Nadal, delPo Relax at China Open Player Party in Beijing 2017
Nadal, delPo Relax at China Open Player Party in Beijing 2017
Oct022017
British number three Aljaz Bedene saw off Marcel Granollers in straight sets in the first round of the China Open.
The world number 50 defeated the 31-year-old 6-4 6-2 to set up a meeting with another Spaniard, fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
Bedene, 28, looked more comfortable on the Beijing hard court against a player who prefers clay and a single break of serve was enough to take the first set.
A double break in the second against the world number 127 sealed victory.
Agut, 29, set up the meeting with Bedene with a 6-1 6-3 victory over China’s Ze Zhang.
Britain’s Kyle Edmund, 22, plays 20-year-old Alexander Zverev of Germany in the first round on Tuesday, when Rafael Nadal enters the tournament against Lucas Pouille of France.
Spain’s world number one Rafael Nadal and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola have spoken out following Catalonia’s independence referendum on Sunday, which was marred by violence.
Catalan medics said 844 people were hurt in clashes at a poll the Spanish government and courts declared illegal.
Tennis star Nadal told reporters he was “stunned” and “felt like crying”.
Guardiola said: “The images don’t lie, there were people who wanted to vote and they’ve been attacked.”
Officers from the national police and paramilitary Civil Guard seized ballot papers and boxes at polling stations.
In the regional capital Barcelona, police used batons and fired rubber bullets during pro-referendum protests.
The situation led to Barcelona’s La Liga game at home to Las Palmas being played behind closed doors.
Nadal, 31, spoke out before the referendum to condemn it but, talking in Beijing ahead of this week’s China Open, said he had watched events of the weekend unfold “with concern and sadness”.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion grew up in Mallorca but is also a Catalan speaker, and a 10-time champion at the Barcelona Open.
He said: “I want to cry when I see a country where we have known how to co-exist and be a good example to the rest of the world get to a situation like this.
“I think the image we have presented to the world is negative.
“It was a sad moment, my heart sank all day. I have spent many parts of my life in Catalonia, important moments, and to see society so radicalised surprises and disheartens me.”
Catalonia’s leader Carles Puigdemont says the region has won the right to break away from Spain after almost 90% of voters chose independence.
Guardiola, 46, was born in Barcelona and played for and managed the club. He said: “There are more than 700 hurt – people who were going to vote, not rob a bank.
“Spain will try to hide the reality, but the rest of the world’s media will show it. The images are clear and everybody knows what has happened.
“We don’t want them to think that we don’t like Spain.
“Spain is an incredible country, with its literature, sport, cities. But you need to understand that there’s a population who want to decide their future.”
World number one Garbine Muguruza retired feeling unwell at the China Open as US Open winner Sloane Stephens was again defeated in the first round.
Spaniard Muguruza, 23, lost the first set 6-1 to unseeded Barbora Strycova, 31, from the Czech Republic.
Wimbledon champion Muguruza then called a medical timeout at 2-0 down in the second set and retired after having her pulse taken courtside in Beijing.
“It’s very tough, I got a virus in Wuhan,” said the 2015 Beijing champion.
“I couldn’t perform today. It’s the easy way to think ‘don’t go on the court’. I want to feel like giving the last chance, going on the court, just hit a few balls, see how I’m going to feel, try to turn things around.
“I don’t want to retire before the tournament starts.”
Fifteenth seed Stephens lost 6-3 6-0 to qualifier and fellow American Christina McHale in just 62 minutes.
The defeat by the world number 79 extends Stephens’ poor run since clinching her first Grand Slam last month.
Last week she also fell at the first hurdle, to China’s world number 52 Wang Qiang in the Wuhan Open.
“Tough day, not really much to say,” said the world number 17.
“Obviously not a great match so just forget about it and move on, try to have a better level for the next tournament (Hong Kong).”
Stephens’ surprise defeat helps Britain’s Johanna Konta in her quest to qualify for the WTA finals in Singapore later this month.
Konta lost her fifth straight match on Sunday as she went down 6-1 6-2 to world number 65 Monica Niculescu, damaging her hopes of reaching the tour’s showpiece finale.
However, Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe of the US and France’s Caroline Garcia were the only players able to overtake Konta in Beijing, with just two weeks of smaller tournaments to follow.
Vandeweghe remains in contention after defeating Donna Vekic 6-2 6-2 in the first round on Monday, while Garcia – who has a bye into the second round – will play Belgian Elise Mertens on Tuesday.
Former world number one Angelique Kerber needed to win the title to keep her hopes alive but the German lost 6-4 6-4 to France’s Alize Cornet in round one.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Ashleigh Barty must also win in Beijing to have a chance of overtaking Konta before the end of the regular season, as does Elena Vesnina, who is through to round two.
It has been one of the best years of Rafael Nadal’s career on the ATP World Tour. The Spaniard has won his 10th Roland Garros, the US Open, advanced to the Australian Open final and re-claimed his spot atop the Emirates ATP Rankings. Yet, there is no chance that he would look past this week’s China Open in Beijing.
“Every tournament is important,” Nadal said. “Every time that I go to any event, my goal is try to play my best and to try to go for everything, no?”
Perhaps it is that focus and determination that has helped propel the 31 year old to the top of the Emirates ATP Race To London, already clinching his spot in the Nitto ATP Finals with a tour-leading five titles (tied w/ Federer and Zverev) and three finals.
Nadal’s ability to keep bouncing back from health struggles — he ended last season in October due to a wrist injury — nearly a decade after first rising to No. 1 in the world in 2008, has largely been because of the left-hander’s ability to stay motivated for every tournament and every individual match.
“I had some injuries, but good thing is I keep having the passion for the game and the love for what I am doing and the spirit to overcome tough situations in terms of physical issues, no? That’s the key,” Nadal said. “Of course, the spirit of improvement: every day when I wake up, going on court with the goal of doing something better than what I was doing. At the same time, as I said before, the motivation to keep having chances to do what I really like to do.”
This week, Nadal would really like to win his second title in Beijing, where four of the Top 10 players in the world are competing. The Spaniard faces Lucas Pouille, who defeated Nadal in last year’s US Open fourth round in five sets, in the first round.
“There is a lot of great players. I have a very tough first round against Lucas. Let’s see,” Nadal said. “Tomorrow is an important day for me. Is a tough start, a difficult one. Let’s see. But I am focused on trying to be ready for tomorrow. I think I practised well, so let’s see tomorrow what can happen.”
British tennis player Laura Robson says she is “in shock” but safe after attending a Las Vegas concert where more than 20 people were killed and at least 100 injured in a mass shooting.
A gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Hotel toward an open-air country music festival being held close by.
Robson, 23, indicated on social media she was unhurt.
“I’m okay. We were right there..sounded like fireworks at first then everyone started running. Scary,” she said.
The British number five added: “My friend who was deeper in the crowd has been helping people who were shot. We’re all in shock.”
Robson last played on Friday in the ITF tournament in Templeton, California, where she lost in the quarter-finals.
Austrian star makes traditional cuisine
Dominic Thiem took time out from his preparations for the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships to visit a Tokyo sushi restaurant and the Odaiba-Ferris wheel on Monday.
The Austrian, who is making his first appearance in Tokyo since 2014, served and ate sushi dressed in traditional sushi chef uniform and then enjoyed the cityscape from the ferris wheel.
Thiem, 24, is currently No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Race To London for one of the six remaining berths at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. He takes on American Steve Johnson in the Tokyo first round on Tuesday.
Already one of the marquee events on the ATP Challenger Tour, the Open d’Orleans continues to raise the bar.
The hard-court perennially boasts one of the most competitive draws on the ATP Challenger Tour, which this year included seven Top 100 players and two formerly ranked in the Top 20 in the ATP Emirates Rankings: Ernests Gulbis and Jerzy Janowicz. The tournament saw a flurry of competitive three-set matches in the historic French city, culminating in a high-quality final with 2016 finalist Norbert Gombos of Slovakia overcoming crowd-favourite Julien Benneteau in three sets.
Gombos not only walks away with a hefty prize cheque from the $150,000 indoor tournament (the only indoor tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour of that level), but also with a painting crafted by a local artist in lieu of a trophy, one of the Open d’Orleans’ many unique touches.
This year, former ATP World Tour stars Sebastien Grosjean and Nicolas Escude were brought on board by the prominent French event as ambassadors.
Grosjean reached a career-high ranking of No.4 in the world back in 2002, claiming the Rolex Paris Masters title in Paris-Bercy the year prior and reaching four Grand Slam semi-finals throughout his career. Escude peaked at No.17 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and is a former Australian Open semi-finalist with four titles to his name.
The duo hopes that their representation continues to raise the profile of the Open d’Orleans and other ATP Challenger Tour tournaments in France.
“Orleans is 13 years old and everybody, especially in France, knows this tournament. It’s a great event,” said Escude. “The quality of the people here and the courts and the city are amazing. That’s why Orleans is a very popular tournament.”
“The Challenger Tour is very important because it’s where all the young players start to win matches and get [Emirates ATP Rankings] points. It’s such a high level,” he added. “To use these tournaments to be stronger on the ATP World Tour, makes the Challenger Tour so important. To be in the main draw of an tournament like here in Orleans or in Brest where I am, really helps the young players. It helps them grow step by step.”
But at the Open d’Orleans it’s more than simply world-class tennis. Tournament director Didier Gerard wanted to integrate French gastronomy, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage item, into the heart of the event.
Each day of the tournament saw a different chef take to the kitchen to provide the tennis-goers with creative and top-quality French cuisine. Chef Bernard Vaussion, a former executive chef of the Elysee Palace and who served under all six French Presidents from 1969 to 2017, highlighted the culinary endeavour at the Open d’Orleans.
“People can watch tennis but also share quality time together,” said Gerard. ‘Conviviality’ is the key ingredient to the success story of Open d’Orleans. People sitting together around a table enjoying great tennis, food and excellent wine – that’s what characterises the French culture.
“This week has been a tremendous success – we have served 3,500 meals in three different restaurants and are fully booked for the week. For me, it is a great pleasure and honour to bring great players, renowned chefs and great painters to the city of Orleans, to give it a cosmopolitan character.”
A LOOK BACK
Open d’Orleans (Orleans, France): Last year, Norbert Gombos finished runner-up to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Orleans final. On Sunday, the fourth seed went one step further, claiming the title at the prestigious $150,000 event with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over another Frenchman – Julien Benneteau. Gombos will rise to a career-high No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, having notched his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title and first in nearly one year.
BFD Challenger (Rome, Italy): The 2017 season has become the year of the Serbian on the ATP Challenger Tour. Filip Krajinovic secured a tour-leading 10th title for the European nation with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver in Rome. Krajinovic, who did not drop a set all week, claimed his fourth title of the year, joining only countryman Janko Tipsarevic as players with at least four crowns in 2017. Also the winner on the German clay of Heilbronn and Marburg and in Italian mountain town of Biella, he is up 10 spots to No. 95 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
Filip Krajinovic picks up his fourth #ATPChallenger ? of the season, defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 64 63 in Rome. Joins fellow ?? @TipsarevicJanko as lone players with four titles in 2017. pic.twitter.com/z4KYU9qlqh
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 1, 2017
Tiburon Challenger presented by Wells Fargo (Tiburon, California, USA): Cameron Norrie entered the final week of July at No. 275 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. What the Brit has done since is nothing short of remarkable. Norrie clinched his second ATP Challenger Tour crown on Sunday in Tiburon, soaring to a career-high No. 136. He has now won 21 of his last 25 matches, including a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tennys Sandgren for the title. The former Texas Christian University standout had won his maiden title in Binghamton two months ago.
Take a bow, @cam_norrie! Champion at @TiburonChallngr with a 62 63 win over Tennys Sandgren. Second #ATPChallenger ? for the ??. pic.twitter.com/7MWMZv0LPH
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 2, 2017
A LOOK AHEAD
There are five tournaments on the calendar, including 2015 Tournament of the Year in Monterrey, Mexico. Victor Estrella Burgos, finalist in 2015, and defending champion Ernesto Escobedo lead the field. Also in North America, the event in Stockton, California, features #NextGenATP stars Michael Mmoh, Stefan Kozlov, Elias Ymer, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Noah Rubin.
In Asia, Jordan Thompson is the top seed in Kaohsiun, Taiwan, while Laslo Djere leads the pack at the inaugural Almaty Challenger, in Kazakhstan. The ATP Challenger Tour also returns to Brazil, where Federico Delbonis is the lone Top 100 player in Campinas. Chile’s Gonzalo Lama is the defending champion.
