Novak Djokovic: US Open and USTA 'hopeful' world number one allowed to enter US
The United States Tennis Association and the US Open are “hopeful” that world number one Novak Djokovic will be allowed to enter the US this month.
The United States Tennis Association and the US Open are “hopeful” that world number one Novak Djokovic will be allowed to enter the US this month.
After storming through the first three rounds with the loss of eight games, Alex de Minaur had to do it the hard way against Holger Rune in the Acapulco semi-finals.
In a match that started on Friday night and carried on until nearly 3 a.m., the Aussie outlasted his opponent in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. While Rune was electric in the early stages, he struggled physically in the final set as De Minaur’s staying power pushed through the finish line after two hours and 48 minutes.
“It feels great. It feels like I deserved it,” the Aussie said after advancing to his 11th ATP Tour final, where he will face Tommy Paul. “I hung in there, I stayed tough.
“[I had to] stay with him. It’s not easy because he’s a hell of a player. He was hitting me off the court at times and not letting me really do much. But I managed to save a couple of crucial break points and keep giving myself chances… I took the one chance I [converted] and rolled with it.”
Watch the Acapulco final at 4 a.m. CET/10 p.m. ET
Rune’s big hitting dominated the opening set, though the Dane still needed to fight off four break points to consolidate an early break to move 4-1 ahead. He closed the set in style with an aggressive net approach, the power play providing a fitting end to the first set.
De Minaur began to sink his teeth into the match in set two, dragging Rune into longer rallies and winning the lion’s share of the extended exchanges. Despite plenty of break chances — six for De Minaur and four for Rune in the set — the decider was on the verge of a tie-break before the Aussie scored his first break to clinch the set, converting on his 10th break point of the match.
Rune began to struggle physically in the final set as the Acapulco humidity took its toll, and De Minaur took full advantage. While Rune fought through cramps and began hitting even bigger to shorten the points, De Minaur continued to move him around the court. A late surge from Rune was not enough to turn the tide as De Minaur progressed to his first final since he won the Atlanta title last July.
“I know I can go for a very long time so I’m happy with the work I do,” De Minaur said of his fitness level. “It just shows that I can do this for a while.”
By beating the World No. 10, De Minaur earned his third Top 10 win of the season (also def. Nadal, Rublev) and his 10th overall. He also improved to 11-7 in tour-level semi-finals by earning his first win in three ATP Head2Head matchups with Rune.
The Dane, who was seeking his fifth final since late September, can take solace in the fact that his semi-final run moved him up two places to No 8 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Guaranteed to maintain that position at week’s end, the 19-year-old will reach a new career-high on Monday in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
De Minaur is back into the Top 20 behind his final run after a rising three spots to No. 19 this week. The winner of Saturday’s final between De Minaur and Paul will enter Indian Wells as the World No. 18.
“He’s playing some great tennis. Just look at his results here,” De Minaur said of the American. “It’s going to be a great match. I’m looking forward to a battle and to just go out there and leave it all out there. There’s not much else you can do. Enjoy the moment.”
Nearly two hours after his first match point, Tommy Paul overcame longtime friend Taylor Fritz in one of the most dramatic matches of the 2023 season Friday night in Acapulco. Paul’s 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(2) victory had a bit of everything, the three-hour, 25-minute odyssey setting the record for longest match in the 30-year history of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Paul said after clinching the semi-final victory on his fourth match point. “Obviously looking forward to making the body feel a little better tomorrow. The goal for this year was to get the ranking up and get more trophies. I only have one trophy on Tour between singles and doubles.
“You don’t get trophies unless your in the final, and hopefully I can play another good match tomorrow and get the winner’s trophy.”
After letting a match point slip on serve at 5-4 in the second set, missing a deep overhead off the bounce, Paul needed a comeback of his own, trailing 0-2 and 1-3 in the third. In a battle of attrition, both men saved break points in their final service games — Fritz erasing two match points at 5-6 — before Paul closed it out after taking a 5/0 lead in the final tie-break.
“You have to [dig deep]. It’s never going to be easy against Fritz, he’s unreal,” the seventh-seeded Paul added. “He doesn’t give you any points throughout the whole match, you feel like you have to work for everything.
“Obviously he got up a break in the third there and it was weird, I started feeling my body a little bit and doing some weird serves, and I don’t know if he loved it. And then I think something happened with his stomach too. I think I got a little lucky there that we were both struggling, not just me.”
Just over one month since his breakout run to the Australian Open semi-finals, Paul advanced the biggest final of his blossoming career, his first at the ATP 500 level. The 25-year-old won his lone previous title match in 2021 at the Stockholm ATP 250. He is up five spots to No. 18 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings — a mark which would match his career high.
Paul, who earned his 100th tour-level win by beating Michael Mmoh in the Acapulco second round, will face fourth seed Holger Rune or eighth seed Alex de Minaur in Saturday’s final.
Third seed Fritz saw his seven-match win streak come to a close, a run that dated back to his Delray Beach title triumph. He remains at No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after reaching the Top 5 for the first time on Monday, though Andrey Rublev could pass him by winning the Dubai final against Daniil Medvedev on Saturday.
The ATP Head2Head series between Paul and Fritz is now level at 2-2, but the pair first matched up in 2011 at the USTA Boys’ 14s National Championships, which Paul won at age 14. They also met twice in junior Grand Slam finals, with Paul winning at Roland Garros and Fritz claiming the title at the 2015 US Open.
The world’s best players will compete at the BNP Paribas Open for the 46th edition of the ATP Masters 1000 event, held in Indian Wells. Taylor Fritz will try to defend his title at the opening Masters 1000 tournament of the season against a field that includes Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and more.
Here’s what you need to know.
The 2023 BNP Paribas Open will be held from 8-19 March. The hard-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament, established in 1976, will take place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The tournament director is Tommy Haas.
The BNP Paribas Open will feature stars including Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev.
The BNP Paribas Open draw will be made Monday, March 6 at 3 p.m.
*Qualifying: Monday 6 March – Tuesday 7 March at 11 a.m.
*Main Draw: Wednesday 8 March – Friday 17 March at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
*Doubles Final: Saturday 18 March not before 5 p.m.
*Singles Final: Sunday 19 March not before 3 p.m.
View On Official Website
The prize money is $8,800,000 and the Total Financial Commitment for the BNP Paribas Open is $10,143,750.
SINGLES
Winner: $1,262,220/1000 points
Finalist: $662,360/600 points
Semi-finalist: $352,635/260 points
Quarter-finalist: $184,465/180 points
Round of 16: $96,955/90 points
Round of 32: $55,770/45 points
Second Round: $30,855/25 points
First Round: $18,660/10 points
DOUBLES (US Dollars; per team)
Winner: $436,730/1000 points
Finalist: $231,660/600 points
Semi-finalist: $123,550/360 points
Quarter-finalist: $62,630/180 points
Second Round: $33,460/90 points
First Round: $18,020/0 points
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TV Schedule
Hashtag: #IndianWells
Facebook: @BNPPARIBASOPEN
Twitter: @BNPPARIBASOPEN
Instagram: @bnpparibasopen
Taylor Fritz won the 2022 BNP Paribas Open singles title with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory against Rafael Nadal in the championship match (Read & Watch). John Isner and Jack Sock lifted the doubles trophy in Indian Wells with a 7-6(4), 6-3 triumph against Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the final (Read More).
Most Titles, Singles: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer (5)
Most Titles, Doubles: Mark Knowles, Daniel Nestor (4)
Oldest Champion: Roger Federer, 35, in 2017
Youngest Champion: Boris Becker, 19, in 1987
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 1 Jimmy Connors in 1976, Jim Courier in 1993, Pete Sampras in 1994-95, Lleyton Hewitt in 2002-03, Roger Federer in 2004-06, Rafael Nadal in 2009, Novak Djokovic in 2015-16
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 143 Larry Stefanki in 1985
Last Home Champion: Taylor Fritz in 2022
Most Match Wins: Roger Federer (66)
View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown
Argentina’s Sebastian Baez continued to make himself at home in Chile on Friday at the Movistar Chile Open, with the third seed improving to 28-3 in the nation including matches across the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP qualifying.
The 22-year-old’s latest victory was a 7-6(4), 6-4 triumph against sixth seed Laslo Djere in a matchup of the only two seeds in the singles quarter-finals at the Santiago ATP 250.
“I feel so comfortable. The people, everything,” Baez said of his time in Chile. “Every match I always say the same, but it’s real.”
Baez won a tight opening set that included just a single break point, which Djere saved in the first game, but the Argentine surrendered an early break in the second. From 1-3, Baez won five of the final six games, including two love holds and a match-clinching break on his third match point after opening a 0/40 advantage.
“It was our first meeting so it was really close in both sets,” Baez said. “Maybe in the difficult moments I felt better than him, so maybe that’s the reason I took the match. I’m happy for that and to stay in the tournament.”
Two wins from his second title of the season (Cordoba), he will next meet Tomas Martin Etcheverry in an all-Argentine semi-final. Etcheverry advanced to his first ATP Tour semi-final with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Dusan Lajovic, backing up the biggest win of his career against second seed and World No. 32 Francisco Cerundolo on Thursday.
Up eight places to No. 68 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, the 23-year-old is set for a new career high on Monday.
Friday’s other two Santiago quarter-finals will see Jaume Munar take on Thiago Monteiro and Nicolas Jarry face Yannick Hanfmann.
Novak Djokovic was searching for his best tennis throughout Friday’s semi-final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. But following a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Daniil Medvedev, the World No. 1 didn’t have to look too far to find the key reason behind his first loss of the season.
“I lost to a better opponent,” Djokovic said in his post-match press conference. “I know that I didn’t play well in some decisive moments, but it was also due to his quality of tennis. It’s unfortunate I had some really bad mistakes in the first set to give him the second break. But this is tennis. You learn from your mistakes and from the defeats, and hopefully next time I’ll be better.”
The 35-year-old, who entered the match a perfect 15-0 in 2023, complimented the World No. 7’s consistency and defence as the key factors in Friday’s contest as he struggled to find his own rhythm. The World No. 1 committed 38 unforced errors to Medvedev’s 12. Although the 22-time major champion still holds a 9-5 ATP Head2Head advantage over Medvedev, he knows that the 27-year-old’s counterpunching ability can bring even the best players unglued.
“He extracts and provokes unforced errors from everybody because that’s his game, that’s what he does,” Djokovic said. “He does it extremely well. He’s very patient. He’s very athletic. For his height, he moves well. Backhand is one of the most consistent strokes that you have in today’s game.”
Despite suffering his first straight-sets defeat since the 2022 Laver Cup (l. Auger-Aliassime), Djokovic is remaining upbeat. Though he won’t be lifting the Dubai trophy for a sixth time, the Belgrade native still made history Monday by marking his 378th week as World No. 1, surpassing Stefanie Graf’s record for most weeks atop the sport by a men’s or women’s player.
A two-time titlist this year, Djokovic stated that he is leaving the U.A.E. pleased with the recovery progress he’s made since suffering a hamstring injury in Australia.
“Lots of positives,” Djokovic said. “The way I felt throughout the entire week makes me really satisfied with the current state of my body, not knowing how I [was] going to react with the comeback after an injury. I’m really glad. We move on to the next challenge.”
Djokovic’s immediate playing schedule depends on the outcome of his request for an exemption to the United States’ entry requirements for non citizens, who must provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination before entering the country. If Djokovic is not granted an exemption and misses Indian Wells and Miami, his next tournament will be in Monte Carlo.
“I’m still waiting for the news from America,” Djokovic said. “If there’s no America, I guess I’ll play clay. Monte Carlo is probably the next tournament. If that’s the case, I’ll take some time off, I’ll prepare. Clay is the most demanding surface. It takes more time than any other surface to prepare for.”
Regardless if his next match is played on a hard court or clay, Djokovic is eager for his next battle.
“I take every tournament, every match very seriously, dedicate my whole life to this,” Djokovic said. “So, of course, it hurts when you lose. I care about every match. But at the same time you just have to release it and go forward.
“Good thing about tennis is that you always have another opportunity. So many tournaments. Basically every week you have another chance to reconcile, so to say, [and] rewrite your history once again. I’m looking forward to the challenges to come.”
Daniil Medvedev quickly had a dream to make it to the top after first holding a racquet aged six.
The 27-year-old has achieved a lot since then. He has lifted 17 tour-level titles, including the Nitto ATP Finals crown and the US Open, while he reached No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2022. Medvedev reflected on his tennis journey in ‘A Love Letter To Tennis’.
“Dear tennis, I remember when I was six years old and I just loved running around with the racquet,” Medvedev said. “Consciously I fell in love with you when I understood this feeling of competitiveness that you have because it is one against one, and only one player wins.”
He later added: “The journey of my career so far with you was for sure very exciting. It was better than I could have imagined as a kid. I absolutely love it and I am really proud of what I have achieved with you.”
After rising to No. 1 for the first time last February, Medvedev struggled to find his best level. He failed to advance beyond the semi-finals at the five ATP Masters 1000 events he played in 2022 and he lost in the fourth round at Roland Garros and the US Open.
The World No. 7 has bounced back in 2023, though, capturing titles in Rotterdam and Doha. Medvedev, who ended Novak Djokovic’s perfect start to 2023 in the Dubai semi-finals, is thankful for the discipline the sport has given him.
“The biggest challenge you brought me is being able to push every day, no matter how hard it is,” Medvedev said. “Sometimes I lose some matches, I lose some confidence and I know that the next day when I am going to practise everything is going to be feeling very bad, sometimes extremely . But in order to feel good after you have to continue pushing, and that’s what you taught me.”
Not satisfied yet, Medvedev is determined to push on and win more.
“I have so many memorable moments with you, so I’m not going to choose one because all the moments from start to finish were amazing and it is not finished yet,” Medvedev said. “We had some tough ones, we had some good ones and I’m sure we are going to have some amazing good moments together again.”
Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev reiterates his call for peace in the war in Ukraine after reaching the Dubai Tennis Championship final.
Daniil Medvedev moved to within one win of capturing his third consecutive tour-level title Friday when he ended Novak Djokovic’s perfect start to the season at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
In the 14th chapter of their rivalry, Medvedev was locked in from ball one, triumphing 6-4, 6-4 to extend his winning streak to 13 matches. The third seed stood deep behind the baseline to soak up Djokovic’s ball-striking. Medvedev committed just 12 unforced errors compared to 38 from Djokovic and he was rapid around the court, chasing down a number of drop shots to advance after one hour and 35 minutes.
“When you play against Novak you just have to play your best,” Medvedev said. “Kind of hope he doesn’t play his best on the day because when he plays his best, well he has 22 Grand Slams, so even if you play your best, it is going to be tough, not sure you win.
“I managed to play a higher level than him today. In the second set I didn’t face one break point, but there were so many 30/30 games. But I managed to stay composed and I am happy to be in the final tomorrow.”
The 27-year-old lifted tour-level titles in Rotterdam and Doha in February. He will aim to clinch his 18th tour-level crown and 17th on hard courts when he faces Andrey Rublev in the championship match on Saturday.
Top 5: Win-Loss Record 2023
| Daniil Medvedev | 18-2 |
| Cameron Norrie | 18-3 |
| Novak Djokovic | 15-1 |
| Taylor Fritz | 14-3 |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 13-2 |
Medvedev ended Djokovic’s bid to become the first man to complete the Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969 when he defeated the Serbian in the 2021 US Open final. But, the top seed entered the clash at the ATP 500 in Dubai off the back of four consecutive wins against Medvedev.
However, he was unable to make it five and improve on his 15-0 start to the season, with the World No. 7 Medvedev limiting errors and winning the longer exchanges to improve to 5-9 in their ATP Head2Head series.
Djokovic struggled to find consistent rhythm against Medvedev. He served-and-volleyed in the first set to pressurise Medvedev’s deep court return position, but struggled to successfully execute the play. He then threw everything at Medvedev on return in the second set, striking with aggression and depth. However, he was unable to hit through the third seed, who acted like a brick wall.
Medvedev, who is making his third appearance in Dubai, has yet to drop a set this week, also defeating Matteo Arnaldi, Alexander Bublik and Borna Coric.
Djokovic was chasing his sixth title in Dubai, having lifted the trophy in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2020.
Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara are firing on all cylinders at the 2023 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The British-Finnish duo, who haven’t dropped a set this week, didn’t face a break point en route to ousting top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 6-4, 6-2 in Friday’s semi-final at the ATP 500.
In 2022, Glasspool and Heliovaara completed a career-best season and made the final four at the coveted Nitto ATP Finals. However, there was one team they couldn’t get past: Croatians Mektic and Pavic, who were a perfect 3-0 against Glasspool and Heliovaara including wins in Turin, at Queen’s Club, and a five-set victory at Wimbledon.
Three-time tour titlists Glasspool and Heliovaara will next look to collect their second crown of this season (Adelaide 1). The third seeds will face Maxime Cressy and Fabrice Martin or Belgian duo Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in Saturday’s championship match.
Lammons/Withrow Save MP To Reach Acapulco Final
In a dramatic semi-final Friday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow defeated Ben McLachlan and Andre Goransson on their fifth match point — but not before saving a match point against them at 9/10 in a Match Tie-break.
Lammons/Withrow earned a 7-5, 6-7(2), 13-11 victory to book their place in the Acapulco final against Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler. The Austrians also won a Match Tie-break to upset top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.
Seyboth Wild/Soto Progress To Santiago Final
Thiago Seyboth Wild and Matias Soto defeated Spaniards Jaume Munar and Pedro Martinez 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-8 on Friday to reach the doubles final at the Movistar Chile Open.
The Brazilian/Chilean team will face Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori in Saturday’s final after the Italians received a semi-final walkover from Chileans Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo.
