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Shapovalov, Raonic headline Montreal wild cards

  • Posted: Jul 31, 2024

The National Bank Open Presented by Rogers has awarded four wild cards to Canadian players seeking to make an impact in Montreal. Denis Shapovalov, Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil and Gabriel Diallo will join fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who gained direct entry through his ranking of No. 19 in the PIF ATP Rankings, in the main draw. The hard-court event will be held from 6-12 August.

Denis Shapovalov

Current PIF ATP Ranking: No. 139
Career High: No. 10 (2020)
Best Result at Canadian Open: SF (2017, l. to Alexander Zverev)

Shapovalov will hope a return to Montreal, the setting for his semi-final run in 2017, will help him in his rise back up the PIF ATP Rankings. The 25-year-old, who beat Rafael Nadal en route to the last four seven years ago, missed the second half of last season through injury but has made steady progress this year. The Canadian earned a hard-court win against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami and recently reached the third round at Wimbledon. The former Top 10 star is still alive this week in Washington, where he is in the third round. 

Milos Raonic

Current PIF ATP Ranking: No. 177
Career High: No. 3 (2016)
Best Result at Canadian Open: Final (2013, l. to Rafael Nadal)

The 33-year-old is a former finalist in Montreal, falling to Rafael Nadal in 2013. The Canadian, who has reached quarter-finals in Rotterdam and ‘s-Hertogenbosch this season, broke the record for the most aces in a three-set match, according to Infosys ATP Stats, earlier this year at The Queen’s Club. Raonic hit 47 aces in a tight three-set victory over Cameron Norrie and will hope his serve is firing at full capacity on home soil in Canada.

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Gabriel Diallo
Current PIF ATP Ranking: No. 148
Career High: No. 129 (2024)
Best result at the Canadian Open: R2 (2023, l. to Alex de Minaur)

Diallo will be aiming to build upon his success at last year’s edition of the Canadian Open, where he defeated World No. 21 Dan Evans 7-6 (4), 7-5. The 22-year-old will hope to extend his strong run of form this year, which has seen him climb to a career-high of No. 129 in the PIF ATP Rankings, qualify for his maiden grand slam appearance at Roland Garros and win an ATP Challenger Tour title in Chicago without dropping a set. The six-foot-eight Canadian exploits his huge frame, making his serve his greatest asset.

Vasek Pospisil

Current PIF ATP Ranking: No. 616
Career High: No. 25 (2014)
Best result at the Canadian Open: Semi-final (2013, l. to Milos Raonic)

Pospisil is familiar with prospering as a wild card; at 23 years old he enjoyed a stellar run as a wild card at the 2013 Canadian Open, beating Tomas Berdych en route to the semi-finals, where he lost in a third set tie-break to Raonic. Pospisil has not played a tour-level match since Toronto last year.  

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Djokovic continues chase for first gold medal at Paris Olympics

  • Posted: Jul 31, 2024

Novak Djokovic continued his pursuit of a first Olympic gold medal on Wednesday at the Paris Olympics, where he moved past Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Serbian defeated rival Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the second round and backed up his 31st win against the Spaniard with a dialled-in performance against Koepfer, advancing after one hour and 37 minutes.

The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, who has won a record 24 major titles and 40 ATP Masters 1000 crowns, is making his fifth Olympics appearance. Djokovic’s best result came in Beijing in 2008 when he won a bronze medal. The Serbian, who is eager to add an Olympic gold to his trophy cabinet, revealed he is loving his time in Paris.

“It is a great honour to represent my country at the Olympics. It is an incredible sporting event,” Djokovic said. “We play Roland Garros every year in this stadium but the crowd, the atmosphere, the colours, everything is different. In a good way. The Roland Garros crowd is very knowledgeable and passionate about tennis but the Olympic crowd is something different.

“People from all over the world come to support their athletes and I think there are so many different nations and nationalities and it is beautiful to see. We are all celebrating sport and I am glad to still stay in the tournament.”

In hot Parisian conditions, Djokovic recovered from squandering a break advantage in the first set, grinding down the German in gruelling baseline rallies in the closing stages of the set to lead. The 37-year-old then won 95 per cent (19/20) of his first-serve points in the second set to reach the last eight in Paris.

Djokovic let out a roar after sealing victory on his first match point with a punched volley. He raised his arms to the sky to take in the embrace of the Serbian fans inside Court Philippe Chatrier, where a number of Serbian flags were spread around the stadium.

“I am soaking wet. It is a very humid day, as it was yesterday. I just hope it rains so it cools down the temperature a bit, the air,” Djokovic said. “It is the same for me and my opponent so you have to make the best out of it.”

Djokovic will next play eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Greek downed Argentine Sebastian Baez 7-5, 6-1. Djokovic takes a 11-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead into his meeting with Tsitsipas, having won their past 10 meetings.

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Purcell/Thompson begin hunt for 4th title of season in Washington

  • Posted: Jul 31, 2024

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson have won a hat-trick of trophies on North American soil this year.

The Australians made a convincing start to another title quest Tuesday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where they raced past Diego Hidalgo and John-Patrick Smith 6-2, 6-3 in just 60 minutes.

Seeded second, Purcell and Thompson triumphed in Dallas, Los Cabos and Houston this season. They reached the Wimbledon final, falling to Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten, the top seeds in Washington.  

Thompson also won the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid alongside Sebastian Korda, whom the Aussies could meet next. Korda and Alex Michelsen face seventh seeds Julian Cash and Robert Galloway.

In other Tuesday doubles action, Karen Khachanov and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard advanced in straight sets, downing third seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-4. Eighth seeds Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo defeated Nicolas Barrientos and Ariel Behar 7-6(7), 6-3;

Did You Know?
ATP is trialing player-worn microphones during Washington doubles matches. This innovation, part of the 2024 ATP Doubles Trial, aims to enhance the fan and broadcast experience, while also amplifying the profiles of the players. This will take place across select doubles matches throughout the week.

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Tiafoe's Washington opener resumes after rain interruption

  • Posted: Jul 31, 2024

Hometown hero Frances Tiafoe and Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan have resumed their second-round match Tuesday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open after an early rain interruption.

The fifth seed led Galan 4-3, with the Colombian to serve at 15/40 when play was suspended. Competing in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, Tiafoe and Galan left the court for roughly 40 minutes.

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Four Americans won earlier in the day at the ATP 500, led by fourth seed Sebastian Korda and 13th seed Brandon Nakashima. Aleksandar Kovacevic and Mitchell Krueger also advanced.

#NextGenATP Shang Juncheng and Luca Van Assche earned wins. The Chinese lefty defeated Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3 while Van Assche beat Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-3.

Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis rallied past countryman Max Purcell 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 and Miomir Kecmanovic defeated J.J. Wolf 6-2, 6-3.

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Evans & Murray save 2 more match points, keep dream Olympics run alive

  • Posted: Jul 30, 2024

Daniel Evans and Andy Murray earned another dramatic Paris Olympics victory Tuesday to extend the Scot’s career an additional day.

Two days after saving five consecutive match points in the opening round, Great Britain’s Evans and Murray fended off two match points to defeat Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-3, 6-7(8), 11-9.

The fans’ favourites tallied four consecutive points from 7/9 in the Match Tie-break, leaping for joy after closing the two-hour, five-minute thriller, during which Evans and Murray had two match points in the second-set tie-break.

They will next look to continue their dream run in a quarter-final match against third-seeded Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul or Dutchmen Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer.

Murray, a 46-time tour-level titlist who ascended to World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, withdrew from singles, meaning the Paris Olympics doubles event will mark the 37-year-old’s final outing of his storied career.

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