As part of LGBT+ History Month, BBC Sport explores the story of transgender tennis player Renee Richards, who won a legal challenge to play at the 1977 US Open as a woman.
Four Top 10 players will hit the courts at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, the first ATP 500 event of the 2021 season.
Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Daniil Medevev and World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas will headline the action. Both players are searching for their first Rotterdam crown at the 47th edition of the historic ATP Tour event, and the chance to add their names alongside past champions’ including Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Roger Federer. Medvedev will make his fourth consecutive appearance at the tournament.
Fellow Top 10 players Tsitsipas, wild card Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev will also join the fray in a stacked Rotterdam field that also features 2015 winner Stan Wawrinka. Andy Murray, the former World No. 1 and 2009 champion, returns with a wild card.
Other players to watch include #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, Belgian David Goffin and Russian Karen Khachanov.
Here’s all you need to know about Rotterdam tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more.
Established: 1974
Tournament Dates: 1-7 March 2021
Tournament Director: Richard Krajicek
Draw Ceremony: Friday, 26 February 2021, time TBA
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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Begins Saturday at 11am
* Main draw: Monday – Friday at 11:00am and 7:30pm, Saturday at 1:00pm and 7:30pm
* Doubles final: Sunday, 7 March at 1pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 7 March at 3:30pm
How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV
TV Schedule
Venue: Rotterdam Ahoy
Surface: Indoor Hard
Prize Money: € 980,580 (Total Financial Commitment: € 1,117,900)
Tickets On Sale: Buy Now
View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown
Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Roger Federer (3)
Most Titles, Doubles: Anders Jarryd, Nenad Zimonjic, Nicolas Mahut (4)
Oldest Champion: Roger Federer, 36, in 2018
Youngest Champion: Miloslav Mecir Sr., 20, in 1985
Highest-Ranked Champion (since 1990): No. 1 Jimmy Connors in 1978 and Roger Federer in 2005
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1990): No. 156 Anders Jarryd in 1993
Most Match Wins: Roger Federer (28)
2020 Finals
Singles: [3] Gael Monfils (FRA) d. Felix Auger-Aliassime (SUI) 6-2, 6-4 Read & Watch
Doubles: [2] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA) d. [Q] Henri Kontinen (FIN) / Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 7-6(5), 4-6, 10-7 Read More
Social
Hashtag: #abnamrowtt
Facebook: @ABNAMROWTT
Twitter: @abnamrowtt
Instagram: @abnamrowtt
Did You Know… The Rotterdam honour roll includes Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
The Andy Roddick Foundation focusses on supporting underprivileged children by providing high quality out-of-school learning and enrichment opportunities for families that wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them.
But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation has pivoted to support those same families in new ways over the past year. And last week, when millions in Texas were left without electricity, heat and running water following a devastating winter storm, the Foundation again sprang into action.
The Andy Roddick Foundation gathered donations from local partners to support more than 100 of the families it serves year-round to help them in the storm’s aftermath. They secured goods to create grocery bags filled with non-perishable items, packs of Richard’s Rainwater, gift cards to Walmart for groceries, gift cards to Torchy’s Tacos, hot meals from Rudy’s BBQ and blankets to stay warm in the cool conditions. This week, the Foundation is distributing Yeti insulated sleeping bags.
“The effects of COVID-19, systematic racial injustices and the recent weather storms do not fall evenly across our community. The students and families the Foundation serves have been hardest hit by all of these crises,” Roddick said. “Not only is it the Foundation’s obligation to ensure that these students and families have access to high-quality educational opportunities during normal times, but that obligation increases during unprecedented times, such as these.
“That’s why we pitch in and try to help however possible, from providing assistance to meet basic needs like food and shelter to a text or phone call so they know they’re not forgotten. Though this is beyond the scope of our normal focus of providing educational excellence outside the classroom, we will never abandon our families when they need us most.”
Donate To The Family Emergency Fund
The Andy Roddick Foundation’s Family Emergency Fund has raised more than $235,000 since its inception last April. Nearly $10,000 was donated last weekend alone. The Fund has helped support families by supplying them with basic needs, community and educational resources — including for social and emotional health — and at-home learning tools such as tablets.
Separately, Roddick and his wife, Brooklyn Decker helped provide 4,000 tacos to local healthcare workers after the storm.
Another familiar face in the tennis world, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, who promoted the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston in 2003 and 2004, also helped those in need. McIngvale opened up his furniture stores for Texans who needed shelter and food.
It is one of the novelties of life on the ATP Challenger Tour. More and more former players have made the transition to a different role, stepping into the office as tournament director.
From Top 10 stalwarts Arnaud Clement (Aix-en-Provence) and Andres Gomez (Guayaquil), to the likes of Luis Horna (Lima), Rik De Voest (Vancouver) and Nicolas Escude (Brest), past champions are giving back. Each of these players’ careers were launched on the Challenger circuit. Now, they are returning to their roots.
This week, David Marrero is the latest to enter the fray. The Spaniard has embarked on a new career as tournament director in his hometown of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It marks the return of the ATP Challenger Tour to the Canary Islands for the first time since 2009.
“Until now, I was not aware of the responsibility that comes with running a tournament,” said Marrero. “Bringing tennis back to my city of Gran Canaria gives me great pride. I am very happy to have accepted the offer to do this, because in the future I would love to continue being linked to the world of tennis as a director, as a coach or as an organizer. Tennis is my passion and my life.”
Marrero, who ascended to No. 5 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings, is one of two former Top 10 stars who have transitioned to a leading role on the ATP Challenger Tour, along with Poland’s Mariusz Fyrstenberg. The former doubles No. 6 Fyrstenberg is the tournament director in Sopot, Poland.
Marrero has enjoyed a decorated career on the ATP Tour doubles circuit, lifting a total of 14 trophies, including the 2013 Nitto ATP Finals (w/Fernando Verdasco) and 2015 ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome (w/Pablo Cuevas). The Gran Canaria native also made five Grand Slam quarter-final appearances.
Despite all his success, Marrero believes his contributions to tennis in his hometown are the most rewarding part of his tennis career.
“I was at home doing my preseason training and I received a call from [tournament organizer] Marcello Marchesini to ask me about the option of doing ATP Challengers in Gran Canaria,” Marrero added. “The weather and the COVID-19 situation made it a desirable place. Obviously, I told him it was a fantastic idea. I was even more excited when he suggested that I be the director.”
#NextGenATP star Lorenzo Musetti is the top seed at the Gran Canaria Challenger 1. Photo: Marta Magni Images.
The back-to-back ‘Challenger 80’ tournaments are being held at El Cortijo Club de Campo in the town of Las Palmas. One of the more renowned sports facilities in the region, it includes 4600 square feet of tennis and padel courts, a golf course, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, horseback riding area, reception hall and offices.
“I know what players look for in a good Challenger venue. I’ve always liked having open spaces, and in that sense our club is spectacular. We have many spacious areas to relax, a restaurant with amazing views and an incredible warm-up area.
“My main function is to communicate with the players and offer the best service within our facilities and a good hotel that is comfortable for them in the bubble. Above all, my goal is to try to make the players happy during these two weeks.”
The Gran Canaria Challenger 1 features Lorenzo Musetti as its top seed, while fellow #NextGenATP star Carlos Alcaraz will headline at the Gran Canaria Challenger 2.
We are back in Gran Canaria ??!
This week, for the first time since 2009, the Canary Islands host a tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour.
? @meftennisevents pic.twitter.com/5NCbj7wwgf
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 22, 2021
Will this be the week Diego Schwartzman breaks through for his first title on home soil?
The Argentine star reached the quarter-finals of the Cordoba Open on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-2 win against 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato. The 2020 Nitto ATP Finals competitor will next play fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
“I’m very, very happy. It’s my first clay-court match since Roland Garros, so it has been many months. [Then I spent] many months preparing for other surfaces,” Schwartzman said. “Coming back to my country and playing the first match on clay this year and playing like this was very nice for me. It’s a really good start.”
[WATCH LIVE 1]Schwartzman needed three sets in his two previous victories against Cecchinato, but he only took 71 minutes to dispatch the Italian on Cancha Central. In their first ATP Head2Head meeting in the 2019 Buenos Aires final, Cecchinato won 6-1, 6-2.
“He beat me really easily. He really killed me that match,” Schwartzman said. “Coming back and playing with 500 people in the stadium was a very good start for me. I played good, aggressive tennis.”
The World No. 9, who now leads their ATP Head2Head series 3-1, won 58 per cent of his first-serve return points and broke Cecchinato’s serve five times to advance. Schwartzman fell one set short of lifting the Cordoba Open trophy last year. This edition, he will try to go one step further. The top seed is pursuing his first crown since 2019 Los Cabos.
Schwartzman’s next opponent, Ramos-Vinolas, clawed past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 after two hours and 49 minutes. The qualifier won 12 more points than the Spaniard, but Ramos-Vinolas converted his three break point opportunities to advance.
Did You Know?
Last season was the best of Schwartzman’s career. The Argentine broke into the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time in October after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros, where he defeated Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals.
World No. 335 Juan Manuel Cerundolo had not played a tour-level match before this week’s Cordoba Open. Now the 19-year-old Argentine is into his first ATP Tour quarter-final.
Cerundolo battled past third seed Miomir Kecmanovic 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday in two hours and 19 minutes to reach the last eight at this ATP 250. The lefty broke the Serbian’s serve six times to earn the biggest win of his career.
“I feel incredibly happy. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s crazy, it’s kind of amazing,” Cerundolo told ATPTour.com. “I’m feeling the moment and I’ll rest now because I have to play tomorrow. I’m very happy, but I’m also focussed on the next match.”
[WATCH LIVE 1]The home favourite had only previously attempted to qualify for an ATP Tour main draw once, last year in Buenos Aires. While Cerundolo was unsuccessful on that occasion, he did not lose a set in three qualifying matches this week in Cordoba. The brother of red-hot ATP Challenger Tour standout Francisco Cerundolo, Juan Manuel has maintained his momentum in the main draw with victories against Thiago Seyboth Wild and Kecmanovic.
The 19-year-old credits his success to confidence he gained during qualifying, but also to a change in racquets he made one month ago.
“It’s helped me to be more powerful,” Cerundolo said. “I have to use less strength to hit the ball. It’s a better thing for me.”
Cerundolo this week became the youngest player from Argentina to win an ATP Tour match since Juan Martin del Potro at the 2007 Rolex Paris Masters. The qualifier will next play a fellow lefty, Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, who eliminated Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4 in 86 minutes earlier in the day.
Top seeds Henri Kontinen and Edouard Roger-Vasselin broke serve once in each set for a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Frenchmen Ugo Humbert and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday for a place in the Open Sud de France semi-finals. Kontinen and Roger-Vasselin, who partnered Ivan Dodig to the 2019 Montpellier doubles title, now challenge Roman Jebavy and Jiri Vesely.
Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow defeated second seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Matwe Middelkoop 6-4, 7-6(6), having saved three set points at 5-6 in the second set. They now meet Jonathan Erlich and Andrei Vasilevski in the semi-finals.
Gille/Vliegen Reach Singapore Semi-finals
Top-seeded Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen are closing in on their sixth ATP Tour team final (4-1 record) after beating Indians Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 7-6(3) for a place in the Singapore Tennis Open semi-finals.
They now face third-seeded Britons Luke Bambridge and Dominic Inglot, who worked hard to beat wild cards Jamie Cerretani and Adil Shamasdin 7-6(4), 7-6(1).
Former World No. 3 David Nalbandian has not watched much tennis in recent years. When the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup champion agreed to join Miomir Kecmanovic’s team on a part-time basis, he had to search his house to find a racquet. The 11-time ATP Tour champion has focussed on driving a rally car and pursuing other hobbies, such as polo — he owns 50 polo horses — since his retirement in 2013.
But Monday, the day after Novak Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev for his record-extending ninth Australian Open title, the Argentine watched the championship match in his room at the Cordoba Open tournament hotel. There aren’t many players who can say they have enjoyed success against the Big Three of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but Nalbandian is one of them.
Before Medvedev beat the top three players in the FedEx ATP Rankings — Djokovic, Nadal and Dominic Thiem — to win last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, the last man to accomplish the feat at any event was Nalbandian at the 2007 Mutua Madrid Open. On that occasion, the Argentine beat Nadal, Djokovic and Federer consecutively. Two weeks later, he defeated Federer and Nadal en route to the Rolex Paris Masters crown.
Nalbandian believes Medvedev’s run at The O2 last year showed what is possible.
“That showed that everybody can beat them,” Nalbandian said. “Good players can beat them. It is not impossible work. Sometimes it’s good for new players to start believing in themselves. They’re incredible players, but they’re not superheroes. The new generation has to start believing in themselves.”
Relive Nalbandian’s 2005 Shanghai Win vs. Federer
That doesn’t mean Nalbandian doesn’t have the utmost respect for the legendary trio, against whom he won a combined 11 matches. The last time the Argentine played one of them was in a loss against Nadal at 2013 Sao Paulo.
“Most of the players think that they’re waiting for the Big Three to retire,” Nalbandian said, before cracking a lengthy laugh. “I say, ‘I was already waiting in my time and they’re still around!’ Let’s stop waiting and beat them.”
One of the things that impresses Nalbandian the most about the Big Three is not just their longevity, but how they all continue to get better. Djokovic, 33 and Nadal, 34, are still the top two players in the FedEx ATP Rankings, and Federer most recently won a Grand Slam at the 2018 Australian Open, when the Swiss was 36.
“It’s incredible the way that they adapt to the new players and their age, because they’re getting older,” Nalbandian said. “They’re still on, they’re still focussed, they’re still inspired to keep going. That’s amazing. That’s why there are only three players who can do that. It’s Roger, Rafa and Nole. The others can’t do that. Nobody.”
Good to see you around the #ATPTour, ?? @nalbandiandavid!
The former World No. 3 is working with ?? @MioKecmanovic
(via @CordobaOpen) pic.twitter.com/fb43BLiOwb
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 25, 2021
It’s easy to forget that Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have all struggled with injury at points during their career. But they have always persevered to find ways to compete against — and in many cases, beat — the best players in the world.
“They are winning people. They’re born like that, they work for that, they’re ready for that. They always will find the way, it doesn’t matter how difficult it is,” Nalbandian said. “If the difficulty is high, they find a higher level and will be better than that. That’s unbelievable and something few people can do.”
Nalbandian, who tallied an 11-20 record against the Big Three, said he had to use different shots and tactics against each of the stars.
“First of all, they’re never going to lose the match, you have to beat them. Second, you have to be perfect on the tactics and then the execution of the tactics,” Nalbandian said. “Maybe you know how to play, but they are good players. They are not going to allow you to play the way you want to. It’s a combination of both things.”
When asked whether he expected their continued success long after he departed the ATP Tour, Nalbandian laughed. “No way,” he said. “No chance.”
“I think Nole could win the most Grand Slams, I believe so,” Nalbandian said, referring to Djokovic. “He’s too complete.”
Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina recovered from 1-3 down in the first set, and converted four of 10 break point opportunities, en route to beating fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday in one hour and 34 minutes at the Open Sud de France.
The 21-year-old will next challenge Belarusian Egor Gerasimov, who backed up Tuesday’s win over former World No. 1 Andy Murray by knocking out Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 51 minutes.
[WATCH LIVE 2]Austria’s Dennis Novak advanced to his second ATP Tour quarter-final after fighting back from a 3-5 deficit in the second set to knock out third seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 7-6(5), 7-5 in one hour and 35 minutes. Lajovic came into the ATP 250 event on the back of reaching the Australian Open fourth round (l. to Zverev).
Novak now faces German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who needed two hours and 28 minutes to overcome Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-3. In a big-serving contest, Gojowczyk hit 17 aces and won 86 per cent of his first-service points (60/70), while Vesely fired down 29 aces.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament due to an ongoing back injury.
The Spanish superstar was unable to compete at the ATP Cup earlier this month due to back stiffness, but recovered to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals (l. to Tsitsipas).
Unfortunately, Rafael Nadal is forced to pull out of the 48th ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The back problems that started in Australia prevent him from playing next week. Daniil Medvedev, number 3 in the ATP Rankings, is now the top seed in the tournament. pic.twitter.com/XPXaX0ZZQG
— ABN AMRO WTT (@abnamrowtt) February 25, 2021
Nadal wrote on Twitter: “It is with great sadness that I have to forfeit from Rotterdam. As most of the fans know, I suffered some back problems in Australia that started in Adelaide and continued during Melbourne. We found a temporary solution that allowed me to play without pain in the second week of the tournament.
“Once I got back to Spain I visited my doctor and together with my team they’ve advised not to play this upcoming week. I was really looking forward to coming back to Rotterdam and The Netherlands since it’s been a while I played there.
“This was the perfect year for my calendar. I hope to come back and play there soon. All the best to the tournament, always a top class event.”
The 34-year-old, who had been bidding to capture a record 21st Grand Slam championship crown, has a 4-1 record on the 2021 season.
