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A #NextGenATP Mix In Kitzbühel: Rune Rises As Alcaraz Falls

  • Posted: Jul 27, 2021

#NextGenATP stars had mixed results on Tuesday in Kitzbühel, where Holger Vitus Nodksov Rune earned an impressive win as in-form Carlos Alcaraz fell.

Rune advanced to the second round of an ATP Tour main draw for the third time with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Italian Stefano Travaglia. The 18-year-old from Denmark won 75 per cent of his second-serve return points to triumph after one hour and 21 minutes.

“It was a great match,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “Coming through the qualifying was great. I played two very solid matches, played a lot of tennis on the centre court, so I’m very happy with the win today.”

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The teen has not lost any of his six sets in Austria since beginning his run in qualifying. Rune will try to reach his second tour-level quarter-final when he plays Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who eliminated fifth seed Federico Delbonis 6-2, 6-4.

Alcaraz, another #NextGenATP star who lifted his first ATP Tour trophy in Umag on Sunday, was unable to make his quick turnaround successful in Kitzbühel. Austrian wild card Alexander Erler, who had never played a tour-level singles match, stunned Alcaraz 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 with courageous, aggressive play.

Alexander Erler
Photo Credit: Generali Open/Alexander Scheuber
“It is definitely [the best day of my career],” Erler said in his on-court interview. “Now at the moment I am a little bit speechless. I am just so happy. Thanks to my team and [I’m] ready for the second round.”

Erler will attempt to carry this momentum into his second-round clash against Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, who advanced on Monday. Two other Austrians, Lukas Neumayer and Dennis Novak, were unable to move on. Spanish lucky loser Mario Vilella Martinez ousted Neumayer 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 and Italian Gianluca Mager dismissed Novak 6-4, 6-0.

Marco Cecchinato, the 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist, showed his clay-court prowess in a 6-3, 7-6(7) triumph against Moldovan Radu Albot and German Daniel Altmaier, who made the semi-finals last week in Umag, upset sixth seed Laslo Djere 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

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Thanks For The Memories: Fall Out Boy Meets Kyrgios In Atlanta

  • Posted: Jul 27, 2021

Nick Kyrgios has a talent for drawing crowds and engaging with fans from all over the world. On Monday night, he got a chance to mingle with one of his more famous fans after getting a visit from Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz at the Truist Atlanta Open. 

Wentz and his band were in town touring with the likes of Green Day and Weezer on the Hella Mega Tour, which had its Atlanta stop on Monday. After the concert, Wentz, a lifelong tennis fan, was keen to take in the action at the ATP 250 event and see his favourite player Kyrgios hit the doubles court with Jack Sock. 

“I love Nick a lot, I think he’s really rad. He’s got a rad personality and he brings a dynamic energy to tennis,” Wentz told ATPTour.com. “My kids are interested in him too, they like watching him play basketball and talk about basketball. 

“My favourite players are also [Aryna] Sabalenka [from the WTA Tour] and Denis Shapovalov. With Denis, the first time I saw him he was playing in a backwards hat, just ripping forehands, and I was like, ‘Whoa this is really cool to watch.’”

Unfortunately, Wentz only got to watch a few points of tennis before rain halted play, delaying the start of Kyrgios and Sock’s match for several hours. But the musician still got the chance to meet with the Aussie and chat during the rain delay.

 

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Wentz plays bass guitar for the Grammy nominated band Fall Out Boy, whose hits include ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’, ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmrs’ and ‘Centuries’. He told ATPTour.com that he grew up playing tennis at local courts near his home in Chicago. He got back into the sport recently and became ‘addicted’ to tennis about five years ago.

“Fans of tennis are very passionate and fans of music are very passionate – our fans live and die with the band the same way tennis fans live and die with their favourite player, which I think is really cool,” he said. “The live environment is also really cool, and also there’s the idea of the ‘tour’ which is very similar: living out of a bag and going to different places, playing different venues.”

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Djokovic, Tsitsipas To Pursue Gold In Mixed Doubles At Tokyo Olympics

  • Posted: Jul 27, 2021

All eyes have been on World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s chase for the singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Now, the Serbian superstar will chase two gold medals, as it was revealed on Tuesday that he will partner Nina Stojanovic in the mixed doubles competition.

Djokovic and Stojanovic are unseeded, and they will begin their run against Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Luisa Stefani. This is the first time Djokovic has played mixed doubles at the Olympics.

Three of the Top 10 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings will compete in the mixed doubles draw, with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev also entering.

View Mixed Doubles Draw

Greeks Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari are the second seeds, and they will face Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski in a first-round blockbuster. Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of the ROC are the fourth seeds, and they will clash against Croatians Ivan Dodig and Darija Jurak.

Other teams to watch are top seeds Nicolas Mahut and Kristina Mladenovic, Roland Garros finalists Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina, and Australians Ashleigh Barty and John Peers. American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who won mixed doubles gold in Rio de Janeiro with Jack Sock, is partnering Rajeev Ram, who earned silver at those Olympics with Venus Williams.

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Murray/Salisbury Storm Into Olympics Quarter-finals

  • Posted: Jul 27, 2021

Andy Murray withdrew from the singles draw at the Tokyo Olympics to focus on men’s doubles alongside Joe Salisbury. That decision paid off for the Britons on Tuesday when they advanced to the quarter-finals.

Murray and Salisbury defeated Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-2, 7-6(2) to earn their spot in the last eight. They will next play Croatians Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig, who eliminated Americans Rajeev Ram and Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5.

View Order Of Play | View 2020 Olympics Results | View Draw

Although Krawietz and Puetz lost, another German team moved on. Singles stars Jan-Lennard Struff and Alexander Zverev ousted Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Gael Monfils 6-4, 7-5. They will challenge Americans Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren for a place in the medal rounds. Krajicek and Sandgren outlasted Slovakians Lukas Klein and Filip Polasek 6-7(2), 6-2, 10-5.

In the other two men’s doubles quarter-finals, top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic will clash against home favourites Ben McLachlan and Kei Nishikori, and third seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will face New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus.

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Rain Delay? No Problem For Kyrgios & Sock In Atlanta

  • Posted: Jul 27, 2021

Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock did not step on court until nearly midnight Monday evening in Atlanta due to rain. But once they did, the close friends wasted little time getting the job done.

The Australian-American team defeated Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and India’s Divij Sharan 6-1, 6-3 in 50 minutes to reach the second round of the Truist Atlanta Open.

“I have such great memories here and I love playing here,” Kyrgios said in an on-court interview. “Obviously [Jack is] one of my best mates, not just on the tennis court, but in my life. I hadn’t seen him in forever… It’s just good to be back out here to be honest, and we’re having so much fun, so it’s good.”

This was the pair’s first match together since the 2019 Laver Cup, where they beat Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Kyrgios and Sock triumphed in Lyon together in 2018.

Another tandem of singles stars also advanced Monday, when Reilly Opelka and Jannik Sinner ousted second seeds Jonathan Erlich and Santiago Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2. In the day’s other doubles match, Marcelo Arevalo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela beat wild cards Keshav Chopra and Andres Martin 6-1, 6-4.

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Tsitsipas Serves Up Revenge Against Tiafoe At The Olympics

  • Posted: Jul 27, 2021

Just one month ago, American Frances Tiafoe stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets at Wimbledon. The Greek earned his revenge on Tuesday in Japan.

The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion dismissed Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round at the Tokyo Olympics. The Greek star won the first three games of the match and never relinquished the momentum to triumph after 77 minutes.

Tiafoe made it clear ahead of the clash that he expected Tsitsipas to be ready. “I’m pumped up,” the American said. “I know he wants me and I want him.”

But with rain delaying outdoor play, Tsitsipas’ game proved too difficult to deal with under the roof of Ariake Coliseum. The third seed stayed on top of rallies and did not lose his serve in the match. The seven-time ATP Tour titlist hit nine aces and won all but three of his first-serve points (28/31) to control the action.

Tsitsipas will next play 14th seed Ugo Humbert or Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic for a place in the quarter-finals. This is the Greek’s debut at the Olympics.

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Johnson Leads Large American Charge On Opening Day In Atlanta

  • Posted: Jul 27, 2021

There are 12 Americans in the main draw of the Truist Atlanta Open, and Steve Johnson helped get his country’s contingent off to a good start on Monday.

The four-time ATP Tour titlist defeated Alexei Popyrin 7-6(4), 6-3 after one hour and 15 minutes to reach the second round. The 31-year-old American is competing at this ATP 250 for the fourth time, and it is the third time he has made it through his opener.

Johnson hit 12 aces and did not face a break point against his 21-year-old opponent in their first ATP Head2Head clash. The World No. 80 will next play fifth seed Taylor Fritz or Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy.

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Another American who advanced on the first day of main draw action was qualifer Bjorn Fratangelo, who eliminated 37-year-old Italian Andreas Seppi 7-5, 7-6(5). The World No. 190 will challenge fourth seed Reilly Opelka, also from the United States, for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Australian Jordan Thompson showed his grit in 7-6(2), 1-6, 6-2 victory against eighth seed Lloyd Harris, setting a showdown against American Sam Querrey or German Peter Gojowczyk.

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