Tennis News

Scouting Report: Tsitsipas Tops Acapulco Draw, Thiem Chases Dubai Glory

There will be two ATP 500s this week: the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Thirteen of the Top 20 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings are set to compete.

Stefanos Tsitsipas leads the way in Acapulco, and Dominic Thiem will try to lift the trophy in Dubai. ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at the two events.

VIEW DRAWS: ACAPULCO | DUBAI

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ACAPULCO
1) Stefanos The Top Seed: Tsitsipas will make his tournament debut at this ATP 500. The Greek star is off to a strong 10-3 start to 2021, including a run to the Australian Open semi-finals. Tsitsipas will begin his run against Frenchman Benoit Paire, against whom he owns a 1-1 ATP Head2Head record.

2) Zverev Returns To Acapulco: Alexander Zverev has more experience in Acapulco, where he reached the final in 2019 (l. to Kyrgios). The German is 8-3 at this tournament and he will try to improve on that record when he plays Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the first round.

3) Canadians In Mexico: Canadian stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic will try to make a splash in Acapulco. Auger-Aliassime is making his second appearance at the ATP 500 and Raonic will make his debut.

4) #NextGenATP In The Spotlight: Auger-Aliassime isn’t the only #NextGenATP player in the draw. Wild cards Alcaraz, a 17-year-old, and Sebastian Korda, a 20-year-old, will try to show their games on this big stage. Alcaraz qualified for this year’s Australian Open and reached the second round, while Korda made the final two months ago in Delray Beach.

5) Singles Stars Playing Doubles: Some of the top doubles teams in the world are competing in Acapulco, including Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos and Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares. There are also singles stars playing this doubles event, including Alexander Zverev (w/Mischa Zverev), Diego Schwartzman (w/Joao Sousa), Felix Auger-Aliassime/Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov/Tommy Paul.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN DUBAI
1) Thiem Time: World No. 4 Thiem will try to win his first ATP Tour title of the season. This will be the Austrian’s second appearance in Dubai, where he competed in 2015. The top seed has lifted 17 tour-level titles, five of which have come at an ATP 500. Thiem will play a qualifier or lucky loser in his opener.

2) Rublev Rolling: Few players on the ATP Tour are as hot as Andrey Rublev. The Russian led the Tour in 2020 with five titles, and he has maintained his momentum by beginning this year with a 13-2 record. The 23-year-old has won the past four ATP 500s he has played, and he will try to make it five in a row in Dubai.

3) In-Form RBA: Roberto Bautista Agut will try to maintain his good form after reaching the final in Doha. The fourth seed, who won the Dubai title in 2018, will play Marseille semi-finalist Matthew Ebden in his opener.

4) Young Stars Going For Glory: There is no shortage of young stars competing in this ATP 500. Nine Next Gen ATP Finals alumni will try to lift the trophy, including 2019 Milan champion Jannik Sinner, third seed Denis Shapovalov and Rublev.

5) Stacked Doubles Field: Everywhere you look in the Dubai doubles draw, there is a dangerous team. The top seeds are Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah and the second seeds are Nikola Mektic/Mate Pavic. Reigning Australian Open champions Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek are in the field as are new 2021 tandems Wesley Koolhof/Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo/Jean-Julien Rojer.

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Home Hope Garin To Face Bagnis For Santiago Crown

Top seed Cristian Garin sealed his spot in the Chile Dove Men+Care Open final without dropping a set after defeating Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday. 

The Santiago native is now one victory away from claiming his first ATP Tour title on home soil, and lifting his fifth trophy overall. He is hoping to become the first Chilean to win at home since Fernando Gonzalez at Vina del Mar in 2009.

“It’s amazing to have a tournament here in Chile. I really miss the crowd but this is always a special tournament for me,” Garin said in his on-court interview. “I’m so, so happy to be in the final. The first day that I arrived, I wasn’t playing well and it was my second tournament in months. So for me to be in the final is so special, and even more here in Chile.”

He will face Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis in the championship match. Bagnis, No. 118 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, served well to win 82 per cent of first-serve points (31/38) against countryman Federico Delbonis. He created more opportunities, breaking serve five times to record a 7-5, 6-3 victory in an hour and 39 minutes. 

The win marked a long-awaited milestone for the 31-year-old, who is now into his maiden Tour final in Santiago.

“I’m really happy and enjoying every day this week. It’s my first final, and I’m trying to take things with a balanced approach: enjoy it, but also stay mentally focussed because tomorrow is the most important match,” Bagnis said. “On Monday, I will celebrate and then look at where I land in the Rankings, but for now I have to stay focussed.”

It was Bagnis’ second match in three weeks against Delbonis, after claiming a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 victory at the Cordoba Open on his way to his first ATP Tour semi-final. He had to go through his good friend again in Santiago, extending his lead their ATP Head2Head to 4-0.

Did You Know?
For the third week in a row, there will be a first-time finalist contesting a championship match in the South American ‘Golden Swing’. Juan Manuel Cerundolo, 19, made a winning ATP Tour debut at the Cordoba Open, while older brother Francisco Cerundolo broke through with a run to the final at last week’s Argentina Open.

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Zverev Gets #NextGenATP Alcaraz In Acapulco Opener

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev are the top two seeds at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, and they’ve both been handed big challenges straight out of the gate at the ATP 500 event. 

#NextGenATP player Carlos Alcaraz will be Alexander Zverev’s first-round opponent. The 17-year-old Spaniard, who qualified for the Australian Open and reached the second round, is the youngest player in the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. Fourth seed Milos Raonic and sixth seed Fabio Fognini have also landed in Zverev’s half of the draw. 

Top seed Tsitsipas arrives in Acapulco looking for his first title of the year, but he’ll have to go through a section full of firepower if he hopes to advance. In addition to playing Benoit Paire in the first round, should Tsitsipas advance he could be facing big-servers John Isner and seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime quarter-finals, respectively.

Third seed Diego Schwartzman and fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov, who won here in 2014, also anchors Tsitsipas’ half of the draw. Wild card Sebastian Korda, who takes on Marin Cilic in the opening round, is another #NextGenATP player in the mix in Acapulco.

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Daniil's Directive: 'Don't Try This At Home!'

If there’s one word that does not describe Daniil Medvedev’s game, it’s “orthodox”. The Russian star made light of that on social media Saturday after advancing to the Open 13 Provence final.

Medvedev posted a picture of his legs twisted up with his back bent over as he hit a backhand. The top seed captioned his tweet: “People call me an elegant player. #yogafail”

People call me elegant player?‍♂️?#yogafail pic.twitter.com/pYpYU3t995

— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) March 13, 2021

“Definitely when I play on the court, I don’t think [of] how I’m going to put my legs just before the shot, I just try to put [the ball] in,” Medvedev said. “When I saw this picture, it was quite funny because many people can break their legs trying to do this at home. There should be a disclaimer: ‘Don’t try this at home.’ I thought it was funny to post about it.”

Whether his strokes look typical or not, Medvedev has had plenty of success with his game. On Monday, he will climb to a career-high World No. 2, becoming the first player outside the Big Four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to hold a top two spot since Lleyton Hewitt in July 2005.

“I’m definitely first of all happy about it. It’s a really cool achievement,” Medvedev said. “This moment is going to be [me climbing to] No. 2, which is really cool, especially knowing that other than the Big Four there were not so many people in the past years [there]. [That] makes me happy about this achievement, but of course as soon as you touch something new you want to go higher and higher.”

^{Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/Open 13 Provence}
Medvedev will try to win his first individual title of the season on Sunday when he takes on Pierre-Hugues Herbert for the Marseille trophy. Although the top seed is Russian, he is plenty comfortable in France.

On Saturday, Medvedev conducted his on-court interview in French. As a teen, he moved to France to train, and his longtime coach is Frenchman Gilles Cervara.

“I learned just a little bit [of French] before coming to France, so I didn’t know a lot of words and I couldn’t talk at all,” Medvedev said. “I knew just the basics to actually understand some things because if you come from zero and you just listen to people talk, I don’t think it’s the same when you know a little bit about the language and then you listen to people talking.”

Medvedev quickly picked up the language because of all the Frenchmen around him. Today he communicates in French with Cervara, French players, Belgian David Goffin and Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

“Just step by step [I’m] improving the language and I don’t think I am very easy with the languages, but I definitely have a small talent,” Medvedev said. “Since I speak already three languages and I feel like my English and French are not bad.”

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Glasspool/Heliovaara Move Into Maiden ATP Final In Marseille

Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara are into their first ATP Tour doubles final after a confident victory over Matthew Ebden and Matt Reid, 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday at the Open 13 Provence. 

Glasspool, of Great Britain, and Heliovaara, of Finland, linked up at the end of last season and reached the final in their first tournament together at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Maia. Their success continued in 2021, with Glasspool and Heliovaara reaching three finals (all Challenger-level) and lifting the trophy at the Gran Canaria Challenger event.

They’ve been in fine form in Marseille as well, dropping only one set en route to the final. Glasspool and Heliovaara, who are unseeded, took down wild cards Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round. The British-Finnish duo was pushed to a Match Tie-break in their biggest test of the week against the top seeds Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski but prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 10-8 in the quarter-finals.

They wasted no chances, and converted all four of the break points they created against Ebden and Reid. Glasspool and Heliovaara combined for nine aces, and fought back from a 1-2 deficit in the second set to seal the victory in 52 minutes.

Glasspool and Heliovaara will face Sander Arends and David Pel in the Marseille final. The all-Dutch team advanced after a 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow on Friday.

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Why Herbert Was Thrilled With A 4:40 a.m. Wakeup In Marseille

A 4:40 a.m. wakeup is not usually ideal for a tennis player the morning of an ATP Tour semi-final. But Pierre-Hugues Herbert wouldn’t have it any other way right now.

The Frenchman’s fiancée, Julia Lang, gave birth to their first child, Harper, last September. It has been a life-changing six months for the No. 93 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings, who beat countryman Ugo Humbert on Saturday to reach the Open 13 Provence final.

“It’s been for sure an exciting time. Having a baby changes your life. I didn’t know that before having one, but for sure it changes your view of life and also you need to adapt,” Herbert said. “For me, this week is pretty special because the beginning of the year has been hard. I’ve been away from family [for] five weeks in Australia, again away from family in Rotterdam. I didn’t see them a lot and I’m just so happy to have them right now with me at this tournament.”

That’s why getting woken up in the middle of the night did not bother Herbert.

“I was just happy to be woken up, almost. It didn’t go long, it was just to be fed and then go back to sleep so I could recover,” Herbert said. “I’m just so happy to be in this situation where I live those things. It’s life. It’s just amazing.”

Herbert will play top seed Daniil Medvedev for the Marseille trophy. The 29-year-old has been in top form at this ATP 250, where he has already defeated Top 10 star Stefanos Tsitsipas and former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori.

“I’m really happy about my match [against Humbert] and how I managed to come back on court after my win yesterday against Tsitsipas and still play a good match,” Herbert said. “I’m really proud of that and about the final, I play Daniil, third in the world, second [next week]. [He is] a player I’ve played already and a big champion. For sure it’s going to be an interesting final. I’m so happy to be in it and to be able to play such a final.”

Herbert has won all four Grand Slam championships in doubles with Nicolas Mahut, and he has previously reached three ATP Tour singles finals. If he upsets Medvedev on Sunday, Herbert will earn his first tour-level singles crown. Regardless of the result, the Frenchman is happy to be competing in front of his son.

“It’s a pretty special place where I’m at right now,” Herbert said. “I still have goals with my tennis and right now I’m just happy to be on court, happy to be with my family, so maybe you feel it when I’m on court.”

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Basilashvili Caps Dream Week With Doha Crown

Nikoloz Basilashvili entered the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with just two wins from his past 16 matches, but the Georgian found his best level in Doha to clinch his fourth ATP Tour title.

The World No. 42 did not face a break point, as he powered through heavy winds on Saturday to defeat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(5), 6-2. Basilashvili, who saved a match point to defeat Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, has now won his past four ATP Tour championship matches (4-2).

“I am somehow managing to play good in tougher conditions and tougher matches,” said Basilashvili. “This tournament was one of the toughest ATP 250s I have ever seen, probably. We had three Top 10 players. It is interesting [to ask] why I am playing good in the big tournaments and big matches. [It is] surprising. At the same time, [I am] happy.”

Basilashvili entered the final with a 1-3 ATP Head2Head record against Bautista Agut, but he improved to 2-0 against the fifth seed on hard courts with his victory in the final. Both of the 29-year-old’s wins against Bautista Agut have come in the Middle East. Basilashvili also defeated the Spaniard at the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“[I am] super happy. I was not expecting that but, at the same time, I was working a lot,” said Basilashvili. “I was feeling good on the court. I was playing the last half a year with a lot of stress in my body. I was not able to put 100 per cent on the court in any matches. This week, I somehow found a way to deal with the stressful moments. I am very happy to get through [to the title].”

In windy conditions on Centre Court, both players needed time to adjust to the conditions. The set was dominated by serve, but the opening six points of the tie-break were won by the returning player. Basilashvili was rewarded for taking risks on his backhand side, as he punished short balls to strike winners and force his opponent into errors.

Basilashvili earned the first two break points of the match at 3-2 in the second set, and he took his chance to close in on victory. The four-time ATP Tour titlist ripped two cross-court backhand winners to take a 4-2 lead and, two games later, he earned a second break to capture the title.

“[There were] very strong gusts today, but I had good mindset. From the beginning, I was accepting things very good,” said Basilashvili. “I was concentrated on just playing the game and just looking at the ball and moving a lot. It was tough physically, as well, because for sure you have to move twice as hard and I managed that.”

Bautista Agut was attempting to lift his 10th ATP Tour title. The 32-year-old entered the championship match on a nine-match winning streak at the ATP 250, dating back to the start of his title run in 2019. Bautista Agut defeated top seed Dominic Thiem and third seed Andrey Rublev in back-to-back matches to reach his 18th tour-level final (9-9).

“I don’t like to lose. I think I could have played a better but, today, it was his final. I want to congratulate Basilashvili,” Bautista Agut said in an on-court interview. “He played great. He played very aggressive. Now it is time to recover, to keep working, to keep improving and hopefully I can come back next year and try to get the title again.”

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Medvedev To Play For First Marseille Title

Could the third time be the charm for Daniil Medvedev in Marseille?

In his third main draw appearance at the Open 13 Provence, the Russian star will have a chance to win his first title at the ATP 250. Medvedev led Matthew Ebden 6-4, 3-0, 40/15 when the Australian retired due to injury.

It was a competitive match in the early going, with Ebden’s aggressive play and frequent serve-and-volleying putting the top seed off his game at times. But Medvedev, who saved three break points in the opener, broke for 5-4 and never looked back.

After that game, Ebden left the court for a medical timeout, and his movement was severely limited from there. The qualifier, who is No. 287 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, was the lowest-ranked semi-finalist in tournament history by nearly 100 spots.

Medvedev will play a home favourite, Ugo Humbert or Pierre-Hugues Herbert, on Sunday for the title. The Russian is pursuing his first individual title of the season after leading his country to ATP Cup glory in February.

Did You Know?
Medvedev will climb to a career-high No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday, becoming the first player outside the Big Four — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — to hold a top two spot since July 2005 (Lleyton Hewitt).

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Rublev Headlines Packed Section Of Dubai Draw

Andrey Rublev is chasing his fifth straight ATP 500 title next week, but he will need his best level from the early rounds to navigate an in-form section of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships draw.

The eight-time ATP Tour titlist, who has not lost an ATP 500 match since his appearance at this event last year, shares the bottom section of the draw with two players who brought their best level this week at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha: Nikoloz Basilashvili and Taylor Fritz.

View Dubai Singles Draw

Rublev will face Australia’s Jordan Thompson or a qualifier in his first match of the tournament. If he wins that match, he will meet the winner of Basilashvili and Fritz’s second-round clash. Basilashvili defeated Fritz to reach the Doha championship match on Friday.

Rublev is joined in the bottom quarter of the draw by sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta and 11th seed Dusan Lajovic. Former champions Roberto Bautista Agut (2018) and Stan Wawrinka (2016), 2020 semi-finalist Daniel Evans and #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner also feature in the bottom half.

Dominic Thiem leads the way in Dubai as the top seed. The US Open champion, who will face a qualifier in the second round, is joined by David Goffin, Borna Coric and Filip Krajinovic in the top quarter. Goffin awaits the winner of one of the standout first-round matches between Kei Nishikori and Reilly Opelka.

Third seed Denis Shapovalov and eighth seed Karen Khachanov are the top two seeds in the second quarter. The 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifiers share that section with the first two players to collect tour-level trophies this season: Alex de Minaur (Antalya) and Hubert Hurkacz (Delray Beach).

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Medvedev Reflects On Djokovic's Record & Federer's Return

Daniil Medvedev will make history on Monday when he climbs to a career-high No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, becoming the first player outside the Big Four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to hold a top two spot since July 2005. This week, another player earned a career milestone.

Novak Djokovic set the all-time record for most weeks at World No. 1 with his 311th week, surpassing Federer’s 310.

“First of all, it’s an unbelievable achievement. For sure I think in the world of tennis we talk about Grand Slams more than anything else. But this is also a small competition, [and] I’m sure he’s really happy about it,” Medvedev said. “The way he’s played, he’s definitely capable of catching 400 weeks. We’re going to try to not let him do this.

“I didn’t manage to do anything in the Australian Open final, but that is what sport is about. Nobody is going to give him an easy pass, he’s going to have to earn it.”

Watch Medvedev-Sinner Highlights:

Medvedev tried to dethrone Djokovic at Melbourne Park in the Australian Open final, but the Serbian was at his ruthless best last month to capture his ninth title at the season’s first major. The Russian has great respect for what the World No. 1 and his greatest rivals, Federer and Nadal, have accomplished.

“As I’ve always said about the Big Three, they are unbelievable. The records they have set [are] probably not going to be beaten maybe in 100 years,” Medvedev said. “It’s very rare that you see this in sports. I don’t think you can say that other players were not good enough in this era, it’s just that they were unbelievable and there’s nothing for others to be ashamed of.”

Federer, who is 39, returned to action this week for the first time since the 2020 Australian Open due to two right knee surgeries he had last year. Medvedev wasn’t able to catch much of the 103-time tour-level titlist’s matches in Doha, but he saw some of the Swiss’ win against Daniel Evans.

“As we were talking with some other players here, many, many players would go out on the court after more than one year not playing and he would lose two and two without being able to put two balls in a row in the court,” Medvedev said. “He’s almost 40, didn’t play for one year and is still capable of winning matches. It’s amazing.”

Medvedev has played Federer three times, losing on each occasion. Their most recent ATP Head2Head clash came at the 2019 Miami Open presented by Itau.

“I would definitely like to play Roger. He’s one of the three best in tennis history, it’s always great playing him,” Medvedev said. “I lost three times, I was not at the level that I am right now. But it’s still Roger, so it would be nice to play a few matches against him. [It’s] not only [about] winning, but every time you step out on the court against the Big Three, it’s a special feeling.”

Medvedev will play Matthew Ebden on Saturday in the Marseille semi-finals.

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