Roger Federer has done a lot of winning in his career. The Swiss Superstar has captured 102 tour-level titles, 1,223 match wins and plenty more. But what’s easy to forget is that with his victories have come losses for the player on the other side of the net.

“In the juniors maybe I felt bad sometimes, just because I did. Don’t know why,” Federer said. “Afterwards, I guess it’s part of the business. You want everybody to do well, and that’s why I’m generally happy when somebody does well, because not everybody can attain whatever it is [they are aiming for], but what you can attain is the best of yourself.”

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The World No. 3, who made a strong start to his pursuit of an eighth Western & Southern Open title Tuesday evening, has surpassed his hopes and dreams. And many players on the ATP Tour have achieved amazing things on the tennis court, even if they haven’t earned quite as many wins or titles.

“I think probably if you ask a lot of the guys on the Tour, they’d say, ‘I probably did much better than I expected’, because the dream is, of course, to be Top 100, Top 10, World No. 1, winning tournaments and all that stuff. But to be able to make a living from what you wanted to do, I think that’s the cool bit,” Federer said. “That’s when sometimes it gets a bit rough. All of a sudden you achieve your dream and you have been told you’re terrible because you didn’t win so-and-so. You’re like, ‘Okay, you know what? Get lost. I don’t care what you say.

“You’ve got to do what you can do best and make yourself proud, your family, your country, whatever it is. And in tennis, very quickly, take another sport, but if you’re [the] No. 100 best player or athlete or whatever of your sport, you’re a champ. In tennis you say, ‘Oh, he’s just 100’, and I disagree with that.”

Earning one victory is plenty difficult, especially at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments like this week’s event. It is made even harder for a player like Federer, who is competing for the first time since Wimbledon. This is also the first season since 2016 that he has played on clay, making the transition that much more uncertain.

Nevertheless, Federer overcame the challenge against Cordoba Open champion Juan Ignacio Londero, defeating the Argentine in straight sets in 61 minutes, with the match lasting about as long as the rain delay in the middle of the second set.

“[I’m] very happy. I thought it was tricky with the rain delay and everything, but I’m happy to be back on the courts,” Federer said. “It’s totally different to the grass courts and the clay courts we have seen, so this is the beginning of a long, long hard-court swing. So it’s nice to start off with a win.”

With 872 tour-level victories to his name, Novak Djokovic has grown accustomed to winning in his 16 years on the ATP Tour. But while his losses have been far less frequent, the Serbian believes those painful defeats shaped him the most.

“Sport and tennis allow you to grow your character through wins and losses. When you win a match, it sorts of fades away,” Djokovic said. “When you lose a tennis match, it sticks with you for a longer time and defines you as a human being and an athlete.”

Djokovic picked up his latest victory on Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open, defeating Sam Querrey to begin his title defence in Cincinnati. It was his first match since saving two championship points to defeat Roger Federer last month in the Wimbledon final.

The World No. 1 has experienced plenty of heartbreak himself. He’s finished runner-up in nine Grand Slam finals, 16 ATP Masters 1000 finals and two championship matches at the Nitto ATP Finals. But like Federer, Djokovic has continued to find ways to keep pushing forward after difficult moments and eventually find himself in the winner’s circle again.

“[It is] how you overcome that loss and allow it to get you stronger psychologically and emotionally, or how you allow it to control you and bring you down,” said Djokovic. “Sport offers those life lessons in a short amount of time on the tennis court.

Djokovic isn’t feeling any added pressure to retain his crown in Cincinnati. Part of that is because title defences have been commonplace in his career, but it’s also impacted by the positivity that surrounds him.

He credits the childhood support of his parents with his success as a professional athlete. As an adult, he can turn to support from his wife, Jelena, or his longtime coach of 13 years, Marian Vajda. Even though Vajda isn’t in Cincinnati this week, another trusty confidante – and fellow Wimbledon champion – in Goran Ivanisevic has taken his place.

The Serbian is aware that even with his family support growing up, the odds of success on the ATP Tour are small. But he believes that even if he didn’t achieve his dreams in tennis, the encouragement he received would have helped him thrive elsewhere.

“What I like about the college tennis system in the United States is that you always feel like you’re part of a team, win or lose,” said Djokovic. “I get the sense that there’s too much pressure on the shoulders of younger players, that they have to win Grand Slams or be Top 10 players. I think we have to address this in a softer way and with more compassion for those young athletes. If you don’t succeed in making it to the top of your sport, you can still succeed in life. It’s not the end of the world.”

With a 55-8 record over the past 12 months, Djokovic has clearly placed himself at the top of the sport. If his form this season is any indication, it might be awhile before he’s forced to endure another character-building loss.

Roger Federer has won more titles at the Western & Southern Open than anyone else with seven. And on Tuesday evening, the Swiss superstar made a good start towards Cincinnati title No. 8.

In his first match as a 38-year-old, rain nor Juan Ignacio Londero could stop Federer, who took a 6-3, 6-4 decision in the second round, winning 83 per cent of his second-serve points in a 61-minute match that was delayed by about an hour during the second set due to a brief downpour.

“[I’m] very happy. I thought it was tricky with the rain delay and everything, but I’m happy to be back on the courts,” Federer said. “It’s totally different to the grass courts and the clay courts we have seen, so this is the beginning of a long, long hard-court swing. So it’s nice to start off with a win.”

This was Federer’s first match since letting two championship points slip in the Wimbledon final against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The third seed is pursuing his 29th ATP Masters 1000 title.

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The World No. 3 got off to a flying start against this year’s Cordoba Open champion, breaking to love when the Cincinnati debutant double faulted into the net at 15/40 in his first service game. Federer quickly raced to secure that advantage, holding for 3-0, and he didn’t look back from there in the opener. The father of four struck seven aces and lost just five service points in the first set, which took just 22 minutes

Londero shrugged off his early nerves and held in his five service games after getting broken to start the encounter. And he successfully slowed down the Federer train before rain suspended play at 2-2, 15/15 on the Argentine’s serve at the second set.

But in search of his first Top 10 win and Masters 1000 victory, Londero could not maintain his momentum. When the players returned to the court, Federer broke serve immediately thanks to a Londero double fault, and that was the only advantage he needed. The Swiss saved the only break point he faced in the next game with a half volley drop shot winner.

“Conditions are fast. We barely had any rallies in the first set. It was just bang-bang tennis,” Federer said. “He had a good forehand. He hides it well with the grip, and because I have never played him before, it’s hard to see the release happening. I think he actually can play very well on the faster hard court. He moves well, can take the ball early. He has the option to go back, but maybe here it’s just a tad too fast. “

Despite missing out on a match point on the World No. 55’s serve, Federer served out his victory, finishing it off with a jamming body serve that went unreturned.

“I liked what I saw. I think he’s going to have a good career. He’s a good fighter. I saw especially a good fight from him against Rafa at the French Open. And even though he was down two sets to love and a break and you think, ‘Well, you know, it’s over’, he kept believing and kept fighting. This is a quality I respect a lot in a player. That’s why I knew it was going to be tough maybe today.”

Federer leads the ATP Tour this season in winning percentage according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, emerging victorious in 88.6 per cent of his matches. If the 102-time tour-level titlist makes the semi-finals, he will finish the week with the ATP Tour lead in matches won, passing Rafael Nadal’s 41.

Did You Know?
Federer lost his opening match in Cincinnati in three of his first four appearances at the tournament. But since it last happened in 2004, the Swiss has not dropped his first match here once, making the final in his past three visits.

Not today, Sam!

The last time World No. 1 Novak Djokovic played Sam Querrey, the American stunned the Serbian in the third round of Wimbledon three years ago. But despite getting off to a slow start Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open and having his serve tested throughout the match, Djokovic battled past Querrey 7-5, 6-1 to reach the second round in Cincinnati.

This is Djokovic’s first tournament since saving two championship points in the Wimbledon final en route to claiming his fifth title at The Championships. Mason, Ohio, holds good memories for the Serbian, who completed his Career Golden Masters at this event last season.

Djokovic was broken in the first game of the match and he saved two break points in each of his first two service games in the second set, but the 32-year-old clenched his teeth and waited for his opportunities, advancing after one hour and 18 minutes.

Querrey used his footwork well to cut off any angles Djokovic tried to use, stepping into the court and blasting away to try to keep the top seed on the back foot. But once Djokovic went into his trademark ‘lockdown mode’ from the baseline, the big-serving Querrey struggled for service points, even on his first serve. 

The American entered the week in second place on the ATP Tour over the past 52 weeks by winning 82.2 per cent of his first-serve points. But Querrey managed to win just 63 per cent of points on his first delivery against Djokovic. The 33-time ATP Masters 1000 champion broke serve four times in his victory.

Djokovic has reached the final in three of his past four tournaments. And this week, he will try to wrestle back the lead in the ATP Race To London from Rafael Nadal, who took the lead in the battle for the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking by capturing his fifth Canadian ATP Masters 1000 title last week at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal.

The defending champion will next play No. 13 seed John Isner or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. Isner defeated Djokovic here in 2013, but the World No. 1 leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 9-2. Djokovic is 2-0 against Carreno Busta.

Did You Know?
Djokovic competed alongside Janko Tipsarevic in the doubles draw in Cincinnati, but the Serbians fell to second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.

Another week, another win for Russian No. 1 Daniil Medvedev against Brit Kyle Edmund. The ninth seed maintained his strong form on Tuesday, ousting Edmund 6-2, 7-5 after one hour and 19 minutes to reach the second round of the Western & Southern Open.

The World No. 8 enjoyed one of the best tournaments of his career last week in Montreal, making his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Coupe Rogers, propelling him to his career-high ATP Ranking. He also finished runner-up the week before that at the Citi Open.

“It was a bit tough physically, but I still played great tennis,” said Medvedev. “I could have won a bit easier, but Kyle stepped it up in the second set. These first rounds usually help you get into the tournament, so hopefully I can play even better tomorrow.”

In Canada, Medvedev eased past Edmund 6-3, 6-0 in just 59 minutes. But it was a more complicated match for the four-time ATP Tour titlist in Cincinnati. Edmund led 5-3 in the second set and he served to force a decider. But Medvedev battled hard to win the final four games of the match.

One year ago, Medvedev was forced to qualify for this tournament, as he was World No. 56, and the Russian lost in the first round of the main draw. But this season, Medvedev is pushing for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, entering the week placed sixth in the ATP Race To London.

American Reilly Opelka walked on court Tuesday trailing No. 12 seed Borna Coric 3-4 in the final set of their first-round match. But the wild card quickly turned the tides and eliminated the Croat 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 after two hours and 18 minutes over the course of two days.

Opelka, who claimed his maiden ATP Tour title at the New York Open in February, will next play #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur, whom he lost to in the semi-finals of July’s BB&T Atlanta Open.

The 6’11” right-hander’s good friend, Taylor Fritz, was not as fortunate. No. 16 seed David Goffin ousted the American 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 25 minutes. The Belgian will try to avenge his loss from last week in Montreal when he faced Argentine Guido Pella next.

Los Cabos titlist Diego Schwartzman won 50 per cent of his return points en route to a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory against Rio de Janeiro champion Laslo Djere. The Argentine will battle Moldovan Radu Albot, who upset Marin Cilic on Monday.

In other action, Frenchman Benoit Paire advanced to the second round after taking a 6-4 lead when Spaniard Fernando Verdasco retired.

Did You Know?
Medvedev leads the ATP Tour in 2019 with 26 wins on hard courts according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. The 23-year-old is six victories clear of the second-ranked player on the list, Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The USTA announced on Tuesday its wild cards for the US Open, led by Jack Sock, a 2017 Nitto ATP Finals singles qualifier and 2018 doubles champion at The O2.

Sock missed more than six months of this season after tearing two ligaments in his thumb during a practice at the Australian Open. The American, who climbed as high as No. 8 in the ATP Rankings in November 2017, told ATPTour.com in July that the injury, “was potentially the biggest blessing in disguise for my careeer”.

The 2017 Rolex Paris Masters singles champion lost in the first round of the BB&T Atlanta Open and the Citi Open, and he also lost in qualifying at this week’s Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Zachary Svajda, a 16-year-old, will make his tour-level debut in Flushing Meadows after earning his wild card by winning the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship, a tournament that has been won by the likes of Stan Smith, Michael Chang and more recently, Frances Tiafoe. Svajda is currently No. 1,419 in the ATP Rankings.

The other wild cards are Denis Kudla, Bjorn Fratangelo, Marcos Giron, Ernesto Escobedo and Frenchman Antoine Hoang. Kudla is the next player outside of the main draw cut for the year’s final Grand Slam. If anyone currently inside the cut withdraws before the draw, the USTA will be able to reallocate Kudla’s wild card.

Kudla’s most notable performance of the season came at the MercedesCup, where he upset Frenchman Gael Monfils en route to the quarter-finals. In 2015, Kudla made the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Hoang received the French Federation’s reciprocal wild card. He is ranked No. 101 and advanced to the third round at Roland Garros this year with wins over Damir Dzumhur and Fernando Verdasco.

The USTA also announced the nine men who have been awarded wild card entries into the US Open Qualifying Tournament: JC Aragone, Jenson Brooksby, Maxime Cressy, Sebastian Korda, Stefan Kozlov, Govind Nanda, Sam Riffice, Alex Rybakov and J.J. Wolf.

One of the hottest new rivalries in world tennis is set to play out in Geneva, with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios confirmed for Laver Cup 2019 in September.

World No. 7 Tsitsipas, one of tennis’ fastest-rising stars, will make his debut for Team Europe, while Kyrgios will make his third appearance for Team World.

The pair has recently forged a friendship both on and off the court, teaming up for doubles in Washington and Cincinnati, and gave fans a taste of what could become one of the sport’s great future rivalries when they met across the net in a hard-fought semi-final in Washington.

“The Laver Cup is a unique and memorable event in tennis and I can’t wait to join Team Europe in Geneva,” Tsitsipas said.

“For me personally it’s like a dream come true to be part of this incredible team, with Roger and Rafa, who I’ve looked up to since I was a little kid, along with Dom, Sascha and Fabio.

“In tennis we are always out on the court alone, it’s such an individual sport. It’s going to be a new experience for me to play on a team, especially this team of unbelievable champions, and it will be an honour to join all these legends at the Laver Cup.”

Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg is thrilled to have the talented World No. 7 as part of what is arguably one of the best tennis teams the world has ever seen.

“I am very happy to have Stefanos join Team Europe, it’s fantastic, he has been doing so well this year and has had some spectacular results,” Borg said.

“It’s so important to bring in these exciting new, young players, the next generation, to our team, alongside our champions like Roger and Rafa Stefanos is a truly exciting young player and I know the fans will also love him.”

As one of the most passionate players – and courtside supporters – of Team World for the past two years, Nick Kyrgios is excited about the third Laver Cup in Geneva.

“I’ve always said that the Laver Cup is my favourite week of the year, and how much it means to me to get around the team and play for something bigger than just myself,” Kyrgios said.

“At the Laver Cup it’s not just about me, it’s about doing everything I can to help the other guys feel comfortable, prepare for their matches and even give them some energy from the side of the court, if that’s what needs to be done.

“We’ve had some heartbreaking losses over the past couple of years and it means the world to me to have the chance to get out there again with the team and try to get the win for Team World.”

Team World Captain John McEnroe also has his eye on the Laver Cup trophy as he prepares for Geneva.

“We all know how passionate Nick is about playing for Team World at the Laver Cup, and I’m very happy he’ll be joining us again in Geneva,” McEnroe said.

“Nick’s had some fantastic results recently and he always manages to bring his best game to this event, and he absolutely does whatever he can to support the team, both on and off the court. He’s the ultimate team player.

“Nick, like me and the rest of the team, is extremely motivated to get the win this year. We are not going to Geneva just to make up the numbers – we are going there to bring home that magnificent trophy.”

The third edition of the Laver Cup will take place at Palexpo, Geneva, from 20-22 September 2019. Team Europe hoisted the trophy at the inaugural event in Prague in 2017 and in Chicago in 2018.

TEAM EUROPE
Captain: Bjorn Borg
[2] Rafael Nadal
[3] Roger Federer
[4] Dominic Thiem
[6] Alexander Zverev
[7] Stefanos Tsitsipas
[10] Fabio Fognini

TEAM WORLD
Captain: John McEnroe
[14] Kevin Anderson
[16] John Isner
[20] Milos Raonic
[27] Nick Kyrgios
[34] Denis Shapovalov
Final player to be named