as I have had great memories from Canada and I can’t wait to be back next year!”
Italian Matteo Berrettini, Canadian Milos Raonic and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta have also withdrawn from Toronto.
Wild cards Nick Kyrgios and Frances Tiafoe opened their Citi Open doubles campaign with a hard-fought win over third seeds Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig 7-5, 1-6, 11-9 on Wednesday in Toronto.
The Australian-American tandem, who are teaming for the first time this year, won 75 per cent (36/48) of their first-service points to set up a meeting with #NextGenATP stars Sebastian Korda and Jannik Sinner.
Neal Skupski and Michael Venus also advanced to the quarter-finals as the second seeds overcame French-Australian pair Fabrice Martin and Max Purcell 7-5, 6-3 in 67 minutes. The British-New Zealand duo next face Cameron Norrie and Luke Saville.
Alex de Minuar and John Millman sprung a surprise as the Australians upset top seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-7. De Minuar and Millman will next play Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Melo after the Brazilian-New Zealand team took down Marcelo Arevalo and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6(8), 6-2.
Following a gruelling three-hour, five-minute encounter to hold off a free-swinging Jack Sock, Rafael Nadal admits it is all about maximising recovery time in his first ATP Tour tournament back from a foot injury. The top seed saw off the former World No. 8 before an electric packed Stadium Court at the Citi Open, his first match since he fell to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in a physically brutal showdown in the Roland Garros semi-finals.
It was that four-set defeat to the World No. 1 in Paris that ultimately led to the Spaniard’s withdrawal from the entire grass-court swing to recuperate the troublesome left foot. Still, in his Washington debut before 7500 fans, there was enough in his play to suggest he had taken a gutsy first step back to regaining form.
“You need matches like this to be fitter after a month without competing. But that’s part of the process, and I know the process,” Nadal said. “I went through all this stuff many times on my career. So it’s something I am not worried about.
“So is about winning these kind of matches. That helps you to be better. Then, if I’m able to improve with my foot, I think the rest of the things [are] going to come step by step.”
Sock knew all too well the struggles of injury, having worked his way back through ATP Challenger Tour events in the first half of 2021 just to return to the Top 200 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday. He had his chances to secure a first ATP Head2Head victory in six meetings with the Spaniard but failed to capitalise on a 3-1 third-set lead.
As impressed as Nadal was at the former World No. 8’s level, he offered a sage warning based on his own experiences in recent seasons. The younger brigade was hungry.
“[It] is true that he went through a couple of important injuries, something that is always difficult,” Nadal said. “And it is true that today, a lot of young guys [are] there. It’s not easy to fight with all of them. They are younger, they are good. They are ready to play as many weeks as they need.
“Well, I think I saw him playing better than what he did the last couple of years, without a doubt. I’m happy for him. I wish him all the very best.”
Nadal meets 14th-seeded South African Lloyd Harris next for a place in the quarterfinals. Despite having admitted to some pain in the left foot during the match, he was prepared to forge ahead.
“I have been resting enough. Maybe [it] is not about resting, but is the moment to just keep going,” Nadal said. “[It] is the moment to not practise much because I played a three-hour match, so I need to be ready for tomorrow.
“[I will] have a short warm-up tomorrow, try to be ready for the match. I’m going to have a tough opponent in front. Let’s see. Tomorrow’s another day, another opportunity to play in front of this amazing crowd. I want to enjoy the experience again.”
Rafael Nadal survived a Jack Sock onslaught on Wednesday night as he overcame a stern three-set test in the opening match of his Citi Open debut. The top seed saw off the resurgent former World No. 8 before a packed Stadium Court crowd, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(1).
In a battle between two of the heaviest top-spun forehands, Nadal was forced to work overtime to dig himself back from a break down in the third set as he prevailed after three hours and five minutes. Nadal had not played since a gruelling Roland Garros semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic in June and not on hard court since he fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets in the Australian Open quarter-finals in February.
Between 2015 and 2017, Nadal and Sock had squared off five times and while the American had taken sets in three of those encounters – including the fourth round at Roland Garros 2015 – this match ultimately went the way of all their previous ATP Head2Head encounters. Victory set a showdown with South African Lloyd Harris for a place in the quarter-finals.