Tennis News

Fils powers past Struff in Paris, Khachanov snaps Gio's run

Arthur Fils is tapping into the currents in front of his home crowd at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The 20-year-old did not blink in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff on Wednesday to book his spot in the last-16 at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time. Fils was clinical under pressure throughout the match, saving all break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I have practiced a lot to reach this level,” said Fils, who improved to 9-1 vs. Top 50 players since September. “I spend a lot of time on court, in the fitness room. We work so hard to manage to get a high level of play throughout a match. From a physical point of view, I need to have a high level, as well.

“It pays off. Even if it’s the last tournament of the year. I’m tired, but this is where I feel best and I have to carry on like this.”

Arthur the Great 💪@ArthurFils1 passes the Struff with flying colours to reach the Round of 16 at a Masters 1000 event for the first time! #RolexParisMasters | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/wJ1stUquTJ

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 30, 2024

Buoyed by the crowd, Fils dismantled the German’s serve in the second game before surging to a commanding 3-0 lead. The Frenchman came under fire on his serve throughout the first set, but mustered some gutsy tennis to remain in control. In the second set, Fils pulled clear to seal victory in one hour, 33 minutes.

The #NextGenATP star, who is first in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, became the youngest Frenchman to win a main-draw match in Paris on Tuesday since Richard Gasquet in 2006.

Fils, who is up to a career-high of No. 19 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, has no intention in letting slip his momentum. 

Fils will continue his bid for a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title against either third seed Alexander Zverev or Tallon Griekspoor.

Following Fils’ triumph on Court Central, Karen Khachanov rallied to defeat another home hope in Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, prevailing 6-7(12), 6-1, 6-4 to secure his ticket for the third round. After losing a thrilling first-set tie-break, the 28-year-old dialed in to secure a one-hour, 54-minute victory.

“It’s a pity I didn’t win the tie-break, but at the same time, that pushed me through,” said Khachanov, who improved to 9-1 in the past three weeks. “I said ‘if I keep playing like this, I will have chances’, and I got them.

“I played great, I didn’t lose my serve all match, and I think that’s what made the difference.”

Khachanov, who leads the Tour in indoor wins in 2024 (12-2), had his work cut out against the explosive Frenchman, who was fresh off the back of his maiden ATP 500 crown in Basel. However, Khachanov made no mistake of snapping Mpetshi Perricard’s six-match winning streak with a clinical performance.

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Like taking candy from a… Berrettini? ATP Tour stars share their Halloween memories

Millions of children (and some parents!) across the globe will head ‘trick-or-treating’ on Thursday evening to celebrate Halloween. Hopefully they will have more luck than Matteo Berrettini did when the ATP Tour star was out hunting for candy as a child in his hometown of Rome.

“I lived in [an area] where it was safe for kids to go around and just bother people,” the Italian recalled to ATPTour.com. “One funny story. We had a bag full of candy and stuff, and we rang at a door. A lady opened it, and we said, ‘Trick or treat?’ She didn’t say anything, she just took something from our bag and closed the door. I don’t think she understood, it wasn’t us giving to her, but we were shocked.”

Berrettini remembers dressing up once as a ninja, and another time as a vampire in his bid to secure sweet treats from his neighbours. For the Italian’s ATP Tour rival Grigor Dimitrov, there was only ever one costume at the front of his mind.

“I grew up in the States. I think we were in California. I dressed as Batman, I’ve always liked Batman,” said the Bulgarian. “I grew up in a very small town, only 2,000 people, so we had trick-or-treat and we could almost have literally gone to every door. I remember it well, it was a lot of fun.”

It’s spooky SZN, so you just know we had to get involved… 👻 pic.twitter.com/JubO6PAmP5

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 28, 2024

Alexander Zverev says he also never lacked for enthusiasm in donning a Halloween costume as a kid in his home city of Hamburg. The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings is now a little hazy on the details, however.

“We did celebrate Halloween. We went around the houses and got candy, dressed up, but I can’t remember my favourite costume,” said Zverev. “I’m old already, it was 20 years ago. I actually really dressed up though, put paint on my face and everything. I just don’t remember what it was.”

So which other ATP Tour stars have fond memories of ‘spooky season’? Not Flavio Cobolli or Alex de Minaur, it seems…

“I hate Halloween, because I’m afraid. I don’t like horror, so I don’t like Halloween,” said Cobolli, who despite his fears does count a ghost among his diverse selection of tattoos. “I [particularly] don’t like skeletons.”

De Minaur joked: “I had no childhood. I literally had no childhood. I never celebrated Halloween as a child. In fact, probably the most I’ve enjoyed Halloween has been leaving candy outside the house for actual kids now who are trick-or-treating.”

At just 19 years old, Jakub Mensik does not have to look to far back to remember his childhood. If it’s a Halloween costume memory he is searching for, however, he will have to create one in the future.

“In Czechia it’s not that big a tradition, but of course it’s a really great atmosphere,” said the #NextGenATP star. “[It signifies] that winter is coming. It’s really great to have some spooky stories. I never dressed up, but I will in the future maybe.”

The ‘home’ of Halloween is arguably the United States. While Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe both used to set out with the sole intention of satisfying their respective sweet teeth, trick-or-treating was not the only aspect of their standard American Halloween.

“We used to do a lot of trick-or-treating and definitely take advantage of the houses that left the candy out in front of the door,” said Paul. “I remember the first time we could go without our parents was fun. It used to get a little later, and you probably did something you weren’t supposed to do, but nothing really crazy.

“I was Spider-Man a couple of times. I visited college on my college recruiting visit in North Carolina and it was Halloween. I think I dressed up as a football player or something, but that was definitely one of the better Halloweens for me.”

_{^{Photo Credit: Kate Brinksman/ATP Tour}}

Tiafoe reminisced: “Halloween was crazy man. I used to go to some of my homeboy’s houses and dress crazy. I dressed as a tennis player a lot. I dressed as the guys I looked up to, NBA guys or something like that. I got scared s**tless a couple of times by kids with chainsaws and stuff, joking around, coming out of nowhere or out of bushes.

“In my neighbourhood it was fun doing that kind of stuff. I had a terrible sweet tooth, so I was running around trick-or-treating for hours. That was like the best day ever for me. I can’t do that anymore, doing this tennis stuff, but I miss that.”

Tiafoe may no longer have to go around dodging chainsaws now he is on the ATP Tour, but that does not mean the world’s top tennis stars don’t suffer the odd fright of a different kind, as Berrettini can testify.

“Probably the scariest thing on Tour is when you figure out you didn’t sign for a tournament,” said the Italian. “Then you’re like, ‘Arghhh, I forgot’, and you have to call your coach and say you didn’t sign in. [Calling my coach in that situation] is probably the most fear I feel.”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

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Inside Diego Forlan’s journey from football star to pro tennis debut

Football icon Diego Forlan was living a teenage dream in 1993 when he had the opportunity of a lifetime to play doubles with Argentine legend Diego Maradona. It was in the early stages of Forlan’s youth career, long before he became a superstar in his home country Uruguay and beyond.

More than 30 years later, that day remains a cherished memory for Forlan. He remembers that friendly match happened on Court No. 10 at the Carrasco Lawn Tennis Club in Montevideo. It is only fitting that the man who wore number 10 for Uruguay throughout his career will now compete at that same club during the Uruguay Open, an ATP Challenger Tour 100 event, which runs from 11-17 November.

“Imagine for me, to have the opportunity to be around [Maradona] and then the opportunity to play football and tennis — it was unbelievable,” Forlan recalled to a group of reporters. “We played football and we played doubles in tennis. We had a really good relationship. He was very competitive. It was a nice game.”

At the Uruguay Open, the 45-year-old Forlan will be playing doubles with an Argentine. Sound familiar? This time it will be Federico Coria, World No. 104 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Forlan and Coria have met just once, but this entertaining doubles pairing, which has captured the attention of football and tennis fans, is in part thanks to Uruguayan tennis player Ignacio Carou.

“[Ignacio] was joking many times with me to play some futures,” Forlan said. “This year, I said to him, ‘No, I was on holidays, I don’t want to play’. Then a couple months after, he sent me a picture of Federico Coria and said, ‘I have your partner for the Challenger in Uruguay’. I think it was a joke and then he said, ‘He wants to play with you, I’m not joking!’”

Forlan enjoyed a standout football career for clubs such as Manchester United, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid. He represented Uruguay three times in the World Cup and in 2010, Forlan won the Golden Ball, which is awarded to the World Cup’s best player.

Right-footed in football, but a lefty in tennis, Forlan used to play with a one-handed backhand, but now he sports a double hander. In the past 15 months, he has competed in five ITF Masters Tour events. Competing in the 45-plus division, Forlan’s best result came in his most recent outing in August, when he reached the final in Asuncion, Paraguay.

The two-time winner of the European Golden Shoe has long been a tennis enthusiast. Forlan’s ideal routine includes two hours of on-court training in the morning and later in the afternoon, he returns to the club, putting what he has practiced into action against friends. Forlan receives coaching from Uruguay’s former Davis Cup captain Enrique Perez-Cassarino.

^{Diego Forlan at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images}

Forlan recalls playing tennis at a Manchester United preseason event in 2003 held at the Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon. On the other side of the net? His former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy, who this week was named interim manager for Manchester United — news which Forlan learned of while driving home from serving a basket of balls.

“We played a tie-break,” Forlan said of his 2003 hit with van Nistelrooy. “It was only me serving, so there were some double faults, giving some points to him. But I managed to win.”

Forlan also closely follows professional tennis results. Last week, he watched not only the ATP 500 events in Vienna and Basel, but also, Forlan live streamed the ATP Challenger Tour event in Curitiba, Brazil.

What started as a childhood passion has evolved into a full-fledged obsession.

“I used to watch Boris Becker a lot. I really enjoyed watching Ivan Lendl as well, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras,” Forlan said.

“I remember when Goran Ivanisevic won against Patrick Rafter at Wimbledon [in 2001]. He [received a wild card] for that tournament — didn’t have that chance to play because of his ranking. And he won the tournament. It was unbelievable. I remember the final because I was watching that match.”

Forlan’s wild-card outing will not be on the sacred lawns of Wimbledon like Ivanisevic’s was, but it will still be a memorable experience. Forlan will compete just steps away from the sentimental pitch where he first began playing football at the grassroots level.

“If you asked me when I was playing football if I was going to play a professional tournament in ATP, I wouldn’t have imagined that,” Forlan said. “Playing with the professionals for just one match, I will be enjoying it. Having the opportunity to — I don’t know if I’m the first one, but to be a professional football player to be a professional [tennis] player, just for one match… For me, it’s a privilege.

“I know it’s going to be really, really difficult to play against those guys. But I don’t have anything to lose. It’s a privilege for me to have this opportunity from [tournament director] Diego Perez.”

Did You Know?
Fans can watch all ATP Challenger Tour action for free on Challenger TV, with live streams and full match replays.

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With Turin berth on the line, Rublev enters Metz next week

Andrey Rublev is set to make his debut at the Moselle Open in Metz next week. The No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings has taken a late entry to the indoor ATP 250, which takes place from 3-9 November.

We are delighted to announce the participation of @AndreyRublev97
at the @moselleopen
🎉🦁 pic.twitter.com/ftf9QPg7lH

—
Moselle Open (@MoselleOpen) October
30, 2024

After falling to Francisco Cerundolo in his opener at the Rolex Paris Masters, Rublev is unable to amass further points this week in his bid to qualify for the eight-man Nitto ATP Finals (10-17 November).

The 27-year-old is currently eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, with 3,720 points, but could slip out of the cut this week. Alex de Minaur (ninth), Grigor Dimitrov (10th) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (12th) are all still alive in Paris and all could leapfrog Rublev in various scenarios.

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Dimitrov stays alive in Turin race, Popyrin upsets Medvedev in Paris

Grigor Dimitrov kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals with a thrilling comeback win on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The eighth seed dug deep to outlast Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the third round at the indoor ATP Masters 1000. Dimtrov saved all three break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in a gruelling two-hour, 45-minute victory.

Dimitrov is currently 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, trailing ninth-placed Alex de Minaur by 305 points. The 33-year-old could move inside the qualification spots with a run to the championship match in Paris. 

“It’s tough conditions, at the end of the year it’s very tricky,” said Dimitrov, who improved to 12-0 in opening rounds in Paris. “Everyone wants to empty their tank completely.

“He played an amazing first set. I’m far from the game I really want to play, but I’m adjusting. To win matches in that manner is way better for me than playing a clean match. I’m really happy with the fight. Of course, I really want to win every single match, but if I’m able to [show] that fight, I’m in a good place.

“I would give a lot to be in [Turin]. I’m in a place where I am still a contender, I’m still fighting against the best players in the world, and still beating the younger guys. This gives me confidence and makes me happy.”

Feeling the love in Paris 🫶

Last year’s finalist @GrigorDimitrov extends his unbeaten record to 12-0 in opening rounds at the #RolexParisMasters! pic.twitter.com/2Jzvf73oKW

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 30, 2024

Dimitrov would leapfrog Novak Djokovic (sixth), Casper Ruud (seventh) and Andrey Rublev (eighth), who are all unable to amass further points this week, if he were to lift the trophy.

Earlier, Alexei Popyrin’s standout year on the ATP Tour continued in emphatic fashion. The Australian stood firm to outlast fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) and book his spot in the third round.

In a high-octane battle, Popyrin let slip a 4-1 lead in the deciding set, but dialed back in to secure his third career-win over a Top 5 opponent. The 25-year-old also claimed his first Lexus ATP Head2Head win against Medvedev (1-3).

“I’ve heard about the atmosphere here, I hadn’t played in it before,” Popyrin said of the Bercy crowd. “They’re not lying, it’s a crazy atmosphere, the crowd is amazing.

“Last asters of the year, I really wanted to do well. I really wanted to go deep, and this is a great step for me.”

Medvedev, who suffered his third consecutive opening-round loss in Paris, is still bidding to win his first title of 2024.

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Boulter through to quarter-finals of Hong Kong Open

British number one Katie Boulter makes the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open with a straight-set win over China’s Wang Xiyu.

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Dimitrov's damaging forehand tops the charts

Grigor Dimitrov’s forehand is a cannon.

An ATP Infosys Beyond The Numbers analysis of TDI data of groundstroke speed, spin, and net clearance of the current Top 10 at ATP events over the past three years identifies that nobody blasts his forehand bigger than the 33-year-old Bulgarian.

Dimitrov’s career-high PIF ATP Ranking was No. 3 back in 2017. He started 2022 at No. 28 and has climbed back to No. 9, and ripping forehands has definitely helped pave the way back to the upper echelon of our sport.

The data set is also broken down by surface into the following four categories.
• Indoor hard
• Outdoor hard
• Clay
• Grass

The Top 10 average for forehand speed is 75 mph. Dimitrov is the only player in the data set to reach the 80 mph threshold on any surface. Below are the three players who reached the top two speeds.

Average Forehand Speed
1. 80 mph = Dimitrov (outdoor hard)
2. 80 mph = Dimitrov (clay)
3. 79 mph = Dimitrov (indoor hard)
4. 79 mph = Fritz (indoor hard)
5. 79 mph = Rublev (indoor hard)

Dimitrov won the Brisbane International Presented By Evie to start 2024, defeating World No. 8 Holger Rune, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final. Dimitrov’s average forehand speed was a cracking 81 mph against Rune and elevated to 82 mph in his second-round victory over Daniel Altmaier.

Interestingly, Hubert Hurkacz occupied three of the slowest four forehand speeds, with 69 mph on grass being the slowest in the data set. It’s important to note that faster does not always represent better. A variety of speed, spin, depth, and direction help make all forehands a dangerous weapon.

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev lead the pack with backhand speed, occupying the five fastest backhands in the Top 10. The Top 10 average is 68 mph. Sinner and Zverev blew well past that speed milestone.

Average Backhand Speed
1. 75 mph = Sinner (clay)
2. 73 mph = Sinner (outdoor hard)
3. 73 mph = Sinner (indoor hard)
4. 73 mph = Zverev (clay)
5. 72 mph = Zverev (indoor hard)

Sinner and Zverev have met once on clay in the past three seasons, with Zverev winning 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) in the 2022 Rolex Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals. Sinner’s average backhand speed was a blistering 76 mph, while Zverev’s was 75 mph. There was no holding back from either player off the backhand wing.

Hurkacz on grass, at 59 mph, registered the slowest average backhand speed in the Top 10.

When it comes to hitting the heaviest ball with the most spin, just two players occupied the leading six spots with forehand spin: Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz.

Average Forehand Spin
1. 3291 rpm = Ruud (clay)
2. 3207 rpm = Ruud (outdoor hard)
3. 3177 rpm = Alcaraz (outdoor hard)
4. 3141 rpm = Ruud (outdoor hard)
5. 3056 rpm = Alcaraz (clay)
6. 3055 rpm = Alcaraz (indoor hard)

These two players last met in the 2023 Beijing ATP 500 quarter-finals, where Alcaraz won 6-4, 6-2. The Spaniard crushed his forehand, averaging a jaw-dropping 3316 rpm, with Ruud also breaking the 3000 rpm threshold at 3175 pm. Both players enjoy hitting massive amounts of forehand spin to get the ball to kick high and heavy above their opponent’s groundstroke strike zone.

The Top 10 forehand spin average was 2708 rpm. Once again, Hurkacz on grass, at 2085 pm, was at the bottom of the table with the least amount of forehand spin.

Dimitrov possesses the only one-handed backhand in the Top 10, and it’s somewhat surprising to see him elevate to the top of the player list when it comes to hitting the heaviest backhand. In fact, the leading seven spots are all occupied by Dimitrov and Ruud.

Average Backhand Spin
1. 2681 rpm = Dimitrov (clay)
2. 2651 rpm = Ruud (clay)
3. 2606 rpm = Ruud (outdoor hard
4. 2580 rpm = Dimitrov (indoor hard)
5. 2576 rpm = Dimitrov (outdoor hard)
6. 2572 rpm = Ruud (indoor hard)
7. 2399 rpm = Dimitrov (grass)

These two players have only met once in the past three years, with Dimitrov winning 6-3, 7-5 in the 2022 Monte Carlo round of 16. Ruud averaged a massive 2877 backhand rpm, while Dimitrov was at 2647 rpm. Height plus depth plus this amount of spin makes it almost impossible for opponents to successfully step into the ball to attack.

Speed and spin also produce a height above the net metric, and it’s no surprise to see the leading two forehand spots occupied by Ruud on clay (0.89 metres) and Alcaraz on clay at (0.87 metres). On the backhand wing, Ruud occupied the leading three spots, with those being on clay (1.12 metres), outdoor hard (1.04 metres), and indoor hard (0.92 metres).

The Top 10 are incredibly adept at blending speed, spin, and height to produce a groundstroke that feels ideal to execute and makes their opponents very uncomfortable on the other side of the net.

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Forlan on beating Van Nistelrooy & ATP debut at 45

Former Man Utd player Diego Forlan will make his professional tennis debut at the age of 45. This is how he has gone from football to the ATP Tour.

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Ten soldiers share their untold stories

Members of the Welsh Guards give unfiltered accounts of the war in Helmand Province in 2009

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Ruud, Rublev fall in Paris, as De Minaur, Tsitsipas, Dimitrov see Turin path

Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev’s second-round exits at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday could have major implications on the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

In a back-and-forth battle with Jordan Thompson, Ruud fell to a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 defeat, while Francisco Cerundolo defeated sixth seed Rublev 7-6(6), 7-6(5) to record his 100th tour-level win.

Ruud is currently seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin with 3,855 points. Eighth-placed Rublev trails the Norwegian by 135 points to close out the qualification spots.

However, both players are unable to secure further points at this week’s indoor ATP Masters 1000. Meanwhile, fellow Turin hopefuls Alex de Minaur (ninth), Grigor Dimitrov (10th), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (12th) are all still alive and could climb further.

De Minaur would surpass Rublev if he were to make the quarter-finals. If De Minaur and Tsitsipas met in the semi-finals in Paris, and Tsitsipas went on to win the title, then both players would leapfrog Rublev and Ruud.

If De Minaur were to lift the trophy, he would jump to sixth, and even fifth if Taylor Fritz fell to an early defeat. Either Dimitrov or Tsitsipas triumphing in Paris would catapult them into sixth place in the Live Race, which concludes next week at the Belgrade Open and Moselle Open in Metz.

In the last match on Tuesday, Ruud forced a deciding set, but it was Thompson who stood firm to move 4-3 ahead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“I think my ball is a little bit flatter, it doesn’t give him as much time to wind up on both groundstrokes,” said Thompson, who defeated Ruud in the Los Cabos final to claim his maiden ATP Tour title in February. “But he is playing good on hard courts too, I’ve just managed to get the better of him a couple of times.

“Today I found it a lot harder, he was hitting it a lot deeper and firmer, but thankfully I managed to pull through.”

Earlier, Cerundolo rallied from a break deficit in both sets to upset Rublev and record his 100th tour-level win. The Argentine was ruthless in attack, winning 86 per cent (7/8) of net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.  

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