Tennis News

Tsitsipas Beats Felix In Barcelona, Now Eight Matches Unbeaten

Former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas extended his winning streak to eight matches on Friday for a place in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell semi-finals.

The second-seeded Greek, who captured his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Rublev) last week, produced another impressive performance to beat No. 10 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 in 83 minutes.

“I think my hard efforts paid off,” said Tsitsipas, who has now won 14 sets in a row. “I wouldn’t say it was the best start, but I managed to win my serve from 0/40 down [in the second game]. That got me into the match and that helped me to break him at the end. I didn’t panic, but I knew what I was doing. It feels good to be able to play the way I am. I really hope the winning streak continues.”

Tsitsipas, who captured the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals title and went on to clinch the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals crown, will now face the youngest Barcelona semi-finalist in 16 years, Jannik Sinner of Italy. The No. 11 seed, who beat Andrey Rublev earlier on Friday, captured the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals trophy in Milan. Tsitsipas and Sinner at tied at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, with both matches coming on clay at the 2019 and 2020 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Tsitsipas lost just seven of his first service points against Auger-Aliassime (29/37), striking 11 winners and committing just nine unforced errors. The 22-year-old is now 25-5 on the season.

More to follow…

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Djokovic & Karatsev Set SF Showdown

Novak Djokovic will meet 2021’s breakout star Aslan Karatsev in the Serbia Open semi-finals Saturday after both players enjoyed straight-sets quarter-final wins Friday in Belgrade.

Djokovic made quick work of fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic with a 6-1, 6-3 win, moving closer to a third title at home. Later in the day, Karatsev set a replay of their Australian Open semi-final when he defeated Italian qualifier Gianluca Mager 6-3, 6-4.

“I think personally I’m feeling very well on court, moving well, hitting the ball well and, of course, enjoying the home court advantage,” Djokovic said. “So I’m really excited to go out in the semi-finals on the court again tomorrow.

“Karatsev is on fire,” Djokovic said. “He’s very confident. We know that he has had the best four, five months of his career.”

The World No. 1 is playing in just his second event since winning the Australian Open. He opened his clay-court season last week in Monte-Carlo where he was upset by Daniel Evans. On Wednesday, he comfortably dispatched Soonwoo Kwon and was just as solid against Kecmanovic, taking charge of points early and coming to the net regularly. 

It was the first meeting between the two compatriots with Djokovic in full command from first point to last. He broke the 21-year-old’s first service game and then established greater dominance by breaking him again to love for 5-1. The most competitive game was when Djokovic came through five Deuce points when he served for the first set

It was all smooth sailing until Djokovic went to serve for the match at 5-2, and got broken. The Serbian rebounded quickly, breaking right back to wrap up the win in one hour and 15 minutes.

“There is a lot more for him to improve on with his footwork and his game — for all of us really,” Djokovic said. “Kecmanovic definitely has the potential to go far. He has already won one tournament and I know that his goals, his ambitions, are high.”

Karatsev, the 27-year-old World No. 28, improved to 16-4 on the season as he moved a step closer to claiming his second title of the year &#8212 and his second at the ATP 500 level &#8212 following his triumph in Dubai. The Russian is playing just his second tour-level tournament on clay, having last week reached the second round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he lost to eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.

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Berrettini Eases Past Krajinovic In Belgrade

Matteo Berrettini moved into the Belgrade Open semi-finals Friday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Filip Krajinovic. The second seed served well from start to finish, and controlled the narrative from the very start of the match with his first-strike abilities off the forehand.   

“I think I played a really solid match,” Berrettini said. “My weapons were working from the beginning really well. I’m happy with the performance. I served well. I also returned well when I had to. I’m really happy that I’m in the semis.”

The World No. 10 had been dealing with an abdominal injury for most of 2021 and is playing in just his second singles draw since withdrawing from the fourth round of the Australian Open. He dropped his first match back last week in Monte-Carlo before stringing together this run in Belgrade. It’s the 25-year-old’s first ATP Tour semi-final since Vienna in 2019.

The 25-year-old Italian started play on Center Court by breaking Krajinovic’s serve in the first game. In the second set, with Berrettini serving so well (he would hit nine aces to Krajinovic’s one), he was able to put a lot of pressure on the Serbian’s serve, getting the second, and final, break at 4-3. He dug himself out of a 0/40 hole by winning five points in a row to seal the victory, boosted by his final ace.

“I think I played really good tennis today, especially in the important moments and I feel I’m improving,” said Berrettini. “The work we’ve done is in relation to my attitude, and be focused point after point, because that’s what I’ve missed the most in not playing a lot. We were trying to play points at match intensity in practice.”

Both players faced six break points on their own serves with Berrettini saving 100 per cent of his. He improves to 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series. 

“It’s never easy when you’re coming back from an injury,” Berrettini said. “I played well; physically I’m feeling good so that the most important thing for me, especially in the last month. I’m reaching my best shape — that is the goal.”

Berrettini will next face the winner of Taro Daniel and Federico Delbonis. He’s also still alive in the doubles draw as he and Andrea Vavassori will play the semi-finals later on Friday.  

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Sinner Topples Rublev To Reach Barcelona Semi-finals

Jannik Sinner upset in-form Andrey Rublev for the fourth Top 10 win of his career on Friday and a place in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell semi-finals. The #NextGenATP Italian dictated the tempo and moved superbly to overcome third-seeded Russian Rublev 6-2, 7-6(6) in one hour and 36 minutes.

Sinner, 19, who captured his second ATP Tour title in February at the Great Ocean Road Open (d. Travaglia), struck 20 winners in his second ATP Head2Head meeting against Rublev, who drops to a 26-6 match record on the season. Sinner saved one set point at 5/6 in the second set tie-break.

“I am trying to get better every week,” said Sinner. “He has played many, many matches already this year and I tried to play my tennis. It was difficult to finish it off. I had three break points at 5-5 [in the second set], which I could not convert, but I’m pleased to win in the end. I am getting more experience in every tournament I play.”

Sinner, who is the youngest Barcelona semi-finalist since 2005, when 18-year-old Rafael Nadal won the first of his 11 Barcelona titles, will next challenge second-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. Last week’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters champion knocked out No. 10 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-3, 6-3 in 83 minutes.

Sinner came through the first set, closer than the score suggests, with Rublev a fraction slow in his movement. Rublev struck a double fault to hand Sinner the break in the third game and then the 19-year-old Italian hit a forehand winner to break for a second time and a 5-2 advantage. Sinner closed out the 32-minute set after Rublev hit a backhand return long. The Russian committed eight of his 12 unforced errors off his backhand wing.

Rublev started to fire groundstroke winners, capitalising on a slight dip from Sinner. But it was Sinner, who broke into the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time this week, who gained the first break of the second set at 3-3. Rublev immediately broke back to love, yet soon found himself at 5-5, 0/40. He did well to dig himself out of a big hole.

It was all Sinner in the early stages of the tie-break, with the Italian winning four of the first five points, but Rublev worked his way back and held one set point at 6/5. Sinner trusted his game and struck a forehand winner and soon closed out for a place in his first ATP Tour clay-court semi-final with his fourth ace.

World No. 19 Sinner, who is making his Barcelona tournament debut this week, is now 18-6 on the year.

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Tokyo 2020: Benoit Paire barred from representing France over 'deeply inappropriate behaviour'

Benoit Paire is barred from representing France at the Tokyo Olympics in July because of his “deeply inappropriate behaviour”.

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Kecmanovic On Playing Djokovic: ‘It’s Going To Be A Dream’

Miomir Kecmanovic has faced tough challenges before, earning a Top 10 win against Alexander Zverev two years ago. A victory on Friday against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Serbia Open quarter-finals, however, would be his biggest triumph yet.

“It’s going to be a dream to play Novak, particularly on home soil,” Kecmanovic said. “I’ve trained with him and I have admired his game for so many years. He has helped me by his example as a champion and pushed me to improve.”

This will be the World No. 47’s first shot at challenging Djokovic, who said he was “pretty flawless” in his opening win in Belgrade on Wednesday against Soonwoo Kwon. Kecmanovic, who is 21, will rely on his experience playing Rafael Nadal in Acapulco last year. The Spaniard was victorious 6-2, 7-5.

“I will attempt to use the experience I had in my previous Top 10 matches, particularly playing Rafa in Acapulco,” Kecmanovic said. “I’ve played reasonably well this year and I’ve tried to develop all areas of my game, but I hope to push through to the next level and, against a player like Novak, I will need to be disciplined in my tactics. It will be a great challenge.”

Although there are not big crowds like in normal times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the match will still be more meaningful with both men competing on home soil. Djokovic said as much when he looked ahead to the clash.

“The fact that the tournament is in Belgrade can be motivating, but there is a thin line between the best tennis and weak tennis because of the pressure,” Djokovic said. “Unlike when you’re playing abroad, here you feel you have to win.”

The third Serbian in the Belgrade quarter-finals is Filip Krajinovic. The fifth seed knows the daunting task Kecmanovic is facing, as Krajinovic’s first clash against the superstar came at this event 11 years ago, when he was 18.

“For sure it’s going to be a good challenge for Kecmanovic playing Novak on this court at his club. It’s not easy, believe me,” Krajinovic said. “I played [him in Belgrade] 11 years ago when I was really young. There was a lot of pressure, I remember. I couldn’t sleep the day before.

“People love him here, he’s the greatest of all-time and people have a lot of respect for him. They live for his tennis, so it’s not easy to play against him. I wish it will be a good match and for sure I will watch it.”

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Powered By Superman, Behar/Escobar Reach Belgrade Semis

Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar continued their pursuit of a third team title this season on Thursday by defeating John Millman and John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the Serbia Open.

Behar received plenty of attention for his memorable outfits earlier this year, and in the quarter-finals he wore a Superman Lego shirt. The winners fittingly powered their way past the Aussies, winning 80 per cent of their first-serve points.

The Uruguayan-Ecuadorian team has already won ATP Tour titles this year in Delray Beach and Marbella, and they will next play Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic. They beat the Bosnian-Serbian duo in the Buenos Aires final and beat them for the Marbella trophy.

Brkic and Cacic defeated Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez 0-6, 7-6(7), 10-8. Also advancing were Matteo Berrettini and Andrea Vavassori, who eliminated Luke Bambridge and Dominic Inglot 6-4, 7-6(3).

Top Seeds Advance In Barcelona
Top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski, who reached the final in Miami and Monte-Carlo. The Colombians will next face Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin.

Third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury also advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Ivan Dodig and Jamie Murray. They will battle Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau for a spot in the championship match. Krawietz and Tecau ousted John Peers and Luke Saville 6-4, 6-3.

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Nadal: 'I Need Time On Court'

After winning two three-setters in a row to reach the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Rafael Nadal is embracing the battle.

“Matches like today, like yesterday help the improvement,” the 11-time Barcelona champion said. “At the same time, I didn’t play tough matches for a long time, so winning two matches like this I really hope this gives me extra confidence.”

In his opener at the ATP 500, Nadal beat Ilya Ivashka 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, and on Thursday, he fought past Kei Nishikori 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. It’s the first time in history that Nadal has played back-to-back three-set matches in Barcelona. 

“So the past three matches that I played were three sets and I don’t take something negative [from that],” Nadal said. “For me it’s something very positive. I need time on court, I need to go through these moments and the past two matches I went through these moments with a victory. Tomorrow is another opportunity. I’m excited to keep playing and [have] another chance to play better.”

In Monte-Carlo last week, Nadal fell to Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

“I think my serve is evolving the right way,” Nadal said. “Of course when you play a very bad day like I did against Rublev in Monte-Carlo with my serve you need some time, but I am feeling that my serve is evolving the right way. I served better than yesterday today and in important moments I had a couple of good serves.” 

The World No. 3 dug deep in the final set against Nishikori, winning five points in a row after going down 0/40 in the first game and saving 5/5 break points.  

“For me it was clear that I needed something else,” Nadal said. “In the second set and the beginning of the third he was playing very clean, hitting the right spots and with a very high quality of ball. So it was difficult to stop him, so I needed something else and I think I did. I played a little bit more aggressive, changed a little bit the pace and the direction of the ball.” 

Nishikori is currently ranked No. 39 in the FedEx ATP Rankings but has been as high as No. 4 and is a two-time champion in Barcelona (2014 and 2015).

“I think Kei played a great level of tennis after that first set,” Nadal said. “It was a very tough match, anything could happen. Everybody knows that Kei, when he’s playing like what he did later today in the last two sets, his ranking is much higher.”

Nadal is 63-4 in Barcelona and chasing a record-setting 12th crown. He will play Cameron Norrie for a place in the semi-finals.

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New Snail Species Named After Djokovic: 'I Always Tried To Be Fast!'

Novak Djokovic is one of the best athletes in the world. If you had to compare him to an animal, the Serbian would be an apex predator because of his competitive ferocity and incredible athleticism.

Yet it was recently announced that of all animals, a new snail species, Travunijana djokovici, was named after Djokovic.

“I don’t know how symbolic this is, because throughout my career I always tried to be fast and then a snail was named after me,” Djokovic said, cracking a laugh. “Maybe it’s a message for me, telling me to slow down a bit!”

According to Subterranean Biology, an international journal, the new species was discovered at the Vriješko Vrelo spring in Montenegro.

“The new species is named after Novak Djokovic, a famous Serbian tennis player, to acknowledge his inspiring enthusiasm and energy,” the journal stated.

Djokovic has never been shy about disclosing his affinity for nature. After winning the 2018 US Open, the Serbian credited his season turnaround to time spent on Montagne Sainte-Victoire in France.

Although it was a surprise to learn a snail species was named after him, Djokovic was intrigued.

“I am honoured that a new species of snail was named after me because I am a big fan of nature and ecosystems and I appreciate all kinds of animals and plants,” Djokovic said. “I try to live in harmony with nature. The news made me laugh.”

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Schwartzman, Monfils Headline In Estoril; All You Need To Know

Portugal has had a place on the ATP Tour calendar since 1990, and the action returns in 2021 at the Millennium Estoril Open, an ATP 250 event.

Staged at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril since 2015, this year’s edition features a strong field of Top 20 players with top-notch clay-court credentials. Diego Schwartzman leads the way, looking for his second trophy of the year after triumphing at home in Buenos Aires. Three of Schwartzman’s four career titles have come on the red dirt.

Santiago champion Cristian Garin is also set to make his debut in Portugal, joined by Gael Monfils and 2017 champion Pablo Carreno Busta. Garin is going for his sixth clay court crown, while Carreno Busta recently lifted his fifth tour-level trophy in Marbella. Joao Sousa, who became the first Portuguese-born player to celebrate a tour-level title on home soil with his emotional victory in 2018, will return with a wild card.

Here’s all you need to know about the Estoril tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who won and more.

Established: 2015

Tournament Dates: Monday 26 April – Sunday 2 May 2021 

Tournament Director: Joao Zilhao

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 24 April at 3:00pm

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday & Sunday at 11:00am
* Main draw: Monday 26 April – Sunday 2 May at 10:30am
* Doubles final: Sunday, 2 May TBA
* Singles final: Sunday, 2 May TBA

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV
TV Schedule

Venue: Clube de Tenis do Estoril
Main Court Seating: 3,700

Prize Money: €419,470 (Total Financial Commitment: €481,270) 

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

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Richard Gasquet, Nicolas Almagro, Pablo Carreno Busta, Joao Sousa, Stefanos Tsitsipas (1)
Most Titles, Doubles: Scott Lipsky (2)
Oldest Champion: Nicolas Almagro, 30, in 2016
Youngest Champion: Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, in 2019
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 71 Nicolas Almagro in 2016
Last Home Champion: Joao Sousa in 2018
Most Match Wins: Pablo Carreno Busta (13)

2019 Finals
Singles: [1] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) d [LL] Pablo Cuevas (URU)  63 76(4)   Read & Watch
Doubles: Jeremy Chardy (FRA) / Fabrice Martin (FRA) d Luke Bambridge (GBR) / Jonny O’Mara (GBR) 75 76(3)  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #EstorilOpen

Facebook: @millenniumestorilopen
Twitter: @estorilopen
Instagram: @estorilopen

Did You Know?
Stefanos Tsitsipas won his first ATP Tour clay-court title at the Millennium Estoril Open in 2019. He went on to triumph at the Nitto ATP Finals in London later that same year.

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