Tennis News

ATP Announces 2021 Q4 Calendar Updates

The ATP has today announced updates to the 2021 ATP Tour Q4 provisional calendar, including the staging of the BNP Paribas Open, the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, California.

This year’s edition of the BNP Paribas Open, postponed from its customary dates in March due to COVID-19, is now intended to take place in October, for 2021 only.

Elsewhere, the Stockholm Open, originally scheduled to run in Week 42 alongside the VTB Kremlin Cup (Moscow) and European Open (Antwerp), will now take place from 7-13 November in the same week as the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

The ATP continues to monitor the impact of COVID-19 in assessing the provisional Q4 calendar, including the three-week sequence of events in Asia, in order to ensure optimised player flow. Further updates, including confirmation of tournament dates and draw size for the BNP Paribas Open, will be communicated in due course.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said: “Since the resumption of the Tour in August 2020, we have had to take an agile approach to the calendar with the aim of staging as many of our events as possible. Everyone in our sport has missed the BNP Paribas Open over the past two years and its return this October is great for tennis. The calendar is extremely complex and I would like to thank all events in that section of the season, as we look to accommodate these changes for the benefit of the overall sport.”

In other tournament news, the ATP 250 New York Open has this week announced its relocation to Dallas, Texas, from 2022.

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Diversity in sport: I walk onto the tennis court in my Jordans and basketball shirt

BBC Sport’s Nestor McGregor speaks to Miles Daley, a black British tennis coach who is hoping the sport continues to push for diversity and inclusion for all.

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Lyon Open: Cameron Norrie beats US Open champion Dominic Thiem

British number two Cameron Norrie earns the biggest win of his career by beating Austrian world number four Dominic Thiem in Lyon.

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Norrie Topples Thiem In Lyon For First Top 5 Win

Cameron Norrie has been playing the best tennis of his career during the clay-court season, and he scored his biggest win with a 6-3, 6-2 stunner over World No. 4 Dominic Thiem on Thursday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The British lefty had only won seven tour-level matches on clay before 2021, but has already amassed 10 victories on the surface this season after reaching the final in Estoril (l. Ramos-Vinolas) and quarter-finals in Barcelona (l. Nadal).

Norrie’s opponent Thiem arrived in Lyon as the top seed with a wild card, searching for his best form after a semi-final run in Madrid (l. Zverev) and third-round appearance in Rome (l. Sonego). The 2020 US Open champion struggled against Norrie’s deep returns, and the Brit broke serve three times en route to his first Top 5 victory.

“I’m so pleased to win today, it’s the biggest win of my career and my highest-ranked win,” Norrie said in an on-court interview. “It’s such a beautiful day in Lyon… I couldn’t be happier to get the win today and to get another match on the clay before Roland Garros.”

Thiem couldn’t find any inroads against the Norrie serve, and was unable to create any break opportunities across both sets. The Brit won 91 per cent of points behind his first serve, and he struck 73 per cent of first serves to stay in control of the match.

Looks like ?? @cam_norrie wasn’t kidding! #OpenParc pic.twitter.com/biaMp6JkPr

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 20, 2021

Norrie, who is into his fifth quarter-final of the season, will next face French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech. The Brit will be seeking his 22nd win of 2021, which would set a new personal best (21-25 in 2019).

“I’m moving well and I’ve played a lot of matches [on clay],” Norrie said. “I’m feeling good on my feet and hitting my forehand well and serving well. I’m looking forward to the next match, it’s going to be a tricky one as both those guys are great players.”

Norrie and Rinderknech will reignite an old college rivalry in their Lyon quarter-final clash after the Frenchman stunned sixth seed Jannik Sinner with a dramatic 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-5 comeback. It will be the pair’s first tour-level meeting, but there will be history between Norrie, a former Texas Christian University player and Rinderknech, who graduated from Texas A&M University.

“I had no idea I was playing against [Norrie], I didn’t check the draw,” Rinderknech said after the victory, before breaking into a grin. “It will be an old college match, he knows what I’m talking about. It will be cool.”

To get there, Rinderknech had to survive two hours and 36 minutes against #NextGenATP Italian Sinner. The lucky loser bounced back emphatically after dropping the opening set having held two set points at 5-4 on Sinner’s serve in the first set. He lost only one first-serve point (14/15) on his way to dominating the second set, and edged through the third after earning the decisive fifth break of the set at 6-5.

For No.125-ranked Rinderknech, who had only faced seven Top 100 players in tour-level main draws before taking on Sinner, his victory over the World No. 17 is his biggest by ranking.

“Lots of feelings coming to my head right now, it’s difficult to describe,” Rinderknech said. “It’s actually my first match with some crowd since the beginning of COVID-19, so it was even better. Of course it helped me a little bit. Playing with this atmosphere was great. I’m so happy to finish this match because it was so tough to finish it.”

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Tsitsipas Races Past Paul Into Lyon Quarter-Finals

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas wasted no time in getting back to his winning ways in his Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon debut, racing past Tommy Paul 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals. 

The Greek has been one of the players to beat during the clay-court season since claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Rublev). Tsitsipas has now reached the quarter-finals or better at four of his past five events on this surface, and today’s victory gave him a Tour-leading 30 wins on the season.

“I [took] control of the match from early on, and after that I didn’t let go,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match press conference. “I had a few opportunities in the second set to go up a double break and I missed a shot that I felt like I shouldn’t have missed. But [overall] I was playing good tennis today. I was able to move him around the court and find angles, press with my forehand. It wasn’t my best day on serve, but I found solutions when things proved difficult.”

Tsitsipas did not face a break point across two sets against the unseeded American. Paul, a former Roland Garros champion in the juniors, struggled to connect on his first serve – giving Tsitsipas plenty of opportunities to pounce on his opponent’s attackable second delivery. 

The second seed regularly ran around his backhand and fired deep forehand returns, keeping the pressure on Paul by taking control of the rallies. Tsitsipas reeled off the last five games on the trot with a double break to claim the opening set, and started the second with a 2-1 lead.

Paul raised his level on serve in the second set, improving his first serve percentage from 38 to 71 per cent, but he was unable to make inroads on Tsitsipas’ serve. The Greek player served out the match to love, sealing the victory after an hour and 15 minutes.

In his ninth quarter-final of 2021, Tsitsipas will face Japanese lefty Yoshihito Nishioka next. Nishioka toppled fifth seed and home favourite Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) earlier in the day.

“He is a player who is very fast, and I think that helps on clay,” Tsitsipas said. “He has clay-court tennis, so for sure I am going to take that match as an important one.

“I feel like I’m playing good tennis and I can play against anyone. For me, these matches are important, every single one of them. It’s going to be a battle against Yoshihito who is a lefty, on red clay which is my favourite surface.”

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Lawn Tennis Association launches new diversity strategy for British tennis

The Lawn Tennis Association says it wants to “change the perception of the sport” following the launch of a new diversity strategy.

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Before Corey Kluber's No-Hitter, John Isner Threw The First Pitch

New York Yankees pitcher Corey Kluber threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday evening, but he was not the first to throw a pitch inside Globe Life Field on the evening. American John Isner threw out the game’s ceremonial first pitch in Arlington to help promote the launch of the Dallas Open.

“It was good. The ball was a little high, just what I was afraid of. My release point is a little too early. But I didn’t want to ground ball it,” Isner said, cracking a laugh. “I love baseball. The problem is I don’t really have a team, there are no teams in North Carolina [where I’m from]. But it’s great to do promotion for the tournament. The tournament’s going to be great.”

^{Photo Credit: Kelly Gavin/Texas Rangers}
Earlier in the day, it was announced that Dallas will host an ATP 250 from 2022, with next year’s event set for 6-13 February. Isner lives in Dallas, which makes it even more exciting. The tournament will be played at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex at Southern Methodist University, where Isner practises while at home.

“It’s incredibly nice. It’s very lucky for me to have this tournament coming here so close to home. I practise there all the time,” Isner said. “I’m lucky in the sense that I kind of have a couple of hometown events. Atlanta is one, and here in Dallas. It’s good.”

Also in attendance at the Dallas Open’s launch earlier in the day was NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki, who played for the Dallas Mavericks and is a big tennis fan.

“That was cool. The fact that he loves tennis helps a lot and he really does love this sport, so it’s great,” Isner said.

It was also announced Wednesday that the Isner Family Foundation will serve as a non-profit partner for the event. The Isner Family Foundation provides financial support for qualified families to obtain necessities, such as meals, clothing, transportation, convenient lodging, car seats and medical supplies, while their children are under the care of Children’s Health, one of the largest and most prestigious pediatric health care providers in the country and the leading pediatric health care system in North Texas.

“It’s amazing. That’s going to be something that will be done for many years to come, long after I’m done playing as well,” Isner said. “I consider myself very lucky to have the foundation be a part of that.”

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Shapovalov Survives Cecchinato Challenge In Geneva

Top seed Roger Federer was upset in the second round of the Gonet Geneva Open, and second seed Denis Shapovalov nearly suffered the same fate. But the Canadian rallied past Italian qualifier Marco Cecchinato 6-7(4), 7-5, on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals, which will be played later in the day.

Shapovalov did well to shake off the disappointment of letting slip two match points against Rafael Nadal at his last tournament, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The World No. 15 will play Serbian Laslo Djere for a spot in the semi-finals.

This match was supposed to be played Wednesday evening, but was pushed back due to rain. And once play began, Cecchinato showed some of the form that has helped him win three ATP Tour titles and reach the Roland Garros semi-finals in 2018.

Shapovalov, who is pursuing his second tour-level crown this week, dug into the Swiss clay and broke the World No. 104’s serve three times across the final two sets to advance after two hours and 22 minutes. The Canadian hit 15 aces and won 86 per cent of his first-serve points.

His next opponent, Djere, finished off a 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1 victory against sixth seed Fabio Fognini. The Serbian led 2-0 in the third set when play was suspended on Wednesday.

Pablo Cuevas also advanced to the quarter-finals when he eliminated 18-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 6-2, 6-4. The Uruguayan veteran will next face fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov.

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Federer & Medvedev To Lead Halle Field

Roger Federer and Daniil Medvedev will lead the field at this year’s Noventi Open, a grass-court ATP 500 event to be held from 14-20 June. Four Top 10 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings have entered.

Federer is a 10-time titlist at the event, where he has tallied a 68-7 record and reached at least the semi-finals in his past 15 appearances. Medvedev, the World No. 2, will make his tournament debut.

Alexander Zverev will try to triumph on home soil as he makes his sixth appearance at the tournament. The 24-year-old made back-to-back championship matches in Halle in 2016 and 2017, losing against Florian Mayer and Federer, respectively.

Andrey Rublev is the fourth Top 10 player in the field, and he will compete in the main draw for the second time after reaching the 2017 quarter-finals. Other players to watch include Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime, Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori.

A German has won four of the past 11 editions of the event. In addition to Zverev, home favourites Dominik Koepfer and Jan-Lennard Struff have also entered.

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Berrettini, #NextGenATP Sinner Set For Queen's Club Debuts

Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner lead a stacked field at the cinch Championships as Top 10 favourites, #NextGenATP stars and more prepare to descend on The Queen’s Club.

Berrettini, ranked World No. 9 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, will be making his tournament debut in London. He recently reached the Mutua Madrid Open final, won the title at the Serbia Open in Belgrade and helped Italy to the ATP Cup final at the start of the year. The Italian has some pedigree on grass also, having won the MercedesCup title in Stuttgart in 2019.

“I have a heard a lot about the cinch Championships at Queen’s and always wanted to play there,” said Berrettini. “I have played some good tennis so far in 2021, and hope that I can bring my best game to the grass. If I do, I think I can go far on the surface.”

Joining Berrettini in London for the first time will be countryman Sinner. The #NextGenATP star was just seven years old when Andy Murray won his first title at The Queen’s Club, but like Murray he is achieving big things at a very young age.

The 19-year-old Italian is No. 17 in the FedExATP Rankings, has already won two tour-level titles (Sofia and Melbourne), and reached the final of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami. 

“I’m really excited to be competing at Queen’s for the first time,” said Sinner. “So many great players from the past have won the tournament, I heard the quality of the grass courts is incredible, and I can’t wait to play on them.”

 

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They are joined by Top 10 player Diego Schwartzman, three-time Grand Slam title winner Stan Wawrinka, Denis Shapovalov, 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic, and previously announced British stars Andy Murray and Daniel Evans. In-form Aslan Karatsev, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals, and British No.2 Cameron Norrie have also entered.

Tournament Director Luiz Carvalho said, “To add new players like Matteo and Jannik to our player field is really exciting, and I know our ticket-holders will enjoy watching them. With so many fan favourites also entering, we are looking forward to the start of the cinch Championships more than ever.”

The doubles and qualifying lists will be announced in the coming weeks.

The cinch Championships will be able to accommodate approximately 25 per cent of its normal full capacity, and the event will be socially distanced, in line with the current safety protocols required by the UK Government and the ATP Tour.

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