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Shelton snaps Fils’ ATP 500 streak, reaches Basel final

  • Posted: Oct 26, 2024

Ben Shelton’s big-kicking lefty serve proved the key ingredient to snapping one of the ATP Tour’s most impressive open streaks on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The sixth-seeded American downed Arthur Fils 6-3, 7-6(9) in a hard-fought 78-minute semi-final encounter to halt Fils’ winning streak at ATP 500s after 13 matches. Shelton did not face a break point and won 88 per cent (45/51) of points behind his first delivery against Fils, according to Infosys ATP Stats, but he was still forced to rally from 3/6 in the second-set tie-break before completing his win.

“I served really well today, and I had to because I know what Arthur is capable of when he touches the ball,” said Shelton in his on-court interview. “The goal was to let him know I got clean hits on the ball as much as possible, and I executed really well. He served well [too], so there weren’t that many long points. A really high level match, and I’m not sure how I pulled that tie-break out in the second set.”

Shelton (aged 22) and Fils (20) were two of a host of young talents in ATP 500 semi-final action on Saturday. Shelton’s final opponent will be Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (21), who later prevailed 7-6(6), 6-4 against fourth seed Holger Rune (also 21). Meanwhile at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Jack Draper ousted his fellow 22-year-old Lorenzo Musetti to reach his maiden ATP 500 final.

“I think a really exciting thing about this tournament is in the semi-finals we had four guys 22 years old or younger,” said Shelton in Basel. “I think that shows how strong our next gen is. I’m the oldest of the four, so that’s kind of crazy to think about. Probably the first time that’s happened to me in the semi-finals.”

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Saturday’s encounter was the second Lexus ATP Head2Head clash in the space of a month between Shelton and Fils, after the Frenchman clinched a deciding-tie-break quarter-final win en route to the Tokyo title. Although the pair are good friends off the court and competed together in the Basel doubles this week, Shelton acknowledged he had extra motivation to triumph in the semi-final.

“I think it’s always difficult to play friends, but maybe it was a little bit easier for me because he beat me in Tokyo and I wanted revenge,” he said. “He got the title that week, so hopefully I can come and get this title this week.”

Now 41-23 for the season, the 22-year-old Shelton has also guaranteed himself a return to the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday with his Basel run. He has risen four spots to No. 19 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings so far this week, and would rise another spot to 18th if he lifts the trophy on Sunday.

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Home hopes Erler/Miedler save 2 MPs to seal Vienna final spot

  • Posted: Oct 26, 2024

In a week when home favourite Dominic Thiem competed for the final time at the Erste Bank Open, Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler continue to keep the Austrian flag flying at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The wild card pair booked its championship-match spot in dramatic fashion on Saturday at the indoor hard-court ATP 500. Erler and Miedler saved two match points in the Match Tie-break to down Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten and set a final showdown against Neal Skupski and Michael Venus.

Chasing their fifth tour-level title of the season, Heliovaara and Patten raced to the opening five games of Saturday’s semi-final clash. They were unable to maintain that momentum to close out victory, however. They soon fell 2-5 down in the second set and, although they rallied from to level at 5-5, Erler and Miedler soon levelled the match with their second break of serve in the set.

Then came the Match Tie-break drama. The Austrians rallied from 1-4 and then from two match points down at 7/9 before converting their own third match point for a famous triumph in which they converted both break points they earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

With their 85-minute victory, Erler and Miedler avenged their Marrakech final loss to Heliovaara and Patten and drew level at 1-1 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series between the two teams.

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Koolhof/Mektic reach Basel final, boost Turin hopes
At the Swiss Indoors Basel, Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic halted the run of home duo Marc-Andrea Huelser and Dominic Stricker with a 6-4, 6-7(1), 10-6 semi-final victory. Koolhof and Mektic responded well to a disappointing second-set tie-break to complete a 98-minute triumph.

By reaching their sixth tour-level championship match of the season, Koolhof and Mektic strengthened their Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances. As a result of their run in Basel so far, the 2020 champions at the prestigious season finale have risen two spots to fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

Koolhof and Mektic will climb another spot to fourth should they defeat Jamie Murray/John Peers in Sunday’s final. They are now on an eight-match winning streak, having arrived in Basel off the back of a title run at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

In the other semi-final, qualifiers Murray and Peers staged a comeback and ousted second-seeded Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-5. The pair sealed the thrilling encounter in one hour and 46 minutes.

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Sinner’s ‘very tough’ opening assignment in Paris: Big server or… big server!

  • Posted: Oct 26, 2024

Jannik Sinner does not yet know the identity of his opening-round opponent at next week’s Rolex Paris Masters. Yet he is already well aware that his return game will be put to the test early in his bid for a fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown of 2024.

The No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings has been drawn to face Ben Shelton or Felix Auger-Aliassime in his Paris opener. Whether it is the big-kicking lefty serve of World No. 23 Shelton or the flatter, right-handed delivery of No. 19 Auger-Aliassime he ultimately comes up against, Sinner knows he will need to adapt quickly in his first match indoors since he lifted the Rotterdam trophy in February.

“[It is a] very tough draw. A very, very difficult draw, especially here on these courts,” said Sinner in his pre-tournament press conference on Saturday in the French capital. “Big servers are very tough. But we go day by day. Then anything can happen. The draw can open up sometimes, or you never know what’s coming.

“I try to prepare in the best possible way for the first-round match. It’s going to be very difficult against Ben. It’s very, very difficult in any case. And against Felix, I never won [in two attempts]. So it’s going to be a very tough one.”

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Sinner has won just one match in three appearances in Paris-Bercy. He fell to Carlos Alcaraz, in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, on event debut in 2021. After another opening-round exit in 2022 (to Marc-Andrea Huesler), Sinner registered his first Rolex Paris Masters win against Mackenzie McDonald last year, but then withdrew before his third-round encounter with Alex de Minaur.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Sinner, who is 65-6 for the season and has already sealed ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. “I’m focused about myself, and hopefully I can raise the level from the last two years I came here, which I have struggled a little bit here on this court. So let’s see.”

With just two weeks to go until the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where Sinner will compete for the third time, the 23-year-old is seeking a big end to his standout 2024 season. He will hope to improve his 5-0 unbeaten record on hard courts for the year at an event that has crowned several unfavoured champions over the years.

“It has been a long season, but always when you arrive to the end everything can happen,” said Sinner.” Some players, they are a bit more fresher; some, they are a bit more tired.

“But I’m personally happy to be back here. It has been a tournament where I couldn’t yet find my best tennis until now. But let’s see what I can do this year. Hopefully it’s going to be a good one but also a very, very tough one.”

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De Minaur boosts Turin hopes with comeback Vienna win

  • Posted: Oct 26, 2024

Alex de Minaur kept his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals alive by dispatching #NextGenATP star Jakub Mensik 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 on Friday, to reach the semi-finals at the Erste Bank Open.

The 25-year-old, currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, dug deep and emerged victorious in two hours and 34 minutes.

“Now it’s crunch time. Every match counts. Every single point counts,” de Minaur said.

“I am gonna do my best. I haven’t played enough tennis this year, I have been sidelined for a while. So, plenty of energy and plenty of fight in me. So, I am going to make sure I give it my all every time I step out on court.”

Mensik was the first to switch gears as the opening set went into a tie-break. He employed aggressive groundstrokes and forced errors from the Australian to claim the first set 7-6(2). He fired 24 winners in the first set, including nine aces, according to the Infosys ATP Stats.

De Minaur responded by earning a crucial break in the sixth game of the second set and leveled the match by clinching the set 6-3. The Australian improved his serve and won 70 per cent (21/30) of points behind his first delivery. Going all in, the Australian broke Mensik again in the fifth game of the third set and stayed in control for the rest of the match.

Bidding to make his debut at the season-ending championships, de Minaur took a 1-0 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and reached his 25th tour-level semi-final.

Despite the loss, Mensik remains on track to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in December. The 19-year-old is third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah.

De Minaur will play Karen Khachanov for a spot in the final.

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Khachanov defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-4, and extended his winning streak to seven matches.

The 28-year-old, who won the Almaty Open last week, dispatched the Italian in one hour and 18 minutes to reach his first semi-final at the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna.

Khachanov gained momentum early on with his aggressive play. He broke Berrettini twice, fired 10 winners, and made two unforced errors in the first set. Berrettini stayed on par by holding serve in the second set, including back-to-back love holds in his first two service games. But the seven-time tour-level titlist proved too strong and needed a single break point in the ninth game to emerge victorious. He was also successful while charging forward, claiming 100 per cent (7/7) of points at the net.

With the win, Khachanov registered his first victory in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head Series, which Berrettini leads 4-1.

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Rune maintains Basel form with clinical Goffin win

  • Posted: Oct 25, 2024

Holger Rune’s impressive form at the Swiss Indoors Basel showed no signs of slowing down on Friday.

The 21-year-old booked his spot in a third consecutive semi-final in Basel after defeating lucky loser David Goffin 6-2, 6-4. Rune was relentless throughout his 80-minute victory, during which he carved out 11 break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Rune, who is yet to drop a set this week, is into his 20th tour-level semi-final. With his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head win over Goffin, Rune became the fourth man to reach more than seven ATP Tour semi-finals in 2024.

After improving to a 10-2 record in Basel, Rune is  up to 14th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 1,045 points adrift of eighth-placed Andrey Rublev.

[ATP APP]

Rune wasted little time in taking a stranglehold on the contest. He dismantled Goffin’s serve on two occasions to surge to a 4-0 lead before closing out the first set in 39 minutes.

Goffin ignited hopes of a comeback in the second set when he clawed back a break of serve to level the score at 4-4. However, Rune dialled in to reclaim the advantage and serve out the contest with ease.

Rune will next face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Denis Shapovalov for a spot in the championship match in Basel.

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Paris draw lays down gauntlet for Sinner, with Shelton & Rune looming

  • Posted: Oct 25, 2024

The Rolex Paris Masters draw did no favours for top seed Jannik Sinner, who could open his campaign against the surging Ben Shelton before meeting 2022 champ Holger Rune. The No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings would face Shelton if the Basel semi-finalist survives a brutal opener against Felix Auger-Aliassime, with the 13th-seeded Rune a potential opponent in the last 16.

Having clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours earlier this month, Sinner will bid to add to his tour-leading seven titles and his three ATP Masters 1000 crowns in 2024. A potential sixth Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Shelton would be a rematch of their Shanghai showdown two weeks ago, which Sinner won en route to the title. Sinner has not competed on the ATP Tour since then, while Shelton upset Andrey Rublev Friday in Basel to reach the semis at the ATP 500.

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Rune, who opens against Matteo Arnaldi, could await Sinner beyond that. The Dane seeks to repeat his breakthrough run to the 2022 Paris title, when he saved match points against Stan Wawrinka in the opening round before knocking off five Top 10 opponents in succession. A fearless Rune won a three-set final that year against Novak Djokovic, who won his seventh Paris title in 2023 but withdrew from this year’s event.

Fifth seed Taylor Fritz is also in Sinner’s top quarter, while third seed Alexander Zverev and sixth seed Rublev headline the second quarter. Carlos Alcaraz anchors the bottom half of the draw as the second seed, joined by seventh seed Casper Ruud in his quarter, while fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals of their section.

With the PIF ATP Race To Turin nearing the finish line, the results from Paris will go a long way to deciding who claims the remaining four places at the Nitto ATP Finals. Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev and Medvedev have all secured their bids, with Fritz, Djokovic, Ruud and Rublev currently occupying the next four spots.

Alex de Minaur, who will face Mariano Navone as the ninth seed in Paris, leads the chasing pack. The Aussie, seeking his Nitto ATP Finals debut, could pass Rublev this week with the title in Vienna. Also within striking distance of eighth place are Dimitrov, Tommy Paul and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Dimitrov will face Zhang Zhizhen or Tomas Martin Etcheverry after his first-round bye, while Paul opens against French wild card Adrian Mannarino and Tsitsipas will start against a qualifier.

Rublev is clinging onto eighth place in the PIF ATP Race To Turin with 3,720 points, while De Minaur has 3,455 — though the Aussie could reach 3,855 with the Vienna title. Dimitrov (3,150 points) and Paul (3,135 points) must reach at least the final in Paris to pass Rublev’s current tally, with 650 PIF ATP Ranking points on offer for the runner-up. Tsitsipas (2,975 points) must claim the title — and the 1,000 points that come with it — to have a chance to break into the top eight.

The final opportunity for players to boost their Turin hopes comes the week after Paris with ATP 250s in Belgrade and Metz.

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Musetti downs Zverev with gripping Vienna comeback

  • Posted: Oct 25, 2024

Lorenzo Musetti battled back from the brink of defeat to book his spot in the semi-finals at the Erste Bank Open.

In an absorbing clash with top seed Alexander Zverev, the Italian dug deep to prevail 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 after two hours, 36 minutes. Musetti produced some of his most scintillating tennis to rally from 0/3 in the second-set tie-break, before pulling to a commanding lead in the decider.

“It didn’t start how we planned, I was struggling to find the right balance with my forehand and the variation of my backhand,” said Musetti, who moved to 2-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “But I stayed there, even when he came back in the second, I saved a lot of break points at 5-5. It’s definitely a match that means a lot to me.

“It’s a pretty big win [in my career], because Sascha really loves to play here, on this court, in these conditions. But, after the first round, I was feeling in good shape and today I showed that.”

Musetti found himself behind on the scoreboard for much of the match, but once he surged in front in the deciding set, he never looked back. The 22-year-old struck 35 winners and saved eight out of 12 break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to earning the biggest hard-court win of his career.

Zverev, the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings and 2021 Vienna champion, rattled off three consecutive games from 1-4 in the second set to shift the momentum in his favour, but Musetti hung tight to reach his 17th tour-level semi-final.

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Musetti will face seventh seed Jack Draper for a spot in the championship match in Vienna. The 22-year-old was forced to battle hard, but overcame Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in two hours, six minutes. With both players struggling physically, Draper found an extra level in the deciding set to surge into an eighth tour-level semi-final.

“I thought the first set was really physical. It’s always tough playing Tomas, he’s so solid off the ground,” said Draper, who improved to 2-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “I felt I had chances in the second set, but it was more of a mental battle [than a physical one].

“I felt like my energy dropped, my decision making became up and down. I knew I had to reset. At this level, you can’t get away with spending too long in that situation. So, I’m really proud of the way I competed.”

After a stellar season, during which he claimed his maiden ATP Tour title in Stuttgart and reached the semi-finals at the US Open, Draper is up to a new career-high of No. 17 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. 

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Shelton: Where there's smoke, there's firepower

  • Posted: Oct 25, 2024

Ben Shelton’s ‘towel swing’ is the latest addition to his arsenal of powerful weapons.

The left-handed American boasts one of the most lethal serves in the sport, and he put that overhead strength to good use Friday at the beginning of his Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-final with Andrey Rublev.

As a lingering haze from the smoke machine – used to add dramatic effect to player walk-ons – failed to clear from above the court, Shelton took matters into his own hands ahead of his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the World No. 7.

“What do you think if we started waving the towels like this,” Shelton asked chair umpire Arnaud Gabas with a smile.

To the delight of fans, Shelton took his towel and began fanning the smoke in a double-handed overhead motion, drawing an ear-to-ear grin from Rublev and generous applause from fans, including Roger Federer’s parents Robert and Lynette, who were in attendance.

World feed commentator Robbie Koenig had fun with his play-by-play description of the moment.

“Consistency of the swing was nice. Keeping his head up and he moves the towel back and forward,” said the South African “Transfers the weight through the arms into the towel. Maximum face of the towel towards the smoke.”

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The incident caused a seven-minute delay to the start of the match, which Shelton would go on to win 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4.

Shelton, who is No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, fired 13 aces in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

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Fils wins 2024 ATP 500 Bonus Pool

  • Posted: Oct 25, 2024

Arthur Fils on Friday earned more than a quarter-final victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The Frenchman also guaranteed that he will top the 2024 ATP 500 Bonus Pool.

The ATP 500 Bonus Pool this year distributes $1,340,000 to the five players with the most points earned at the ATP 500 category in 2024. By winning it, Fils will earn an additional $615,000.

Fils now has 1,400 points in the category for the season, leading second-placed Jannik Sinner, who has 1,330. Alex de Minaur, currently competing in Vienna, can pass Sinner. However, no player will be able to catch Fils.

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The 20-year-old has won two ATP 500 titles this year, in Hamburg and Tokyo. In addition to his semi-final showing this week in Basel, Fils made the quarter-finals in Barcelona and Halle.

Casper Ruud currently holds the fifth spot for the Bonus Pool with 830 points. The players who still have an opportunity to finish in the Top 5 are Holger Rune (Basel), Alexander Zverev (Vienna), Andrey Rublev (Basel), Jack Draper (Vienna), Ben Shelton (Basel) and Lorenzo Musetti (Vienna).

The player who finishes second in the Bonus Pool will earn $310,000, third will claim $205,000, fourth will take home $130,000 and fifth will earn $80,000.

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