Australian Open: Salisbury & Ram beat Murray & Soares in men's doubles
Britain’s Joe Salisbury is one more win from another Australian Open crown after reaching the men’s doubles final at the expense of Jamie Murray.
Britain’s Joe Salisbury is one more win from another Australian Open crown after reaching the men’s doubles final at the expense of Jamie Murray.
Novak Djokovic has said he has a “love affair” with the Australian Open, his most successful Grand Slam championship.
“I’ve been feeling more comfortable on the court each year that I’ve been coming back,” Djokovic said before this year’s event. “The more you win, obviously the more confidence you have and the more pleasant you feel on the court. It just feels right.”
The World No. 1 will try to claim his ninth Australian Open trophy on Sunday inside Rod Laver Arena. Before he does, ATPTour.com looks at key Djokovic stats to watch.
Novak’s Quick Starts
Djokovic has been hot out of the gates in recent Grand Slam finals. In 11 of his past 13 major championship matches, the Serbian has taken the first set. However, losing the first set hasn’t been fatal for Djokovic Down Under. He has dropped the first set in three of his eight Australian Open finals and still lifted the trophy each time.
The Serbian’s Melbourne Record Is Better Than Federer & Sampras’ At SW19
Nobody has performed better at a single Grand Slam than Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, where the Spaniard is an astonishing 100-2. But Djokovic has carved an impressive legacy of his own at the Australian Open, where he is 81-8, giving him a winning percentage of 91 per cent.
Roger Federer and Pete Sampras are known for their success at Wimbledon, but Djokovic’s efforts Down Under have been better than theirs on the London grass. Sampras was 63-7 at SW19 (90%) and Federer is 101-13 at Wimbledon (88.6%).
| Player | Event | Record | Winning % |
| Rafael Nadal | Roland Garros | 100-2 | 98% |
| Novak Djokovic | Australian Open | 81-8 | 91% |
| Pete Sampras | Wimbledon | 63-7 | 90% |
| Roger Federer | Wimbledon | 101-13 | 88.6% |
He Has Never Lost An Australian Open Final
Djokovic reached his first Grand Slam championship match at Melbourne Park in 2008, and he has never lost a final inside Rod Laver Arena. The Serbian is 8-0 in Australian Open finals, with only two of those clashes going to five sets. Djokovic needed five hours and 53 minutes to outlast Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in the 2012 final, which remains the longest match in tournament history. The 33-year-old has never lost once he has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open (17-0).
Photo Credit: Tennis Australia
Djokovic Is A Break Machine In Australian Open Finals
The eight-time champion has broken serve 45 times in his eight Australian Open finals, and never fewer than three times in a match. Djokovic has earned an average of more than one service break in each of his 31 sets with the trophy on the line at Melbourne Park.
In the Serbian’s past four Australian Open finals, he has broken serve at least five times per match, with a break-point conversion rate of 50 per cent. Djokovic has taken advantage of more than 41 per cent of his break opportunities in his eight championship matches Down Under.
| Year | Opponent | Break Pts Converted |
| 2008 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 4/12 |
| 2011 | Andy Murray | 7/18 |
| 2012 | Rafael Nadal | 7/20 |
| 2013 | Andy Murray | 3/11 |
| 2015 | Andy Murray | 9/16 |
| 2016 | Andy Murray | 5/12 |
| 2019 | Rafael Nadal | 5/8 |
| 2020 | Dominic Thiem | 5/12 |
He Is Serving Up A Storm
Djokovic rarely tops an aces’ leaderboard, but he is serving up a storm at this Australian Open. In his second-round match against Frances Tiafoe, the Serbian uncorked a career-high 26 aces to oust the American. In the quarter-finals against Alexander Zverev, Djokovic struck 23. Entering the tournament, 23 aces was his personal-best, and he had only hit at least 20 in a match twice.
Djokovic has 100 aces through six matches to pace the men’s field Down Under.
| Round | Opponent | Score | Aces |
| SF | A. Karatsev | 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 | 17 |
| QF | A. Zverev | 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(6) | 23 |
| R16 | M. Raonic | 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 | 10 |
| R3 | T. Fritz | 7-6(1), 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2 | 15 |
| R2 | F. Tiafoe | 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-3 | 26 |
| R1 | J. Chardy | 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 | 9 |
The Serbian Is A Top 10 Killer In Melbourne
Djokovic has earned 22 of his 81 victories in Melbourne against Top 10 opponents. His winning percentage of 81.5 per cent against that elite group at the event is not far off from his career winning percentage against all players (83.1%). To put the Serbian’s success in perspective, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have a combined 22 Australian Open wins.
Djokovic has dominated the rest of the Big Four in Melbourne, going a combined 10-1 against his legendary rivals. His only loss against them came against Roger Federer in the fourth round in 2007, when the Serbian was just 19 and the Swiss star was World No. 1.
Halfway across the globe, snow was blanketing the Acropolis, as uncommon a sight as they come in the Greek capital; like a good stin igia mas (“to our health”) toast without the ouzo.
What had just occurred in Melbourne was equally as rare. For only the second time in 225 Grand Slam matches in which he had taken the first two sets, Rafael Nadal had suffered defeat, a stunning 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 upset at the hands of Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Temperatures may have plummeted back in his native Athens, but Tsitsipas was white-hot Down Under. He had outhit the No. 2 seed and 20-time major champion from the baseline, his strokes as clean, as purposeful as they have been at any point in his five-year professional career. When the four-hour saga was over, Tsitsipas shared an intimate courtside moment with his camp, which included his father and coach, Apostolos Tsitsipas.
“Moments like this haven’t happened a lot in my career, and the fact that I was able to come back the way I did and the way I fought against such a top, respected player like Rafa was something extra, something I have never felt before,” said the fifth seed. “It was a first-timer. And to be able to just walk up to my team and hug them and share that little moment of appreciation and solidarity, it was epic.”
“It was everything I ever dreamed of,” he added.
Tsitsipas, No. 6 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, has been here before. He introduced himself to the tennis world at large at this same event in 2019, an uber-talented 20-year-old with uncommon poise; a YouTube diarist whose ambitions seemed to stretch far beyond the confines of a tennis court. He reached the semi-finals that year, too, upending then-third-ranked Roger Federer along the way. (He would sweep the Big Three of Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic before turning 21.)
But as big as his win over Federer was, even his triumph later that year at the Nitto ATP Finals, his comeback on Wednesday night against Nadal — the same player who had halted his run in the semi-finals in Melbourne in 2019 — somehow felt like more of a bona fide coming-of-age moment. On 17 February 2021, Stefanos Tsitsipas had arrived in earnest, taking full flight, as he would tell us, like a bird.
“I woke up today and I felt really relaxed and I just felt like things were going to go my way. I don’t know how to explain it. I was very serene during the match, regardless if it was the first set or the fifth one,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m very proud of the attitude that I showed… It’s a sign of maturity and a sign of strength, I think.”
Tsitsipas will need all the strength he can muster in the semi-finals against fourth seed Daniil Medvedev, who hasn’t lost a match (19-0) since October 2020. He’s just 1-5 against the streaking Russian, though he did claim their most recent encounter at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.
“Medvedev is going to be a difficult task,” said Tsitsipas, who, with his win over Nadal, is now 2-4 against Top 10 competition at the Slams. “He’s in very good shape, playing good tennis, playing accurate, playing simple. [I] might have said in the past that he plays boring, but I don’t really think he plays boring. He just plays extremely smart and outplays you. He’s somebody I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press.”
Medvedev made quick work of his quarter-final opponent, needing just over two hours to dispatch countryman and ATP Cup teammate Andrey Rublev. Playing authoritative, thinking man’s tennis, the 25-year-old is into his third Grand Slam semi-final. The 2019 US Open runner-up is fast becoming a darling of the tennis cognoscenti, Hall of Famer-turned-broadcaster John McEnroe among them.
“He’s basically my favourite guy to watch now because he just plays old-school a little bit,” said McEnroe. “He’s strategising, he’s thinking ahead. These are the types of guys that we need and that we’re going to be seeing.”
Calling the all-Russian showdown from his ESPN bunker on the East Coast of the United States, McEnroe threw out an apt rock and roll analogy. If Rublev is a souped-up electric guitar in the vein of the late Eddie Van Halen, said McEnroe, then Medvedev is a classic Fender Strat; retro, refined, but capable of making some big noise, too.
“The more you win in a row, the more it’s better as a feeling,” said Medvedev. “I don’t have the exact word even to describe this. I’m happy about my level in all the matches that I won, that I’ve played. Some matches I could say I could do this better, that better. But for me, the momentum, the confidence is a big part. I think you can see that once I lose it, I start to make more unforced errors and that’s where my game can be a little weaker. I’m really happy that I managed to keep this momentum going so far, and it feels great. Hopefully, I can continue it for at least two matches.”
Can Tsitsipas curb that momentum? Stranger things have happened. Like snow in Athens.
After winning the championship match of the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, Stefanos Tsitsipas returned to the players’ area and celebrated with his team. Front and centre was Apostolos Tsitsipas, the Greek’s father and coach. Their smiles spoke louder than words.
During that event, the younger Tsitsipas often avoided putting on his headset to talk to his father, sometimes leaving Apostolos, who was keen to give his son advice, cracking up. But after the Greek star clinched the trophy and the fans had departed, Stefanos rubbed his father’s cheeks as his way of saying, “we did it”. Apostolos brought his son closer and gave him a kiss.
“I’m learning every day,” Apostolos told ATPTour.com in 2018. “Hopefully one day I will be a good enough coach for my son for his future demands and his future dreams.”
Apostolos has long sacrificed whatever he could to allow his son to pursue those dreams. The 53-year-old did not play his first tennis tournament until the age of 23, and he would spend time as a teaching professional in Athens. Stefanos’ mom, Julia Salnikova, cracked the WTA’s Top 200 in singles and doubles. When Stefanos was 12, someone needed to travel with him to tournaments. Apostolos quit his job and became his son’s full-time coach, while Salnikova stayed home with the rest of the family.
“I don’t know if he had a choice, but he just risked it. He just quit himself and started travelling with me,” Stefanos said at 2018 Wimbledon. “I do appreciate what he did for me, because it’s amazing. Not many fathers would do this for their son.”
Tsitsipas’ success has validated his father’s sacrifice. When Stefanos won the Next Gen ATP Finals, he was already the No. 15 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings. One month earlier, he had won his first ATP Tour title at the Stockholm Open. It wasn’t a matter of whether Tsitsipas could reach the upper echelons of the sport — the Greek was already there.
There was only one question: How high could Tsitsipas could climb? Then 20, he admitted that he learned something that week at the Fiera Milano.
“I’ve learned that I’m a fighter,” Tsitsipas said. “That I have a big heart.”
Two months later, Tsitsipas made his biggest Grand Slam breakthrough, reaching the semi-finals of the 2019 Australian Open. During that run, he stunned Roger Federer in four sets. But Rafael Nadal showed the Greek wasn’t quite ready to go all the way, delivering a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 beatdown that left the Greek struggling for answers.
“It kind of felt like in a way it wasn’t tennis so much like the other matches that I played,” Tsitsipas said. “It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely.”
But that was just the beginning. Tsitsipas beat Nadal for the first time that year in Madrid, and he cracked the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. Later that year, the Greek star made the jump from #NextGenATP to “Now Gen”, lifting the trophy at the Nitto ATP Finals. The Greek was an established star, and his attacking game was clearly a threat to anyone at any time.
It wasn’t always easy for Tsitsipas, though. The Greek has faced setbacks. In the third round of last year’s US Open, he let slip six match points against Borna Coric and could only watch a week later when Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, both of whom he beat en route to the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals title, competed for the trophy.
Tsitsipas has never been one to wallow in his sorrows, though. The 6’4” right-hander has always managed to learn from his losses. One month later, he reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, where Djokovic needed five sets to advance.
“Losing kind of keeps you in the same place, in the same spot, which is why I hate losing. Of course, I think everyone hates losing. It’s weird if you don’t hate losing,” Tsitsipas said. “But I guess a loss is a very good lesson where life puts a stop [to] what you’re doing. You can reflect on that. You can grow. You can get better.”
In Wednesday’s Australian Open quarter-finals, Tsitsipas once again lost the first two sets against Rafael Nadal at Melbourne Park. The Spanish legend was pursuing a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title. But Tsitsipas did not give up. He fought back, and triumphed 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 after four hours and five minutes.
“Moments like this haven’t happened a lot in my career, and the fact that I was able to come back the way I did and the way I fought against such a top, respected player like Rafa was something extra, something I have never felt before,” Tsitsipas said. “It was a first-timer.”
Tsitsipas had already accomplished a lot during his young career when he recovered against Nadal inside Rod Laver Arena. It wasn’t the first time he reached a Grand Slam semi-final, and it wasn’t the Greek’s maiden victory against Nadal. Instead, it felt like Tsitsipas had come full circle. He had won the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy 830 days earlier and said, “I’m a fighter… I have a big heart.”
Stefanos showed it against Rafa, taking it to one of the most battle-tested icons in tennis history. It was only fitting that after the match, Tsitsipas walked over to his father in a moment straight out of a movie script. A decade ago, Apostolos quit his job to give his son anything he needed to pursue his dreams. Stefanos continues to make them come true, and he will try to take another step on his journey Friday when he plays Daniil Medvedev for a spot in his first Grand Slam final.
“To be able to just walk up to my team and hug them and share that little moment of appreciation and solidarity, it was epic,” Tsitsipas said. “It was everything I ever dreamed of, and I’m glad that I am where I am today. There is obviously light ahead at the end of the tunnel, and there is plenty more to go.”
Diego Schwartzman will return to the Cordoba Open looking to delight Argentine tennis fans by lifting an ATP Tour trophy on home soil for the first time.
The World No. 9 came agonisingly close last year, falling short in a final that went to three sets. But Schwartzman will have another shot at the third edition of this ATP 250 event, set to kick off on 22 February. Two of Schwartzman’s three ATP Tour titles have come on clay, and he’s made half of his 10 career finals on the surface.
But Schwartzman won’t be flying the sky blue and white flag alone. He leads a strong Argentine contingent that includes Juan Ignacio Londero, who won his maiden ATP Tour title at the 2019 edition, as well as Guido Pella, Federico Delbonis and Federico Coria. They will be among the players aiming to become Cordoba’s third consecutive South American champion, after Chilean Cristian Garin’s victory in 2020.
Benoit Paire, Miomir Kecmanovic, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Andujar are also in action at the ATP Tour’s first clay-court tournament of the season.
Here’s all you need to know about the Cordoba tennis tournament: what is the schedule, when is the draw, who has won, how to watch and more.
Established: 2019
Tournament Dates: 22-28 February 2021
Tournament Director: Mariano Ink
Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 20 February 2021 at 4pm
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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday, 20 February – Sunday, 21 February at 11am
* Main draw: Monday, 22 February – Sunday, 28 February at 2:30pm and 6:30pm (Saturday 4pm)
* Doubles final: Sunday, 28 February at 5pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 28 February at 7pm
How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV
TV Schedule
Venue: Kempes Stadium
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Prize Money: US $294,235 (Total Financial Commitment: US $356,035)
View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown
Honour Roll
Most Titles, Singles: Cristian Garin (1), Juan Ignacio Londero (1)
Most Titles, Doubles: Roman Jebavy (1), Andres Molteni (1), Marcelo Demoliner (1), Matwe Middelkoop (1)
Oldest Champion: Juan Ignacio Londero, 25, in 2019
Youngest Champion: Cristian Garin, 23, in 2020
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 31 Cristian Garin in 2020
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 112 Juan Ignacio Londero in 2019
Most Match Wins: Juan Ignacio Londero (7)
Last Home Champion: Juan Ignacio Londero in 2019
2020 Finals
Singles: [3/WC] Cristian Garin (CHI) d. [1] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 Read More
Doubles: [3] Marcelo Demoliner/Matwe Middelkoop d. Leonardo Mayer/Andres Molteni 6-3, 7-6(4) Read More
Social
Hashtag: #CordobaOpen2021
Facebook: Córdoba Open
Twitter: @CordobaOpen
Instagram: @CordobaOpen
French champions have ruled the courts in Montpellier at the Open Sud de France, lifting the trophy eight times since the first edition in 2010. Three-time winner Richard Gasquet and 2019 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lead a group of home hopefuls looking to continue that winning tradition when the ATP 250 event kicks off on 22 February.
The tournament is headlined by a pair of Top 20 players, Roberto Bautista Agut and David Goffin, who will each be aiming to double their indoor hard-court title count. Goffin’s lone title on the surface came on French soil at the 2014 Moselle Open (Metz), while Bautista Agut triumphed at the Sofia Open in 2016.
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray will arrive in Montpellier in search of matches as he enters his first ATP Tour event of the year with a wild card. Currently sitting at No. 125 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Murray kicked off his comeback 2021 season with a strong showing at the Biella Challenger Indoor 1, where he reached his first final at any level since 2019.
Lucas Pouille, the 2018 champion, will be back in action as countrymen Ugo Humbert, Gilles Simon and Pierre-Hugues Herbert are in the hunt to be Montpellier’s fifth different French champion. Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner, who have already won ATP 250 titles in 2021, will also hit the courts in Montpellier.
Here’s all you need to know about the Montpellier tennis tournament: what is the schedule, when is the draw, who has won, how to watch and more.
Established: 2010
Tournament Dates: 22-28 February 2021
Tournament Director: Sebastien Grosjean
Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 20 February 2021 at 12pm
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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Sunday, 21 February (10am); Monday, 22 February (10:30am)
* Main draw: Monday, 22 February – Sunday, 28 February at 12:30pm and 7pm
* Doubles final: Sunday, 28 February at 12:30pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 28 February at 3pm
How To Watch
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Venue: Arena Montpellier
Surface: Indoor Hard
Prize Money: € 262,170 (Total Financial Commitment: € 323,970)
View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown
Honour Roll
Most Titles, Singles: Richard Gasquet (3), Gael Monfils (3)
Most Titles, Doubles: Edouard Roger-Vasselin (2), Mate Pavic (2)
Oldest Champion: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 33, in 2019
Youngest Champion: Alexander Zverev, 19, 2017
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 7 Tomas Berdych in 2012
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 210 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2019
Most Match Wins: Richard Gasquet (26)
Last Home Champion: Gael Monfils in 2020
2020 Finals
Singles: [1] Gael Monfils (FRA) d [PR] Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 7-5, 6-3 Read More
Doubles: Nikola Cacic/Mate Pavic d. Dominic Inglot/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-4 Read More
Social
Hashtag: #OSDF21
Facebook: @OpenSuddeFrance
Twitter: @OpenSuddeFrance
Instagram: @OpenSuddeFrance
The “Little Red Dot” will host an ATP Tour tournament for the first time in 22 years when the Singapore Tennis Open kicks off on 22 February.
The ATP 250 event will be played on indoor hard courts and held on a single-year licence at the 3,000-seater OCBC Arena inside the vast Singapore Sports Hub. Singapore previously hosted an ATP tournament between 1989-1992 and 1996-1999.
Adrian Mannarino and John Millman will anchor the draw for the 2021 edition of the Singapore Tennis Open. Both players will be looking to double their ATP Tour trophy haul. Mannarino triumphed on grass two years ago in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, while Millman won his maiden title this past November in Nur-Sultan.
Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, will also feature in Singapore. The big-serving Croatian enjoys an indoor hard court and will be in the hunt for his ninth title on the surface to bring his total to 19 ATP Tour titles. Alexander Bublik, Yoshihito Nishioka and Radu Albot are also in action.
Here’s all you need to know about the Singapore tennis tournament: what is the schedule, when is the draw, how to watch and more.
Established: 2021
Tournament Dates: 22-28 February 2021
Tournament Director: Galastein Tan
Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 20 February 2021 (Time TBA)
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Schedule
* Qualifying: Saturday, 20 February (11am); Sunday, 21 February (12pm)
* Main draw: Monday, 22 February – Sunday, 28 February (Monday-Friday 1pm, Saturday 12pm)
* Doubles final: Sunday, 28 February at 1pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 28 February at 4pm
How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV
TV Schedule
Venue: OCBC Arena (Singapore Sports Hub)
Surface: Indoor Hard
View Who Is Playing, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown
Prize Money: US $300,000 (Total Financial Commitment: US $361,800)
The finals of the Billie Jean Cup in April have been postponed for a second time because of the coronavirus.
Watch the best shots as Naomi Osaka beat Serena Williams in straight sets to advance to the final of the Australian Open.
Aslan Karatsev left Melbourne Park with his head held high on Thursday after a semi-final exit to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“It was a great two weeks for me, starting with the qualifying,” said Karatsev, after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 loss to nine-time champion Djokovic. “It’s a good experience. To play against Novak, helps me to get experience.
“It felt unbelievable [to play in front of a big crowd]. There was a lot of people here, and the support was really warm. It was [a] good atmosphere to play [in].”
Karatsev, who qualified for his first Grand Slam championship and beat eighth seed Diego Schwartzman, No. 18 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 20 seed Grigor Dimitrov en route to the Australian Open semi-finals, admitted that the difference between him and Djokovic on Rod Laver Arena was “huge”.
“The difference is really big,” said Karatsev, who was contesting just the 19th tour-level match of his career. “He doesn’t give you free points. On my serve, you have to play a rally every point. [My] serve didn’t work well today, and on my service games there [were] always rallies. He served well all the match, [so] you’re under pressure.”
The 27-year-old Russian, who started the tournament at No. 114 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, will rise into the Top 50 on Monday and looks forward to playing in ATP Tour events.
“It give me more experience, more confidence,” said Karatsev. “Now I will be playing all [the] big tournaments without [having to play in] the qualifying. I’ll [use] this confidence and just keep playing, keep practising.
“[I feel] that I can play with everyone. I think it’s helped me a lot [for] my career. I improved my ranking, Top 50 [too].”
Karatsev joined Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev as a part of Russia’s ATP Cup title-winning team prior to the Australian Open. Medvedev plays Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second Australian Open semi-final on Friday.
