Tennis News

Laver Cup: Where Team Europe Meets Team World

Named after two-time Calendar Grand Slam winner Rod Laver, the Laver Cup pits Team Europe against Team World across three days of competition.

The fourth edition of the exciting team tournament was due to be held this week at TD Garden in Boston but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has been rescheduled for 24-26 September 2021.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the event.

A Thrilling Format
Each team consists of six players, with the top three available players from each region, according to the FedEx ATP Rankings, joining three Team Captain picks. Team Europe and Team World are led by Sweden’s Bjorn Borg and the United States’ John McEnroe, respectively.

The competition takes place across three days, with each day consisting of three singles matches and one doubles encounter. Each match win is worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday. The first team to 13 points wins the Laver Cup. In the event of a 12-12 tie at the end of the final day, the tournament will be decided by a one-set deciding doubles clash.

Federer, Nadal Lead Team Europe To Victory
At the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal guided Team Europe to a 15-9 win. On Day Two of the event, both Federer and Nadal won singles matches before returning to the court to compete as a doubles team for the first time.

The pair made a seamless transition from rivals to teammates in the Czech capital, overcoming Sam Querrey and Jack Sock 6-4, 1-6, 10-5. The victory earned Team Europe a commanding 9-3 advantage heading into the final day of action.

“I am very happy with how we played,” said Federer. “It was so much fun. The preparation with Rafa, going through the motions, talking tactics, talking about which side to play on, all these things are very special. I am very happy that the one match we did play so far we did win.”

Just 24 hours later, Federer entered the final match of the event against Nick Kyrgios with Team Europe leading 12-9. After rallying from a set down, Federer recovered from a 5/8 deficit in the Match Tie-break to claim victory. The Swiss saved a match point at 8/9 and earned the trophy for Team Europe when Kyrgios fired a cross-court forehand into the net. After 172 points, Federer and Kyrgios ended the contest with 86 points each.

“The boys played fantastic all weekend, but we knew it could change very quickly on Sunday,” said Federer. “The Team World boys have been great, in the doubles especially, and we knew it was going to be tough. I was looking at getting ready for a doubles at the very end. I’m very pleased and relieved that we did win the singles and got it done.”

Zverev Earns Victory For Team Europe In Chicago
Matched only by Federer, Alexander Zverev earned five points for Team Europe at the 2018 Laver Cup in Chicago. The German finished the event with a 2-0 singles record, highlighted by his tournament-winning victory against Kevin Anderson on the final day.

Zverev entered his clash against Anderson with Team Europe leading Team World 10-8, but the South African made the quicker start as he attempted to push the contest to a winner-takes-all singles match between Novak Djokovic and Kyrgios. Zverev held his nerve in important moments to turn the match in his favour and clinched the trophy when Anderson fired long with a backhand return in the Match Tie-break.

“It was such a close match all around, not only this one but all weekend, a few points here and there and it could have been different,” said Zverev. “I’m just happy to get the win and we defended the title, that’s the most important thing.”

A European Hat-trick In Geneva
For the first time in tournament history, a winner-takes-all match was needed at the 2019 Laver Cup in Geneva. After two matches on the final day, Team World led Team Europe 11-7 with two singles matches to play. If the visiting team won either match, they would become Laver Cup champions.

Backed by a passionate home crowd, Federer kept Team Europe’s hopes of a third straight title alive with a straight-sets victory against John Isner. That win forced the event to a decisive singles contest between Zverev and Milos Raonic.

For the second straight year, Zverev handled the pressure well to complete a memorable comeback for Team Europe. Zverev and Raonic split the opening two sets, which meant the outcome of the tournament rested on a Match Tie-break.

After receiving words of inspiration from Federer and Nadal in the locker room, Zverev rose to the challenge to claim the trophy under intense pressure. The German earned the title on his first match point with a cross-court passing shot winner.

“It was an unbelievable weekend. Those guys [Federer and Nadal] were screaming at me in the locker room before the Match Tie-break, saying this is how I could turn my season around. Without all of these guys on the bench, I couldn’t have done it,” said Zverev. “This is very special, especially playing in front of those guys and having them trust me to play the last match.”

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Humbert Stuns Medvedev In Hamburg

Ugo Humbert built on a promising run at last week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Tuesday, upsetting top seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3 at the Hamburg European Open.

The 22-year-old converted three of five break points to record his first Top 10 win. Last week, Humbert defeated Kevin Anderson and Fabio Fognini in straight sets to claim the first Masters 1000 victories of his career. The Frenchman’s run was ended in three sets by eventual semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov.

“I know I can play very nice on clay,” said Humbert. “Daniil is a very nice player. I am very happy with my first Top 10 win and for sure, it was one of my biggest wins today.”

This is the latest milestone moment in a breakthrough season for Humbert, who owns a 14-8 record in 2020. After finishing the 2019 ATP Tour season at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Humbert captured his maiden ATP Tour trophy at the ASB Classic in January. The left-hander entered his first ATP Head2Head meeting against Medvedev with an 0-2 record against Top 10 players, but played without fear in crucial moments to overcome the World No. 5 after one hour and 22 minutes.

“I am very happy about my level today,” said Humbert. “I was ready to play this kind of match. I was very excited to play in front of you, [the crowd].”

Humbert will face Jiri Vesely for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Pune champion defeated Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-2 on Monday. Humbert and Vesely have not previously met at tour-level.

Medvedev was competing on clay for the first time since Roland Garros last year. The Russian entered the ATP 500 in form, having reached the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals and the US Open semi-finals in New York.

Fabio Fognini recovered from a set down to overcome home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. The 2013 champion claimed his first victory since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on both ankles in May to improve to 17-7 at the ATP 500 event. Fognini will meet Rome semi-finalist Casper Ruud or Benoit Paire for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Karen Khachanov rallied from 0-3 down in the final set to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5. The Russian converted five of nine break points against Struff, who served for the match at 5-4, to record his second win in three ATP Head2Head contests against the German. Each of the pair’s three meetings have required a final set.

The eighth seed will next play 2019 Monte Carlo finalist Dusan Lajovic, who beat Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-1. Lajovic broke the Frenchman’s serve five times in his one-hour, 37-minute victory.

Koolhof/Mektic Save Match Point Against Ram/Salisbury
Wesley Koolhof/Nikola Mektic and Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury are two of the most in-form doubles teams on the ATP Tour and they showed why with a tight battle in Hamburg Tuesday. Koolhof/Mektic, the recent US Open finalists, saved one match point to prevail against the reigning Australian Open champions 6-4, 6-7(0), 12-10. They will next play home favourites Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, the reigning Roland Garros titlists.

Also advancing were Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic, who eliminated lucky losers Marvin Moeller and Milan Welte 6-3, 3-6, 10-6. Their next opponents are qualifiers Radu Albot and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. In the other doubles match of the day, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau advanced when Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah retired at 6-6 due to a Cabal right hip injury.

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Nadal, Djokovic, Thiem Return To Roland Garros; When Is The Draw & More

Rafael Nadal returns to Roland Garros with a chance to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles. Nadal is a 12-time champion at the clay-court major and boasts a 93-2 tournament record, starting with his title run on his 2005 debut as a teenager.  

Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem will lead the challengers, and enter Paris riding winning streaks. World No. 1 Djokovic, who won Roland Garros in 2016 with victory over Andy Murray in the final, claimed a record-breaking 36th ATP Masters 1000 crown on Monday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Schwartzman). The Serbian took his Grand Slam title haul to 17 with his triumph earlier this year at the Australian Open.

Thiem will look to go one better at Roland Garros, after finishing runner-up to Nadal the past two years. The Austrian celebrated his first Grand Slam title earlier this month when he came from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev in the US Open final.

The 2020 Roland Garros field is also set to feature Top 10 players Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Zverev, Matteo Berrettini, Gael Monfils and Denis Shapovalov. 

Here’s all you need to know about Roland Garros: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more.  

Established: 1891

Tournament Dates: 27 September – 11 October 2020

Tournament Director: Guy Forget

Draw Ceremony: Thursday, 24 September at 6:00pm

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Monday, 21 September – Friday, 25 September
* Main draw: Daily play begins at 11:00am from Sunday, 27 September
* Doubles final: Saturday, 10 October
* Singles final: Sunday, 11 October at 3:00pm

How To Watch
View TV Schedule

Venue: Stade Roland Garros

Prize Money: €18,209,040 (2020 Prize Money Distribution)

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Rafael Nadal (12)
Most Titles, Doubles: Max Mirnyi, Daniel Nestor (4)
Oldest Champion: Andres Gimeno, 34, in 1972
Youngest Champion: Michael Chang, 17, in 1989
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 66 Gustavo Kuerten in 1997
Most Match Wins: Rafael Nadal (93)

2019 Finals
Singles: [1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) d [4] Dominic Thiem 63 57 61 61   Read & Watch
Doubles: Kevin Krawietz / Andreas Mies d Jeremy Chardy / Fabrice Martin 62 76(3)  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #RolandGarros
Facebook: @RolandGarros
Twitter: @rolandgarros
Instagram: @rolandgarros

Did You Know… Roland Garros was the first Grand Slam tournament to join the “Open” era in 1968, and since then many tennis greats have graced the famous clay courts, including Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. In 1983, Yannick Noah became the first, and so far only, Frenchman to win the singles title. 

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Bublik Comforts Ballgirl After Ace Mishap

Accidentally hitting a ballgirl is never good. How Alexander Bublik reacted to doing so on Tuesday showed a touch of class.

The Kazakh turned a tough situation into the nicest moment of the match after hitting his 17th ace on match point in his 6-2, 7-6(5) first-round victory against Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Hamburg European Open. The 23-year-old rushed to the other side of the court to check on the ballgirl. Upon learning she was not seriously hurt, Bublik spoke to her for a moment and offered a match ball and a fist bump as a token of gratitude for her efforts.

Bublik will continue his run in Germany on Wednesday when he plays #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. This will be their second ATP Head2Head meeting. Felix won their first battle at last year’s Rolex Shanghai Masters.

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French Open 2020: Bianca Andreescu withdraws to prepare for busy 2021

The 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu withdraws from the French Open in order to continue her recovery from injury.

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Why Felix Has A Great Feeling In Hamburg

#NextGenATP star Felix Auger-Aliassime made a successful Hamburg European Open debut on Tuesday, defeating Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 7-6(2) in one hour and 48 minutes.

The 20-year-old Canadian saved all four break points he faced in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting. Auger-Aliassime lost his opener at last week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia against in-form Serbian Filip Krajinovic. But he remains confident after reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the US Open.

“I’m feeling good. I’ve played some good tennis in the past weeks in the United States. Now I feel good physically and mentally,” Auger-Aliassime said on Monday. “I’m ready for the upcoming challenges. It’s going to be a tough week. [ATP] 500 tournaments are always strong ones and especially this week, so we’ll see who the best man is this week. I’m looking forward to playing some good tennis.”

Auger-Aliassime is especially excited to compete in front of fans for the first time since the ATP Tour resumed last month. While there were no spectators allowed at his match against Sonego, there will be a limited crowd for his second-round battle against Kazakh lucky loser Alexander Bublik, who defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round. The new-look Rothenbaum Tennis Stadium is accommodating up to 2,300 fans per day with strict safety measures in place.

“It feels so good. Honestly the feeling is just great,” Auger-Aliassime said. “To be here, it’s a smaller draw. There’s not a full capacity of fans, but still we’re able to hear the applause and have them watch us live and it’s such a special thing as a tennis player. But I think artists and musicians can say the same thing. There’s nothing that replaces the live applause.”

Things aren’t only good on the court for the Canadian. On Monday, Auger-Aliassime and second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas took separate vehicles on a car tour around Hamburg’s harbour.

“It’s great. We haven’t had the chance in the latest weeks to get out much, which is normal in these circumstances in the world we live in now,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But at the same time I always enjoy whenever I get to travel as a tennis player and go from different cities week-after-week… now we’ve been able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Hamburg port and the city. I’m glad.”

Auger-Aliassime is thankful for the efforts of the tournament organisers to make this event possible, and he will try to take full advantage by pursuing his first ATP Tour title.

“I think the people in the past weeks have put in some hard work to make sure the tournament is up and running with safe measures,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Us players, we’re grateful that we have opportunities to play again, to play world-class tournaments.”

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French Open qualifying: Harriet Dart into second round

Britain’s Harriet Dart beats Romanian fifth seed Mihaela Buzarnescu in the first round of French Open qualifying.

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Cecchinato Wins Battle Of Former Semi-finalists At Roland Garros

In a meeting of former Roland Garros semi-finalists, Marco Cecchinato booked his place in the second qualifying round with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Ernests Gulbis on Tuesday.

The fifth seed struck 20 winners to move past 2014 semi-finalist Gulbis in one hour and 43 minutes. Just two years ago, Cecchinato beat Pablo Carreno Busta and David Goffin in back-to-back matches to book a quarter-final meeting against Novak Djokovic at the clay-court Grand Slam championship. Appearing in his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final, the Italian stunned Djokovic in a three-hour, 26-minute battle to reach the semi-finals in Paris.

Cecchinato will next face Constant Lestienne of France. The 28-year-old raced through his opening match in 61 minutes, beating Andrew Harris 6-1, 6-1.

South Korea’s Hyeon Chung rallied from a 1/4 deficit in a first-set tie-break to defeat wild card Baptiste Crepatte 7-6(7), 6-4. The 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion will face Renzo Olivo of Argentina for a place in the final qualifying round. Olivo won 12 of 15 net points to eliminate 20th seed Federico Gaio 6-4, 6-4.

Eighth seed Taro Daniel also advanced on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Mathias Bourgue. The Japanese will face Andrey Kuznetsov, who overcame Blaz Kavcic 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-3, in his next match.

Frederico Ferreira Silva charged past Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-2 on Court 11. The 25-year-old Portuguese broke serve on six occasions to book a meeting with Joao Menezes. The Brazilian moved past Mohamed Safwat 7-6(2), 6-1.

Leonardo Mayer landed 29 winners to defeat Peter Polansky 7-5, 6-0. The Argentine, a two-time winner at the Hamburg European Open, will play Carlos Taberner of Spain in his next match. Taberner, who won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Iasi last week, beat Stefano Napolitano 6-4, 7-5.

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Seven Days Later, New Dad Bautista Agut Eliminates Defending Champ In Hamburg

Just one week after becoming a father for the first time, Roberto Bautista Agut claimed a memorable victory in his opening match at the Hamburg European Open on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old eliminated two-time defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-3 to record his 15th win in 20 matches this year. Bautista Agut is through to the second round in Hamburg for the third time. The Spaniard also reached the second round in the German port city in 2013 and 2015.

Bautista Agut became a father on 15 September, when his wife gave birth to their son — Roberto — in Valencia. After the match, he received a message of support from Alex Corretja. The former World No. 2 joked that Bautista Agut would now be tired from sleepless nights rather than his on-court efforts.

“It was very tiring last week,” said Bautista Agut. “Alex knows well. I think he has three or four kids. I am very proud of my family and very happy to have a new baby in our lives and it was a really nice experience to live with my wife. We are really proud of the kid.”

Bautista Agut improves to 3-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Basilashvili, who had won his past 10 matches at the ATP 500. The fourth seed will face Dominik Koepfer for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Rome quarter-finalist needed almost two and a half hours to overcome Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-1.

Kitzbühel runner up Yannick Hanfmann continued his strong run of form to defeat third seed Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-3. The German wild card served well throughout the 74-minute clash, winning 91 per cent of first-serve points (32/35) to confirm a second-round meeting against Cristian Garin.

The Chilean charged past Kei Nishikori 6-0, 6-3 to earn only his second victory in five matches since the resumption of the ATP Tour. Garin is bidding to lift his third clay trophy of the year this week. The World No. 22 earned titles on the surface at the Cordoba Open and the Rio Open presented by Claro in February.

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Tennis United Receives Leaders Sports Award

The ATP and WTA have been recognised by Leaders Sports Awards for Tennis United, a digital series designed to provide a voice to professional tennis players and deliver exclusive content to fans from their favourite players around the world.

Tennis United, along with World Cup at Home (FIFA and WePlay), Arsenal Together (Arsenal), Join the Movement (Sport England) and Open for the Ages (Two Circles and R&A), have all received honours by Leaders Sports Awards for best ‘Content Creation,’ which is defined by “a compelling piece of content – bitesize or long-form – that made people laugh, cry or think, engaging and entertaining the audience throughout.”

“Tennis United has been a true collaborative effort between ATP and WTA, to connect with fans in an innovative way and give our players a platform to address important societal issues,” said Massimo Calvelli, ATP CEO. “Receiving this prestigious industry award attests to the many great things tennis can achieve by working together.”

“We are honored to receive and share this prestigious award with the ATP,” said Micky Lawler, WTA President. “Given the unprecedented times we have all been living in, working even closer with the ATP has proven to make each of our products even stronger. This award signifies the hard work and dedication collectively from both Tours, including players and staff, to provide an impactful content series for fans.”

Tennis United was created during the suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the first show airing on 10 April 2020, Tennis United marked the first time the two tours joined forces to collaborate on a series of content.

Hosted by Grand Slam doubles champions, Vasek Pospisil (ATP) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (WTA), the show stood out for addressing important issues including mental health, equality and inclusivity, and social responsibility as well as featuring light-hearted moments through social media challenges, discussions and interviews.

Among the 18 episodes that have aired, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, Andy Murray, Garbiñe Muguruza, Stefanos Tsitsipas, as well as tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Stefan Edberg have all been featured, along with many others. In addition, fans had the opportunity to witness ATP and WTA players interact with each other and with stars from other sports and cultures; the show featured guests from the worlds of international soccer, the NBA, the NHL and music.

Click here to read more about the Leaders Sports Award and here for access to all episodes of Tennis United.

In addition, Tennis United will be featured during LeadersWeek.direct/ the week of 5 October.

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