The ATP and Sense Arena, the world leader in virtual reality (VR) tennis training, have announced a new multiyear partnership that will see Sense Arena become the Official VR Tennis Training Tool of the ATP Tour.

Together, the partners will launch ATP Tour Sense Arena. The cobranded platform, operated via a Meta Quest 2 Headset paired with a haptic racquet, will offer groundbreaking VR training applications to tennis players of all levels worldwide. Additionally, the ATP’s Top 100 singles players and Top 25 doubles players will receive complimentary access to train with Sense Arena’s best-in-class VR technology.

The revamped ATP Tour Sense Arena platform will feature a new integration called Master Your Return, which will be powered by real match data and analytics from pro players on the ATP Tour and Hologic WTA Tours. This revolutionary feature will enable users to analyse and return true-to-life serves in VR from the top ATP and WTA players in the world. Additionally, Master Your Return will integrate match data from recreational players, allowing users to face accurate serves from virtual opponents of their equal skill level. The new feature will complement Sense Arena’s existing serve integrations from ATP pro Jack Sock, who had his serve replicated in Sense Arena earlier this year.

Casper Ruud, Daria Saville and Bob Tetiva.” />
^{ATP Chief Business Officer Daniele Sano, ATP player Casper Ruud, WTA player Daria Saville and Sense Arena Founder and CEO Bob Tetiva. Photo: ATP Tour.}
The ATP will in parallel collaborate with Sense Arena on the continued development of its training platform by designating advisors from its Medical Services, Technology and Business teams. The organisations will also work together to produce content to educate the wider tennis community about the benefits of mental training.

“Whether it’s on the ATP Tour or at any level of the game, the difference between winning and losing often comes down to mental fortitude and preparation,” said ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli. “Sense Arena is on the cutting edge of tennis training and we’re proud to lend our resources and expertise to advance a VR platform that will not only help our players, but tennis players of all ages and abilities across the globe.”

“Our goal is to change the game of tennis by elevating athlete performance through mental, tactical and visualisation-based training,” said Sense Arena Founder and CEO, Bob Tetiva. “Over the last few years, we have built Sense Arena for Tennis by working with the most respected names in the industry and this new opportunity to collaborate with the ATP will help us take our tennis training platform to the next level.”

ATP Tour Sense Arena is backed by International Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova and is being used by some of today’s top players including Jack Sock, Jennifer Brady, Brenda and Linda Fruhvirtova, Miomir Kecmanovic, Emil Ruusuvuori, Liudmila Samsonova, Hunter Reese, Daria Saville, Luisa Stefani and more.

To get started with ATP Tour Sense Arena, download the app on the Meta app store and subscribe by visiting SenseArena.com/ATPTour.

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has been officially announced as the host city of the Next Gen ATP Finals, from 2023-2027. The tournament will take place over five days at the King Abdullah Sports City on indoor hard court from 28 November-2 December 2023, with a record US $2 million prize money on offer, following five successful editions of the tournament in Milan, Italy.

The ATP’s announcement follows a competitive bid process launched in March 2023, with the support of Deloitte’s Sport Business Group. The process evaluated host cities from multiple regions against criteria including venue, international connectivity, and potential to grow professional tennis in a new market.

In addition to delivering record prize money for players, Jeddah’s successful bid, led by the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF), makes history as the first official professional tennis event to take place in Saudi Arabia. It builds on a more than 30-year presence in the Middle East for the ATP Tour.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “The ATP Tour is truly global and exploring new markets is central to growing the game. Bringing the Next Gen ATP Finals to Jeddah is our chance to inspire new fans, in a region with a vast young population, and unite audiences around tennis. Our congratulations go to Jeddah and the Saudi Tennis Federation. We look forward to building on the event’s incredible success together.”

Tennis is at a major inflection point in Saudi Arabia. Recreational clinics are at full capacity across the country, reflecting STF’s commitment to raising awareness and fostering interest among Saudi’s young, sport-enthusiastic population. Ambitious participation targets, an increase in the number of international tennis competitions, and establishing tennis as the marquee gender-equal sport in Saudi Arabia, have all been set as objectives in line with Vision 2030, which aspires to turn the Kingdom into a major sports, entertainment and tourism hub.

Arij Mutabagani, President of the Saudi Tennis Federation, said: “We are extremely proud that ATP has selected Jeddah to host such an important tennis event. The Next Gen ATP Finals embodies the philosophy of our Federation, which is to inspire young talent to reach the sport’s highest levels. We’re excited to collaborate to promote the ATP Tour’s most promising rising stars, and showcase new sporting innovations, in our special city of Jeddah.”

The Next Gen ATP Finals, first launched in 2017, has established itself as one of the highlights of the tennis season, showcasing the world’s best 21-and-under players in a fast-paced year-end format. Notably, nine of the current Top 10 players in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings having competed at the event, highlighting its role in showcasing the future stars of the sport. Past champions like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have used the event as a stepping-stone to further success in their careers.

The event also serves as a platform to test rule changes, new technologies and innovations in the sport, many of which have gone on to be incorporated on the ATP Tour.

Some of the world’s brightest stars treated US Open fans to a fun-filled night Wednesday, when the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Frances Tiafoe and Matteo Berrettini banded together for ‘Stars of the Open’, an exhibition in support of Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

In front of more than 14,000 people at Louis Armstrong Stadium, the fundraiser brought out celebrities beyond tennis, too. NBA star Jimmy Butler and two-time Latin Grammy winner Sebastian Yatra were also part of the event that raised $320,000 towards the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. Butler served as a ball crew member for part of the night and even played a few points with World No. 1 Alcaraz following the Spaniard’s exhibition tie-break with Tiafoe.

If a better point of tennis has ever been played, we’ve never seen it 🤣 pic.twitter.com/udc6iGZkxx

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 23, 2023

Players were mic’d up throughout the festivities, providing several moments of laughter for those watching. A memorable moment was when Gael Monfils partnered his wife Elina Svitolina in mixed doubles against Americans Christopher Eubanks and Jennifer Brady to close the night. Berrettini teamed with 1990 US Open champion Gabriela Sabatini to face John McEnroe and Jessica Pegula.

The US Open main draw will be made Thursday at 12 p.m. local time and main draw action begins Monday, 28 August. 

THAT’S @JImmyButler‘s MUSIC!

AND AS A BALL CREW MEMBER! pic.twitter.com/SQKJmcNalg

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 23, 2023

John McEnroe goes after Matteo Berrettini and shows he’s still got it! pic.twitter.com/WgbfoZY2iZ

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 24, 2023

Top seed Borna Coric earned a hard-fought victory Wednesday at the Winston-Salem Open to reach his sixth tour-level quarter-final of the season.

The 26-year-old Croatian survived wild card Michael Mmoh 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 in two hours, 47 minutes. Coric fired 11 aces and struck the ball with conviction to reach the last eight, where he will next face Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo. World No. 29 Coric has played his best tennis under pressure this week, having saved 16 of 17 break points he’s faced across two matches.

“I started to play better in the second set. He was serving really, really big and I didn’t have a chance to break him [in the second set],” Coric said. “Overall I thought it was a good match from my side and also from his side. I’m very happy with my level of tennis and I hopefully I can keep on getting better.”

Aiming for his fourth tour-level title and first since last year’s surprise run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, Coric is making his third appearance in Winston-Salem, where he has twice reached the last eight (2015, 2017). His quarter-final contest against Cerundolo, who downed lucky loser Omni Kumar 7-5, 6-3 in third round, will mark his first encounter with the Argentine.

“I need to check him out a bit. I did watch him play a couple of times, but I’ve never watched him play where I was focussed on his game,” Coric said. “I need to check him out on YouTube and Tennis TV to see how he plays and then decide all of my game plans.”

Fifth seed Jiri Lehecka also needed three sets to advance Wednesday, defeating German Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Maxime Cressy wasted no time Wednesday to reach the second round of US Open qualifying, needing 69 minutes to dispatch Czech Vit Kopriva 6-3, 6-3.

The 26-year-old American dropped just six points behind his hefty serve to move one step closer to his fourth main-draw appearance in Flushing Meadows, where he will next face Belgian Joris De Loore, who defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-4.

#NextGenATP stars Jakub Mensik, Arthur Cazaux and Leandro Riedi also earned victories Wednesday. The 17-year-old Mensik overcame a slow start and struck 10 aces to oust former World No. 7 Fabio Fognini 1-6, 6-1, 6-1. 17th seed Cazaux cruised past Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-3 and the Swiss Riedi survived 13th seed Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil played the longest men’s qualifying match of the day, needing three hours, 29 minutes to move past 26th seed Pedro Martinez 7-6(7), 6-7(3), 6-4.

John Millman, who was a US Open quarter-finalist in 2018, defeated Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 7-5. Dennis Novak upset fifth seed David Goffin 7-6(5), 6-3. In an all-American battle, Tennys Sandgren downed Denis Kudla 7-6(6), 6-4.

John Isner on Wednesday evening announced on social media that the US Open will be his final tournament. The American’s 17th consecutive appearance in his home major will be his last.

“There comes a time in every athlete’s career that they have to decide to hang it up. For me, that time is now,” Isner posted on Instagram. “I didn’t come [to] this decision lightly, but I feel it is the right way to go. When I left the University of Georgia in 2007, there was no way I could have imagined playing 17 years on the ATP Tour.

“Of course, there are countless matches I wish I could have back, but I am proud of what I was able to accomplish. The journey was nothing short of incredible.”

 

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The 38-year-old at Flushing Meadows will draw to a close his illustrious career, during which he has won 16 ATP Tour titles, won 488 tour-level matches and competed in the Nitto ATP Finals (in 2018).

Isner will leave behind a legacy as one of the greatest servers in the history of the sport. According to Infosys ATP Stats, he holds the record for most career aces with 14,411. No other player has hit the 14,000-ace mark and only five have reached 10,000 aces.

The American finished inside the Top 20 of the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings for 10 consecutive years from 2010-19 and was the year-end No. 1 American eight times (2012-16 and 2018-20). He reached a career-high World No. 8 in July 2018 after making his first major semi-final at Wimbledon.

Isner became the oldest first-time ATP Masters 1000 singles champion as a 32-year-old when he emerged victorious in Miami in 2018. He also has won five Masters 1000 doubles titles. The 38-year-old has also earned at least one victory against Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.

American Sebastian Korda advanced to his fourth tour-level quarter-final of the season on Wednesday at the Winston-Salem Open, where he moved past Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6(5), 6-3.

The 23-year-old earned an opening-round win against Benjamin Bonzi and backed that up with a hard-fought display against Fucsovics. Korda rallied from 3-5 in the first set before he struck 13 winners in the second set to advance after one hour and 53 minutes at the ATP 250.

“It was a very close first set,” Korda said. “I think as a player you take a lot of confidence in that. You have the upper hand and [then] it was time to push a little harder and be more aggressive and take the chances when they come.

“I think on the big [points] I played pretty solid and did not make many mistakes. As the match progressed, the longer the rallies got and the more I felt comfortable.”

Korda will continue the quest for his first tour-level trophy of the season against countryman Brandon Nakashima or 12th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Earlier this year, Korda advanced to the final in Auckland, where he held championship point against Novak Djokovic before falling. The third seed, who reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, is up three spots to No. 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.