Tennis News

Shapovalov Closing In On Marathon Win

Denis Shapovalov is six points from surviving a marathon and earning his spot in the third round of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The sixth seed leads Ilya Ivashka 6-7(5), 6-4, 4-3 with a break advantage in the decider. Rain forced the players to leave Butch Bucholz Court with Shapovalov serving at 30/30.

The Canadian has not been at his best, hitting 11 double faults and making unforced errors at untimely moments. But Shapovalov has never stopped battling, putting himself in a winning position after two hours and 58 minutes.

The pivotal moment came at 3-3 in the third set. Ivashka was set to face his second break point of the game when it first began drizzling, leading to a pause of less than 10 minutes. The Belarusian double faulted upon play’s resumption, giving Shapovalov the advantage.

The lefty can became the third Canadian to reach this year’s Miami Open presented by Itau third round. Shapovalov has enjoyed success at Hard Rock Stadium, making the semi-finals here in 2019.

If he closes out his match, the 21-year-old will face Delray Beach champion Hubert Hurkacz in his next match. The Pole served 12 aces en route to a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over Denis Kudla.

Earlier in the day, Milos Raonic overpowered Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round. The Canadian won 22 of his 23 first-serve points to improve to 8-1 in second-round matches in Miami.

Raonic has reached the third round in each of the past eight editions of the ATP Masters 1000 event. The 6’5” right-hander’s only second-round defeat in Miami came on his tournament debut in 2011.

“It was a very good match for me,” said Raonic. “To start the tournament like this is very positive. I was much better with my serve than I was at the last tournament. I feel better physically as well, so all those things are trending in a positive way for me. Overall, I have to be happy with that.”

Raonic improved to 15-6 at the Florida tournament. The World No. 19 has reached the quarter-finals in Miami on three occasions (2014, ’16, ’18).

The 30-year-old will face Ugo Humbert in the third round. The Frenchman defeated Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4 to earn his first win in Miami. Raonic saved two match points to win his only previous ATP Head2Head clash against Humbert at last year’s Rolex Paris Masters.

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Rublev Rolls Past Sandgren In Miami

Andrey Rublev dropped only three games on his way to the third round at the Miami Open presented by Itau, cruising past against Tennys Sandgren 6-1, 6-2 in a rain-interrupted clash on Saturday

The fourth seed has been one of the world’s most in-form players, and he extended his Tour-leading wins count to 17 on the year after his Miami opener.

Rublev’s controlled aggression was on display from the start on Grandstand at Hard Rock Stadium. The Russian No. 2 took the lead at 3-1 after converting his fourth break point, outlasting Sandgren in a marathon eight-minute game. But he needed just 59 seconds to consolidate to love with powerful first serves, and Rublev didn’t leave any openings for Sandgren as he closed out the opening set.

The fourth seed did not face a break point during the match, and he kept the American under pressure in the second as he created break opportunities in three of his four service games. After taking a 5-2 lead with a double break, Rublev was made to wait to serve out the match as rain halted play in Miami. But he didn’t miss a beat upon resumption, coming back about an hour later to seal the victory after 64 minutes on court.

The victory sends Rublev into the third round, equalling his previous best result in Miami. He awaits the winner of No. 29 seed Marton Fucsovics and Thanasi Kokkinakis with an eye on reaching the fourth round for the first time.

The 23-year-old arrived in South Florida looking to make his mark at the ATP Masters 1000 level, where he has not yet advanced past the quarter-finals. He’s been on song since the start of the season, adding an ATP Cup trophy for Russia and an ATP 500 title in Rotterdam to his cabinet. 

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Ram/Salisbury Make Winning Start In Miami

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury opened their Miami Open presented by Itau campaign on Saturday with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory against Austin Krajicek and Franko Skugor.

The seventh seeds won 83 per cent of their first-serve points (30/36) to improve their 2021 record to 8-3. Ram and Salisbury are seeking their first title of the season in Miami. The American-British pair advanced to their second straight Australian Open final last month (l. to Dodig/Polasek).

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah defeated Nikola Cacic and Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4. The Dubai champions, who saved six of the seven break points they faced, own a 10-4 record this season.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares claimed a single break in each set to beat Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald 6-4, 6-4. The fifth seeds will face British duo Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski in the second round.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut also advanced on Saturday. The 2016 champions earned a 6-3, 6-2 win against Rohan Bopanna and Benoit Paire on Court 5.

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Korda Topples Fognini For Biggest Career Win

#NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda scored his first Top 20 victory with a hard-fought 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 turnaround against 10th seed Fabio Fognini at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Saturday.

The 20-year-old struggled to get on the scoreboard in the opening set against Fognini. But he never panicked, and raised his level in the second and third sets to claim his biggest career win over the No. 17-ranked Italian.

Korda was not able to hold serve set as Fognini flew out of the gates firing winners off both wings in the first set. The American struggled to read the variety in Fognini’s game, and the Italian had all the answers to break his serve four times.

But he stayed patient, and was ready to captalise when the inevitable drop in form came in the second set. Korda played more aggressively, and only dropped four points on serve throughout the set to keep Fognini contained. 

After taking an early lead in the third set, Korda was tested again as the Italian powered to four break points at 3-2. But the American responded emphatically, saving all four and sealing the hold with an ace. He broke to love in the next game to make it 5-2, and closed out the victory after an hour and 48 minutes.

Into the third round, Korda will next face fellow Miami debutant Aslan Karatsev, the No. 17 seed. Karatsev defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-3 earlier in the day to advance.

Contesting his first main draw match at an ATP Masters 1000 event, Karatsev broke serve four times and turned around an early deficit to win in an hour and 20 minutes.

“It was a really tough, tight match. To play your first match against Kukushkin is not easy, he’s a tough opponent,” Karatsev said in an on-court interview. “The courts are more slow here compared to last week in Dubai, so you have to adjust. The first match is always tough, but I found a way to beat him.”

Karatsev ended last season at No. 112 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, but he’s burst into the Top 30 after a stunning first three months of 2021. The Russian turned heads when he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open as a qualifier, and backed it up by winning his first ATP Tour title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“Of course it gives me confidence to win my first title, but you arrive here and it’s a different surface and new tournament,” Karatsev said. “So you try [to think of it] as a new tournament and new place, but of course it gives me a lot of confidence.”

Karatsev owns a 13-2 record on the season, with his only two losses so far coming at the hands of  Top 4 opponents Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem.

Elsewhere in the Korda and Karatsev section, fifth seed Diego Schwartzman converted his fifth match point to put away Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-3, 6-3. The Argentina Open champion needed an hour and 22 minutes to book a third-round clash with No. 25 seed Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-4 to advance.

The World No. 9 saved three of the four break points he faced against Uchiyama. He will take a 1-0 ATP Head2Head series lead into his clash against Mannarino. That win came on clay at the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open.

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The Broady Bunch: Siblings Liam & Naomi Team Up In Miami

Tennis is a sport that has a long history of iconic sibling duos, from the Bryan brothers and the Williams sisters, to the Zverevs, the Pliskovas and, most recently, the Cerundolos.

Liam Broady and older sister Naomi Broady have long stood out as one of the few brother-sister pairs to have achieved success at the ATP and WTA Tour level. And though they are used to treading separate paths as they compete on their respective tours, the Broadys are revelling in the chance to catch up together at the Miami Open presented by Itau – a tournament that neither player was originally scheduled to compete in.

Liam, who currently sits at No. 158 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, hadn’t planned on a trip to the ATP Masters 1000 event, but he was able to make the qualifying draw following some withdrawals. That’s when he got a text from older sister Naomi, No. 155 in the WTA Rankings.

“Naomi messaged me whilst I was in Italy [for the Biella Challenger] asking if she could come and spend some time with me over here, because she’s going to Colombia [for the WTA 250 event in Bogota],” Liam told ATPTour.com. “She’s kind of been like my unofficial coach for the week.”

The arrangement has been a win-win for both siblings, as Liam arrived in Miami without regular coach David Sammel. And Naomi, who is not competing at the WTA 1000, will get to spend two weeks outside of the UK before heading down for tournaments in South America, adhering to COVID-19 protocols for international travel.

“It works really well… Obviously, through the time I’ve spent on Tour, I know as a player what kind of help you need around your matches,” said Naomi, who has previously achieved a career-high ranking of No. 54. “Just little things I can do to help him so he can just focus on his matches.

“Like in the morning, to save him some time, filling out his COVID form before he gets on the bus. Or grabbing him some coffee, or handing his racquets in, or picking up food for him.” 

While the siblings now compete independently and criss-cross the globe on the ATP and WTA Tours, tennis has always been the thing that has brought them together. Naomi and Liam are the middle pair out of four siblings, and they took to tennis when their father introduced them to the sport when they were seven and four, respectively.

“I think Dad made a lot of mistakes with me that he then corrected with Liam. They often say the Olympians are the younger siblings,” Naomi joked. “So I maybe walked the path a bit before him, learning from mistakes as he was slightly younger.”

One of the highlights of having a sibling in professional tennis is getting to share the big on-court moments with someone who understands the experience. For Liam and Naomi, that moment came in 2017, when the Stockport-born siblings made their mixed doubles debut at Wimbledon.

“It was definitely fun, especially the match we won,” Liam said of their run to the second round. “We played on Court 18, which is a pretty big court. It was a lot of fun.”

“I remember Liam telling me at the net with hand signals where he wanted me to serve, and I remember saying, ‘I don’t know what that means.’ That got the crowd laughing,” Naomi added. “Everyone had a few Pimms by then, so it was a really fun atmosphere.”

The Broady siblings teamed up again this week in Miami, where qualifier Liam reached the main draw of an ATP Masters 1000 for the second time in his career. Coached by Naomi, the 27-year-old took down Shang Juncheng and Federico Gaio before falling in the first round to Miomir Kecmanovic, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-1. It continues the momentum he built up from a run to the final at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Biella earlier this month.

“You have an inside knowledge about what’s going on,” Liam said of working with Naomi. “I think it’s a very particular profession to be in, and not many people really understand the sort of things that we go through.

“When times are tough, you can speak to each other about what’s going wrong and what’s going right and give each other advice on that.” 

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Tsitsipas, Nishikori Set Third-Round Clash

Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his strong run of form on Saturday to beat Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-4 at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The World No. 5 entered the match with one win from four ATP Head2Head clashes against Dzumhur, but he landed 18 winners and served with confidence to advance after 68 minutes. Tsitsipas was making his first appearance since his runner-up finish at last week’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

“It was a great match, especially against a guy that I probably don’t have a good record playing against in the past,” said Tsitsipas. “I started the match very strong, breaking him twice and taking a big lead in the score, and I think the things worked out by themselves after that.”

Tsitsipas is the third player to reach 15 wins this season (15-4). The Greek joins Russian duo Andrey Rublev (16-3) and Daniil Medvedev (15-2) in the exclusive club.

Tsitsipas showcased his court coverage skills and dictated rallies with his forehand throughout the second-round match. The second seed, who hit 10 of his 18 winners on his forehand side, rushed his opponent and committed just nine unforced errors.

The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion will face Kei Nishikori in the third round. Nishikori needed two hours and 50 minutes to overcome Aljaz Bedene 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4.

This is Nishikori’s second win in as many weeks against Bedene. The Japanese also beat the Slovenian 6-4, 6-4 at last week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Tsitsipas will attempt to claim his first win against the Nishikori. The former World No. 4 won the pair’s only previous ATP Head2Head encounter on home soil at the 2018 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo.

“[Kei is] a player that has played very well in the past, and even now he can raise his level really high,” said Tsitsipas. “I’ll try and be ready for the battle. It’s important for me to have matches against strong opponents like him.

“I am very pumped for the match and I’m going to try and put my best performance out there. I’m going to try and take it game by game… It’s a strong third round, I won’t hide it. It’s important for me to be ready for that match and be physically prepared.”

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#NextGenATP Musetti's Hot Streak Continues In Miami

Lorenzo Musetti is competing at the Miami Open presented by Itau for the first time, and this is his first appearance in a hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event. But the 19-year-old looked like an experienced veteran in dismissing 23rd seed Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the third round in Florida.

“I had to focus on myself, and not Benoit. I think I did a great match,” Musetti said. “I managed the tough points really good. I’m really happy.”

Musetti stayed composed throughout his victory, setting a showdown against former World No. 3 Marin Cilic. Including all of his qualifying and main draw matches last week in Acapulco, the teen has now won eight of his past nine matches.

It would have been understandable if Musetti struggled to find his footing in Miami following his dream week at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where he reached his maiden ATP 500 semi-final. But the Italian has looked sharp in triumphs against Michael Mmoh and Paire.

“I was really focussed from the first point, because I knew it was a tough match from the beginning. Benoit is a fantastic player,” Musetti said. “He’s a really nice guy. Even last week in Acapulco, he said to me a lot of congratulations and a lot of nice words. Even today when he lost, he was really nice to me.”

The World No. 94, who is the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, never got too high or low against the streaky Frenchman. Musetti played a solid match and forced Paire to maintain a high level throughout the match, which the three-time ATP Tour titlist was unable to do in the 61-minute encounter. 

Musetti continues to show that his one-handed backhand is one of the biggest strengths in his game, hitting a few crafty passing shots against his net-rushing seeded opponent. 

His next opponent, Cilic, battled past 13th seed Cristian Garin 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) after two hours and 44 minutes.

The Croatian, who blasted a backhand winner to seal his victory, hit 15 aces and saved 11 of the 15 break points he faced. Cilic now leads his ATP Head2Head series with Garin 2-0.

Did You Know?
Musetti is now 4-1 in main draw matches at Masters 1000 events. The Italian reached the third round at last year’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia as a qualifier, beating Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori.

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ATP & WTA Stars Share #StopAsianHate Message

The ATP and WTA have come together to speak out against intolerance and hate affecting Asian communities.

In a series of video messages, players from both Tours called for greater tolerance and support, and shared personal reflections on the tragic attacks earlier this month in Atlanta, Georgia, which sent waves of grief through the AAPI community.

The united message also comes at a difficult time for Asian communities around the world, which have suffered from a rise in violence and xenophobia since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I hope that people start to respect and love Asian culture, Asian people,” Naomi Osaka said.

“I’m against all forms of discrimination, and please stop Asian hate,” Kei Nishikori added. 

To find out more and learn how you can support, please visit: Stop AAPI Hate

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Lugano Calling: How The Challenger Tour Returned To Switzerland

This week, the ATP Challenger Tour is back in Switzerland after seven years. The inaugural Challenger Citta di Lugano has arrived, marking the return of the circuit to the European nation for the first time since 2014.

Then, it was the city of Geneva that hosted an indoor hard-court event for nearly three decades. Now, the picturesque mountain town of Lugano is targeting an extended stay of their own on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Switzerland is no stranger to high-level tennis, hosting both the Swiss Open Gstaad and the Swiss Indoors Basel for more than 50 years on the ATP Tour. But on the Challenger circuit, tennis has been absent from the country in recent years. As younger players, like surging Swiss teens Dominic Stricker and Leandro Riedi, seek to develop and grow their games, the tour provides the ideal training ground.

This is exactly why Riccardo Margaroli and his son – doubles No. 142 and the top Swiss doubles player in the world – Luca Margaroli, decided to embark on this endeavor of bringing Challenger tennis back to their country. Riccardo is the tournament director this week in Lugano.

“It all started from my idea,” said Luca. “I then involved my father, the city of Lugano and the Swiss federation, because I think it’s important in this moment to give the younger generation the chances to compete at the higher level. They have the talent and they proved it this week in Lugano. For me to play at home with my family involved in the event was really good. Unfortunately with the COVID restrictions we didn’t have spectators, otherwise the atmosphere at home would have been fantastic.”

As Riccardo and Luca outlined, the goal of bringing Challenger tennis back to Switzerland is to provide more competitive opportunities to the next generation of Swiss players. This week, Stricker and Riedi have taken full advantage.

Stricker (left) and Riedi in Lugano

Last year, Stricker defeated his countryman in a historic all-Swiss final at Roland Garros juniors, and now the pair are embarking on their professional journeys in 2021. Making just his second appearance on the ATP Challenger Tour, the 18-year-old Stricker has made a big splash in reaching the semi-finals. And in his Challenger debut, 19-year-old Riedi also impressed, upsetting Adrian Menendez-Maceiras for his first victory at the level.

“I think it’s amazing to have a Challenger here in Switzerland,” said Stricker. “We are all enjoying playing here in Lugano. It’s a good opportunity for me, for all of us, including the juniors and all the Swiss players. I think it’s great to have a tournament and I’m already looking forward to come back next year. It’s been hard with all the COVID restrictions, because there were not so many spectators, but it’s actually been a pretty good atmosphere. There were some people watching the third set and it helped me. It is a pretty good and I hope to keep going and get as far as I can.”

“It’s great to have a Challenger here in Switzerland after so many years,” added Riedi. “It’s such a good chance for us young players to compete against strong competition. It’s really nice. I won my first Challenger match this week. It was a long match, but really good for me. I was realizing that at this level the players never let go and they always fight point after point. It was just a cool experience.”

Riedi

Embedded in the Swiss-Italian Alps, Lugano is one of the more idyllic cities in all of Switzerland. The stunning location provides an incredible setting for world-class tennis, with players competing all week at the Padiglione Conza. Located just one hour north of Milan, the city is nestled in southern Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Ticino region. A culturally diverse melting pot, Lugano’s Swiss-Italian mix is reflected in its cuisine and architecture.

From 1999-2010, the city hosted a tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour, with future Top 10 talents Guillermo Coria and Stan Wawrinka among its champions. At the time, the tournament was held on outdoor clay. Now, the balls are flying on the lightning-fast indoor hard courts at the Padiglione Conza, a convention center in the heart of Lugano.  

“The idea of organising a Challenger tournament was born after we established a Swiss master event at our tennis school in Cadro, Lugano,” said Riccardo Margaroli. “The tournament, organised during the lockdown, had the aim of making up for the lack of competitions due to the arrival of the coronavirus.

“We have to thank the ATP, who was very close to us in the construction of this Challenger tournament, as well as the sponsors who had already supported us during the Swiss master and in particular the Swiss Federation, Banca Stato, the city of Lugano and Lugano Region. Our main partners immediately understood the importance of this event in such a critical moment. I also want to thank the Marchesini sisters from MEF Tennis Events for having contributed to the organization of our first tournament here in Lugano.”

The Margaroli family includes Riccardo, a former basketball player, mother Isabella and their three children, all tennis players: Camilla (30), Silvia (26) and Luca (29). Together, they manage the Scuolo Tennis by Margaroli, a local club in Lugano, which is the largest facility in the Ticino region.

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Can Sandgren Slow Down The Rublev Onslaught In Miami?

Beating Andrey Rublev has been one of the toughest challenges in tennis since the start of 2020. Tennys Sandgren, his opponent in the second round of the Miami Open presented by Itau, has proven himself a big-match player in the past. But can the two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist find good enough tennis on Saturday to send the roaring Rublev train off its tracks?

“I have to play my best if I want a shot to compete with him out there,” Sandgren said. “The last match we played wasn’t particularly competitive on my end. I watched him hit a lot of the winners. I felt like I was watching a lot of the match and wasn’t playing it.“

Rublev defeated Sandgren 6-3, 6-3 in Hamburg last year in their first ATP Head2Head meeting. Although that was a clay-court match, the Russian was able to play his aggressive game, triumphing without facing a break point.

“I’m going to have to try to dictate some points and serve well and maybe hope he’s not totally on,” Sandgren said. “But he’s a great player, obviously playing fantastic tennis, good guy. Just hoping to have a good match out there.”

Sandgren has made life difficult for the sport’s stars in the past. At last year’s Australian Open, he held seven match points against Roger Federer in the quarter-finals before ultimately falling in five sets. The American, who enjoys watching defensive players like Andy Murray and Gael Monfils, knows he won’t be able to sit back against the ball-blasting Rublev.

“I’m not a good enough defender to defend against him, so I might have to be more aggressive, honestly. It’s not good enough out there to play too defensive against him,” Sandgren admitted. “I think any time I play somebody who is one of those guys who is one of the best players in the world right now, when I’ve gone out and played like that, I have to play more aggressive.”

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will begin his Miami run against lucky loser Damir Dzumhur, who ousted former World No. 5 Kevin Anderson in the first round.

On paper, you’d expect 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas to overwhelm the World No. 126 with his aggressive all-court game. But Dzumhur leads their ATP Head2Head series 3-1, with their most recent clash coming in Rotterdam in 2019.

“He’s getting the ball very early… he’s very aggressive and he doesn’t give you a lot of time ,” Dzumhur said. “I can take all the best and all the positives from those matches to try to keep doing that way. Of course it’s going to be another tough match.”

Other players who are in action Saturday are fifth seed Diego Schwartzman and sixth seed Denis Shapovalov, who will play Yasutaka Uchiyama and Ilya Ivashka, respectively.

But perhaps the match of the day will be between 10th seed Fabio Fognini and #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda. Fognini is one of the cleanest ball-strikers on the ATP Tour, but he will face an inspired opponent in Korda, who never shies away from a big-hitting clash.

The 20-year-old looked sharp in dispatching Radu Albot 6-3, 6-0 in the first round. Korda broke through at Roland Garros last year by reaching the fourth round, but he quickly climbed into the Top 100 at the start of this season thanks to his run to the Delray Beach final and his subsequent ATP Challenger Tour title in Quimper, France.

Another #NextGenATP player, Lorenzo Musetti, will try to continue his torrid stretch against 23rd seed Benoit Paire, who scouted the Italian’s win against Michael Mmoh on Thursday evening. Both players are crafty, but Musetti brings to the court the edge in current form following his run to the Acapulco semi-finals.

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