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Djokovic: 'I've played some of the worst tennis I've ever played'

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

Novak Djokovic made abundantly clear his disappointment with his level after a stunning third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin on Friday at the US Open.

“Congratulations to him and his team. He definitely played better and deserved to win today,” Djokovic said. “On my end, honestly, the way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success. I mean, I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly, serving by far the worst ever.”

Djokovic hit a stunning 32 double faults in his three matches at Flushing Meadows, including 14 against Popyrin (his record high for a Slam match). The 24-time major champion dropped serve five times against the Australian.

“If you play on a quick surface like this without the serve, without [the] ability to win free points there, very low first-serve percentage, many double faults, then you can’t win,” Djokovic said. “You can’t win, especially against the guys who are in form like Alexei who is serving big, puts a lot of pressure on your service game. Yeah, it was just an awful match for me.”

Earlier this month, Djokovic surged to one of the highest highs of his career at the Paris Olympics, where he produced a memorable performance to defeat Carlos Alcaraz for the gold medal. But the Serbian, who did not play a hard-court tournament before arriving in New York, never found the same level at the season’s final major.

“It’s a different surface. Obviously it had an effect. I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically,” Djokovic said. “But because it’s [the] US Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I didn’t have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas and you could see that with the way I played.

“Just from the very beginning, from the first match, I just didn’t find myself at all on this court. It’s all I can say. Life moves on. I [will] just try and recalibrate and look for what’s next.”

Djokovic explained that it was “a big struggle mentally” to compete at the US Open, where he is a four-time champion. He admitted to never playing close to his best tennis.

“It’s not good to be in that kind of state where you feel okay physically, and of course you’re motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but you just are not able to find your game. That’s it,” Djokovic said. “The game is falling apart, and I guess you have to accept that tournaments like this happen.

“You could argue that it’s because of the Olympics, but I don’t know. I don’t want to analyse that right now. I was just looking to really improve my game here on a daily basis, but it just didn’t happen.”

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The 37-year-old tallied a 16-3 record at the Grand Slam tournaments this year, marking the first season in which he has not claimed a major trophy since 2017. His best result came at Wimbledon, where Djokovic made the final before falling to Alcaraz.

The 99-time tour-level titlist’s defeat to Popyrin marks his earliest exit at a Slam since the 2017 Australian Open, where he lost to Denis Istomin in the second round.

“Fresh off the court, you have a bitter taste in your mouth and you don’t like losing, even though I had so many more wins than losses in this tournament and really any other. So I have to draw the line,” Djokovic said. “Sitting from a larger perspective, of course I have to be content. It’s hard to see the big perspective right now. You’re just angry and upset that you lost and the way you played and that’s it. But tomorrow is a new day, and I will obviously think about what to do next.”

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Goffin contemplated retirement, now surging at US Open

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

David Goffin has reached the second week at every major, climbed to No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings, made the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals and claimed six ATP Tour titles. The 33-year-old Belgian has nothing to prove and at the end of last season, sitting outside the world’s Top 100, contemplated his future.

“I was like, ‘Oof, what am I doing? I am playing so bad. I cannot hold my racquet anymore. What do we do now? Is it enough for me or not? Can I do it physically? Am I still as fast as before? The endurance, is it still there or not? The tennis, am I too late?’” said Goffin, who was struggling with his knee at the time. “I don’t know. A lot of doubts.”

The Belgian was not battling for tour-level titles, but spots in main draws. Was it worth fighting for that? Goffin had a decision to make.

“I still have the feeling that I have good tennis in my racquet,” Goffin thought. “I just want to show and prove to myself that I can still do it.”

The four-time major quarter-finalist is showing that this week at the US Open, where he is into the third round. It is the first time he has advanced that far at this event since 2020, when he claimed an electric four-setter against Adrian Mannarino in the fourth round.

“It’s like a drug, especially when it’s a win like that because it’s a great fight. You suffer a lot, but it’s good to suffer like that. You suffer physically, but the match, you like it,” Goffin said. “Sometimes the past few months were tough because I was struggling with my confidence and my game. So you suffer, but more inside with yourself. So it’s not easy, it’s not a good fight.

“But when you fight with your opponent and you like it, you feel your legs, tough rallies, and you just try to stay there and win that match, it’s something that I will enjoy.”

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A key moment came in the first round at Roland Garros, where Goffin defeated Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in five sets. After losing that match, Mpetshi Perricard became the talk of the tennis world with his big serving at Wimbledon, where he made the fourth round.

“Every win in a Grand Slam is something special, because you have to win it. Especially in best of five, it’s tough and it’s a great feeling. I think [the match against Mpetshi Perricard] was a key match in my comeback,” Goffin said. “It was a really important one because I proved to myself that I was able to win a good fight again.”

In his mind, the victory was a signal that there would be more big wins like it in the future. There was reason to continue pushing forward.

“You have to put in a lot of work, you have to make a good schedule, a good structure with the team. That’s what I did with my team and it came back — it paid off week after week,” Goffin said. “All of the sudden I’m close to the Top 50. It’s something you see now, it looks easy, but it was not the past few months.”

Goffin will play Tomas Machac for a place in the fourth round. These are the opportunities for which he has been working hard.

“It’s a different feeling because I feel that now, coming back from where I was a year ago, I am feeling stronger than before,” Goffin said. “Especially mentally because I built from zero something that maybe is stronger than before. Of course, I’m turning 34 this year and you cannot turn back the clock, but I think I can be stronger mentally and hopefully it will help me to do some great tournaments in the future.”.

To top it all off, Goffin and his wife, Stephanie, are expecting their first child.

“I’m super excited. I’m so happy with my wife. It’s going to be in two weeks, mid-September,” Goffin said. “She’s calling me every day so I’m under stress every day, seeing if I have to go back or not. But everything is under control, I can finish the tournament. But we are very excited.

“It is something also that inspired me to show my little girl that her dad is a great tennis player and prove to her that I can be a good tennis player again. When she will be like one or two, in two years, maybe she will understand a little bit more tennis and what I am doing and hopefully she will be proud.”

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Popyrin has Djokovic on the ropes at US Open

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

Alexei Popyrin is threatening to deliver the second shocking US Open upset in as many nights after taking a two-sets lead over defending champion Novak Djokovic inside Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday night.

Bringing the same brand of Big Man Tennis to Arthur Ashe Stadium as he rode to victory to claim his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal earlier this month, the Australian outmuscled Djokovic on serve and from the baseline with a fearless brand of tennis that has taken him to a 6-4, 6-4 lead.

Less than 24 hours ago third seed and 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz crashed out of the tournament, beaten in straight sets by Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

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Shang Juncheng: Inside the development of #NextGenATP 'machine'

  • Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Jimmy Arias first met Shang Juncheng when the Chinese player was competing in the 12-and-under clay-court national championships in Orlando, Florida. Arias, the former No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings who is now Director of Player Development at IMG Academy, was commentating on the match, which ‘Jerry’ won.

“Jerry killed the guy, like one and two, and I had to interview him after the match,” Arias told ATPTour.com. “At that age, he was actually a bit bigger, stronger than the kid he was playing against. What has always stood out to me with Jerry is he is very Marcelo Rios-like in the control of the ball that he has.”

That is high praise from someone who has been around the best players in the sport for decades. Rios is one of only 29 players who has reached World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

One year later, Shang moved to the IMG Academy and has been on the rise ever since. The third-placed player in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah will face 2022 finalist Casper Ruud in the third round of the US Open on Friday to reach the second week of a major for the first time.

This week last year, Shang was World No. 178. But his team, led by coach Martin Alund, fully believed he would soar in 2024. Arias recalled a conversation he had with Alund ahead of the season.

“I was talking to Martin early in the year and I said, ‘What do you think? Has he worked harder? Where do you think he is going to get to this year?’” Arias recalled. “He pretty much told me — I can’t remember the breakdown, but Top 100 at a certain point, Top 70 by now I think and Top 50 by the end of the year. That was his assessment and so far he’s hit both of the benchmarks that Martin said.”

Shang is at a career-high No. 72 and continuing to climb. It has been an impressive journey for the 5’11” lefty, who still believes he is growing. Arias, a five-time ATP Tour titlist, hit with Shang a few times when he was younger.

“He would swing and hit a rally ball and then with a similar-looking swing, suddenly the ball just takes off and goes with a lot more pace and you’re not sure why that happened when you’re playing against him,” Arias said. “You don’t see it. That’s a talent he has and as he got older, I got more and more impressed because obviously when you are 13, 14, you’re maybe not that fast yet.”

Former World No. 84 Alund remembers visiting the IMG Academy in Florida to meet everyone before beginning his role as head of pros at the academy. He noticed a 15-year-old Shang.

“I saw Jerry playing. I said, ‘Holy crap, that kid is good’,” Alund said. “I remember him being very tiny. Same as now, kind of like the quality, very good hands, very good feel, but he was very tiny, absorbing the pace so good, practising with some pros. Being able to sustain their pace is something you don’t find very often for someone so young.”
According to Alund, those are “very rare”qualities to find in players. He explained that it has helped having parents who were athletes. Shang’s father, Yi, was a professional football player. His mother, Na, was a world champion table tennis player.

“First, to find someone with his qualities, with his talent. And I think even more rare having the environment he had, that he’s been having since he was born because his family has been doing a great job on that,” Alund said. “Sometimes you have kids that play good, but their family take it [too seriously] from a young age and then the kid cannot develop that much. Then, with the ability that Jerry has of always improving. So it’s a mix of things that makes him very unique.”

The first tournament for which Alund traveled with Shang was the 2022 BNP Paribas Open, just after Jerry’s 17th birthday. They were connecting through Denver.

“We missed the connection and we had to sleep on the floor because the next flight was at like 5 a.m. and at that point it was already like 12. The hotel that they gave us was like one hour away,” Alund said. “So I said, ‘Okay, let’s stay here’. And I was thinking, ‘Geez, this kid for me is going to be super good. He’s very young. Going to play Indian Wells for the first time in his life and he’s sleeping on the couch in the airport’.”

At the time, Shang had not yet cracked the world’s Top 500. Ever since he has made steady progress in his game.

“As he got older, his movement and his balance while he’s moving stood out to me,” Arias said. “The best players in the world are the ones that even if you’re hitting the ball 100 miles per hour in the corner, you can not just get to it but get to it with their body not leaning or falling over.”

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A lot has changed for Shang in the past year. In the final round of 2023 US Open qualifying, the Chinese teen won just one game in the final set against Otto Virtanen. “I ran out of gas pretty bad,” he admitted.

This edition, Shang won a five-setter in the first round against Alexander Bublik and followed the victory with a triumph against the gritty Roberto Carballes Baena. It is just the latest example of the improvement he has made in 2024.

Shang’s standout results include semi-final showings in Hong Kong and Atlanta and a trip to the third round of the Australian Open.

“He took off the last couple months of last year. And I said to him, ‘Okay, you have two months. What do you need to work on? When you lose matches, what is it that’s causing you to lose matches? You have two months, let’s do something about it’,” Arias said. “He said, ‘It’s never been tennis that causes me to lose matches. It’s physical’. So I said, ‘Well okay, let’s work really hard to become bigger, stronger, faster’.”

That work has paid off and now Shang is No. 66 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Just how much is Jerry capable of?

“Sometimes I believe there are some things that you don’t have to say,” Alund said. “I believe he has good potential and I know he hasn’t achieved his full potential. He has many more things to give to tennis, to people, himself, his family who have been with him since day one. He has a lot to give.”

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Alcaraz’s shock US Open exit leaves Sinner with big opportunity in Live Race

  • Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz’s unexpected second-round defeat at the US Open has presented Jannik Sinner with a big opportunity to extend his advantage in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

Sinner (7,100 points) holds a healthy 1,090-point lead over second-placed Alcaraz in the Live Race, which is also an indicator of who is in the running to finish as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF. After Alcaraz fell to a shock second-round defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp on Thursday night, the World No. 1 Sinner knows he could extend his Live Race lead from Alcaraz to 2,990 points by lifting the trophy at the hard-court major.

With Alexander Zverev still alive in the New York draw, Sinner must still reach his maiden US Open semi-final to guarantee he remains in top spot once the hard-court major is done. If Sinner loses in the fourth round or at the quarter-final stage, the third-placed Zverev could claim the Live Race lead by claiming his maiden major title. The German will jump above Alcaraz into second if he reaches at least the quarter-finals.

PIF ATP Live Race To Turin

 Player  Points
 1) Jannik Sinner  7,100
 2) Carlos Alcaraz   6,010
 3) Alexander Zverev  5,815
 4) Daniil Medvedev  4,120
 5) Casper Ruud  3,695
 6) Andrey Rublev  3,380
 7) Novak Djokovic  3,260
 8) Alex de Minaur  3,005

The five players behind Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev in the Live Race all remain in contention at the US Open. They include seventh-placed Novak Djokovic, who has eased into the third round at Flushing Meadows as he chases his record-extending 25th Grand Slam men’s singles title. Should the Serbian achieve that feat, it would also boost his standing in the Live Race: the seven-time Nitto ATP Finals champion could rise as high as fourth by clinching the title in New York.

Alex de Minaur (3,005 points) consolidated eighth place by beating Otto Virtanen to reach the third round. Ninth-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas made a first-round exit in New York, but there are three players within 500 points of De Minaur still alive at Flushing Meadows.

Home favourites Taylor Fritz (2,690 points) and Tommy Paul (2,635 points), as well as Grigor Dimitrov (2,535 points) will all be eying deeper runs to ramp up the pressure on the Australian, who currently holds the final qualification spot for the Nitto ATP Finals. In 14th, Lorenzo Musetti is also in contention. The Italian is on 2,225 points, 780 behind De Minaur.

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