Google Play App Download

Tennis News

From around the world

Shapovalov soars to first final since 2022 in Belgrade

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

Denis Shapovalov continued his dominant Belgrade Open run on Friday to advance to his first ATP Tour final since his Vienna runner-up finish in October 2022. The Canadian qualifier eased to a 6-2, 6-1 victory against fourth seed Jiri Lehecka to advance to his seventh tour-level final and his fifth on indoor hard courts.

The 25-year-old has lost just one set and one break point in his four main-draw victories this week. With an aggressive game plan in the semi-finals, he did not allow Lehecka a break chance, winning 96 per cent (25/26) of his first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“Against a guy like Jiri, if you don’t go after him, he’s going to dictate the court,” Shapovalov said after spoiling the Czech’s 23rd birthday. “So for sure I was trying to play my game, play aggressive, really take it to him from the beginning.”

[ATP APP]

Up 17 places to No. 61 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings this week, Shapovalov will move to the brink of the Top 50 if he can beat home favourite Hamad Medjedovic in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup in Saturday’s final. The Canadian will be playing for his second ATP Tour title (Stockholm 2019).

Medjedovic advanced to his first tour-level final by coming through an all-Serbian battle against Laslo Djere, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(2). The Belgrade wild card won the title at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last year and is seeking to once again close his season with a trophy.

The 21-year-old is the third-youngest Serbian to reach his first ATP Tour final after Novak Djokovic (Amersfoort 2006) and Miomir Kecmanovic (Antalya 2019) both played their first finals at 19.

While Medjedovic will enjoy the backing of his home crowd in Saturday’s championship match, Shapovalov has also felt plenty of support from the Serbian fans this week.

“I didn’t know I had so many Serbian fans,” the Canadian said. “I think it’s because I lose to Novak every time, so maybe they like me!”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

Italian music stars light up Grand Opening for Nitto ATP Finals, Sinner makes appearance

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

The Inalpi Arena came alive on Friday evening in Turin. Italian music stars Marco Mengoni, Blanco and Madame performed on stage to officially open the 54th edition of the Nitto ATP Finals, with Jannik Sinner also making an appearance.

From Sunday, Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and the rest of the eight-man field will be hoping to entertain the fans in northern Italy with their tennis, but on Friday night it was a selection of the country’s best musicians who raised the roof, with the electric concert drawing in a capacity crowd.

Mengoni has won 10 Music Awards and three MTV Europe Music Awards in his career, while rapper Blanco rose to prominence in 2021 with two hits that topped the Italian Singles Chart. Madame, a 22-year-old rapper, has produced two albums since bursting onto the music scene in 2018. All three performed on stage and at the start of the night Sinner made an appearance. 

The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings received a raucous reception when walking onto court and was in a relaxed mood when answering questions in Italian from host Alessandro Cattelan.

[ATP APP]

Earlier, a private dinner was hosted for Partners, ATP and FITP personnel in the Player Lounge, where a Michelin chef curated a memorable dinning experience.

The evening was part of a vast programme of events organised by the Municipality of Turin, the Piedmont Region and the Turin Chamber of Commerce for the forthcoming week.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

How Zverev found 'big satisfaction' in 2024 season

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

Is Alexander Zverev poised for a Nitto ATP Finals hat trick?

The German, who triumphed at the season finale in 2018 and 2021, is riding a wave of momentum as he enters this year’s edition on a five-match win streak following his dominant run to the Rolex Paris Masters title. It marked Zverev’s seventh ATP Masters 1000 crown — and his second this season after also claiming the Rome title.

After a successful comeback season in 2023, during which Zverev qualified for Turin, the 27-year-old has now firmly reestablished himself at the sport’s biggest events.

“In 2023, I didn’t feel like I was competitive in big events, I was far away from winning them. Being able to compete and make Grand Slam finals, win Masters 1000 events, that is a big satisfaction to me because there were obviously question marks if I was ever going to do that again after the injury,” Zverev told ATP Media when reflecting on his 2024 season.

“It was the first year where I was competitive again in big events. I’m happy with where I am.”

[ATP APP]

Now setting his sights on another significant stage, Zverev is making his seventh Nitto ATP Finals appearance. Since 2017, the only year he did not qualify for the season finale was in 2022, when he was forced to shut down his year at Roland Garros due to a severe ankle injury.

The field of eight players consists of just two former champions: Zverev and Daniil Medvedev. The Hamburg native is the only player competing that has won the event multiple times. [Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic qualified but is not competing.]

“I think coming in and playing one of the best eight players in the world straight off is a very difficult thing to do. You have to be focused, you have to be ready from the get go,” Zverev said. “I’m looking forward to this week.”

Boasting a season-leading 66 match wins, Zverev is placed in The John Newcombe Group alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev. Zverev will begin his campaign Monday against Rublev, who the German leads 6-3 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“[He’s a] powerful, extremely fast player,” said Zverev, World No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “He tries to overpower you. The most important thing against him is to not let him.”

Source link

Norrie reaches first final of year in Metz, next meets Bonzi

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

Cameron Norrie overcame a topsy-turvy and entertaining semi-final battle against Corentin Moutet on Friday to reach the Moselle Open title match.

In a clash between two lefties, the Frenchman Moutet pleaded his home crowd for support and produced superb shotmaking — even serving underarm on several occasions — but it was not enough to stop Norrie from a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory.

The Briton trailed 2/5 in the second-set tie-break before tallying five consecutive points to close the one-hour, 32-minute match, booking a place in his first tour-level final since winning the 2023 Rio de Janeiro crown.

“It’s been a difficult year for me and I was never able to gain any momentum, so it’s nice to finish the last week of the year playing in the final,” said Norrie, who won 75 per cent of his second-serve points, compared to Moutet’s 43 per cent, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “I was just back to competing every point. It’s nice to get my first indoor final as well.”

[ATP APP]

Following his win, Norrie improved to 2-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Moutet, with all three of their matches coming in France.

“He’s honestly one of my favourite players to watch,” Norrie said of Moutet. “The way he moves is incredible and his hands are just another level. I knew it was going to be tough.”

Norrie, who dealt with a forearm injury in the middle of the season, is up to No. 50 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

The 29-year-old will next meet another Frenchman: Benjamin Bonzi. The qualifier, aiming for his first tour-level trophy, converted his fifth match point to down #NextGenATP Alex Michelsen 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.

Bonzi failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider, but held his nerve to reach his third tour-level final. The 28-year-old has won 20 of his past 21 matches across all levels, including two ATP Challenger Tour titles on home soil. Following his semi-final win, Bonzi is set to return to the Top 100 for the first time since January.

Michelsen, seeded eighth, called a medical timeout midway through the second set, seemingly due to an abdominal injury. The American struggled physically as the match wore on, often reducing the pace behind his delivery and even resorting to underarm serves.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

'Relaxed' Rublev embracing new Turin approach

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

Andrey Rublev is no stranger to the year-end Nitto ATP Finals, where he is set to compete for the fifth consecutive year. But this season the 27-year-old is entering Turin with a new mindset.

Rublev, placed in the John Newcombe Group alongside a gauntlet of Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud, is embracing a lighter approach and not being weighed down by high expectations.

“In terms of results, only one year [in Turin] when I made the semi-finals [in 2022] was a great week, the rest were tougher. But I hope I learn something out of these years. We’ll see,” Rublev told ATP Media. “At least I’m trying to do a different approach this year. At least I feel more relaxed and that’s the best.

“Out of four times I’ve played, I went to the semi-finals only once. Three times I lost in the group round. So if I lose three or four times, doesn’t change anything.”

Rublev began this season on a hot streak, winning the Hong Kong title in the opening week and stretching his win streak to eight before falling in the Australian Open quarter-finals. Boasting a 42-23 season record, Rublev claimed his second ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid, a run which he labelled “the proudest title of my career”.

Rublev entered Madrid on a four-match skid, but it did not deter him from playing some of the best tennis of his life, even when dealing with an illness. He ousted home hero Alcaraz in the quarters en route to the title and in hindsight, that week is perhaps a summary of Rublev’s 2024 season as a whole.

“It was a rollercoaster. Some amazing moments, some tough situations and bad moments,” Rublev said when reflecting on his season. “But overall I was able to make it [to the Nitto ATP Finals]. I need to be realistic. Doesn’t matter what negative thoughts I was giving myself about this season — that the season might not be as good, or could be the worst season of my career, or whatever — but realistically I was able to make it here.

“And to make it here you need to have a really good season. I wish to have all my bad seasons end like this, where I am here. There are many players who had an amazing season, beat amazing players, but they still didn’t qualify.”

[ATP APP]

Rublev will begin his campaign on Monday against Paris champion Zverev, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 6-3. The German was victorious in their first five clashes before Rublev won three consecutive in 2023. They have not met since last year in Turin, where Zverev won 6-4, 6-4.

“It’s always tough to play against Sascha. First of all, the way he serves. He has one of the best serves on Tour with a really high percentage,” Rublev said. “I have a long history with Sascha. He beat me a lot of times over the years, I beat him a couple times last year. It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be a great challenge for me.”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

Happy to be back in Turin, Ruud believes ‘anything can happen’

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

After missing the cut in 2023, Casper Ruud is set to return to the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals. The 25-year-old, who made the semi-finals in 2021, and final in 2022 is excited to see how things unfold in Turin.

“Anything can happen, [when] you have the best players in the world,” said Ruud, speaking to ATP Media before the action begins on Sunday.

Set for his third appearance at the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals, Ruud appreciates the opportunity to go head-to-head with the very best in Turin. The No. 6 Ruud, placed in the John Newcombe Group, alongside No. 2 Alexander Zverev, No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, and No. 8 Andrey Rublev, reflected on his opponents.

“I am going to see an in form player, [has had an] incredible year,” said Ruud, opening up about Zverev, who recently won his seventh ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Paris Masters and climbed to the No. 2 spot in the PIF ATP Rankings. “He is going to be full of confidence, just came from Paris victory. I am going to do my best to somehow stop him.

“[He has a] great serve, beautiful backhand. When he is on also with his forehand, it is really tough to play him. Because you feel like you are getting shot at from both [the] forehand and the backhand. [I will] try to neutralise his game as much as I can, but it is going to be difficult.”

[ATP APP]

The Norwegian will kickstart his campaign against Alcaraz on Monday in the day session. Alcaraz, who has won four titles this season, leads the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series 4-0.

“His career [is] already close to legendary,” said Ruud of Alcaraz. “I love watching him play, he is so great for the sport. I don’t necessarily always love playing him because [he is] really tough. It typically comes down to fun points. He is so electric, he can hit any shot in the world.”

Discussing his good friend Rublev, Ruud said he looks up to the 27-year-old.
“He just rips the ball from both sides. He is such a kind person,” he said. “I looked up to him because he is a year older than me and he got to the Top 10 and started winning big tournaments way before I did.”

 

A solid start to the season propelled Ruud to the third spot in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin by the end of Roland Garros in June, where he reached the semi-finals. Earlier in the year, the 25-year-old won the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Gonet Geneva Open, and finished finalist at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

At the end of Roland Garros, the 12-time tour-level titlist caught a parasite that hampered his performance for the next few weeks. Struggling to regain his usual energy levels post-illness and having accumulated fewer points in the rest of the season, he dropped to the seventh spot.

“I’m a bit disappointed that I was not able to keep it up because I was in a good position to finish even higher,” he said. But [it] didn’t happen. Had a bit of trouble in summer and fall. But it’s okay. We’re here, and that is the most important thing.”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

Does Alcaraz have something to prove in Turin?

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

Aged just 21, Carlos Alcaraz is already a four-time major winner and a five-time ATP Masters 1000 champion. The Spaniard has spent 36 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and clinched the silver medal at the Paris Olympics in July.

However, when it comes to the Nitto ATP Finals, Alcaraz feels he has a point to prove. The 21-year-old missed the 2022 event due to injury before he lost in straight sets to record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals on debut last year.

“Last year was a difficult end of the year for me,” Alcaraz said on Thursday in Turin ahead of the prestigious year-end event. “I could not play at my best. The last two matches here were pretty good matches for me but the previous two, three tournaments I didn’t play at my best, so I realised I had to change a little bit at this time of the year, which I did this year.

“I come here a little bit different. I approach this tournament a little differently, knowing there are things I have to change if I am to have a good result here and go far. Last year I didn’t start well from the first matches. I will try to play the same level and will try to play good tennis. I am coming here with a lot of motivation.”

Alcaraz sealed his spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in September after enjoying another impressive season on Tour. The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings lifted majors at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and won titles on hard courts in Indian Wells and Beijing.

Forever seeking improvement, the Spaniard reflected on 2024 ahead of his final event of the year.

“It is impossible to rate it 10 out of 10 as you can always be better but it was a really amazing year for me,” Alcaraz said. “I would say eight and a half or nine. It could have been better with the gold medal or other tournaments but I would say 8.5.

“I learned a lot this year. I know myself more as a person and a player: what I need to do, what I need, on and off the court. Some of my losses this year were really painful for me: what I have to do, to train on days off. It is not only a goal on the court but also what you have to do on days off: how many days to take before going to the tournament, before it starts to prepare as best.”

Alcaraz arrived in Turin at the start of the week in preparation for his campaign, which commences on Monday afternoon against Casper Ruud in Inalpi Arena. The former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion is in The John Newcombe Group alongside Alexander Zverev, Ruud and Andrey Rublev.

Alcaraz is level at 5-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Zverev, having won two of their three meetings this year. The Spaniard knows he will be in for a battle when he takes on the two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion, who clinched his seventh ATP Masters 1000 crown last week in Paris.

“He is one of the toughest players in the world for sure,” Alcaraz said on Zverev. “I think I return pretty well but he has a really big serve and plays unbelievable from the baseline, which makes him a really tough opponent to face.

“He has won more than 20 ATP Tour titles, lots of Masters titles. He wants a Grand Slam and I told him he is going to get it for sure. At the end of his career he will get at least one, let’s see if more. He deserves it. He is a really hard worker. He has lifted the big trophies. I don’t like to face him because of his serves and shots, but I am trying to find the beauty of playing him.”

<img alt=”Alexander Zverev/Carlos Alcaraz” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/11/07/22/14/theatre-turin-2024-media-day.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” />
Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

How Fritz's 'big positive' could help him under Turin bright lights

  • Posted: Nov 08, 2024

Taylor Fritz has produced fireworks throughout the 2024 season, and now, with the Nitto ATP Finals on the horizon, the American has his sights set on a grand finale.

Having already competed at the prestigious year-end event in 2022, Fritz will look to rely on lessons learned from that year’s semi-final run as he aims to become champion of champions.

The 27-year-old’s consistently high level this year, no matter the surface, has proven that he is more than capable.

“If I want to be a top player, I feel like you have to be playing your best tennis at the biggest events, so that was a big positive,” Fritz said when reflecting on his 2024 season.

“I think what I did this year that was a big goal of mine was that I performed my best at the Slams. In previous years, I maybe had one good Slam result throughout the calendar year and then some not so good ones.”

[ATP APP]

Fritz, the first American singles player to qualify multiple times for the Nitto ATP Finals since Andy Roddick, is placed in the Ilie Nastase Group alongside Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur.

The US Open finalist Fritz and 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion Medvedev will begin singles action Sunday in Turin.

“It’s obviously different from any other tournament because you are guaranteed to play three matches. You can lose your first match and still get out of the group,” Fritz said. “You lose a match, you do everything after the match like you just won because you have to go be ready to play another one again, potentially the next day. It’s really cool in that aspect.

“Also, straightaway, first match, you are going to be playing a top player. You really have to be ready from the first one to go out and be playing at your best level.”

Fritz’s opening match against Medvedev will mark just their second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“Daniil is obviously very awkward [to play] because he slows down the speed of the match a lot with how he plays and how he hits the ball. He doesn’t play with a lot of spin or lift for you to work off of,” Fritz said. “You constantly are feeling like you have to lift and generate pace. He slows down the court a lot.”

The 27-year-old will get another crack at the local hero Sinner, who spoiled Fritz’s quest of winning his home major.

“He’s been so consistent,” Fritz said of Sinner. “I would say the most impressive thing is that he hasn’t played a bad match. He’s just been really solid all year. Super aggressive from the baseline, tough to get him on defence because a lot of his defence is playing big out of the corners, almos tplaying offence. He’s improved his serve so much, massive improvement. He’s become a very good server.”

Boasting a 49-21 season record, Fritz also spoke highly of De Minaur’s level this year, mentioning it was no surprise to see the Aussie qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

“I played Demon in the second match of this year [at the United Cup] and personally, I thought it was one of the highest levels of tennis that I’ve ever seen on the other side of the court,” Fritz concluded.

Source link