Justin Gimelstob’s future will be decided by the ATP after the leading tennis administrator was sentenced for assault in Los Angeles on Monday.
Gimelstob, a retired two-time mixed doubles Grand Slam winner, was handed three years probation and 60 days community service after pleading “no contest” to a battery charge.
The American is one of three player representatives on the ATP board.
Gimelstob, 42, has also worked as a coach and TV commentator.
An ATP statement read: “The decision was taken to let the judicial process run its course before any judgement was made on his future, so with that process complete this is now a subject for review by the board and/or the player council.
“As a related matter, the election for the role of the next Americas player representative on the ATP board – the position currently held by Gimelstob – will take place as scheduled on Tuesday, 14 May, in Rome.”
The players’ council, led by Novak Djokovic, has the power to remove him, but would need the consent of at least six of its 10 members.
Wimbledon organisers the All-England Lawn Tennis Club announced that the American would not be invited to participate in the invitational events at the 2019 championships, or be permitted to attend the Royal Box.
Former friend Randall Kaplan alleged that early in the evening of 31 October, Gimelstob “punched him in the head and face more than 50 times” in front of Kaplan’s pregnant wife Madison and two-year-old daughter.
Madison went on to have a miscarriage, which the couple believe was a result of the stress of the attack.
Gimelstob, who was also compelled by the court to attend anger management classes, partnered Venus Williams to victory in the Australian and French Opens of 1998 and twice reached the men’s doubles quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
“Justin Gimelstob pled no contest to the charge filed against him and the Judge, after evaluating the evidence, exercised his discretion and reduced the charge to a misdemeanor,” said his legal team in a statement.
“Justin did this to move on with his professional life and focus on his family.”
British number two Cameron Norrie lost 6-2 6-2 to Spain’s Albert Ramos Vinolas in the first round of the Barcelona Open on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old, who climbed to 45th in the latest ATP world rankings, lost serve at the start of both sets before losing the final three games.
Vinolas, 31, is ranked 38 places below the Briton and will now face Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the last 32.
Norrie is set to play at next month’s French Open at Roland Garros.
The loss comes less than a week after Norrie exited the Monte Carlo Masters in the round of 16 to Italian Lorenzo Sonego, ranked 40 places below him.
Cameron Norrie suffers Monte Carlo defeat
Dan Evans joins Edmund and Norrie in French Open main draw
In the second round on Tuesday, world number three Alexander Zverev was defeated in three sets by Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, who qualified for the tournament as a lucky loser.
Jarry, 23, saved a match point on his way to a 3-6 7-5 7-6 win, inflicting a fifth defeat in seven meetings on his German opponent.
Third seed and world number five Dominic Thiem progressed to the third round with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Argentine Diego Schwartzman, while two-time Barcelona champion Kei Nishikori recovered from 4-1 down in the first set to record a 7-5 6-2 win over 21-year-old American Taylor Fritz,
Spain’s David Ferrer, who will retire after next month’s Madrid Open, also advanced following a 6-3 6-1 win against Mischa Zverev.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal, chasing a record 12th Barcelona Open triumph, begins his tournament against Leonardo Mayer Wednesday.
Lucky Loser Jarry Saves 1 MP, Stuns Zverev In Barcelona
Apr232019
Nishikori battles on
Nicolas Jarry lost in the final round of qualifying two days ago at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. But now, the Chilean has the biggest win of his career.
The lucky loser saved a match point on Tuesday en route to defeating reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) in a two-hour, 33-minute second-round battle. The World No. 81 is now 3-1 against players inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, having defeated Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic last year.
Jarry held a double-break lead at 3-0 in the third set against Zverev, with a chance to make it 4-0. But Zverev reduced his errors and fired up both himself and the crowd as he clawed his way back, ultimately earning his match point at 6-5 on the Chilean’s serve. Even after barely missing a backhand down the line on that opportunity, Zverev stormed to a 3/0 lead in the ensuing tie-break.
But Jarry never went away, using a five-point spurt to regain the momentum and eventually triumph when Zverev missed into the net. The 23-year-old will next face 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov or home favourite Fernando Verdasco.
Zverev, who began the week 21st in the ATP Race To London, has now lost five of his past seven matches. In two weeks, he will be defending his Mutua Madrid Open crown.
Two-time former champion Kei Nishikori recovered from a slow start to record his 20th match win in Barcelona. The fourth-seeded Japanese star bounced back from 1-4 in the first set to win 12 of the next 15 games in a 7-5, 6-2 second-round victory over American Taylor Fritz in one hour and 41 minutes.
He will next play Canadian No. 16 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri, who needed two hours and 42 minutes to overcome Delbonis’ compatriot, lucky loser Guido Andreozzi, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2.
Four-time former finalist David Ferrer, who intends to retire after competing in Madrid, lost just 11 of his service points in a 6-3, 6-1 win over Mischa Zverev of Germany in 65 minutes. The 2008-09, 2011-12 runner-up will next prepare to meet French No. 15 seed Lucas Pouille in the second round.
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Elsewhere, in other first-round action, 19-year-old Spaniard Nicola Kuhn recorded the biggest win of his career over qualifier and No. 76-ranked Argentine Federico Delbonis 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2 in two hours and 30 minutes.
It has not been the best start to the 2019 ATP Tour season for Marin Cilic, who last month fell from the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since October 2016. But the World No. 11 is confident that with more matches, starting at this week’s Hungarian Open in Budapest where he is the top seed as a wild card, his best form will come.
“Mentally, physically, [I’m] feeling good. The beginning of the season wasn’t that great for me, had some probems with the knee. Just a little bit in-and-out with my form with that and these past three, four tournaments that I played,” Cilic said. “I was looking to get into form and didn’t find it yet, but mentally I know that I’m working well, practising well and just looking to play a few matches and I know the tournament form is going to get to a good level.”
Cilic did not originally plan to compete at this ATP 250 tournament. But after losing his third consecutive match last week at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, he wanted to try to gain more rhythm, accepting a wild card into Budapest.
“I didn’t have as many matches these past couple months as I would want to so it’s a good opportunity here to play,” Cilic said. “I also saw that last year’s tournament was really good and that was [what helped] my decision.”
Cilic has accomplished plenty in his career, from reaching a career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings and winning 18 tour-level titles to beating 32 Top 10 opponents. But even after struggling to start the year, he remains highly motivated to work his way back.
“It comes back to a simple thing: why you play the game? I love the game. I want to do the best I can. It’s as simple as that. Coming every day to practice, it’s not easy. It’s not easy to push yourself because you have big competition on the other side. You know that the guys are also hungry, youngsters are hungry, also top guys are hungry to do well,” Cilic said. “But at the end of the day you have to be clear with yourself why you do this and what you want to achieve. For me, I want to be the best I can be and I know the process for that is a longterm process and I have to be every day dedicated and very persistent with my own goals and with my training.”
Even at 30, Cilic feels there is still room to grow. A reporter mentioned Roger Federer still competing at a high level at 37, to which Cilic joked, “I have 10 more years.”
“I’ve been around. I’ve seen a lot of guys come and go,” Cilic said. “It’s been a great journey. I’m feeling that as a player I evolved quite nicely. As a player I improved in a lot of different areas… I feel that I still have a lot of time but that I don’t. Trying to also use every day the best you can because you’re always in a fight against time. Time is ticking away and you need to do the best you can.”
World number two Simona Halep has withdrawn from the Stuttgart Open with a hip injury.
The 27-year-old suffered the injury during her win over Caroline Garcia in Romania’s Fed Cup defeat by France on Sunday.
But Halep is hopeful she will be fit for next month’s tournaments in Madrid and Rome before defending her French Open title from 26 May.
“If I’m not 100%, I don’t want to step on the court,” Halep said.
“I’m also exhausted mentally because I gave my everything in that tie but unfortunately we couldn’t win.
“That’s why I decided to pull out, because I have to think about my health first.
“I’ve been very sad the last two days. I’ve been through these moments many times, so I know how to handle it. I just need to recover mentally and physically and then just start again.”
Spain’s world number 19 Garbine Muguruza has also had to pull out of Stuttgart through illness.
Ferrer: ‘I’ll Have To Find Other Things To Calm The Beast’
Apr222019
Spaniard to compete in Barcelona and Madrid before retiring
The time has come. David Ferrer is retiring next month after playing his final tournament at the Mutua Madrid Open.
He will leave behind him one of the best careers in the history of Spanish tennis, replete with ATP Tour titles (27), a Grand Slam final (2013 Roland Garros) and career-high ATP Ranking of No. 3. The emotional memories he left on the court won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Ahead of his first-round match on Tuesday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Ferrer spoke with ATPTour.com about his two decades as a professional.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen an iconic image; your bandana lying on the court. I don’t do it to look good. It all started in Auckland. I lost the match and that is my last memory of each tournament. It’s like leaving your final drops of sweat behind.
The end of your career is very close. Yes, and I’m feeling good. I feel happy with my transition into accepting that I’m going to stop playing and that this was going to be my last year. There is always a little bit of fear at the last tournaments. You think about how you’re going to feel. But my goal is to be happy. I feel competitive, I’m playing the tournaments that have given me the most affection and that I am most excited about. Thanks to the career I’ve had, I can look back and feel proud of everything I’ve achieved.
Did you expect so much affection? I really didn’t. It’s really surprised me. Above all, from my peers in the world of tennis. For example, in Auckland, which is a completely different country, seeing how they appreciate you. That’s why you want to leave behind good memories of all the years you’ve played tennis. That’s what will stay with me. Apart from having been what I was as a player, I’ve given something that people liked.
Is that worth as much as a title? Of course, easily! It’s worth more! In the end, all you have left is the person, The titles stay in my trophy room, but they are no more than trophies. The experiences I’ve had, the affection I have received from the fans and my peers and friends in the world of tennis is what will stay with me.
How much have you grown as a person since you started playing? Well, it’s what I am. One of the things I feel happiest about is my progress as a person, year by year in the world of tennis. If I look back at myself when I was 20 years old and look where I am now, I see two completely different people. There would be a lot of things about that kid who was starting to play that I wouldn’t agree with. But that’s part of life. Failing, evolving, growing every year as a person and as a tennis player.
What would you say to that kid? To calm down, to be interested in doing other things, to listen to other people, not just to those around him at the time. I’d say so many things to him! I’d ask him above all to be more relaxed and enjoy the moment. I demand a lot from myself, but despite that you can still enjoy every moment.
Were you pressured to play by your parents? I was very lucky with my parents. I’m not just saying that because it’s them, but I’ve always had great respect and regard for this sport. They gave me values in life for which I will be eternally grateful. My father has always set an example. He always insisted that the important thing is not to win or lose, but to do whatever you can, try your best and enjoy playing. You have to be clear that it’s only a sport. You have to understand that defeat hurts and he understood that. But my parents did a good job and I never felt pressured.
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Have you thought about what you’ll do when it’s over? I haven’t thought about it much. I’m sure it’ll be something in the world of tennis. I love and adore it. My life has been so intense and I have travelled so much that what I want is to be with my family for a while and slow down a little. Being able to travel a little slower, to discover the world in a more relaxed way and to focus more on them. Spending time with my family and my son.
I’d like to ski, to commentate, which I’ve never done, and to know how I can communicate… It’s a way of learning through teaching. I have really enjoyed teaching 10 to 16-year-olds. It’s a time for young people and teenagers and that’s where I’d like to help. Not this year, because I want to take a break, but it’s something I’m excited about for next year.
Do you really think that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray have made you a better player? You say that a lot. Without a doubt. They were very ambitious. Rafa has been a mirror for me. Although he is younger and joined the tour later, I’ve learned from him. Winning a tournament and winning it again. Winning at Roland Garros, going to Queen’s Club and winning again… That showed me that it’s not enough when you win a tournament. You have to keep going. That helped me reach number three in the world and to have the consistency I did. If I hadn’t seen those players, I wouldn’t have been such a good player.
But wouldn’t you have won a Grand Slam in another era? I’ll never know. If I hadn’t been such a good player, maybe I wouldn’t have won a Grand Slam. I can’t start thinking about something I don’t know. I can only say that I haven’t won a Grand Slam because I wasn’t able to. I’ve tried to give my all but I wouldn’t exchange places with players that have won one. There are players that have one a Grand Slam and have only played one or two Masters 1000 finals. I’ve played in seven, I’ve been the second or third player in the history of Spain to win X matches, the 12th in the world to win X number of matches… My tennis life has been very good. I felt good about myself for many years of my career.
And the French Open final against Nadal? It’s different because I never had a chance. I’m not blaming anyone, but my motivation for that match was not the best. I went onto court a little distressed. And that’s normal because it was my first final. It’s logical. Anyway, maybe in those moments we were none the wiser. Neither myself or my team had a better idea of how to approach the match. We did what we could.
Which players impacted your career? I’d say Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyà, Albert Costa and Sergi Bruguera. I learned a lot from them. With Àlex Corretja too as Davis Cup captain. But first Juan Carlos, because he helped me so much. He was a mirror for me and he gave me good advice. He was the first number one and then I came along. It’s not easy because we are from the same community, but he opened his doors to me and offered advice. We were very close. It’s something I’ll be eternally grateful for. It’s similar to what I feel now with Roberto Bautista.
Juan Carlos taught me to help a young player. We got on well and he gave me the chance to be with him at a tournament we had in Valencia. I have a lot of respect and affection for him. If there’s one thing I regret, it’s not having taken the step of working with him at certain points of my career. Players like Carlos and Sergi too, they are figures that I could have learnt so much from. There were times in my career when I didn’t know how to do that.
How many true friends do you have from the tour? I would say three or four friends. I have a lot of peers for whom I have a lot of affection. But the friendship I feel with Juan Carlos, with Feli and Marc López, I have a special affection for Rafa… Roberto Bautista too even though he’s younger. They’re special people. I don’t really like to name names though.
Who’s the toughest opponent you’ve faced? For me, it’s Roger Federer. He would change the pace and drive me crazy. Maybe I made him sweat like many players, but I never had the chance to be able to beat him.
Has life passed you by too quickly? It’s gone quickly because I’ve been happy. When life goes slow or you’re in a situation you don’t like everything slows down. If you do a job you don’t like, I imagine it must go very slowly. However, I love what I do, my work has gone by quickly because I’ve been happy
What made you decide to end your career at the Mutua Madrid Open? Because it’s a Masters 1000, because Feliciano is there, because Madrid has always treated me unbelievably well. The people love tennis and I have a lot of affection for the city. I play at home, I have the chance to do so at a Masters 1000 and the best players are there. To me, having the chance to end it playing in a tournament where the best players are, that’s what I want.
What do you think about Feliciano being Tournament Director? I really like it. I’m very biased because he’s a friend of mine. But he’s a necessary figure in the world of tennis. He’s a people person, he has an image, he knows the tour well and he understands tennis players. In that regard, he is the ideal person for the role. I don’t think there will be a better tournament director than Feliciano.
What has your relationship with Manolo Santana been like during this time? It’s been very good. Manolo is a great person. When you talk to him and see the jokes he makes… He has a very happy life at a late age. He has a spark. He’s really helped us young players so much. I remember when he’d call when I lost and it’s unusual to see that someone is concerned for you without getting anything in return, but Manolo did that. I have so much respect for everything he’s given to tennis. He was a pioneer. It’s thanks to him that we are what we are and I am talking to you today.
What memory would you like your son to have of his father? I would like him to remember that his father played with him. That we do things together, that I study with him and spend time with him. Obviously, I’ll never be his friend because I’m his father, but I’d like him to feel he can ask me things and to be open in that regard.
What are the top five moments of your career? The [2013] Roland Garros semi-final where I beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The [2012] Paris-Bercy final.
Were you aware that it was your tournament? I saw my chance when Andy Murray lost, I saw that Novak Djokovic, Rafa and Roger weren’t there… Also, at that time in 2012, I felt very close to them. It was the best time of my career. That leaves three… When I won in Valencia. The Davis Cup [tie] in Seville and the Davis Cup [tie] in Barcelona.
Will you continue to watch tennis? Yes, of course. I already do it because I like it. I don’t do it because I miss tennis or because I’m not at Indian Wells or Australia, just to watch and discover. I like it, not for any reason in particular.
Will you miss the adrenaline of competition? That’s what I’ll miss the most. It’s going to be impossible to find. Competing will be the thing I miss the most. I’ll have to find other things. Cycling or something to calm the beast a little.
Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman set up a second-round meeting against third seed Dominic Thiem on Monday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The 26-year-old Schwartzman overcame an up-and-down performance that included 53 unforced errors to beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Nishioka, who hit 16 winners to 42 unforced errors, struggled with cramps as the two-hour and 19-minute match finished. Schwartzman was playing his third match in Barcelona after having to qualify because the Argentine, No. 25 in the ATP Rankings, forgot to sign up before the tournament deadline.
He trails Thiem 2-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, although Schwartzman has won their past two matchups, including earlier this year 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) at the Argentina Open in February.
Home favourites went 2-2 on day one in Barcelona. Jaume Munar ran away with his first-rounder against Portuguese qualifier Pedro Sousa 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, and will next meet #NextGenATP American and 14th seed Frances Tiafoe. Both players competed at the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.
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In an all-Spanish battle, 2010 champion Fernando Verdasco beat wild card Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3. Verdasco, the only former champion in the draw besides Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori, will next meet 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Chilean lucky loser Nicolas Jarry gained revenge against Spain’s Marcel Granollers 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Granollers had beaten Jarry in three sets in the final round of qualifying. The 23-year-old Jarry will next meet second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.
Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer will face top seed and 11-time champion Rafael Nadal. Mayer outplayed Romanian Marius Copil 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 to advance.
American Taylor Fritz will face Nishikori for the second time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series on Tuesday (Nishikori leads 1-0). Fritz ousted friend and compatriot Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4.
Berrettini Records First Upset Of The Week In Budapest
Apr222019
Albot, Krajinovic advance on Monday
Matteo Berrettini of Italy provided the first surprise win of this year’s Hungarian Open on Monday. In a wild match featuring eight breaks of serve, he hung tough in Budapest to defeat seventh seed Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-4.
Berrettini will play Aljaz Bedene in the second round. The Slovenian recovered from being down a double break in the opening set to defeat Aussie Bernard Tomic 7-6(3), 6-3.
Eighth seed Radu Albot continued his fine form this season with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. The Moldovan broke his opponent twice in each set and secured the win on his fourth match point after one hour and 41 minutes. He’ll take on qualifier Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, who squandered four match points in the second set before recovering to beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-5.
The first doubles match of the week saw third seeds Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski of Great Britain defeat Mate Valkusz of Hungary and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-0, 7-6(4).
Tuesday’s schedule features fifth seed Laslo Djere of Serbia, sixth seed and 2018 finalist John Millman of Australia and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters runner-up Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.
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Nadal In Barcelona: ‘What Has Happened Has Happened’
Apr222019
Spaniard ready to bounce back after Monte-Carlo upset
Rafael Nadal walked away from the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters last week without playing in the ATP Masters 1000 final for the first time since 2015. But the Spaniard, who lost to eventual champion Fabio Fognini in the semi-finals, is ready to put the upset behind him.
“My personal opinion is that I played one of the worst matches on clay. It’s a reality. There is no need to hide it. I do not see the benefit of wanting to deny it,” Nadal said on Monday after playing mini tennis with Kei Nishikori at the Palau de la Música Catalana. “What has happened has happened.”
The 32-year-old was playing in his first tournament since March’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. On 15 March, Nadal beat Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals but the Spaniard had to withdraw from his semi-final against Roger Federer.
This week, Nadal is the top seed at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and is going for his 12th title at the ATP 500 event.
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“In Monte-Carlo, I took a step forward with how I was a week before. I lost a good opportunity to start the season in a fantastic way. But now I’m going to have another one,” he said.
“This is a very special tournament that is part of the history of tennis and of my own. I have another morning to practice, and we will see how we are doing. On a physical level, I’m more or less well.”
Nadal is 58-3 at the event and won his 11th Barcelona title – and third straight – last year. The World No. 2 even has his own court – Pista Rafa Nadal – at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899, the oldest Spanish tennis club.
“It is true that I have not won any titles, but I reached the final in Australia, semi-finals in Indian Wells and now semi-finals again in Monte-Carlo. The year is not bad and I’m third in the [ATP Race To London], but with more problems than I would have liked,” Nadal said.
“The job is to find myself. During the last 18 months, I have had too many stops and ups and downs, non-tennis related. And when that happens, it’s hard to pick up rhythm and continuity. But it is true that it has happened so many times, and that after things go well… everything that happened seems to be forgotten. I hope to be ready to play well. And if it is not here, it will be in Madrid, in Rome or at Roland Garros.”
Nadal will open against Argentine Leonardo Mayer, a 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 winner against Romanian Marius Copil. Nadal could earn a rematch against Fognini if both reach the Barcelona final.
The European clay-court swing continues this week in Barcelona and Budapest, with top players, including Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic, respectively, leading the fields. Here are 20 things to watch from the ATP 500 and ATP 250 events:
10 Things To Watch In Barcelona
1) Best in Barcelona: 11-time champion Rafael Nadal leads a star-studded field at the 2019 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Also competing at the ATP Tour 500 event are former champions Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco, Top 10 players Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and last week’s ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo champion Fabio Fognini.
2) Pista Rafa Nadal: The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell named a court after World No. 2 Nadal in 2017. It becomes crystal clear why that decision was made after reviewing his 58-3 record at Barcelona and the fact that the top seed won the trophy for the 11th time at the event last year – a feat he had also accomplished the week prior at Monte-Carlo, and then repeated at Roland Garros.
3) Special Kei: No. 4 seed Nishikori is the most recent dominant player at Barcelona other than Nadal, as the Japanese star picked up the two trophies between Nadal’s three-year title streaks of 2011-13 and 2016-18. Nishikori reeled off 14 straight wins at the event from 2014 to 2016, and nearly pulled off the hat-trick before his run was stopped in the 2016 final by Nadal.
4) Fog Rolling In: Before last week, Fognini had a 4-8 win-loss record in 2019, including going 0-for-4 on clay. That suddenly changed when he clinched his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Monte-Carlo, defeating 11-time champion Nadal in the semi-finals before a final victory over Dusan Lajovic. Fognini, the first Italian to win an ATP Masters 1000 title, is at a new career-high ranking of No. 12.
5) From A to Z: No. 2 seed Zverev is no stranger to ATP Masters 1000 titles, as the 22-year-old is the only active player other than Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray to have claimed at least three titles at that level. Nevertheless, the World No. 3 comes into Barcelona still looking for his first title of 2019, and has advanced to a quarter-final-or-better just once this year.
6) Greece is the Word: Tsitsipas burst onto the scene at Barcelona last year. The #NextGenATP Greek star was ranked just No. 63 when he entered the event, but he won five matches in straight sets, including a win over the previous year’s finalist Thiem, to reach his first ATP Tour singles final. One year later, the 20-year-old has won two titles, and is currently ranked at a career-high No. 8.
7) Feet of Clay: No. 3 seed Thiem has won eight of his 12 titles and reached 14 of his 19 finals on clay courts. The Austrian, who made his first Grand Slam final on the clay of Roland Garros last year, defeated then-World No. 1 Murray in the 2017 Barcelona semi-finals before falling to Nadal.
8) Wild Ones: Former World No. 3 David Ferrer received a wild card into the event; the four-time Barcelona finalist plans to retire next month after the Mutua Madrid Open. Along with Ferrer and Zverev, the wild cards are Grigor Dimitrov, Feliciano Lopez, and 19-year-old Nicola Kuhn.
9) Spanish Success: Verdasco is the only player in the draw to have claimed the title other than Nadal and Nishikori. The 2010 champion has a 15-10 record at Barcelona, having also made the 2012 semi-finals and the 2009 quarter-finals. He will face Lopez for the 11th time in their rivalry.
10) Doubles Duty: Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez won the Barcelona doubles title last year. They return to the event, but with different partners: Feliciano is paired with Pablo Carreno Busta, and Marc teams up with Marcel Granollers. The No. 1 seeds are Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.
10 Things To Watch In Budapest
1) Third Time’s the Charm: The ATP Tour returns to Budapest for the third straight season with the Hungarian Open. Former finalists John Millman and Aljaz Bedene join Top 15 Croats Marin Cilic and Borna Coric in the field.
2) Wild One: Top seed Cilic got a wild card into Budapest, and the World No. 11 comes into the event with a 4-5 record on the year, still seeking his first 2019 quarter-final. As the reigning Australian Open runner-up, Cilic rallied from two sets down and saved match points to oust Fernando Verdasco in the third round of Melbourne, but lost in the fourth round to Roberto Bautista Agut.
3) Borna Again: No. 2 seed Coric starts the Hungarian Open coming off back-to-back quarter-final showings at ATP Masters 1000 events at Miami and Monte-Carlo. Coric, whose first ATP Tour singles title came on clay at Marrakech in 2017, is returning to Budapest for a second showing, following a first-round loss to Jiri Vesely in his only prior appearance in 2017.
4) Serbian Surprise: Dusan Lajovic lurks as an unseeded player despite being a newly minted Top 25 player. The Serb is now at a career-high ranking of World No. 24 after his run to a first-ever ATP Tour singles final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters last week. Lajovic, who notched his first Top 5 win over Dominic Thiem in Monte-Carlo, smashed his prior career-high ranking of No. 42.
5) Great Georgian: No. 4 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili made his second quarter-final of 2018 in his debut showing at Budapest last year. The Georgian would go on to break through in a big way last season, winning two titles, at Hamburg and Beijing, and finishing the year in the Top 25.
6) First Wins Club: No. 5 seed Laslo Djere and No. 8 seed Radu Albot are two of the eight first-time singles champions on the ATP Tour this season. Djere picked up his first trophy at Rio de Janeiro, while Albot triumphed at Delray Beach, becoming the first singles champion to represent Moldova.
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7) Close Calls: Last year’s runner-up John Millman is back as the No. 6 seed; the Australian made his sole final to date in Budapest last year. Millman edged 2017 runner-up Aljaz Bedene in last year’s semi-finals; Bedene has also returned to Budapest, as he too still seeks a first title.
8) #NextGenATP On The Rise: Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic had only one ATP Tour win heading into March’s BNP Paribas Open. But the 19-year-old qualified and made his first ATP quarter-final in Indian Wells before falling to Canadian Milos Raonic. Kecmanovic, now at No. 87 in the ATP Rankings, qualified and will face Millman in his Budapest opener.
9) Going Wild: Hungarians Attila Balazs and Mate Valkusz join Cilic as wild cards. 20-year-old Valkusz, who lost to eventual champion Marco Cecchinato in the first round of qualifying last year, will be making his ATP Tour main-draw debut this week. The 30-year-old’s best tour-level result was a semi-final run as a qualifier at Bucharest in 2012.
10) Doubling Up: Rohan Bopanna and Dominic Inglot head the Hungarian Open doubles draw as the top seeds. Inglot is going for his second straight title at Budapest: he won the event last year partnering Franko Skugor.
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