Roger Federer aiming to return to tennis in Doha in March
Roger Federer says he hopes to return from a long-term knee injury at the Qatar Open in March after missing the Australian Open.
Roger Federer says he hopes to return from a long-term knee injury at the Qatar Open in March after missing the Australian Open.
Britain’s Katie Boulter claims one of the biggest wins of her career with a three-set victory over Coco Gauff in the Gippsland Trophy second round.
Rafael Nadal announced on Twitter that he will not compete on Tuesday evening in Team Spain’s opening tie against Team Australia at the ATP Cup due to a stiff lower back.
“Hi all, we have decided with Team Spain and my team to not play today [in] the first match of the ATP Cup here in Melbourne since I have a stiff lower back,” Nadal wrote. “Hopefully I’ll be better for Thursday. We have a strong team.”
Hi all, we have decided with #TeamSpain and my team, to not play today the first match of the @ATPCup here in #Melbourne since I have a stiff low back. Hopefully I’ll be better for Thursday. We have a strong team, all the to @pablocarreno91 @BautistaAgut & @M_Granollers #vamos ??
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) February 2, 2021
Roberto Bautista Agut, who went 6-0 at last year’s ATP Cup without losing a set, will play Alex de Minaur in the No. 1 singles match, and World No. 16 Pablo Carreno Busta will step in to compete at No. 2 singles against John Millman.
Spain advanced to the championship match at last year’s inaugural ATP Cup, falling 2-1 against Serbia.
Tennys Sandgren and John-Patrick Smith were college teammates at the University of Tennessee a decade ago, and on Tuesday they were across the net from one another in the first round of the Great Ocean Road Open.
It was a tough battle at Melbourne Park for the former Tennessee Volunteers, but it was ninth seed Sandgren who prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 after two hours and 15 minutes. This was the first ATP Head2Head meeting for the pair, who had previously split four professional meetings.
Sandgren, a two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist, saved 11 of the 15 break points he faced and won 71 per cent of his second-serve return points to advance. The American will next play Italian Salvatore Caruso.
#NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz also advanced Tuesday. The 17-year-old was tied at 2-2 against Attila Balazs when the Hungarian retired due to left heel pain. Alcaraz will next play top seed David Goffin.
Carlos Alcaraz will next play David Goffin. Photo Credit: Tennis Australia
Uruguayan shotmaker Pablo Cuevas moved into the second round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against 14th seed Pablo Andujar. This was the pair’s first meeting since the 2011 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Cuevas broke serve four times and won 50 per cent of his return points to triumph after one hour and 26 minutes. The World No. 70 is pursuing his seventh ATP Tour singles title.
Former World No. 3 Milos Raonic served up a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Dusan Lajovic on Tuesday to give Canada a crucial first point over defending champion Serbia at the ATP Cup.
Raonic, Canada’s No. 2 singles player, had to hit the ground running in his tournament debut as Canada was dealt a tough draw, landing in Group A with Serbia and Germany.
The 29-year-old was in command against Serbian No. 2 Lajovic, who won four of his six singles matches en route to the trophy last year. Raonic dropped only three points on serve in the first set and five in the second, keeping Lajovic in check as the Serbian tried to jam him with body serves of his own.
Raonic grew in confidence as the match unfolded, converting the lone break opportunity to finally pull away at 5-3 before sealing the set with an ace. He continued to apply the pressure against Lajovic in the second set, and claimed the victory after an hour and 20 minutes.
[WATCH LIVE 1]“I think I was sharp. I was there in a lot of return games. I kept putting pressure,” Raonic said. “I missed a few break point opportunities, but I kept sticking around and took care of my serve, which is always important.
“This is the first time playing in this event for Canada… It’s a lot of fun to be here. It’s a great honor as well to represent Canada.”
With the victory, Raonic puts Canada ahead 1-0 against Serbia. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Denis Shapovalov are set to take the court at Rod Laver Arena in the No. 1 singles match.
More to follow…
BBC Sport brings you live radio and text coverage plus TV highlights of the second week of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
When Sebastian Korda embarked on his professional journey four years ago, this moment became a matter of when, not if. After all, sporting greatness is ingrained in the Korda family’s DNA.
For all players striving to reach the upper echelons of the game, reaching the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings is that first major milestone. It is one that signals your arrival and confirms the belief that you belong on the same stage as the game’s best players.
But not all journeys are created equal. Korda’s path to the Top 100 was not quite as straightforward he had hoped – or many expected.
“It’s a little longer journey than the guys in the Top 100 right now, but I always say that I prefer mine over everybody else’s,” Korda told ATPTour.com. “With what I’ve experienced, I can appreciate things more.”
On Monday, Korda celebrates his long-awaited debut among the 100 best players in the world. The 20-year-old has ascended to a career-high of No. 88 after lifting his second ATP Challenger Tour title in Quimper, France. The youngest player to break into the Top 100 since Jannik Sinner two years ago, he is also the youngest American to join the club since Frances Tiafoe in 2016.
Recent #NextGenATP American Top 100 Debuts
| Player | Age | Debut Date |
| Sebastian Korda |
20 years, 6 months |
1 February 2021 |
| Michael Mmoh | 20 years, 8 months | 1 October 2018 |
| Ernesto Escobedo | 20 years, 8 months | 3 April 2017 |
| Frances Tiafoe | 18 years, 8 months | 10 October 2016 |
| Jared Donaldson | 19 years, 11 months | 12 September 2016 |
| Taylor Fritz | 18 years, 4 months | 29 February 2016 |
The 20-year-old has embraced the idea that his road to the top is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s the philosophy that his father – former World No. 2 Petr Korda – instilled in him from the onset of his professional career. And it’s one that helped him navigate through an 0-7 start to his tenure on the ATP Challenger Tour, as well as an 0-8 record in his first eight professional finals.
With a family pedigree that includes two sisters inside the current Top 20 of the LPGA Women’s World Golf Rankings, a father that ascended to No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and a mother that peaked at No. 26 on the WTA Tour, expectations have always been high. But it’s that support system that has kept Korda focused and always looking forward, even at his lowest point.
“I always knew I had the game to do this,” Korda added. “It’s just been about getting my body right and really having some good people around me that push me every single day. I know how hard it is to climb the rankings and always being in these tough places. Playing the Challenger level was never easy and I had to battle through that mentally. It really helped me.
“I’ve always been super tough and mentally strong and I try to go back and learn from those experiences. I never take a loss for granted and I always learn from it and build from it. At the time, I put my head down and grinded through it. I’ve come a long way.”
The Korda men – Petr and Sebastian – are now part of an exclusive club, as one of just six father-son duos to appear in the Top 100 in the history of the FedEx ATP Rankings (since 1973). What started with Fred Stolle and Sandon Stolle in the 1970s and 1990s has since included Leif Johansson and Joachim Johansson, Phil Dent and Taylor Dent, Christophe Roger-Vasselin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and most recently Christian Ruud and Casper Ruud.
Father-Son Duos In The Top 100 (since 1973)
| Father (Career-High) |
Son (Career-High) |
| Petr Korda (No. 2) |
Sebastian Korda (No. 88) |
| Christian Ruud (No. 39) | Casper Ruud (No. 25) |
| Christophe Roger-Vasselin (No. 29) | Edouard Roger-Vasselin (No. 35) |
| Phil Dent (No. 17) | Taylor Dent (No. 21) |
| Leif Johansson (No. 51) | Joachim Johansson (No. 9) |
| Fred Stolle (No. 30) | Sandon Stolle (No. 50) |
“I think the biggest thing was being in New York [for the 2020 US Open] and being around all the guys,” Korda reflected. “They made me feel comfortable in my own skin, just being able to practise with them and learn from them. Understanding what they’re doing and how they’re doing it was a super big help for me. You can play professional tennis for 15-plus years if you’re healthy and everything is going ok. It’s a long road and a long journey for sure.”
As he began to ascend the FedEx ATP Rankings following a stellar junior career that included a title at the 2018 Australian Open, Korda struggled to win a match on the Challenger circuit. From the hard courts of Indian Wells to the clay of Panama City, he would spend a full year developing his game and finding his confidence, before finally notching his first victory. As he says, cutting his teeth at the lower levels was an integral part of his maturation and growth. One year later, the Florida native was rewarded with his maiden title, as he watched his winless run in finals come to an triumphant conclusion on the indoor hard courts of Eckental, Germany.
Now, fresh off a first ATP Tour final appearance in Delray Beach and a second Challenger title in Quimper, France, Korda cannot be stopped. A run of 14 wins in 15 matches has him firmly cemented inside the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings.
“I started the week super stressed because my sister Jessica won her first tournament in 2-3 years last Sunday. I was watching from here and was stressing the whole time. But to see her lift the trophy was inspiring and she was saying, ‘ok, it’s your turn’. I had to step it up a little bit.
“I had it on my mind for the first few days this week, and it was just a relief when I knew I had finally made it. I had worked so hard for this. Since I first started playing tennis, one of my biggest goals was getting to the Top 100. It’s a dream come true, but hopefully I can go a lot higher than this and keep enjoying the journey.”
Jeremy Chardy saved five match points to scrape past No. 11 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia on Monday night at the Murray River Open.
Chardy recovered from 3-6 down in the deciding set tie-break and saved two further match points at 6/7 and 7/8 in a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(8) win over former World No. 3 Cilic in two hours and 32 minutes. It was Chardy’s first win over Cilic in almost four years (2017 Miami) and he next challenges French compatriot Gilles Simon or Sweden’s Elias Ymer.
[WATCH LIVE 3]Alex Bolt beat fellow Australian and pre-season training partner Thanasi Kokkinakis, who was playing his first tour-level match since the 2019 US Open, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 54 minutes.
“It’s always tough,” said Bolt, who will next face American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round. “We basically trained all pre-season together. So it’s not the best when you have to play someone you know really well. I probably started off a little bit erratic, not as good as I’d like to.”
World No. 265 Jason Kubler will play Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis after he knocked out ninth seed Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and eight minutes. “It’s good for my confidence that after injury I’m heading in the right direction,” said Kubler. “It’s probably my second best [win] ever I reckon. I had a good win [in the 2018] US Open first round [over Roberto Bautista Agut].”
Elsewhere, French No. 10 seed Adrian Mannarino defeated Mikael Ymer of Sweden 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 32 minutes. It was Mannarino’s first win of the season after he lost to Cameron Norrie in the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com first round last month.
The stage is set. Across five days and 15 ties, 12 countries will battle to become ATP Cup champion. Can Serbia defend its crown? Will Spain go one step further than last year and lift the trophy? Or will one of the remaining 10 nations break through and take the title?
Here are the five things that matter most ahead of Day 1 at the ATP Cup.
Revenge Or Repeat?
Serbia and Canada will clash in the first tie on Rod Laver Arena. The two nations met in last year’s knockout stage, when Serbia claimed a 3-0 victory to reach the semi-finals. The standout match of that tie was Novak Djokovic and Denis Shapovalov’s No. 1 singles clash, won by Djokovic in a final-set tie-break. The World No. 1 was pushed to the limit for two hours and 40 minutes in Sydney, but he held his nerve to deny the Canadian a memorable victory. The pair will meet for the second straight year in No. 1 singles action.
Tournament Debutants
Andrey Rublev is one of three Top 20 singles stars making his tournament debut on Day 1. The World No. 8 is the highest-ranked No. 2 singles player in the competition and he will attempt to carry his form from 2020 into this team event. Rublev tied Djokovic for the most tour-level wins (41) and led the ATP Tour with five ATP Tour titles last year. Matteo Berrettini will attempt to begin his ATP Cup campaign with another win against World No. 3 Dominic Thiem. The Italian is tied at 2-2 in his ATP Head2Head series against the US Open champion with 2019 victories at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and Nitto ATP Finals. Milos Raonic, who rose from No. 32 to No. 14 in the FedEx ATP Rankings last year, will face Dusan Lajovic in the opening match of Serbia and Canada’s tie.
Familiar Foes
Spain and Australia will headline the evening session on Rod Laver Arena in a repeat of last year’s semi-final. On that occasion, Spain claimed a 3-0 victory to reach the championship match. The one-sided score did not fully reflect last year’s battle in Sydney, where two of the three matches required a final set. Alex de Minaur claimed the first set of his encounter with Rafael Nadal and served to take the Spaniard to a second-set tie-break, but Nadal raised his level to win seven of the next eight games and confirm his nation’s place in the championship match.
Deciding Doubles
At the inaugural ATP Cup, 14 ties were decided by doubles matches. Watch out for more deciding doubles clashes this year. Australia’s doubles stars John Peers and Luke Saville have both achieved past success at Melbourne Park. Peers lifted the Australian Open trophy with Henri Kontinen in 2017 and Saville partnered Max Purcell to the championship match last year (l. to Ram/Salisbury). Spain and Argentina can both count on players who qualified for last year’s Nitto ATP Finals. Marcel Granollers (Spain) and Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) claimed three titles as a team en route to the season finale in 2020.
Thiem, Medvedev Return
For the first time since their 2020 Nitto ATP Finals championship match, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev will step onto the same court on Day 1 at the ATP Cup. In the day session on John Cain Arena, Thiem will lead Austria in Group C action against Italy. Medvedev will make his first appearance of the season in the evening session, when Russia meets Argentina in another 2020 knockout stage rematch.
Thiem and Medvedev will both be aiming to start the year strong and use the team competition as a springboard for 2021 success. The two rivals both defeated Top 2 stars Djokovic and Nadal en route to the Nitto ATP Finals championship match in 2020. This year, they will attempt to overtake them in the FedEx ATP Rankings.
Former World No. 5 Kevin Anderson got off to a winning start in his 2021 ATP Tour season opener on Monday at the Great Ocean Road Open. The 34-year-old Anderson fired 17 aces past No. 16 seed Feliciano Lopez, breaking once in each set, for a 6-4, 7-5 victory in 90 minutes.
The South African won 40 of 46 first-service points and saved all three break points he faced against 39-year-old Lopez. Anderson now plays Bolivian Hugo Dellien or Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany in the second round.
[WATCH LIVE 2]Elsewhere, Slovenian No. 13 seed Aljaz Bedene recovered from a 1-4 deficit in the first set and edged past Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in just under two hours. Bedene awaits the winner between South Korean alternate Ji Sung Nam and wild card Dane Sweeny of Australia.
South Korean Soonwoo Kwon held his nerve to overcome Andrej Martin of the Slovak Republic 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) in two hours and 38 minutes for a second-round clash against seventh-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
David Goffin, Karen Khachanov, Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner headline the ATP 250 tournament field at Melbourne Park.
