Twenty-five years on from claiming the coveted college ‘triple crown’, U.S. Davis Cup captain Bob Bryan remembers his three years playing college ball with twin brother Mike Bryan at Stanford as “literally the most fun we’ve ever had in tennis”.

The greatest doubles team in tennis history is on hand at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida this week for the NCAA Championships, where they will be inducted into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall Of Fame.

“Playing for the pride of the programme and playing for our brothers, there was nothing like it,” said Bob, who won the NCAA Singles and Doubles (w/Mike) titles in 1998, and helped Stanford to the teams trophy, a feat that has been matched just once since (Matias Boeker, University of Georgia, 2001). “Just the passion and enthusiasm we felt every time we stepped on the court was on another level.”

In Stanford’s astonishing 1998 season, the team lost a combined three individual points. “I challenge any other team to pull that off,” Bob said. “By the stats our ’98 Stanford team is the greatest in history.”

Bob said that three years with the Cardinal under the guidance of Dick Gould was the foundation that he and Mike needed to embark on their historic ATP Tour career, which netted a jaw-dropping 119 titles together, including 16 majors. Mike agrees.

“Our time at Stanford remains among our greatest years in the sport,” Mike said. “It was so much fun being on a team. And we needed college tennis because we came out of high school pretty undercooked emotionally, socially, and we were small, so we needed to grow. And learning under Dick Gould, who was like a great army General, was key. He helped us grow as people as well as tennis players.

“It was a great springboard for the tour. If we would have turned pro too early, I think we would have been chewed up and spit out.”

Mike fondly recalls when Stanford denied the University of Georgia – and their intense fans – on its home soil in Athens in the NCAA final in 1998.

“It made all the other Davis Cup ties we played in the future a piece of cake because the Barking Bulldogs were nasty,” Mike recalled. “They’re loud. They yelled obscenities… that was kind of the most scared we’ve ever been walking out onto a tennis court.

“I remember one of our guys said “Don’t do the chest bump. Don’t even try it man. They’re gonna eat you alive.’ But we got through it and we had that stellar team that was undefeated. We then put on another run after that by winning the doubles and Bob took the triple crown, which was cool and we got the wild card into the US Open. Dick Gould actually pulled us into his office. He said: ‘You guys are ready, it’s time to turn pro.’”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s induction into the ITA Hall of Fame, Bob said: “It means a lot and it’s given us a great opportunity to come to Orlando and see a lot of the coaches that we faced and former players that we played against and just reminisce on all the just the beautiful memories that we made in college.

“It’s a great community of players and we’re super stoked to be here and receiving that honour.”

Mike also lent his support to the new college accelerator programme, an initiative between the ATP and ITA, which will award wild cards into ATP Challenger Tour events to the Top-20 ranked ITA college players.

“It’s great because the level in college tennis is amazing. And it just gives guys a better opportunity once they leave college to jump into the tour because it’s a long road sometimes if you start from scratch,” Mike said.

Daniil Medvedev is one set away from capturing first clay-court trophy and sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown after he won the opening set against Holger Rune 7-5 on Sunday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

After the start of the final was delayed by one hour and 40 minutes due to rain, the 27-year-old came out and produced a clean-hitting, consistent display in the first set. He sat deep behind the baseline and absorbed pressure on the red clay in Rome against the seventh seed Rune, who is aiming to win his second Masters 1000 title and first on clay.

Medvedev had never won a match in three previous appearances in Rome before this season. He has produced some of his best clay-court tennis in the Italian capital this fortnight, though, defeating 2017 champion Alexander Zverev and 2022 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Medvedev has won four tour-level titles this season, including his fifth Masters 1000 trophy in Miami last month. He is first in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and will move to No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings if he can earn a Tour-leading 39th win of the season against Rune.

Rune is trying to become the youngest player to win the title in Rome since then-19-year-old Rafael Nadal lifted the trophy in 2006. The Dane defeated Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud en route to the final, and is chasing his eighth consecutive win against a Top 5 opponent in the title match against World No. 3 Medvedev.

Rune triumphed at the Rolex Paris Masters last year and is up one spot to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his run to the final on debut in Rome. Earlier this season, the Dane defeated Medvedev en route to the title match in Monte-Carlo, before he captured his fourth tour-level crown in Munich.

Marco Cecchinato found his groove against the lively lefty serve of Ben Shelton on Sunday at the Gonet Geneva Open, where the Italian downed the #NextGenATP American 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 at the ATP 250.

Taking on one of the ATP Tour’s brightest young talents for the first time, Cecchinato converted four of his 11 break points in the first-round encounter. He rallied from 3-5 to take the first set and dominated the third to clinch a two-hour, two-minute triumph.

Cecchinato also reached the second round in Geneva in 2021 and 2022. The World No. 83 will attempt to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in four appearances when he takes on home favourite Marc-Andrea Huesler or Wu Yibing next in Switzerland.

The 30-year-old Cecchinato, who has lifted all three of his ATP Tour titles on clay, is now 10-6 for the year. He has won a match at every tournament he has played in 2023. With Sunday’s triumph against Shelton, Cecchinato improved his record in ATP Tour opening rounds this year to 7-0.

Also on Sunday in Geneva, Christopher Eubanks enjoyed a 7-6(2), 6-3 win against Benoit Paire in his maiden tour-level match on clay. The American’s reward for his 75-minute victory is a second-round clash against third seed Alexander Zverev.

The men’s singles final between Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is suspended due to rain. The championship match was due to commence at 4:00 p.m. at the Foro Italico.

When they take to court in Rome, Medvedev will be playing for his sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown and first on clay, while Rune will be chasing his second title at this level. Medvedev has defeated seeds Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the final. Rune, who is making his debut in Rome, earned Top 5 wins against Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud earlier this week.

Holger Rune has quickly become a Top 10 titan.

With his win against World No. 4 Casper Ruud in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals Saturday, the Dane is now 8-3 against Top 10 opponents in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since the start of the Rolex Paris Masters six-and-a-half months ago.

The 19-year-old went 5-0 against Top 10 players during his historic Paris-Bercy run and has won his past seven matches against Top 5 opponents (7-1 overall). He has defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Ruud en route to the final in Rome, where he will face World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev for the crown.

Record vs. Top 10 (Active Players)

Rune and World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz have been more than a match for the best players on the ATP Tour. Among active players, only Novak Djokovic (69%) and Rafael Nadal (64.6%) have a better winning percentage against Top 10 opposition.

Rune is now 12-9 in his young career against the Top 10, giving him a win rate of 57.1 per cent. Alcaraz is 16-9 against the elite group (64%), including 4-0 in 2023.

According to Infosys ATP Stats, only 12 players in the Open Era who have qualified with a minimum 30 matches own a winning percentage of at least 50 per cent against Top 10 opponents, and all of them have reached No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Although Alcaraz and Rune have only played a combined 44 matches against Top 10 opponents, they would be near the top of the list.

Among active players, Alcaraz and Rune own a better winning percentage against the Top 10 than Andy Murray (53%), Daniil Medvedev (49.3%), Alexander Zverev (43.8%) Stefanos Tsitsipas (41.3%), Nick Kyrgios (39.7%) and Dominic Thiem (39%).

That performance has helped them move to the top of the sport. Alcaraz is World No. 2 and Rune on Monday will ascend to a career-high World No. 6. Their rivalry will be one to watch for years to come.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev and seventh seed Holger Rune have taken contrasting paths to Sunday’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia final (4pm CET/10am ET).

A self-proclaimed “hard court specialist”, Medvedev has often spoken tongue-in-cheek about his game on clay. He arrived in Rome without having won a match in three previous appearances in the Italian capital.

Now Medvedev finds himself one victory from his sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown and first on clay. A win on Sunday will lift him past Novak Djokovic to World No. 2 in Monday’s Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Rune, who is competing in the Rome main draw for the first time, has enjoyed a rapid breakthrough into the Top 10. The Dane, a four-time tour-level champion, reached the final on the Monte-Carlo red clay last month before capturing the Munich title.

Can the heavy-hitting Rune go one step further to capture his second ATP Masters 1000 crown? He looks to improve upon his stunning 7-1 record against Top-5 opponents, which includes wins this week over World No. 1 Djokovic in the quarter-finals and World No. 4 Casper Ruud in the semi-finals.

“I play some of my best tennis when I play the top guys of the world. I mean, it’s a good time to play your best tennis because you need it against those players. I’ve managed to do it many times now,” Rune said. “I think it’s obviously some of the toughest challenges to face guys in top five because they’re obviously some of the best guys in the world. But, yeah, I play well when I play them.”

The 19-time tour-level titlist Medvedev stands in his way and has brought his wide variety to the Eternal City. His deep return position, deft drop shorts, and sublime court coverage have all been at the forefront during his clay-court breakthrough. Medvedev, who will try to claim his fifth title of the season, will look to keep Rune guessing in just their second ATP Head2Head encounter.

The seventh seed Rune defeated the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion 6-3, 6-4 at the recent Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

“I said after I lost to him in Monte-Carlo, I think he’s one of top players on clay,” Medvedev said. “I think that’s the surface that suits him the most. We know he can play on other surfaces, also. He won Bercy. I think that’s, let’s say, his favourite surface. I’m feeling much better than I felt in Monte-Carlo. I had [many] more matches and much more practice. I’m going to try to play my best.”

Medvedev, 27, boasts a 38-5 record this season and enjoyed a 19-match winning streak spanning from February to March. His biggest title of this year came at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami.

Attempting to win his maiden clay-court crown, Medvedev has dropped just one set en route to his second final on the surface (2019 Barcelona). He has ousted two rivals along the way: Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom he beat 7-5, 7-5 in Saturday’s semi-final.

Can Medvedev earn a second consecutive Top-10 victory Sunday against Rune?

“[Holger] showed today that even in the toughest moments he can play amazing, beat anyone,” Medvedev said. “I’m sure it could be a great match and I’m going to try to show my best.”

Rune’s shot-making ability and squeaky clean baseline performances have troubled opponents this tournament. Rune will aim to recreate some of the magic he produced during last year’s title run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris, where he downed five Top-10 players en route to the trophy, including Djokovic in the final.

Semi-final turnaround 🎾

From 7-6 4-2 down, @holgerrune2003‘s #ShotQuality went ⬆️📈‼️

Some seriously impressive #ShotQuality 🔢’s for the last 12 games👏#TennisInsights | @atptour | @InteBNLdItalia pic.twitter.com/lGrnUSv3CF

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) May 20, 2023

The Dane is No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and would tie Tsitsipas at No. 5 by winning the title. But because Tsitsipas will win the tie-break, he will remain No. 5 and Rune No. 6.

The 20-year-old Rune will be focused on the task at hand, though. He has quickly gained support from the Italian fans and will rely on the crowd once again in hopes of claiming glory in Rome.

“I enjoy playing in Italy and Rome. It’s a great atmosphere. There’s a great energy on the court, super support. It’s a very passionate crowd. I really like it. It brings some of my best tennis,” Rune said. “I’m having a good time, so I’m super happy, excited for tomorrow.”

Did You Know?
Since the start of the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters, Rune has won 18 of 22 matches during his past ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. He went 3-6 at his first six events at that level.

Ugo Humbert and Dominik Koepfer converted their hot runs on the ATP Challenger Tour into lifting trophies at this week’s Challenger 175 events in Bordeaux and Turin.

The Frenchman Humbert dropped just one set all week en route to capturing his second consecutive Challenger 175 title in southern France. The 24-year-old defeated Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6(3), 6-4 in Saturday’s final at the BNP Paribas Primrose.

In front of a packed stadium, Humbert played with aggression from the baseline, using his forehand to dictate play, while also incorporating deft drop shots for variety. The lefty was dangerous on serve all week in Bordeaux, including Saturday, when he dropped just five points off his first delivery.

When Humbert has competed at Challenger Tour events this year, he’s been a dominant force, tallying a 14-2 Challenger-match record. Earlier this month, the Metz native triumphed at the Cagliari Challenger 175 event, where he fended off two match points in his quarter-final against Taro Daniel to stay alive.

^{Ugo Humbert in action Saturday at the Bordeaux Challenger. Credit: Jared Wickerham}

Following his title on home soil, Humbert returned to the Top 40 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings for the first time since 31 January, 2022.

Etcheverry, seeded seventh, has played his best tennis this season, including a finalist finish at the ATP 250 events in Santiago and Houston. A three-time Challenger champion, the World No. 46 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings is set to surpass his career high (No. 59) on Monday.

The 23-year-old Etcheverry earned the highest-ranked win of his career in the semi-finals, when he upset top seed and World No. 28 Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-2.

In Bordeaux doubles action, top seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara cruised to the title, downing Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4, 6-2 in just one hour, two minutes.

^{Harri Heliovaara (left) and Lloyd Glasspool triumph at the BNP Paribas Primrose. Credit: Jared Wickerham}

At the Challenger 175 event in Turin, rain forced the tournament to be moved from clay to an indoor hard court for the semi-finals and final. The German Koepfer prevailed, completing double duty Saturday en route to lifting his biggest career title.

The 29-year-old upset second seed Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-2 in the last four before ousting qualifier Federico Gaio 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0 to win the Piemonte Open Intesa Sanpaolo.

“It wasn’t easy to go from outdoor clay to fast indoor courts in just a few hours, but I’m proud of how I was able to adapt,” Koepfer said. “It was an incredible week, which gave me the most important title of my career.

“Thanks to the 175 points earned, I should be able to enter the Wimbledon main draw. That was my goal and I hope to continue on this path.”

^{Dominik Koepfer during Saturday’s Turin Challenger final. Credit: Francesco Panunzio}

The lefty Koepfer produced a heavy-hitting performance to rally to his fourth Challenger crown and second of this season (Mexico City). The World No. 102 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings has competed in four Challenger finals this year and boasts a 20-7 Challenger-match record in 2023.

A former Tulane University standout, Koepfer played his first-round match in Turin approximately 48 hours after competing in last week’s Prague Challenger final.

Gaio, 31, was playing in his first Challenger final since July 2021. The home hope upset top seed and World No. 40 Sebastian Baez 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals.

Andrey Golubev and Denys Molchanov claimed the doubles title in Turin, where they defeated Nathaniel Lammons and John Peers 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 10-5 in Saturday’s championship match.

The 2023 Turin Doubles Champs 🏆

Denys Molchanov and Andrey Golubev fend off Lammons/Peers to notch their first title as a team!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/yt4Xne3JJx

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 20, 2023

Casper Ruud will have to wait for his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title after he lost against Holger Rune in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals on Saturday. The Norwegian was happy with his performances in Rome, though, where he earned his best Masters 1000 result of the season.

“Yeah, good feelings overall,” Ruud said. “It was a pity today that I wasn’t able to close out the match, but that’s how it goes. A couple of days ago I could have lost in the third round. I mean, I was very happy to be in the semis. I played some good matches, got some good wins. Hopefully I can build on this further.

“There are two more tournaments on clay now before the grass comes up for me – Geneva and Roland Garros – where last year I have some of the best memories of the year. I hope that I can sort of awaken those memories again and keep building and be strong and fit and ready for Roland Garros.”

The Norwegian, who advanced to the championship match at the clay-court major last year, arrived in Rome off the back of a modest season by his standards. He looked close to his best in the Italian capital, rising nine spots to 15th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Ruud led Rune by a set-and-a-break in their semi-final clash on Saturday before the Dane turned it around. The 24-year-old was frustrated he was unable to close out and reach his second ATP Masters 1000 final (Miami 2022).

“It was a well-played match until maybe the third set. I didn’t play too well unfortunately,” Ruud said. “There were some great rallies. Both of us, we can chase down balls. I think we like to run around on clay. I think Holger plays also very aggressively. But he can run and slide around there and defend as well. It was some great rallies.

“I was very happy with the level that we played at for almost two sets. Like I said, the third set was unfortunately poor by me. I’m going to try to erase that from my memory as quickly as possible. There were some great rallies. It was a fun match to play. Also I think I crowd enjoyed it.”

Rune, up one place to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, will play Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas for his second ATP Masters 1000 crown on Sunday. Ruud was full of praise for the 20-year-old.

“I think he plays very fearlessly, takes the ball early, which is really impressive to do on clay,” Ruud said. “It’s not very typical to sort of do too well on clay because you have some wrong bounces and all these things. He did it really well. A couple times I played heavy, he just went on the rise, hit the clean winner back. I think that’s really well done.”

Ruud will next compete in Geneva, where he is the two-time defending champion at the ATP 250 clay-court event.