Denis Shapovalov’s last win before the ATP Tour was suspended due to COVID-19 was against Marin Cilic at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. It was only fitting that he returned to the court after more than five months with a triumph against Cilic, too.

The 12th-seeded Canadian was sharp in a 6-3, 6-3 victory against the 2016 champion to reach the second round of the Western & Southern Open.

“I don’t think I could have played much better. It was a really tough draw to play Marin [in the] first round. He’s such an amazing player, and he’s proven that time and time again,” Shapovalov said. “It was definitely not easy for both of us out there, so I’m really happy to get a win against him and start back really strong.”

Shapovalov was dominant on serve, saving the only break point he faced in the 79-minute match. The lefty struck nine aces and won 60 per cent of his second-serve points compared to 29 per cent for Cilic.

World No. 37 Cilic has enjoyed success at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the ATP Masters 1000 is being held because of the pandemic. In 2014, the Croatian won the US Open at Flushing Meadows. But Cilic struggled to gain an attacking rhythm from the baseline, with the shotmaking Shapovalov keeping the 31-year-old off balance with his overall aggression and crisp passing shots.

The 21-year-old is known to use the “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd to push him forward. But with no fans in attendance, Shapovalov still managed to keep his energy high throughout to take a 3-1 ATP Head2Head series lead against Cilic.

“I love the fans and I love the roar of the
crowd when you hit an amazing shot. But when I was
dialed in, focussed, I wasn’t paying too much attention to it,” Shapovalov said. “At the end of the day, it just came down to playing tennis. Definitely, it’s different, but we have gone through it.”

Shapovalov will next play another big-hitter in German Jan-Lennard Struff, who earned his first victory in his third ATP Head2Head meeting against Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-4 in 81 minutes.

Struff has won three of his four clashes against Shapovalov. However, the Canadian was victorious in their only hard-court battle at the 2018 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, triumphing 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 after saving a match point in the second-set tie-break.

Stefanos Tsitsipas leads the way in New York on Sunday, as four Top 10 seeds begin their title bids at the Western & Southern Open.

The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion will make his return to the ATP Tour against Kevin Anderson, who battled past Kyle Edmund in three sets on Saturday. This will be Tsitsipas and Anderson’s fourth ATP Head2Head meeting (Tsitsipas leads 2-1), with each of their three previous encounters taking place in 2018.

”It’s a great opportunity to be able to perform and play at such a high level again,” said Tsitsipas. “Personally speaking, I’m very happy I get to be back on the court… I’m just happy competing again, just happy to be able to be back to my normal happiness.”

Tsitsipas will aim to return to the level he was playing at prior to the ATP Tour suspension in March. In his two most recent ATP Tour events, the Greek captured the Open 13 Provence in Marseille for the second straight year and finished as runner-up at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“I was on a good run back in Marseille and Dubai which was quite disappointing when [COVID-19 struck],” said Tsitsipas. “It kept me a little bit off balance and I wasn’t expecting it. But I kept practising, I kept perfecting things. I’m back now, which gives me the perfect opportunity to prove myself once again.”

Last year’s finalist David Goffin will make his return to action against Croatian No. 1 Borna Coric. The 29-year-old owns an 8-2 record at the ATP Masters 1000 event since 2018, when he defeated three Top 15 players in straight sets en route to the semi-finals. Goffin is unbeaten in four ATP Head2Head clashes against Coric.

Ninth seed Diego Schwartzman and Andrey Rublev will compete in the opening two matches on Court 17. Schwartzman will face Buenos Aires champion Casper Ruud, before Doha and Adelaide titlist Rublev takes on Daniel Evans.

Former champion Grigor Dimitrov will look to add to his 15-7 record at the Masters 1000 tournament when he meets Auckland champion Ugo Humbert on Court 10. John Isner, the 2013 runner-up, will face Hubert Hurkacz in the first ATP Tour match of the day on Grandstand.

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY 23 AUGUST 2020
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
WTA Match
WTA Match

Not Before 3:00 pm
[16] John Isner vs Hubert Hurkacz

Not Before 5:00 pm
[PR] Kevin Anderson vs [4] Stefanos Tsitsipas

Not Before 7:00 pm
WTA Match

COURT 17 start 11:00 am
Casper Ruud vs [9] Diego Schwartzman
Daniel Evans vs [10] Andrey Rublev

Not Before 3:00 pm
WTA Match
WTA Match

Not Before 7:00 pm
Borna Coric vs [7] David Goffin

COURT 10 start 11:00 am
WTA Match
[Q] Mackenzie McDonald vs [Q] Marcos Giron
[14] Grigor Dimitrov vs Ugo Humbert
[Q] J.J. Wolf vs Richard Gasquet

Click here to view the full Day 2 schedule.

Brits Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski upset top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah on Saturday to reach the second round of the Western & Southern Open 7-6(5), 7-6(3).

“It was nice to put in a good performance against a top, top team, the World No. 1s,” Skupski said. “I thought we executed very well today. We put in a good week’s practice going to Connecticut early, we worked on a few things before coming here and it paid off. Hopefully we can continue the good work on the practice court and it will continue to pay off on the match court. Very happy to get the win and hopefully we can push forward the rest of the week.”

One year ago at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Cabal and Farah beat Murray and Skupski in the semi-finals en route to the US Open title. The Western & Southern Open is being held at the same venue this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a good start to ‘Cincinnati’. It’s a bit strange having ‘Cincinnati’ at the home of the US Open,” Skupski said. “But it was nice to get back on the court with Jamie for a match for the first time since February when we lost in Dubai.

“It was very strange to play in front of no fans. I thought we did a good job of bringing a lot of energy to the court today because we weren’t getting it from the fans. Hopefully the fans will be back very soon, but until then we’ll have to bring our own energy on the court and try and keep each other motivated as much as possible.”

Reigning Australian Open champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury also had a tight match in the first round, but the third seeds found a way to win. The American-British team defeated Cristian Garin and Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-7(3), 10-6.

“It’s better than starting off with a loss, that’s for sure,” Ram said. “It was fun to get out there and play again, which all of us probably felt that way after such a long break. It was fun to get out and compete in an ATP event.”

Seventh seeds Raven Klaasen and Oliver Marach advanced past Tim Puetz and Alexander Zverev 7-6(6), 3-6, 10-6, while eighth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic eliminated Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-2.

Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner will be opponents on Sunday, but they played together on Saturday to earn a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Australian Open finalists Max Purcell and Luke Saville. 

Sebastian Korda earned one of the biggest wins of his young career on Friday at the Western & Southern Open, rallying past former World No. 6 Gilles Simon in three sets to qualify for his first ATP Masters 1000 main draw.

The victory earned the #NextGenATP American three special deliveries wrapped in one: Boston Bruins t-shirts he had delivered to his house in Florida and carrying them, one of his coaches, former World No. 2 Petr Korda. Sebastian is Petr’s son.

The 1998 Australian Open champion would be plenty happy if nobody else notices his arrival. He is simply thrilled to be there with Sebastian, who will compete in just his second ATP Tour main draw.

“I like to be in his shadow. It’s fantastic. I love that. I’m enjoying being in the shadow of my kid,” Petr told ATPTour.com. “He’s the engine and I’m just the wheels. I’m a very proud dad and it should stay like that. He’s the one who should be giving the interviews, not me. The parents don’t normally give interviews.”

Korda tested negative for COVID-19 in Bradenton and flew to New York on Saturday.

“They did the swab test and they put that thing up through my nose and it felt like they were cleaning my brain,” said Korda, who knew he’d need to take another test at the tournament hotel upon his arrival, quarantining until he gets his results. “There’s still the possibility he’s going to ask me to stay in the hotel even when he’s going to play singles. I don’t mind. I’ll do whatever he asks me.”

The 20-time tour-level titlist (10 singles, 10 doubles trophies) is his son’s coach. However, Korda has full trust in another one of Sebastian’s coaches, Dean Goldfine, and he is more concerned with his role as dad.

“We talk every day. We don’t necessarily need to talk before the match. I know he likes to have his own space,” Korda said, adding that he passes tactics to his son through Goldfine. “With Sebi we just talked this week more about other stuff in life, not about tennis. I’m not just his coach, I’m his dad.”

The younger Korda received attention two and a half years ago when he won the Australian Open boys’ singles title. After his victory, he paid homage to his father by replicating Petr’s famous scissor kick celebration. Less than a month later, he competed in the 2018 New York Open as a wild card, losing against Frances Tiafoe in three sets. After Korda returned to Florida, he got sick for five days.

“In the first week he grew close to an inch. [The growing] upset [his body] and that year he grew another two inches. It’s a lot. The growing process is very important. We’re just making sure his growth plates are closed,” Petr said. “We don’t put too much pressure on his body because tennis is a marathon. He just turned 20 and hopefully he has another 10, 15 years ahead of him to play tennis.”

Korda has steadily climbed the FedEx ATP Rankings. When he played the New York Open, he was outside the Top 800. He is currently World No. 224, one spot off his career-high.

“He is learning on the court, off the court. It’s phenomenal for him,” Petr said. “He is learning about the game left and right. He still has one or two more years when he’s going to need to learn quite a lot.”

Sebastian is not the only Korda trying to make waves as a professional athlete. His older sisters, Jessica and Nelly, are professional golfers. Although they rarely get to spend time together because of travelling to tournaments, they are a tight-knit family. They use the hashtag #KeepingupwiththeKordashians on Instagram.

“Our family has a very close connection and close ties. Their time is very precious when they’re together, so we let them be kids. [Even though they’re professional athletes], they still will be our kids,” Petr said. “They have daily conversations between them. If one of them isn’t doing well, they try to support each other. It’s an effort from all three corners.”

Sebastian plays fellow qualifier and #NextGenATP Finn Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round. According to Petr, “The guy whipped Sebi’s butt” at the same venue three years ago in the US Open boys’ singles event. No matter what happens when they meet again Sunday, Petr is just happy his son has another chance to learn, especially on a stage like the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in a Masters 1000 event. 

More than anything else, Petr is simply proud to sit in the background, with all eyes on his son.

“I’m very happy for him,” Korda said. “He worked really hard for this moment.”

#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime finished off his 6-4, 6-1 victory on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the Western & Southern Open when his opponent, big-hitting Nikoloz Basilashvili, smothered a forehand return into the net.

There was no loud eruption of cheers from the Court 17 crowd at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. There was no crowd at all. Auger-Aliassime typically throws the ball he has in his pocket to a fan, but not this time.

“It was weird… I actually threw a ball at my coach,” said Auger-Aliassime, who was the first player to advance to the second round.

Auger-Aliassime briefly looked around as he normally would, seemingly ready to wave to the crowd. He then changed course and gave the on-court camera a quick thumb’s up and a fist pump before walking to the corner of the court to retrieve his towel.

“I was looking around because when there are so many people you don’t really look around… Whenever I saw one or two players coming to look or people that I knew, I was like, ‘Out of the 15 people here, who do I know? Who came to watch?’” said Auger-Aliassime, who walked onto the court wearing a mask and put it back on after his win. “The smallest noise or the smallest movement was even more of a distraction because there was no noise and you just heard every noise or every movement around. It was weird.”

But the show must go on at the first ATP Tour event since play was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The players certainly notice that there aren’t fans, but they are excited to be back competing. Jan-Lennard Struff was the second player to advance on Saturday, earning his first ATP Head2Head victory against Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-4.

“[It was] quite a different feeling to be out there competing in a real match, being back on Tour,” Struff said. “[But] I’m very happy with the win… I’m pretty happy with my performance.”

Jan-Lennard Struff claims his first victory in three ATP Head2Head matches against Alex de Minaur.” />

On the match’s stream, you could see 2019 Roland Garros men’s doubles champion Kevin Krawietz sitting alone, watching Struff, his countryman, compete on Court 11.

“There were not many fans, so you recognise guys. I think Dennis Novak was sitting there, Kevin Krawietz. Some other guys were sitting there. But for us, it’s much better to play with fans for sure,” Struff said, before noting the perks of emptier grounds. “For us it’s nice [to have the ability to walk around]. Like this we can explore the site a bit more… you can [always] go for practice, but you cannot [normally] watch a match. Once you sit down somewhere [and] someone recognises you, it’s not that easy. For me it was quite okay, but for the top guys it must be impossible to walk around the site.”

Not all players are walking around the venue to watch their friends or potential opponents play, though. American Reilly Opelka got his Tour resumption off to a good start with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph against qualifier Cameron Norrie. His close friend, Taylor Fritz, was still on court during his own first-round win against Lloyd Harris. But Opelka wasn’t in a rush to get out there.

“I’ve seen Fritz play enough,” Opelka said cracking a laugh. “I’ll watch from the air conditioning and that’s about it. I’ll watch in the air conditioning from the locker room on my phone and that’s only if there’s not a tight [NBA] game on. The [NBA] playoffs get all my attention.”

There may have been a little taping on his right knee and multiple shirt and shoe changes in the hot conditions, but it mattered little to Kevin Anderson on Saturday afternoon. The former World No. 5, playing at the Western & Southern Open for the 10th time, got the win in an empty stadium after almost three hours of toil.

For all of the South African’s injury woes over the past four years, including right knee surgeries in September 2019 and February 2020, Anderson has never given in and at the age of 34 is on the comeback trail once more.

His 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 first-round victory over Kyle Edmund at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York was his first match win at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament since March 2019, when he lost to Roger Federer in the Miami Open presented by Itau quarter-finals.

Anderson first recovered from 3-5 down in the first set, then again from a 1-3 deficit in the tie-break to earn six straight points and keep Edmund on the back foot. Anderson bounced back after handing Edmund the break at 2-2 in the second set by hanging tough in the decider — twice saving break points at 2-2 and 3-3. Once Edmund mis-timed a forehand long in the eighth game, Anderson didn’t look back for his fourth match win of 2020. He hit 20 aces among his 38 winners.

The reward is a fourth ATP Head2Head meeting against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fourth seed. The Western & Southern Open, traditionally played in Cincinnati, is being held behind closed doors at the venue of the upcoming US Open this year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Matches feature no line judges and players have to pick up their own towels.

It’s never too late to make your mark on the ATP Challenger Tour’s doubles circuit. At the age of 30, Ariel Behar is discovering that with authority.

Behar picked up where he left off before the COVID-19 break, adding yet another title to his burgeoning haul. He teamed with Andrey Golubev to triumph in Todi on Saturday, as the Uruguayan-Kazakh duo did not drop a set all week.

Projected to rise to a career-high of No. 68 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings, Behar is the hottest player on the Challenger doubles circuit. His victory at the Internazionali di Tennis Citta di Todi marked his fifth title in his last eight Challenger appearances. In that span, he has amassed a staggering 26-3 record, mostly with Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar.

“It’s very important that we’re back playing now,” said Behar during Saturday’s trophy ceremony. “The safety measures and security in Todi were very well organised and I thank the tournament for that. We hope that the circuit will be this successful in the coming months.”

Behar has now lifted seven Challenger trophies in the last 12 months. Exactly one year ago, he triumphed in Prague and proceeded to prevail in Genova, Santo Domingo, Lima, Guayaquil and Newport Beach – all with Escobar.

Hanfmann, Zapata Miralles To Battle For Singles Crown
The singles final at the Tennis Club Todi 1971 will feature Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann and Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Hanfmann, a former World No. 99 and ATP Tour finalist at the 2017 Swiss Open Gstaad, has dropped just one set in reaching the championship match. He dismissed home hope Gian Marco Moroni in Saturday’s nightcap, needing one hour and 36 minutes to prevail 7-6(4), 6-1. Hanfmann, who is hoping to rediscover his Top 100 form as 2020 rolls on, is back in a Challenger final for the second time this year. He finished runner-up to Taro Daniel in Burnie in January. The former University of Southern California standout owns a 5-2 record in Challenger finals.

Photos: Marta Magni/MEF Tennis Events

Zapata Miralles, meanwhile, is enjoying a breakout week at the age of 23. The World No. 212 is into his second Challenger final, having previously fallen to Botic van de Zandschulp in Hamburg last year. The Spaniard has dropped just 15 games en route to the final, culminating with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Antoine Hoang in the semi-finals. Earlier in the week, he routed top seed and countryman Roberto Carballes Baena for his third Top 100 win.

“I really like Todi’s playing conditions,” said the Valencia native. “I love this clay and I am happy with the balls we use. The results show that it was easy from the first round, but the truth is that I gave my best to reach the final. At this point, to win the title I will have to do this once again, putting aside the tension of the final and without thinking about the result.”

Hanfmann and Zapata Miralles will meet for the first time, with the final scheduled for 8:30pm CET in Todi.

As tennis returns at the Western & Southern Open, will Daniil Medvedev shine brighter than ever before?

The World No. 5 made waves beginning with last year’s American hard-court swing, reaching the final of six consecutive tour-level events he played. The Russian won his first two ATP Masters 1000 titles (Cincinnati, Shanghai) and made an incredible run to the US Open championship match, in which he pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets. But after winning his first four matches of 2020 at the ATP Cup, Medvedev’s momentum slowed, losing three of four matches before the ATP Tour was suspended due to COVID-19.

According to former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert, the time off might have been a blessing in disguise.

“Maybe the break will help him regroup because he didn’t look like the same player he was last summer,” Gilbert said. “I think maybe the break will help him because he played a lot of tennis last year. He was one I thought about [who can do well as tennis returns]. He makes a lot of balls, moves well and maybe he had overplayed.

“He’s somebody who definitely wouldn’t surprise me if he won the tournament. It will be a good opportunity to regroup and he had such a great run last summer. He’s definitely someone who I put in the mix as one of the favourites to win it now, definitely.”

Patrick McEnroe, the former doubles World No. 3, believes that while Medvedev’s abilities are clear, it might take time for him to get into a rhythm because of his physical, grinding game style.

“He strikes me as the kind of guy who needs matches and needs to play a lot… Obviously he’s got unbelievable upside, we know that,” McEnroe said. “He reminds me a little bit of Jim Courier where Courier needed to play a lot of matches. He’s got a little more feel for the ball, he’s not quite as physical. That’ll be interesting to see. To me he’s more of a guy who could get upset than a Djokovic or a Thiem early on. If he gets a couple matches in, then look out.”

In a normal year, Medvedev would be facing the pressure of needing to defend the points he earned last year. The FedEx ATP Rankings traditionally operate on a “Best 18” results basis over 52 weeks, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are now covering a period of 22 months (March 2019 – December 2020).

“All of a sudden maybe psychologically he’ll be able to relax more and just go out there and try to win matches,” Gilbert said.

Medvedev isn’t looking too far ahead and thinking about lifting titles. He is taking it one match at a time at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, starting with his opening-round match at the Western & Southern Open against Marcos Giron or Mackenzie McDonald.

“I just want to see first where my game is at a tournament level, competitive level in ‘Cincinnati’, because we’re going to almost 100 per cent see some unbelievable results, maybe some really bad games or some really good ones,” Medvedev said. “I don’t know what to expect, because it’s not usual that there are 150 players that didn’t play a match in six months… I’m really curious [what will happen] and I am going to do my best to win as many matches as possible.”