Tennis News

Nadal Breaks Connors' Record For Most Consecutive Weeks In Top 10

Rafael Nadal is celebrating another achievement this week having broken Jimmy Connors’ record for the most consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Five weeks on from capturing a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam championship crown with his 13th Roland Garros trophy, the Spanish superstar has now spent 790 consecutive weeks among the elite.

Most Consecutive Weeks In Top 10 Of FedEx ATP Rankings

Nadal first broke into the Top 10 on 25 April 2005 at the age of 18, just one more prior to capturing his first Grand Slam championship crown at 2005 Roland Garros. American Connors was ever-present in the Top 10 for 789 weeks from 23 August 1973, when the FedEx ATP Rankings were first established, to 25 September 1988.

The 34-year-old Nadal overtook Roger Federer’s mark of 734 consecutive weeks on 22 May 2019 after winning a record-extending ninth Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Djokovic). Federer was among the Top 10 in successive weeks between 20 May 2002 and 31 October 2016, prior to a right knee injury ended the Swiss’ season.

Serbia’s Djokovic, who is currently in second place behind Federer for most weeks at No. 1 (292 weeks), spent 555 consecutive weeks among the Top 10 between 19 March 2007 to 29 October 2017, when he dropped out of the elite group due to a right elbow injury. He returned to the Top 10 on 16 July 2018.

Federer has spent the most weeks overall in the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings with 921 weeks, followed by Connors (816), Nadal (790), Andre Agassi (747) and Ivan Lendl (671). Djokovic is currently in sixth place on 656 weeks.

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Want To Take Home The Net From This Year's Nitto ATP Finals?

The world’s best players will compete in the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. After the tournament, one lucky fan will take home the official ATP Tour net used on Centre Court during the season finale.

Four dream prize packages are up for grabs in an Ultimate Prize Draw being held to aid Cancer Research UK, the official charity partner of the Nitto ATP Finals. Priced at only £10 per entry, any fan can help support the organisation’s critical work, which has seen fundraising heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic..

Click Here To Enter

Two of the prize packages — the ‘Take The Nitto ATP Finals Home’ package and the ‘Thank You London’ package — are full of unforgettable memorabilia.

“These two packages provide fans an amazing chance to win items that they will be able to cherish for years to come. From signed memorabilia to pieces of the action, these ultimate prizes will hopefully provide plenty of memories of the season finale,” said Nitto ATP Finals Event Director Adam Hogg. “Cancer Research UK’s fundraising efforts have been severely impacted by COVID-19, and the Nitto ATP Finals is happy to do its part to support its official charity partner during these tough times.”

The tournament-used net is one of several items in the ‘Take The Nitto ATP Finals Home’ package. The fan who wins that will also receive a signed “coin toss” coin from the Nitto ATP Finals championship match, a personalised video from this year’s champion and signed official photos from previous editions of the season finale. 

In the ‘Thank You London’ package, the prize draw winner will receive a 2020 Nitto ATP Finals Official photo signed by all eight singles players.

Diego Schwartzman completed the singles field during the Rolex Paris Masters. The other players set to play in London are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev.

The lucky fan will also win signed apparel from this year’s qualified players and a signed racquet from the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion.

For more information and to enter the prize draw please click here.

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Brain Game: How Being A Baseline Magnet Was Medvedev's Key To Success

Daniil Medvedev feels the strategic magnetism of the baseline.

Medvedev defeated Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters Sunday by playing with superior court position in their inevitable flurry of bruising baseline exchanges. When we watch Medvedev hit the ball, we are mesmerised by his long, wieldy strokes that look more like he is swinging a heavy axe than a tennis racquet. It’s essential to also look at where he is standing when he swings that metaphorical axe because it is often in a more advantageous place relative to the baseline than his opponent.

Rally Contact Point
Medvedev hit 27 per cent of his rally balls from inside the baseline, which was almost double that of Zverev’s 15 per cent. A vast majority of these rally balls for Medvedev were struck from a zone within two metres inside the baseline where he dined on the superior geometry of the rectangular court to extend Zverev out wide, hitting forehands and backhands loaded with directional pressure.

Players typically trade baseline blows standing in a zone two metres behind the baseline, and this match was no exception. Zverev hit 50 per cent of his baseline shots from here, while Medvedev was at 46 per cent.

The last, deep contact zone starts two metres behind the baseline and extends all the way to the back of the court. This is where players retreat to find more time to defend. The problem is that it’s almost impossible to attack from this far back, and it’s another key battleground that Medvedev exploited.

The Russian only hit 27 per cent of his groundstrokes from this area, while Zverev was at 35 per cent. Zverev hit almost a third of his shots from this deep zone, where he typically found himself running and defending and falling further and further behind in the point.

Medvedev Rally Hit Points:

Zverev Rally Hit Points:

Depth
Playing up in the court also helped Medvedev land his shots deeper in the court as a result. Medvedev landed 89 per cent of his groundstrokes past the service line, which was superior to Zverev’s 83 per cent. This gap was accentuated in the third set, in which Medvedev was at 90 per cent past the service line, while Zverev only managed 75 per cent as the finish line rushed forward in Medvedev’s favour.

Power
With Medvedev hovering more around the baseline and taking the ball earlier, he was also able to hit the ball harder as a result. Medvedev’s average groundstroke speed was 116 kph, with Zverev at 112 kph. In the third set it was 117kph for Medvedev and 110kph for Zverev. The German was standing too deep, hitting too short, and not employing enough power to make the Russian uncomfortable.

Backhands
As expected, the vast majority of points were traded through the Ad court with each player trying to break down his opponent’s backhand wing. Medvedev hit 49 per cent of all groundstokes wide to Zverev’s backhand, 14 per cent down the middle, and 37 per cent wide to the forehand.

On the surface, these backhand-to-backhand blows looked fairly even, but Medvedev constantly had an advantage because he was not getting pushed back. Overall, Medvedev made contact with his backhand inside the baseline 29 per cent of the time, which was far superior to Zverev’s 10 per cent. Medvedev was leaning on his backhand, while Zverev was leaning off his.

Medvedev Backhand Hit Points:

Zverev Backhand Hit Points:

Another key factor was that Zverev simply hit too many backhands in the match. The German hit 183 backhands for the match and 162 forehands, giving him a surplus of 21 backhands. That’s not a winning plan of attack. Medvedev hit 158 backhands and 175 forehands, giving him 17 more aggressive, penetrating forehands at his disposal.

The following breakdown from the match shows the superior speeds forehands deliver.

Average Groundstroke Speed

Forehands
• Medvedev=126kph

• Zverev=123kph

Backhands
• Medvedev=108 kph
• Zverev=105 kph

The end result is an accumulation of a lot of small battles that Medvedev won that helped pave the way to victory. Medvedev comparatively hit more forehands, hit them harder, and when he did hit backhands, he applied more pressure by standing further up the court.

How you hit the ball matters. So does where you hit it from.

– HawkEye data and visuals courtesy ATP Media

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Millman Makes Fast Start In Sofia

John Millman made a winning start to his Sofia Open campaign on Sunday, as he cruised past Bulgarian wild card Adrian Andreev 6-3, 6-1.

The Nur-Sultan titlist converted four of his six break points to book his place in the second round after 73 minutes. Millman, one of five first-time ATP Tour titlists in 2020, improved to 17-12 this season with his first-round win in Sofia.

Millman will face Gilles Simon or Andrej Martin for a place in the quarter-finals. The Australian lost his only previous ATP Head2Head contest against Simon in Sydney last year and is yet to meet Martin at tour-level.

Radu Albot also earned a quick first-round win on Sunday. The Moldovan won 82 per cent of his first-serve points (23/28) to beat Yuichi Sugita 6-4, 6-1 in 76 minutes.

The 2019 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com titlist will meet top seed Denis Shapovalov in the second round. Shapovalov, who is making his debut in Sofia, is attempting to finish an ATP Tour season inside the Top 10 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time.

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Medvedev: 'I’m Really Trying To Make My Opponent Crazy'

Daniil Medvedev plays tennis unlike anyone else at the top of the ATP Tour. The Russian’s shots aren’t smooth like Roger Federer’s or overwhelming like Rafael Nadal’s. He can’t make his body appear elastic the way Novak Djokovic does, either. But the 24-year-old finds ways to win, and part of the secret to his success is how he views his game.

“I’m really trying to make my opponent crazy,” he said.

Medvedev did that once again on Sunday to win the Rolex Paris Masters, capturing his third ATP Masters 1000 title by battling from a set down to defeat Alexander Zverev.

“I’m really happy with the final, with the win here, especially my level of game was really top-level this week. I think it’s not easy for guys to play against me when I play like this,” Medvedev said. “Today was a really tight match… after the first set I didn’t know actually what to do, because I had zero break points. I didn’t feel good returning his serve. He serves amazing. I lost my serve. Got a little bit tight. I was feeling like the match could slip [out] of my hands.”

Medvedev does not blow opponents off the court, but he continuously claws his way into matches and frustrates opponents, physically wearing them down. Perhaps most importantly, he has a good sense of the moments he needs to seize. As the Russian put it, he was “fighting like an animal” early in the third set and that proved critical in his victory.

“I have been working on my mental strength for a long time. I think I have done a lot of progress, because even if you see me still doing meltdowns, it’s nothing compared to what I was when I was a junior,” Medvedev said. “I worked a lot on it, and I’m really happy with how I’m performing with my mental strength many times.”

At last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, Medvedev led Rafael Nadal 5-1 in the third set of their round-robin match and he even earned a match point. But Medvedev let slip that match. Zverev was playing lights-out tennis early in their Rolex Paris Masters final, but this time it was the Russian who turned the tables to overcome a deficit in a big match.

“You will not all your life just be there crying about this match. [It] was almost [the] last match of the season for me,” Medvedev said. “I knew I had to leave it behind, just learn from it and learn how, ‘Okay, if you’re up 5-1 and you lose even your serve on 5-2, you should not go crazy, because you are still up.’”

This was Medvedev’s first final of the season. Last year, he led the ATP Tour by making nine championship matches. But towards the end of his victory in Bercy, the Russian appeared back at his best.

“It’s something that it’s tough to control. And I think if you succeed to control it, then you’re going to be an even better player, because many times you’re going to have days where you step on the court and you don’t feel the ball so well, can miss some shots,” Medvedev said. “Here even [in the] third set when I saved those three break points… [I just went] to the net, made volleys, all this stuff. You know that you almost cannot miss. And to beat you he needs to make a winner.

“When it’s like this, it’s really tough to play guys. That’s what top players are capable of doing. Hopefully I can do this many more times.”

Medvedev will try to maintain his momentum at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he went 0-3 last year.

“For sure [I am] coming [in] better shape than last year. Last year [I] was really exhausted, lost [my first match] in Paris. That’s when you lose your confidence. When you lose first round you always lose your confidence,” Medvedev said. “[I] just won this tournament, [I’m] going to have a few days off. [I will] come to London, practise good. Hopefully [I] can get some wins there.”

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Korda's Maiden Moment: 20-Year-Old Claims First Pro Title

Victory is even sweeter for those who wait. Just ask Sebastian Korda.

On Sunday, the #NextGenATP American claimed his first professional title at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Eckental, Germany. Korda dominated as the week progressed, dropping just one set at the Challenge Eckental. It all culminated with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Ramkumar Ramanathan in the championship.

“I’m super happy to pull through,” said Korda after the match. “It was a tough match today and it wasn’t easy.  He serves and volleys on carpet, but I’m happy with the way I stayed calm and finished it off.”

It was a long time coming for Korda, who had dropped his first eight finals as a professional. Since concluding his junior career with a victory at the Australian Open in 2018, he lost six title matches on the ITF circuit and two at the Challenger level, in Nur-Sultan and Champaign last year.

But, 2020 has proven to be a rebirth for the 20-year-old. After coming so close in the Champaign final exactly one year ago, holding a championship point against J.J. Wolf, Korda has been more determined than ever to finally flip the switch. He has been on a mission in recent months, reaching the Round of 16 as a qualifier at Roland Garros and winning 13 of 15 matches since the start of that memorable fortnight.

“In the past, I’d get frustrated in finals. Every little mistake would weigh on me, but today I was able to stay calm through the whole match. The way I finished it off made me super happy.”

Following such a big result at a Grand Slam, players often struggle to rediscover their rhythm in their return to the ATP Challenger Tour. Even as he moved from clay to carpet, Korda made the transition look seemless. He would carry the momentum to Germany, reaching the quarter-finals in Ismaning and then lifting the trophy in Eckental.

“Ever since the US Open, I’ve felt comfortable and confident, especially against the bigger guys. I’m pretty skinny and tall, so during the [COVID-19] break, I worked to get stronger and sort of grow into my body. The way I’m playing, it has helped a lot.”

American #NextGenATP Winners (since 2015)

At the age of 20 years and four months, Korda is the youngest winner from the United States in 2020. In fact, his victory marks the sixth straight year in which an American aged 21 & under has won a title. A year ago, Wolf achieved the feat and was preceded by 15 other #NextGenATP winners since 2015.

Korda is projected to rise 20 spots to a career-high No. 116 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. He will continue his push towards the Top 100 when he concludes his 2020 campaign at the Orlando Challenger in two weeks.

“I have a flight tomorrow morning at 6am, going back to the States, but I’ll definitely celebrate tonight.”

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Paris Masters: Daniil Medvedev beats Alexander Zverev in final

World number five Daniil Medvedev beats Alexander Zverev 5-7 6-4 6-1 to win the Paris Masters.

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Medvedev Completes Comeback, Earns Third ATP Masters 1000 Crown

Daniil Medvedev became the fourth Russian to capture the Rolex Paris Masters title on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 comeback victory against Alexander Zverev.

In a repeat of last year’s Shanghai final, the 24-year-old stepped in and raised his game in the second set to turn the match in his favour. Medvedev entered the contest with a 1-5 ATP Head2Head record against his rival, but saved six of seven break points to earn his third ATP Masters 1000 crown from four finals. The World No. 5 earned his first service break at 4-4 in the second set and charged to the title from that point by winning eight of the final nine games.

“It is great. I am really happy,” said Medvedev in an on-court interview. “I don’t show this after the match, but I am really happy to win matches. Before the tournament, I was not in my best form, playing not so bad with zero finals this year. I was complaining to my wife like, ‘Oh my god, I don’t have the level. I don’t even have one final. I am playing so bad.’ Finally, I am the winner of Bercy, a tournament that I love.”

Medvedev joins countrymen Marat Safin, Nikolay Davydenko and Karen Khachanov on the Paris honour roll. The Russian, who was appearing in his first final of the year, improves to 23-10 in 2020. 

Russian Rolex Paris Masters Champions

Medvedev entered the tournament with wins in just three of his previous eight matches. But the Russian No. 1 found his level in Paris to defeat two former Wimbledon finalists — Kevin Anderson and Milos Raonic — and two of this year’s Nitto ATP Finals qualifiers — Diego Schwartzman and Zverev — to end a 13-month title drought. Medvedev will now turn his attention to the Nitto ATP Finals in London, where he will be making his second straight appearance from 15-22 November.

“I was playing really good in this tournament, especially today,” said Medvedev. “After the first set, I could [have] given up because Sascha was serving well and playing well. I just stayed there and at one moment I raised my level higher and higher and started to put pressure on him and it worked. It broke his level a little bit.”

Zverev was attempting to win three consecutive ATP Tour titles for the first time. The German, who defeated Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, arrived in Paris after back-to-back title runs at indoor hard court events in Cologne last month.

Zverev was also bidding to follow in the footsteps of his coach David Ferrer by winning the tournament. The Spaniard captured the biggest title of his career at the Accor Arena in 2012 with a straight-sets win against Jerzy Janowicz.

“Credit to him. He’s a great player,” said Zverev. “It’s his first tournament win of the season. I know his season wasn’t the easiest one, whereas I have to say my season [has] actually [been] going quite well.

“We will see how it goes with London. I’m happy with my tennis. I just need to maybe recover a little bit physically.”

Hawkeye data courtesy ATP Media

The first set appeared to be heading to a tie-break, as neither man created a break point in the opening 11 games. But Zverev made a late move at 6-5 to move one set from the title. The Hamburg-native played with aggression on his forehand and capitalised on backhand errors to earn three consecutive set points. Zverev converted his third opportunity when Medvedev failed to control an attempted forehand down the line.

Zverev served powerfully and covered the net with great skill to hold a 15-minute service game at 1-1 in the second set. But Medvedev raised his game at 4-4 to win eight of the final nine games and the trophy. 

The Russian took advantage of short balls and capitalised on volley errors from Zverev to break to love at the start of the deciding set. Medvedev ground Zverev down from the baseline in extended rallies to increase his lead and decrease his opponent’s energy levels. The eight-time tour-level titlist claimed the trophy when Zverev committed his third double fault of the match.

Medvedev receives 1000 FedEx ATP Ranking points and earns €225,210 in prize money. Zverev gains 600 ATP Ranking points and collects €150,000.

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Felix & Hurkacz Save 5 M.P. To Lift Paris Trophy

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz saved five championship points on Sunday to capture their first team title at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The unseeded pair recovered from the brink of defeat to upset second seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares 6-7(3), 7-6(7), 10-2 in one hour and 52 minutes. Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz faced championship point at 5-6, deciding point in the second set and rallied from 3/6 and 6/7 down in the second-set tie-break en route to victory.

”It is huge [to win this title]. Felix played unbelievable,” said Hurkacz in an on-court interview. “Bruno and Mate are great doubles players and they played unreal. We had no chances throughout the sets. We kept ourselves in the tie-breaks and we are so happy to win.”

Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz were competing for just the second time as a team in Paris this week. The Canadian-Polish tandem, which owns a 6-1 team record, reached the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament quarter-finals on its team debut in February.

”We didn’t expect before this week that we were going to play on Sunday,” said Hurkacz. “[I am] a bit surprised, but happy to finish the season like this.”

Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz defeated four seeded teams en route to their first doubles trophy. Prior to their win against Pavic and Soares, the Top 40 singles stars also beat top seeds Robert Farah and Horacio Zeballos in the second round, seventh seeds John Peers and Michael Venus in the quarter-finals and Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the semi-finals.

”I enjoy my time with him and I have to say Hubert is a really nice person and he has a really good heart,” said Auger-Aliassime in an on-court interview. “He gives everything out there, he has fun and he is always smiling. It is a joy to play with him and be around him. We have known each other since we were juniors a little bit… This was so unexpected. We started with a great match and just kept playing better and better… Everything went on our side this week.”

Pavic and Soares were attempting to capture their second ATP Masters 1000 title as a team. Last year’s Shanghai titlists did not drop a set en route to the championship match. Pavic and Soares will now travel to London to compete as the top seeds at the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November.

Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz earn 1000 FedEx ATP Doubles Ranking points and share €91,665 in prize money. Pavic and Soares collect 600 points and split €69,000.

Did You Know?
Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz are the first team ranked in the Top 50 in singles to win the Paris doubles title since Frenchmen Nicolas Escude (No. 41) and Fabrice Santoro (No. 35) in 2002.

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Nick Kyrgios: Australian says he was in 'lonely place' after suffering with depression

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios says he was in a “lonely, dark place” after suffering with depression while on tour.

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