Frenchman Jerome Golmard, a winner of two ATP World Tour titles, passed away on Monday aged 43 following a battle with Motor Neurone Disease (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease). He was first diagnosed with the disease in January 2014 and soon established Association Jerome Golmard, Combattre la maladie de Charcot.

Golmard, who, for much of his career had a residence in Boca Raton, Florida, where a number of French players made their home, first began playing tennis aged six with his parents by hitting against the wall of his local club. In a 14-season injury-plagued professional career, Golmard reached a career-high No. 22 on 22 April 1999, shortly after capturing his first ATP World Tour title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Nicolas Kiefer). The left-hander also won the 2000 Aircel Chennai Open (d. Markus Hantschk) among four final appearances, and he was the top French player for a total of 14 weeks.

MND has previously impacted the tennis family. Former Australian player Brad Drewett, who was the ATP Executive Chairman and President until his passing in May 2013, and Angie Cunningham, the WTA’s former Vice President of Player Relations and On-Site Operations, who passed away in October 2016, both succumbed to the disease. Former Australian player Peter Doohan also lost his battle on 21 July 2017.

Golmard is survived by two sons.

Jerome Golmard, tennis player, born 9 September 1973, died 31 July 2017.

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TRIBUTES

Jérôme Golmard, ancien 22ème mondial, est décédé à l’âge de 43 ans. Toutes nos condoléances à sa famille.

— FFT (@FFTennis) August 1, 2017

RIP le Dje @golmardjerome #missyou #respect #courage

— Sébastien Grosjean (@sebboca29) August 1, 2017

RIP mon Djé ?! @golmardjerome

— yves allegro (@yvesallegro) August 1, 2017

#respect #courage #missyou #champion pic.twitter.com/OjcT7kdgi5

— Henri Leconte (@henrileconteoff) August 1, 2017

So sad to hear that our friend and ex- tennis player Jérôme Golmard passed away! All my love to his family and friends! RIP AMIGO!

— Alex Corretja (@AlexCorretja74) August 1, 2017

RIP jerome golmard… sad news and sad day for tennis……

— xmalisse (@xmalisse) August 1, 2017

R.i.p. Jerome Golmard! Thoughts and prayers to his family. a special guy left us way to early….

— Julian Knowle (@Jknowle) August 1, 2017

Today the @ATPWorldTour lost one of our good guys. May u rest in peace my friend Jérôme Golmard. We will raise a glass 4U. #gone2soon

— Nicolás Pereira (@nicolaspereira) August 1, 2017

#JeromeGolmard such a fighter. RIP, my unlucky friend.

— Giorgio Di Palermo (@Giorgiodipa) August 1, 2017

Our condolences to the family of former top 25 ???Jerome Golmard & @FFTennis.

He went down swinging & smiling in his final #USOpen match… pic.twitter.com/oTGDLqB8Kr

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 1, 2017

Jared Donaldson and Tommy Paul are off to the perfect starts in their respective 2017 Citi Open campaigns. The 20-year-old NextGenATP Americans ground their way through first-round clashes on Monday in contrasting fashion.

Donaldson, the world No. 69 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and seventh in the ATP Race to Milan, prevailed in a tight 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 result over Israel’s Dudi Sela. Paul, who reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final last week as a qualifier in Atlanta, led Casper Ruud 3-6, 7-5, 3-0 before the Norwegian retired with headaches and dizziness due to dehydration. 

Donaldson dropped just seven points on his first serve and saved four of five break points faced against Sela. He will next meet lucky loser Marc Polmans. The Australian received a first-round bye after John Isner withdrew due to a right knee injury.

Paul surged 14 spots to No. 20 in the ATP Race to Milan with his run in Atlanta last week. It was his first meeting with fellow NextGenATP player Ruud. No. 7 seed Lucas Pouille is next.

A viral illness denied Stefan Kozlov the chance to make it a three-from-three start for the NextGenATP Americans on Monday. Qualifier Yuki Bhambri, of India, led 7-5, 2-0 before Kozlov called it quits. Defending champion Gael Monfils awaits.

It happened quietly, without the publicity of a big win or a breakthrough. But last month and again last week, Juan Martin del Potro reached his highest Emirates ATP Ranking – No. 30 – since October 2014, months before del Potro would sit for the majority of another season because of wrist injuries.

But to del Potro, the ranking didn’t symbolise that his comeback from wrist injuries in 2014 and 2015 was complete. At the Citi Open this week for the fifth time, the Argentine is simply glad to be back on the court.

“I don’t care if I’m 30 or 50. I just want to play tennis,” said del Potro, who, 17 months ago, was No. 1,045. “I would like to be in the top position for sure one day in the future but I know how difficult it is… I’m still playing tennis and I love what I do. I’m so happy for that.”

The 6’6” Argentine might be No. 1 if he played all of his tournaments in Washington, DC. Del Potro has won the ATP World Tour 500 tournament three out of the four times he’s played here. The right-hander beat Serbian Viktor Troicki for his first title in 2008 and knocked out a pair of Americans – Andy Roddick and John Isner – in 2009 and 2013.

He enters this week with a 14-1 record in Washington and on a 14-match tournament win streak. His only loss came in 2007 when he was 18.

“I like to play here… I always play good tennis in the United States,” said del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion. “This tournament is special for me because I have many Argentinean fans who come to watch me. The American people like my game, too.”

He will have plenty of competition at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center this week. The field showcases four former champions, including del Potro, Milos Raonic (2014), Kei Nishikori (2015) and Gael Monfils (2016). Eight of the Top 25 are also playing here: No. 7 Dominic Thiem; No. 8 Alexander Zverev; No. 9 Nishikori; No. 10 Raonic; No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov; No. 19 Jack Sock; No. 20 Nick Kyrgios; and No. 22 Gael Monfils.

“I think this will be almost a [Masters] 1000 tournament,” del Potro said. “It will be a really interesting tournament to watch and to play.”

Last October, del Potro won his first ATP World Tour title in 33 months by beating Jack Sock at the If Stockholm Open. But the 28 year old has yet to reach a final this season. Del Potro reached the Delray Beach Open semi-finals in February before falling to then-World No. 4 Milos Raonic.

Six of his eight losses this season have come against players ranked inside the Top 6 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, including five against three of the Big Four – Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. But del Potro said he’s glad that he’s playing in the same era as the all-time greats.

“The guys are amazing,” del Potro said. “I’m so happy to be playing at the same time.”

Tommy Haas and wife Sara Foster kicked off the German’s last appearance in Kitzbühel in traditional Austrian style, donning Tyrolean outfits in front of Wilder Kaiser on Monday ahead of the Generali Open.

“I’m happy to be back in Kitzbühel. This is the paradise of the Alps,” said Haas. “I always enjoy coming back here. I’m looking forward to my last tournament here and hope that I can play well.”

Thomaz Bellucci, a winner of four ATP World Tour clay-court titles, held his nerve in a thrilling 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov, who was making his debut in Kitzbühel. Dolgopolov led 3-2 in the deciding set, but could not convert two break points on Bellucci’s serve at 15/40. The Brazilian then broke for a fourth time in the penultimate game and will next challenge a German in sixth seed Jan-Lennard Struff or Haas.

Joao Sousa was solid on serve hitting nine aces and saving six of seven break points to beat former World No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3 in two hours and 13 minutes. Youzhny recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the second set, but was broken to 15 in the 12th game. Sousa now meets third seed and defending champion Paolo Lorenzi, the recent Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag runner-up (l. to Rublev).

Dusan Lajovic needed one hour and 57 minutes to edge past Maximilian Marterer 7-5, 7-6(4) for a Kitzbühel second-round clash against fourth seed Gilles Simon.

Another Serbian, qualifier Miljan Zekic, recorded his first ATP World Tour match win by beating Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6(4), 7-6(6), closing out on his fourth match point opportunity. The 29 year old will now prepare to face second seed Fabio Fognini, who lifted his fourth trophy on Sunday at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad (d. Hanfmann).

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