GB's Draper out as Gauff suffers shock Olympics defeat
British men’s number one Jack Draper fades in the sweltering Paris heat as the nation’s interest in the Olympics singles ends.
British men’s number one Jack Draper fades in the sweltering Paris heat as the nation’s interest in the Olympics singles ends.
James and the Hay Festival audience try to conquer ageing, guided by a panel of experts.
Emma Raducanu made a winning return to action at the Washington Open despite suffering from jet-lag.
Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori had to dig deep to secure his first hard-court win since February on the opening day of the Mubadala Citi DC Open Monday, saving two match points in the second set before claiming a near-three-hour marathon win over Borna Coric in steamy conditions in Washington, D.C.
The 25-year-old, No. 71 in the PIF ATP Rankings, saved two match points in the second-set tie-break and continued on to claim a 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-4 victory in two hours and 58 minutes to capture his first hard-court win since reaching the Doha quarter-finals in February.
[ATP APP]Coric dropped 21 aces according to Infosys ATP Stats but conceded the lone break of the match in the fifth game of the third set. Ruusuvuori fended off all five break points he faced to level his Lexus ATP Head2Head with the Croatian at 1-1
A finalist in Hong Kong in the opening week of the season, Ruusuvuori improved to 16-12 on the season and next plays fast-rising Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who is making his first appearance since his stunning run from qualifying to the Wimbledon fourth round.
This forehand rocket 🚀😮💨@EmilRuusuvuori | @mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/l71vgrukOY
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 29, 2024
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Montreal, the tournament announced on Monday.
The Serbian owns a 25-7 record this season following his second-round victory on Monday against Rafael Nadal in the Paris Olympics. The 37-year-old, a four-time ATP Masters 1000 Canada champion, is pursuing his first title of the season.
[ATP APP]Djokovic enjoyed his best result of the season at Wimbledon, where he made the final before losing to Carlos Alcaraz. The 98-time tour-level titlist is currently in sixth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.
The seven-time Nitto ATP Finals champion is trying to qualify for the season finale for the 17th time. Since 2007, the only year in which he missed out was 2017. The 2024 year-end championships will be held in Turin from 10-17 November.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Norway made history at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with a record-breaking 16 gold medals, the most by a country in a single Winter Games. Fast forward two years and one of the athletes Norway will have its eyes on at the Summer Games in Paris is the country’s highest-ranked tennis player, Casper Ruud.
The 25-year-old, who has won 11 ATP Tour titles and made three major finals, looks to become the first Norwegian male to earn a medal in tennis. Ahead of Ruud’s campaign, the No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings sat down with ATPTour.com to discuss the Olympic sports he enjoys watching and which Norwegian athletes have inspired him.
[ATP APP]
What Olympic sport do you think you would be good at?
I think I’m just going to stick with my favourite sport outside tennis, which is golf. I love golf. That’s my favorite sport outside of tennis. I love playing, I love watching it. Easy for me to go with that one.
For which sports do you think you would not be well suited?
Probably gymnastics or swimming or these things that require an incredible amount of body control.
Which Norwegian Olympians have you looked up to?
Lately we’ve had a few gold medals in the Summer Olympics as well, with Jakob Ingebrigtsen winning the 1500 metres distance running gold medal in Tokyo. Karsten Warholm set a new world record at the 400 meter hurdle in Tokyo and won gold there so the last Summer Olympics was really good for Norway, so hopefully we can keep it up this year as well.
Is there an Olympic athlete from another country you have looked up to?
I think the highlight always for me was watching the 100 meter sprint, Usain Bolt was the fastest man alive, fastest man on the planet is always one of the highlights, so I guess watching him win gold and doing his ‘Arrow’ signature pointing celebration. I can’t even remember if it was before or after, but that was always fun to watch.
What are you most looking forward to about the Olympic Village?
I think it will be fun. Tennis in a way is a bit of a lonely sport at times, because you travel around by yourself. Of course you have your team and everything, but sometimes you’re by yourself stuck in a hotel room for most nights, during the year. So being in the Olympic Village together with other athletes, maybe sharing experiences or talking about sports in general is going to be hopefully a fun experience.
What is your country best known for in the Olympics?
I would say the Winter Olympics. We typically end up doing pretty good on the statistics in the Winter Olympics. Most of the time we’re able to win most golds because the biathlon and the cross country skiers and alpine downhill skiers, they kind of do rack up gold medal after gold medals, so I would say the Winter Olympics is more of Norway’s thing, but hopefully can be a surprise this year.
Carlos Alcaraz maintained his red-hot form on Monday when he defeated Tallon Griekspoor 6-1, 7-6(3) to reach the third round of the Paris Olympics.
The Spaniard, who has captured major titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, has now won 17 of his past 18 matches and is 35-6 this season. He will next play Roman Safiullin for a place in the quarter-finals. On Tuesday, he will partner Rafael Nadal in the second round of doubles.
“I’m not used to playing doubles. I’m used to focusing just on singles, but it’s a really special moment for me playing doubles as well,” Alcaraz said. “I love playing doubles. So the preparations could be tricky a little bit with the singles, with the practice, doubles. But I’m trying to play my best on both sides.”
Alcaraz was in imperious form in the first set. Every shot he hit and tactic he employed seemingly worked to perfection. But it was not all easy for the 21-year-old, who needed to save a set point on serve at 4-5 in the second set.
Griekspoor, the No. 28 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, found his rhythm in the second set and put plenty of pressure on the second seed. Before Alcaraz stepped to the line to serve at 4-5, he left the court with physiotherapist Per Bastholt for a medical timeout, which he later revealed was related to his adductor.
In that game, Alcaraz was a point away from needing to battle into a decider. But he played decisively, moving forward and hitting a great drop volley that set up an easy forehand-volley cutaway.
“It’s kind of normal this pain. I felt it before, I’ve been dealing with this problem before… in my adductor,” Alcaraz said. “I know how to deal with this pain. I think it’s not going to be serious so I’m going to be ready for for the doubles tomorrow.”
[ATP APP]Alcaraz did not show any clear limitations and was able to close out the match in straight sets and take a 3-0 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the Dutchman.
The Spaniard converted two of his three break points, while Griekspoor was unable to convert either of his two break points.
Norwegian Casper Ruud, a two-time Roland Garros finalist, was under duress against Italian Andrea Vavassori. But the World No. 9 rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Ruud will next take on Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, who battled past home favourite and 10th seed Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5.
After needing three sets in his first-round match, eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece cruised past Briton Daniel Evans 6-1, 6-2. Tsitsipas will play 12th seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina, a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) winner against Lebanon’s Benjamin Hassan, in the third round.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Even for a player who had already won 35 tour-level titles, including two Grand Slams, 11 ATP Masters 1000 crowns, and an Olympic gold medal, 2016 was something special for Andy Murray. After years of battling Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the top of the men’s game, the Briton elevated his level to eclipse them all.
Murray racked up a 78-9 record en route to nine tour-level titles in 2016, which he finished by becoming ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF in the most spectacular way. Ahead of the China Open in Beijing in October that year, World No. 2 Murray had trailed No. 1 Djokovic by 4,695 points in the PIF ATP Rankings. What followed was one of the most memorable season climaxes in ATP Tour history.
To celebrate the end of Murray’s glittering career, ATPTour.com looks back on Murray’s unforgettable 2016 season.
[ATP APP] OCTOBER – Murray On A Mission
It was two weeks and 10 straight-sets Murray wins in China that injected late-season intrigue into the 2016 race to become ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF. The 29-year-old had put up a sustained bid to haul in Djokovic and become World No. 1 for the first time by winning 54 of his first 61 tour-level matches of the year, but he was in danger of losing momentum after a quarter-final defeat to Kei Nishikori at the US Open was followed by a Davis Cup loss to Juan Martin del Potro.
Yet back-to-back defeats against a pair of old rivals was to prove a mere blip for the in-form Murray. He took his tally to six titles for the season by claiming the trophy in Beijing and then another at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai, victories that reduced the gap between World No. 1 Djokovic and Murray from 4,695 to 2,415 points. The Scot was nonetheless keen to dampen any talk of him hitting World No. 1 before the year was done.
“Although points-wise it’s possible to do it this year, Novak is going to win a lot of matches between now and the end of the year. I’m aware of that, and I expect that to happen,” said Murray after defeating Roberto Bautista Agut in the Shanghai final. “There is more chance to do it next year, I think.”
However, Murray continued to turn the scenario on its head as the late-season wins kept coming. He headed to Vienna to start his European indoor season and promptly won his seventh title of the year. Then another Masters 1000 crown, the 14th and ultimately final one of his career, at the Rolex Paris Masters. Djokovic had fallen in the quarter-finals in the French capital, leaving Murray to secure his remarkable rise to No. 1 for the first time by reaching the championship match.
“It’s been really, really hard to do it, been really difficult,” said Murray, when asked about finally disrupting Federer, Nadal and Djokovic’s 13-year monopoly on top spot. “Obviously, they are three of the best players that have ever played the game and some of the years that they have had in that period have been ridiculous… It’s taken a great year to get there.”
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/09/59/murray-paris-2016-trophy.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />
Murray lifts his 14th and final ATP Masters 1000 crown at the 2016 Rolex Paris Masters. Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images
NOVEMBER – Fairytale Finish
Getting to No. 1 is a huge achievement, but ending an ATP Tour season in top spot earns a player membership of an even more exclusive club.
There was little time for Murray to celebrate becoming the world’s top player as he prepared for the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in London. The 29-year-old arrived on a 19-match winning streak but needed to perform well at the prestigious season finale to prevent Djokovic from an immediate return to No. 1, with the honour of finishing as the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF on the line.
Murray completed a perfect round-robin stage in London by defeating Marin Cilic, Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka, before pulling through for a nailbiting 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) semi-final triumph against Milos Raonic to make it six victories in six Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with the Canadian that year. With Djokovic also reaching the final, the stage was set for a winner-takes-all championship match in which both players were one win away from securing the year-end World No. 1 honour.
As he had done so often that season, Murray rose to the occasion in style. Roared on by his home fans, the Briton eased past Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 to complete a fairytale end to the year after winning 24 consecutive tour-level matches and five back-to-back titles.
“It was obviously a big match, a very important win for me,” reflected Murray, who finished 2016 with a 78-9 match record and a personal-best nine trophies for the season. “It was just a huge match to finish the year, to try and obviously finish No. 1. Obviously, this is a major event, as well, and one I’ve not done well in in the past, so it’s been a great week.”
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/19/21/00/murray-nitto-atp-finals-2016-backhand.jpg?w=100%25&hash=7A4AE9C8AABB80FDFD47A0433181DC81″ style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />
Murray in action during his dominant 2016 Nitto ATP Finals championship-match win. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
JANUARY – Uncertain Beginnings
Murray’s seismic celebrations in London were a far cry from how his year had begun.
The Scot had wrapped the 2015 season in historic fashion by leading Great Britain to its first Davis Cup title in 79 years. Starting the new year at No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, the Briton picked up where he left off at his first tournament of 2016 by beating a then-18-year-old Alexander Zverev, David Ferrer and Raonic en route to his fifth Australian Open final.
Awaiting the 28-year-old in the championship match was the familiar face of World No. 1 Djokovic, who had beaten Murray in three of his past four title matches in Melbourne. Their fourth, and ultimately final, Australian Open final proved to be the most one-sided when the Serbian eased to a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(3) triumph.
Murray experienced the joy of becoming a father for the first time when his wife Kim gave birth to their first child in early February, but what was to become the best season of his career delivered two other early on-court disappointments. The Briton went 2-2 in March after falling at the third-round stage in both Indian Wells (to Federico Delbonis) and Miami (to Grigor Dimitrov). By the time the European clay season began in April, it had been eight months since Murray had won an individual title.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/11/murray-djokovic-australian-open-2016-ceremony.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />
Murray stands behind champion Novak Djokovic at the 2016 Australian Open trophy ceremony. Photo Credit: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images
APRIL – Bouncing Back On Clay
Murray demonstrated improvements in his clay-court game in 2015, when he won his first tour-level titles on the surface in Munich and Madrid (where he beat Nadal in the final at the ATP Masters 1000), respectively. Those triumphs laid the foundations for his consistently impressive 2016 outings on the surface as he went 18-3 across four of the biggest events on the calendar.
It took ‘King of Clay’ Nadal to stop Murray in the Monte-Carlo semi-finals, and the Scot earned swift revenge in front of the Spaniard’s home fans with a last-four win of his own in Madrid. His hopes of defending his title in the Spanish capital were dashed by Djokovic in three sets, but Murray again responded quickly. He charged to the title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia without dropping a set, dispatching Djokovic 6-3, 6-3 in the final to become the first British man to win the Rome trophy in the Open Era.
“It’s mostly great players that have won this event, so I’m very proud to have my name on the trophy,” said Murray after his victory.
At Roland Garros, with Federer absent and Nadal withdrawing before the third round due to a wrist injury, the draw appeared to have opened for one of the top two seeds, Djokovic or Murray, to clinch their first title at the clay-court major. They did both reach the final, but Djokovic proved too strong and wrapped a 3–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 victory.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/21/murray-rome-2016-backhand.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />
Andy Murray battles past Novak Djokovic in the 2016 Rome championship match. Photo Credit: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
JUNE – Dominant Dozen On Grass
Despite falling just short of his third major title, Murray could turn his attention to the grass as the owner of a healthy 28-6 record for the year. He went on to make the momentum he had built on clay count, and in spectacular fashion, on the British grass. The World No. 2 went 12-0 across what was historically one of his favourite parts of the season to reconfirm his status as one of the elite grass-court players in the world.
Competing at the Queen’s Club as defending champion, Murray battled through a trio of three-setters from the quarter-finals onwards to lift the title. In doing so, he moved clear of former World No. 1s John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick with a record fifth title at the ATP 500. He beat his Top 10 rival Raonic, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match, and it was the Canadian who stood across from Murray again three weeks later in the Briton’s third Wimbledon final.
Murray, who had not dropped a set en route to the championship match aside from a five-set battle with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, delivered a masterful returning display to blunt the big-serving Raonic and claim his second Wimbledon crown. He described a markedly different title-winning feeling to his 2013 triumph, perhaps a reflection of how confident he was in his game.
“I feel happier this time,” said Murray after his 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) victory against Raonic. “I feel more content this time. I feel like this was sort of more for myself more than anything, and my team as well. We’ve all worked really hard to help get me in this position. Last time it was just pure relief, and I didn’t really enjoy the moment as much, whereas I’m going to make sure I enjoy this one more.”
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/28/murray-wimbledon-2016-match-point.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />
Andy Murray drops his racquet with joy after clinching his second Wimbledon title. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
AUGUST – Summer Surge
Murray’s red-hot form continued long enough for him to win his second title at another prestigious event: the Olympic Games. Having won gold at London 2012, Murray became the first man to win two Olympic men’s tennis singles titles by downing Del Potro in four exhilarating sets in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 final.
“Tonight is one of the hardest matches that I’ve had to play for a big, big title,” said Murray after his 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 triumph. “I think the US Open final I played against Novak when I won my first Slam was very hard, but tonight I found really difficult.”
By next racking up four straight-sets victories to reach the championship match at the Cincinnati Open, Murray hit 50 tour-level wins for the season and extended his winning streak to 22 matches. It was the longest unbeaten run of the 29-year-old’s career up to that point.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/10/10/31/murray-del-potro-rio-olympics-2016.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Andy Murray/Juan Martin del Potro” />
Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro after their epic final at the Rio Olympics. Photo Credit: Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images
Murray’s red-hot form did not stop the World No. 14 Cilic from claiming an upset to lift the Cincinnati title, and then came the Briton’s disappointments against Nishikori at the US Open and Del Potro in the Davis Cup. From there, however, Murray headed to Asia to begin what would become one of the most memorable season run-ins of all time.
History will be made this week at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington. For the first time, the ATP will trial player-worn microphones during doubles matches at the ATP 500 event.
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.
Have you ever wondered what a doubles team is discussing before a critical deuce point, or what they are joking about during a changeover?
Now fans will be closer to the action than ever before with players mic’d up.
Fans will be able to hear these fly-on-the-wall moments live during broadcasts and clipped on the ATP’s digital channels throughout the tournament.
You can listen to NBA players chatting in their huddle, Formula 1 drivers speaking to their race engineers and MLB players sharing their thoughts mid-play. Now you can also hear tennis players live during the action.
ATP Chief Sporting Officer Ross Hutchins said: “The continuation of the 2024 ATP Doubles Trial with the introduction of player-worn microphones during competition is a transformative opportunity for players, fans and the sport as a whole. This will provide fans live, never-before-seen insight into tactics players use during critical points of a match, while also providing interesting glimpses into the lighter, funny moments of the action. Thanks to Mark Ein and the Mubadala Citi DC Open for their vision and collaboration on this project. We look forward to an impactful week in Washington.”
Mubadala Citi DC Open Tournament Chairman Mark Ein said: “I have wanted to bring live mic’ing to tennis for many years after seeing the powerful impact of it in other sports like the NBA and NFL, who collaborated with us on this pilot. We are thrilled that the Mubadala Citi DC Open will be the first tour event ever to use it and know that it will bring fans inside the court, allowing them to hear the most unique insights into the game. This will be an important innovation that will greatly benefit doubles and the sport more broadly.”
[ATP APP]The following changes will also be trialed during the Washington doubles event:
The 2024 ATP Doubles Trial began at the Mutua Madrid Open. Further trials have been held at Queen’s Club, Hamburg, Gstaad, Newport and Kitzbühel.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will both continue their doubles campaigns at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
Nadal, who lost to top seed Novak Djokovic in singles on Monday, will return to action alongside fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz against Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof. The match will be the third on Court Suzanne-Lenglen after 12 p.m., following the men’s singles match between Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper and the women’s singles match between Jasmine Paolini and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
Nadal and Alcaraz are playing doubles together for the first time. They defeated Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the first round.
[ATP APP]Daniel Evans and Murray faced five consecutive match points on Sunday against Japan’s Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori, but the Britons saved them all and eventually advanced to the second round with a thrilling victory in Paris.
Evans and Murray will follow Alcaraz and Nadal on Court Suzanne-Lenglen when they play Belgians Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen or Frenchmen Arthur Fils/Ugo Humbert.
In singles, Tokyo gold medalist Alexander Zverev will play Czech Tomas Machac second on Court Philippe-Chatrier and fourth seed Daniil Medvedev will face Austrian Sebastian Ofner in the last match on the same court.
Former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings Stan Wawrinka will also be in action Tuesday against Australian Alexei Popyrin. The Australian won the pair’s only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in last year’s Umag final.
Ninth seed Tommy Paul will take on #NextGenATP Czech Jakub Mensik and 13th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will try to move past German Maximilian Marterer. There will also be men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles play Tuesday.
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