Birmingham Classic 2021: Second seed Jabeur too much for Watson – best shots
Watch the best shots as Great Britain’s Heather Watson loses 6-4, 6-2 to second seed Ons Jabeur in her semi-final match of the Birmingham Classic.
Watch the best shots as Great Britain’s Heather Watson loses 6-4, 6-2 to second seed Ons Jabeur in her semi-final match of the Birmingham Classic.
Heather Watson’s run at the Birmingham Classic ends in the semi-finals with a 6-3 6-3 defeat by Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
Watch the best shots as Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie reaches the Queen’s Club final with a 7-5 6-3 semi-final victory over second seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
Another day, another nail-biting three-set battle for a surging Ugo Humbert in Halle. The 22-year-old Frenchman fought past Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) on Saturday to reach his first ATP 500 final at the NOVENTI OPEN.
Humbert has been made to work all week long, with all of his matches in Halle going the distance and to at least one tie-break set in each as he took down Sam Querrey, third seed Alexander Zverev and Sebastian Korda to book his second battle in as many weeks against Auger-Aliassime.
Last week in Stuttgart, it was Auger-Alisassime who triumphed after a tight 7-6(5), 7-6(8) victory on his way to the MercedesCup final (l. to Cilic). But Humbert turned the tables in Halle to improve to 2-1 in his ATP Head2Head against the Canadian, with all three of their matches taking place on grass courts.
“It was an amazing match from both of us, but it was very tough physically and mentally,” Humbert said in an on-court interview. “I’m very proud to win this match, it was exceptional.
“It gives me a lot of confidence [winning matches like this], and when you win some matches 7-6 two times in the third set.”
Humbert will take on fourth seed Andrey Rublev in the final as he seeks the biggest title of his career. The Frenchman owns two ATP Tour titles and a perfect 2-0 record in finals, both coming at the ATP 250 level at Antwerp and Auckland last year. His opponent, Rublev, owns four ATP 500 titles (4-1 in those finals) and leads the Tour with 74 victories in 2020-21. Rublev won their only previous tour-level meeting last year in St. Petersburg.
At the OWL Arena in Halle, Humbert wasted no time as he recovered from an early break and raced ahead in the first set. The Frenchman’s relentless attack took time away from Auger-Aliassime, leaving him on the defensive and struggling to handle his opponent’s pace.
[WATCH LIVE 1]The Frenchman had break points for a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Auger-Aliassime raised his level and cut down on his unforced errors as he settled into the contest. He reeled off the last five games in a row to take the set and level the score, and he looked to be in complete control as he created five break opportunities across two of Humbert’s service games late in the third set.
But Humbert refused to drop his serve as he stayed toe-to-toe with Auger-Aliassime, rushing to net regularly where he won 10 of 13 points played. The #NextGenATP Canadian fired his 12th ace of the match (14 in total) to save a match point at 4-5 to take them into a tie-break, and saved two more with big first serves. Humbert stayed focussed, firing a big first serve of his own to earn a forehand return long to seal the victory.
The Frenchman improved to 13-13 on the season with the win, and extended his career grass-court win rate to 12-5.
Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie produced a brilliant performance to overcome second seed Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 6-3 to reach the cinch Championships final in London on Saturday.
Home favourite Norrie won 76 per cent (32/42) of his first-service points and came back from a break down in the opening set to become the first Brit to reach the final at The Queen’s Club since 2016, when Andy Murray defeated Milos Raonic.
British Singles Finalists At Queen’s Club (Open Era)
| Player | Year (Champion) |
| John Paish | 1972 |
| Roger Taylor | 1973 |
| Mark Cox | 1977 |
| Tim Henman | 1999, 2001-02 |
| Andy Murray | 2009, ’11, ’13, ’15-16 |
| Cameron Norrie | 2021 |
“I think I played very, very well today, I was extremely clutch on some of the big points,” Norrie said. “I am so pleased to be through to the final here, I can’t even describe it. It has not really sunk in yet. It is nice to get over the line there, and all credit to Denis, it was a tough match.
“It is a huge tournament for me and one of my biggest achievements so far, so I couldn’t be more pleased with myself. Let’s see if I can win one more tomorrow.”
The 25-year-old is currently at a career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of 41, and is now 29-12 on the season, after advancing in 94 minutes. Norrie, who reached the finals at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (l. to Tsitsipas) and the Millennium Estoril Open (l. to Ramos-Vinolas) this year, will face top-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini in his third ATP Tour final of the season.
[WATCH LIVE 1]After Shapovalov made a fast start to move 2-0 ahead on centre court, Norrie broke back to level up at 3-3. The Brit then started to dictate on the left-hander’s second serve, winning 60 per cent (9/15) of points on it in the opener and he claimed the set with a sensational backhand passing shot at 5-6.
Norrie continued to play aggressively in the second set, stepping into court and targeting Shapovalov’s serve to good effect. While he was unable to break at 3-2, after the Canadian had treatment on an injury, he did in the eighth game and fought through his final service game to advance.
Shapovalov had beaten France Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4 earlier on Saturday, after his match against the American had been suspended due to bad light on Friday evening. However, the Canadian, who reached the Gonet Geneva Open final (l. to Ruud) in May, could not replicate his performance levels against Norrie, and is now 18-13 on the season.
Top seed Matteo Berrettini continued his impressive week at the cinch Championships as he defeated Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4, to reach the final at the Queen’s Club on Saturday in his debut at the tournament.
The No. 1 Italian has won an ATP Tour title on grass at the MercedesCup (d. Auger-Aliassime) in 2019 and is now 25-6 on the season. Berrettini has yet to drop a set in London, navigating his way past British pair Andy Murray and Daniel Evans earlier this week.
“That was the goal of the week [making the final], and now I have one more step. It is a great achievement, especially for the history of this tournament. I am really happy because to beat Alex today, I had to play my best tennis,” Berrettini said.
“The mentality is that I always think I can win my service games. I know that I have a big weapon with my serve and first shot. If I sleep too well it means something is off ahead of the final. I have to be nervous and tight a little bit, otherwise the adrenaline does not kick in and it is tougher to play,” Berrettini added.
[WATCH LIVE 1]World No. 9 Berrettini won 89 per cent (32/36) of his first-service points and hit eight aces against de Minaur to advance in 84 minutes. He will next face Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in Sunday’s final.
Berrettini started strongly on centre court, breaking the fourth-seeded Australian’s serve with a backhand winner down the line to lead 2-1. The Italian dictated with his powerful forehand but while he managed to close out the set, de Minaur grew into the match as he started to move Berrettini around the court with his variety of shots.
At the start of the second set, Berrettini continued to pressurise de Minaur with his great depth, conjuring up three break points in the fifth game. However, de Minaur held firm from 0/40 to move 3-2 ahead. Berrettini then successfully fended off a break point himself to level up. The 25-year-old has impressively made 10/12 first serves this week on break points.
Berrettini then brilliantly found the feet of de Minaur at deuce in the ninth game, and broke when the Australian’s slice found the net to lead 5-4. He then served out victory to advance and become the first Italian to reach the final at the Queen’s Club since Laurence Tieleman 23-years-ago.
De Minaur, who is now 16-13 for the season, having won the Antalya Open title in January. The World No. 22 will play at the Viking International Eastbourne ATP 250 grass-court event next week.
Watch the best shots as Britain’s Heather Watson reaches the semi-finals of the Birmingham Classic with a 6-4 6-2 victory against Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Second seed Denis Shapovalov moved past Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, to reach the semi-finals at the cinch Championships in a match that ran over two days in London.
On Friday evening, the Canadian hit four aces and won 82 per cent (14/17) of his first-service points to move a set ahead before bad light stopped play. Shapovalov, who is No. 14 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, returned on Saturday to close out the match and move to 18-12 on the season.
Shapovalov, who reached the Gonet Geneva Open final (l. to Ruud) in May, had not won multiple matches at a grass-court event before this week, but has now won three matches at the Queen’s Club and will face Brit Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals.
[WATCH LIVE 1]In the opening set on Friday, Shapovalov made the breakthrough in the sixth game to move 4-2 ahead before closing out on serve. He then continued where he left off on Saturday, as he played aggressive tennis on his groundstrokes to dictate from the baseline, gaining one break in the second set to advance in 91 minutes.
Tiafoe, who also reached the quarter-finals in 2018 at Queen’s (l. to Chardy), is now 12-11 on the season. The American won the Viking Open in Nottingham on the ATP Challenger Tour last week.
Watch the best shots from Cameron Norrie’s quarter-final win over fellow Brit Jack Draper at Queen’s club.
Great Britains Cameron Norrie eased past compatriot Jack Draper 6-3, 6-3 to reach his first semi-final at the cinch Championships in London on Friday.
Norrie, who is currently at a career-high No. 41 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, moved to 28-12 on the season as he hit two aces and won 67 per cent (29/43) of points on his first serve to advance in 86 minutes and end the 19-year-old’s run at the Queen’s Club.
”With the conditions, it was very different compared to the last couple of days,” Norrie said. “Jack has been playing some really good tennis, and all credit to him, he was serving big. I think the slower conditions today suited me a little bit more. I managed to play some really good tennis towards the end of the first set and start of the second.
“It was not easy as the court was pretty slippery towards the end, but I am really pleased to be through. I am happy with how I handled everything. It is a lot of fun to have this momentum and keep it rolling, but I think there are a lot of things I can improve on still.”
The Brit, who has reached finals at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (l. to Tsitsipas) and the Millennium Estoril Open (l. to Ramos-Vinolas) this year, beat fifth-seeded Russian Aslan Karatsev in the second round.
In their first ATP Head2Head meeting, Norrie broke early to move 2-1 ahead. The 25-year-old continued to dominate from the baseline, breaking again to seal the set in 43 minutes.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Norrie raced to a 3-0 lead at the start of the second, as the British wild card struggled on serve, winning 58 per cent (7/12) of his first-serve points. While Draper stayed in touch, he failed to convert three break point opportunities in the sixth game, and Norrie went on to close out victory on serve.
Draper, who is currently No. 309 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, was contesting just his second ATP Tour event this week after he played at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. The left hander recorded a maiden ATP Tour victory against #NextGenATP star Jannik Sinner in the first round before beating Alexander Bublik on Wednesday.
Norrie will play either second-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov or American Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals on Saturday. Shapovalov, who reached the Gonet Geneva Open final (l. to Ruud) in May, won the opening set 6-3, hitting four aces, before bad light ended play for the day.