Tennis News

Djokovic Targets Serbian Hat-trick In Belgrade

Top seed Novak Djokovic will next week hit the court at his namesake tennis centre in Serbia seeking his 83rd tour-level title, and a third on home soil as he leads the way at the Belgrade Open. 

After starting the 2021 season with a record-extending ninth Australian Open title and breaking the all-time record of weeks at World No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Djokovic has honed in on the clay-court swing as his next target.

In Belgrade, he will be contesting his fourth tournament on the terre-battue, and so far each tournament has gone better than the previous one: Djokovic bounced back from a third-round exit in Monte-Carlo to Daniel Evans with a run to the Serbia Open semi-finals (l. Karatsev), before reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final of the year at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. Nadal).

Into the second round with a bye, Djokovic will start against either Egor Gerasimov or a qualifier as he seeks a Serbian hat-trick, having won two titles in Belgrade during the tournament’s previous four-year run (2009, 2011).

Djokovic could face countryman Miomir Kecmanovic, the seventh seed, in the quarter-finals. The match would be a repeat of their previous quarter-final in Belgrade, contested during last month’s Serbia Open held at the same venue, the Novak Tennis Centre.

Experienced clay court players including Pablo Andujar, who defeated Roger Federer in Geneva, and Pablo Cuevas are also in this section. Third seed Nikoloz Basilashvili and fifth seed Dusan Lajovic also feature in Djokovic’s half.

World No. 14 Gael Monfils is the second seed, and he arrives at the Serbian capital looking to capture his 11th tour-level title – and his first match win of the 2021 season (0-3). He’ll face either countryman Arthur Rinderknech or a qualifier in his opening match. Rinderknech, who also received a Roland Garros wild card, recently turned heads in Lyon after toppling #NextGenATP Jannik Sinner for his first Top 20 win.

Monfils could book another all-French clash in the semi-finals, with fourth seed Adrian Mannarino also landing in his half. Mannarino awaits the winner of Lucas Pouille and Fernando Verdasco in the second round, and could meet sixth seed Filip Krajinovic in the quarter-finals.

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Sonego Lands In Tricky Section Of Parma Draw

Top seed Lorenzo Sonego landed in a tricky quarter of the Emilia-Romagna Open when the ATP 250 draw was revealed on Friday, a section loaded with experienced clay-court players and in-form #NextGenATP stars.

Sonego has often found his best tennis on Italian soil, and he will be seeking his third tour-level title in the northern city of Parma. He won hearts in Rome with an inspired run to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. Djokovic) with wins over Andrey Rublev and Dominic Thiem. Earlier in the year in Cagliari, he also became the first Italian in 15 years to win a title at home. 

The top seed, who returned to his career-high of No. 28 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, could face Italian veteran Andreas Seppi or 20-year-old Sebastian Korda in the second round. Korda isn’t the only #NextGenATP star in Sonego’s section, as he could also face 19-year-old countryman Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-finals. Musetti is set to take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals of Lyon.

Fourth seed Jan-Lennard Struff, sixth seed Tommy Paul and eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka are also in Sonego’s half of the draw. Lefty Nishioka, who landed in Sonego’s quarter, will start against Sam Querrey.

Benoit Paire is the second seed, and he anchors a wide-open bottom half that includes all four qualifiers (to be placed). In the second round, the Frenchman could face either Marbella finalist Jaume Munar or a qualifier.

Fifth seeded Richard Gasquet is a potential quarter-final opponent for Paire. Gasquet will begin his Parma campaign against a qualifier, and could face countryman Gilles Simon or another qualifier in the second round.

Estoril champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the third seed, will face either 22-year-old Emil Ruusuvuori or a qualifier in the second round, and could meet seventh seed Aljaz Bedene, who starts against Italian Salvatore Caruso, in the quarter-finals.

Also in this section, one of the first-round matches to watch includes a battle between Frances Tiafoe and Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato. The pair recently faced off in the first round of Mutua Madrid Open qualifying, with Cecchinato claiming a straight-sets victory en route to the main draw.

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Shapovalov Sets Up Geneva Final Against Ruud

Denis Shapovalov will battle Casper Ruud for the Gonet Geneva Open title on Saturday. Shapovalov topped Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 7-5 on Friday, following Ruud’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Pablo Andujar.

Shapovalov is into this third tour-level final after winning the Stockholm Open and losing in the Rolex Paris Masters final in 2019. The World No. 14 improves to a 2-10 record in semi-finals. His most recent semi-final was a third-set tie-break loss to Lloyd Harris in Dubai.

Cuevas was appearing in his 22nd semi-final overall and first since Estoril in 2019 and has now lost nine straight matches to Top 15 opponents.

In Saturday’s final, Shapovalov and Ruud will be meeting for the first time.

“Denis has also been playing very good on the surface recently and took [Rafael] Nadal to his knees last week in Rome and had match points,” Ruud said. “And I was watching the match. He was playing very well and has been playing well here as well.”

Shapovalov held two match points against Nadal in Rome’s third round, eventually falling to the World No. 3 in a third-set tie-break. He bounced back this week with wins over Marco Cecchinato, Laslo Djere and now Cuevas.

On Friday, Shapovalov stayed patient and stepped his game up at just the right moments, breaking for 5-4 in the first set and 6-5 in the second. The Canadian was still aggressive off both wings, ripping multiple winners with his one-handed backhand and hitting eight aces.

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Tsitsipas Ready For "Serious Business" Against Musetti

Stefanos Tsitsipas says it will be “serious business” on Saturday when he meets Lorenzo Musetti in the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon semi-finals.

The World No. 5 beat the #NextGenATP Italian 6-1, 6-3 in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC semi-finals on 20 March, but knows that their Lyon last-four clash will be very different.

“We played in different conditions [and] on a hard court,” said Tsitsipas, following his 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final victory over Yoshihito Nishioka in Lyon.

“The conditions here are different. We share similar games with a one-handed backhand, which is beautiful to see. Tomorrow is going to be serious business and I know he can play well on this surface and elevate his game.”

The 19-year-old Musetti played seven matches in seven days on the Acapulco hard courts and has since gone 10-6 on the season, including wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda and Aljaz Bedene this week.

“He is one of the best guys on Tour,” said Musetti on Friday. “Acapulco was really tough for me as I played a lot of matches and I didn’t have enough energy to play 100 per cent. He served really well, and he played well with the forehand, moving me around a lot. I will try to lead the match and try not have him dominate me.”

Watch Tsitsipas v Musetti Acapulco Semi-final Highlights

Tsitsipas, the ATP Tour match wins leader this season with a 31-8 record, has been working on different aspects of his game at the ATP 250 clay-court event and has followed Musetti’s progress since their 20 March clash in Mexico.

“I have been following his performances, he has been improving a lot and has a good record on clay, beating some good opponents,” said Tsitsipas. “I expect big things for him.”

The 22-year-old will be attempting to reach his 16th ATP Tour final (6-9) on Saturday, and continue the kind of form that took him to last month’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown (d. Rublev).

For Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, it will be an opportunity to record the second Top 10 win of his career (he beat No. 9 Schwartzman in the Acapulco first round) for a place in his first championship match.

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Djokovic Leads Serbian Hopes In Belgrade; All You Need To Know

After being absent from the ATP Tour calendar for nine years, Serbia will host its second ATP 250 event in as many months at the Belgrade Open.

Held at the Novak Tennis Centre, the same location as the Serbia Open, which was contested in April, the Belgrade Open will be headlined by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic as he seeks his 83rd tour-level title. Djokovic lifted two trophies on home soil during Belgrade’s previous four-year run, triumphing in 2009 and 2011.

The World No. 1 leads a strong contingent of Serbian players vying for home glory, including Filip Krajinovic, No. 36 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, No. 37-ranked Dusan Lajovic and No. 49-ranked Laslo Djere. Top 20 player Gael Monfils and 2021 titlist Nikoloz Basilashvili will also feature.

Note: The 2021 Belgrade Open will be held behind closed doors due to COVID-19 precautions.

Established: 2021

Tournament Dates: 23-29 May 2021

Tournament Director: Djordje Djokovic

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 21 May at 7:30pm

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Schedule
* Qualifying: Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 May, 11am
* Main draw: Sunday 23 – Saturday 29 May, 11am
* Doubles final: Saturday, 29 May, 2pm
* Singles final: Saturday, 29 May, 4pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Novak Tennis Center
Surface: Clay

Prize Money: €511,000 (Total Financial Commitment: €511,000) 

View Who Is Playing, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Did You Know?
The world-class Novak Tennis Centre complex boasts 14 tennis courts, including 11 clay courts. It also features a ‘trophy room’ that holds on display dozens of trophies and mementos from the World No. 1’s legendary career.

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Ruud Moves Into First Final Of 2021 In Geneva

After three straight semi-final losses, Casper Ruud soared into his first final of 2021 with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over Pablo Andujar at the Gonet Geneva Open on Friday.

“It has been some time since my previous final and I was just very motivated to win this match,” Ruud said. “I started off well and was able to keep a high level throughout.”

The World No. 24 was appearing in his fourth semi-final after deep runs in Madrid, Munich and Monte-Carlo. All 12 of the Norwegian’s semi-final appearances have come on clay.

The 22-year-old has had a stellar season so far with a 19-6 record and four wins over Top 20 opponents (Pablo Carreno Busta, Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tstisipas).

Ruud faces second seed Denis Shapovalov or qualifier Pablo Cuevas in Saturday’s final. It will be his fourth career final; he’s 1-2 with one title in Buenos Aires last year.

“The last day of the tournament is what we’re all fighting to get to,” Ruud said. “You can say that every week there is one winner and everybody else is sort of a loser. In a way that’s the brutality of the sport.”

Earlier in the week, Andujar scored the biggest win of his career over Roger Federer. This marked his first tour-level semi-final since Gstaad in 2019 and his fifteenth overall (all on clay).

In the first set, Ruud capitalised on an early long game to break Andujar and set the tone. His relentless aggressive groundstrokes forced the 35-year-old Spaniard to make more errors than he normally would. Ruud’s excellent serving put even more pressure on Andujar — he won 74 per cent of his service points and faced zero break points.

Ruud converted his first break-point chance in the second set to go up 3-1. He’d quickly wrap up in the win 80 minutes with Andujar netting an overhead on match point.

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Tsitsipas To Meet Musetti In Lyon Semi-finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas competed with great intensity on Friday to move within one step of the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon final.

The second-seeded Greek, who has compiled an ATP Tour-best 31 match wins on the season (31-8), did little wrong in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in 66 minutes.

“It was a good match from my side, he was serving well,” said Tsitsipas. “His game is a little unpredictable and he is one of the best left-handers out there. It’s never easy to construct the point and he is able to penetrate and play shots you don’t expect. I knew he was going to fight and not give up. I am pretty glad to have won.”

The World No. 5, who leads the FedEx ATP Race To Turin for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, will now face 19-year-old #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti. Tsitsipas beat Musetti 6-1, 6-3 in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC semi-finals two months ago.

Tsitsipas put Nishioka under constant pressure, breaking courtesy of a backhand long for 4-2 in the first set, which ended after 31 minutes. Tsitsipas, who lost just eight of his service points (40/48), gained a 2-1 lead in the second set courtesy of another error and didn’t look back.

Nishioka, 25, is now 5-10 on the season.

Also in action, eighth seed Karen Khachanov celebrated his 25th birthday with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over Richard Gasquet to reach his first clay-court semi-final. After the victory, the fans in Lyon sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to the delighted Russian.

A special birthday sing-along for @karenkhachanov ?#OpenParc pic.twitter.com/tDnw8OkjBk

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 21, 2021

Khachanov dominated the first set with a double break, winning the last five games of the set on the trot. He had to come back from a break down in the second set twice as Gasquet, who won in Lyon in 2006 (indoor carpet), staged a late comeback effort.

With the French crowd behind him, Gasquet held a set point at 5-4 on the Russian’s serve. But Khachanov held firm, and claimed the victory in the tie-break after an hour and 26 minutes.

In his second semi-final of 2021, Khachanov will face the winner of French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech and Cameron Norrie. Norrie led Rinderknech 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 on Friday night when rain suspended play.

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Musetti Recovers From 'Crazy End' For Lyon Semi-final Spot

Lorenzo Musetti raised his level at the right time on Friday to reach his third ATP Tour semi-final at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 19-year-old #NextGenATP Italian recovered from 2-5 down in the second set, and served for the match at 6-5 before a concentration lapse, en route to a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in one hour and 34 minutes.

“It was a crazy end,” said Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. “I was 6-5 up, and at 30/30 played a really bad volley and hit an underarm serve. Sometimes I go out of my mind. I am really proud of myself as I was 2-5 down in the second set and I stayed focused. I tried to play each point at my best.”

The World No. 82, who reached the semi-finals at the 2020 Sardinia Open and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco, will next challenge top-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan on Saturday. Tsitsipas beat Musetti 6-1, 6-3 in Acapulco two months ago.

Musetti struck a forehand drop shot winner to break for a 3-2 advantage in the first set, and while the Italian couldn’t convert a set point on Bedene’s serve at 5-2, he clinched the 39-minute opener after Bedene hit a backhand drop shot into the net.

Bedene bounced back immediately, winning 12 of the first 15 points en route to a 3-0 lead. The Slovenian led 5-2, before Musetti started his four-game comeback that ended when he inexplicably hit an underarm serve at 6-5, 30/40, which Bedene pounced upon. From 2/2 in the tie-break, Musetti won five straight points for his 12th win of the season (12-6).

Bedene, who is now 11-9 on the year, had been attempting to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final since a run to the Moselle Open final (l. to Tsonga) in September 2019.

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French Open 2021: Simona Halep withdraws with left calf injury

World number three and 2018 champion Simona Halep withdraws from the French Open with a left calf injury.

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Klaasen/McLachlan Oust Cilic/Golubev To Reach Geneva SFs

Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan reached their third semi-final of the year as a team on Thursday when they defeated Marin Clic and Andrey Golubev 6-3, 7-6(4) at the Gonet Geneva Open. The third seeds will next play Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez, who eliminated Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic 6-3, 7-6(7).

Klaasen and McLachlan won their first ATP Tour title together in Cologne last year. They are pursuing their first final of the season.

Second seeds John Peers and Michael Venus also battled into the semi-finals with a 6-3, 1-6, 11-9 victory against home favourites Marc-Andrea Huesler and Dominic Stephan Stricker. In other action, Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar made the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

Herbert/Mahut Cruise In Lyon
Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut cruised past Artem Sitak and Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-1 to make the last four at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon. The Frenchmen have captured multiple titles together in each of the past six seasons, and this week they are trying to lift their first trophy of the season.

Herbert and Mahut will next play Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez, who defeated Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(1), 6-4. On the other half of the draw, Hugo Nys and Tim Puetz beat Lorenzo Musetti and Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-4. They will next challenge Matthew Ebden and John-Patrick Smith, who upset second seeds Henri Kontinen and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-0, 7-6(6).

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