Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu fought her way to an impressive win over Maria Sharapova in the first round of the Qatar Open.
Russia’s Sharapova, 30, was beaten 4-6 6-4 6-3 in two hours and 38 minutes by the world number 92 in Doha.
Sharapova, a former world number one, struggled for consistency, with 52 unforced errors throughout the match.
Niculescu will play either Magdalena Rybarikova or wildcard Fatma Al Nabhani in the next round.
Sharapova, ranked 41st in the world, was making her first appearance in Qatar since 2013 after being handed a wildcard.
After clinching the first set at the fourth opportunity, Sharapova was frustrated by Niculescu’s slices, and lost her rhythm as the Romanian went on to serve out the match.
Britain’s Johanna Konta plays her first round match against American qualifier Bernarda Pera – who beat her in the Australian Open in January – on Tuesday.
Czech defeats Mischa Zverev to reach the second round
Tomas Berdych defeated Mischa Zverev 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to secure his place in the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Berdych, who won the title in 2014 (d. Cilic) and reached the final in 2015 (l. to Wawrinka), won 82 per cent of his first serve points and recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the first set. Berdych will meet the winner of Jan-Lennard Struff and Viktor Troicki’s first-round clash for a place in the quarter-finals.
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Earlier in the day, Feliciano Lopez also booked his place in the second-round, with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over 2016 champion Martin Klizan.
Watch Klizan Hot Shot
Did You Know? Tomas Berdych has now won 20 matches at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, including nine consecutive wins from 2014-2015.
‘Highly Motivated’ Federer Wants No. 1 ATP Ranking
Feb122018
More than five years after he last sat atop the tennis world, Roger Federer this week in Rotterdam can reclaim the No. 1 ATP Ranking
Roger Federer has his sights set on overtaking Rafael Nadal at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings this week at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, where he competes for the first time since 2013. A semi-final run would return the Swiss star to the summit of men’s professional tennis for the first time since 4 November 2012.
“I only ever said I would think about the ATP Rankings after the Australian Open was over,” said Federer in Rotterdam on Monday. I did not expect to win the Australian Open again and by not winning the [Nitto] ATP Finals, I never thought it would happen again and it may be out of sight. I played at the Australian Open not thinking about the rankings, but I knew I had the flexibility in February over my calendar.
“After the Australian Open was over, I thought I’d love to play Rotterdam and give it a go. Our team is very excited, that I’m here and that I will give it a go. You have to do it, not because it’s the right thing to do, but you have to be here with all your heart and really go for it. Try my very best. Having the option of getting to No. 1 is highly motivating and very exciting to say the least.”
The 36-year-old would guarantee a return to No. 1 next Monday if he advances to the semi-finals in Rotterdam. If he reaches Friday’s quarter-finals, Federer could meet fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
View The Rotterdam Draw
See Federer’s Career History In Rotterdam
“I would love to be in that position [to attain No. 1] against anybody,” said Federer. “If I get back to that spot you don’t want it to happen in an easy way. The achievement would be quite incredible. It’s exciting to have Stan in my section [of the draw].”
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Federer is competing at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament for the first time since capturing his sixth Australian Open crown, and his 20th Grand Slam championship, on 28 January. He opens his ninth Rotterdam campaign Wednesday against 30-year-old Belgian qualifier and World No. 116 Ruben Bemelmans. It will be the first meeting between the players.
When asked about winning three of the past five majors, Federer admitted, “If I would have won one Grand Slam I would be over the moon. In 2016, Novak [Djokovic] and Andy [Murray] were in their prime. Rafa was young enough to come back. I always believed I could do it once, [so] it’s an incredible journey.”
Watch Live On TennisTV
Watch Full Match Replays
If Federer does get back to No. 1 on 19 February, the gap of five years and 106 days will be the longest between stints at No. 1. At 36, he would also become the oldest World No. 1, replacing American Andre Agassi (aged 33), who last held the top spot on 7 September 2003.
Two-time former Rotterdam champion Federer is one of seven players in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings competing at the Dutch tournament. Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, last year’s finalist David Goffin, 2015 winner Stan Wawrinka, 2014 champion Tomas Berdych and last week’s Open Sud de France champion Lucas Pouille also feature in the draw.
DID YOU KNOW? Federer holds the record for most weeks spent at No. 1, with 302 weeks. Pete Sampras is second on the list with 286 weeks. See the full list.
British brothers Ken and Neal Skupski won their first ATP World Tour team title by beating Ben Mclachlan and Hugo Nys in the Open Sud de France doubles.
The Liverpool pair took 75 minutes to win 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 against Japan’s Mclachlan and France’s Nys.
Victory in Montpellier came a week after they won ATP Challenger Tour doubles event in Quimper, France.
“Our parents will be extremely happy with us,” said Neal.
“It is my first [ATP World Tour] title, and Ken’s fourth, so it is nice to get it as a pair.”
“We made one final before, we had match points in Moscow, so it is nice to get that monkey off the back and hopefully we can get a few more this year.”
It was the brothers’ second final together, having reached the 2013 VTB Kremlin Cup final, which they lost to Mikhail Elgin and Denis Istomin.
“This is a dream come true,” said Ken.
“We’ve worked very hard over the years. To finally win an ATP World Tour title together, we are extremely happy.”
Revisit the week that was on the ATP Challenger Tour as we applaud the achievements of those on the rise and look ahead to who’s in action in the week to come
A LOOK BACK Hungarian Challenger Open (Budapest, Hungary): It has been four years since Vasek Pospisil reached a career-high of No. 25 in the ATP Rankings, but the Canadian is fast returning to the top form that carried him to stardom. The 27-year-old has kicked off his 2018 campaign in dominant fashion, claiming consecutive ATP Challenger Tour crowns in Rennes, France and Budapest, Hungary. He did not drop a set en route to the title in Rennes two weeks ago and battled to a trio of three-set victories on Sunday in Budapest. The week culminated with a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 win over Spanish teen Nicola Kuhn.
Kuhn, aged 17, was contesting his second Challenger final after earning his maiden title in Braunschweig, Germany last year. He also teamed up with fellow #NextGenATP Felix Auger-Aliassime to capture the doubles title.
Kunal Patel San Francisco Open (San Francisco, U.S.A.): As hot as Pospisil has been to start 2018, Taiwan’s Jason Jung is giving him some competition. The 28-year-old notched his third Challenger title in three years with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) win over German Dominik Koepfer in San Francisco.
Now 9-3 this year, Jung was coming off a semi-final finish (l. to Nishikori) in Dallas and earned signature upsets of seeds Mackenzie McDonald and Noah Rubin en route to the San Francisco title. He saved two match points to defeat McDonald and dropped just four games to shock Rubin.
It was his first crown away from China, following wins at Chengdu 2016 and Zhangjiagang 2017. Now, up to No. 155 in the ATP Rankings, Jung is just 12 spots off his career-high position.
Smart Fibre Launceston International (Launceston, Australia): Marc Polmans couldn’t have dreamt of a stronger week to secure his first ATP Challenger Tour title. The Aussie mounted a ruthless charge to lift his maiden trophy, not dropping a set all week and dominating the final 6-2, 6-2 over countryman Bradley Mousley. Polmans is the second #NextGenATP winner of the year, joining Newport Beach champ Taylor Fritz. He rises 78 spots in the ATP Rankings to No. 223.
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A LOOK AHEAD The 25th edition of the Challenger La Manche, in Cherbourg, France, highlights the week. Former World No. 6 Gilles Simon is the top seed and appearing in his first Challenger since 2010. Former champions Mathias Bourgue, Norbert Gombos and Kenny de Schepper are in the draw.
Tennis is back in Chennai, India. After a 22-year run on the ATP World Tour, the Chennai Open Challenger is here for an inaugural edition. Jordan Thompson is the top seed, with Yuki Bhambri second and Duckhee Lee third.
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