Tennis News

Alcaraz blitzes Griekspoor for 200th win, advances to QFs in Beijing

Winning is something that Carlos Alcaraz has become accustomed to on the ATP Tour. It is now second nature for the 21-year-old, who has just surpassed another milestone.

The second seed’s comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Tallon Griekspoor in the second round of the China Open on Sunday constituted a 200th tour-level win for Alcaraz, who became the third player born in the 2000s to achieve this feat, joining Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime. 

“I’m really happy about it – 200 wins is a great number,” Alcaraz said of his latest achievement. “But I am already looking for the third hundred. I just want to keep going, to keep rolling. I am looking forward to playing matches and to keep doing the things that I am doing.”

Sealed in style 😎

The moment @carlosalcaraz recorded his 200th tour-level win of his career.@ChinaOpen | #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/NzZNJneAXh

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 29, 2024

Despite the one-sided score in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, which is now 4-0 in favour of the Spaniard, the quality of shotmaking was palpable. It was lights out tennis from the off, and it wasn’t long before the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings took a stranglehold on the match.

Alcaraz won 100 per cent of first-serve points (23/23), according to Infosys ATP Stats, during the 57 minute encounter. The Dutchman came unstuck thanks to the craft and guile deployed by his younger opponent.

The Spaniard, who has 15 tour-level titles to his name, will face seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals in Beijing with the hopes of extending his 3-0 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Alcaraz fell short at the semi-final stage in last year’s tournament, but will be eager to keep up with Sinner in the battle to finish as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF. The Italian is currently in pole position in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 2,990 points clear of third-placed Alcaraz.

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Alcaraz reaches 200 wins quicker than all World No. 1s but one…

At age 21, Carlos Alcaraz keeps expanding his growing list of career achievements.

Already a four-time major champion who has ascended to World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, the Spaniard reached another milestone Sunday that places his name among several all-time greats.

Alcaraz earned his 200th tour-level win in the China Open second round when he defeated Tallon Griekspoor 6-1, 6-2. Alcaraz has just 52 career losses, giving him a 79 per cent tour-level winning percentage.

“It was a great achievement, getting my 200th win on the ATP Tour. I always try and want to win every match that I play,” Alcaraz said. “Just two years and a half, more or less, being on the Tour, playing the Tour, having my 200th win is great for me. I just want to keep going, to keep getting more and more wins.”

Among the 29 players to reach World No. 1, Alcaraz is the second fastest to record his 200th match win, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Only John McEnroe had fewer losses at the time of recording his 200th match win (200-45).

Record At 200 Wins, All 29 Players To Reach World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings

Coincidentally, Alcaraz’s 200th win came against the same man — Griekspoor — he defeated to record his 100th win in 2023 at Indian Wells.

Just 18 months later, Alcaraz has hit the next century mark. He has not slowed his meteoric rise since taking the tennis world by storm as a teenager and becoming the youngest World No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings in history in 2022 aged 19.

Sinner, the current World No. 1, who is also competing in Beijing, had 74 losses when he captured his 200th win, the same record Novak Djokovic and Stefan Edberg owned when they reached the milestone. The Serbian Djokovic has spent a record 428 weeks atop the PIF ATP Rankings.

Alcaraz has tallied a 45-9 season record with three titles: Indian Wells, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Into the Beijing quarter-finals, he next will face seventh seed Karen Khachanov. Alcaraz could meet rival Sinner in the ATP 500 final.

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Rune saves MP to survive Nishikori, advances to Tokyo SFs

Holger Rune saved a match point to defeat home hope Kei Nishikori Sunday in Tokyo and continue his bid for a first ATP Tour title of the season.

The No. 14 in the PIF ATP Rankings rallied to overcome two-time Tokyo champion Nishikori 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 16 minutes to advance to the semi-finals at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.

The Dane received a time violation while facing a match point serving at 3-5 in the deciding set, but found a big first serve to get him out of trouble and recovered to move one step closer to claiming his first title of the year. He has reached one final this season in Brisbane, where he lost 6-7(5), 4-6 to Grigor Dimitrov.

“His ball striking and feel on the ball was incredible and it was very challenging for me,” Rune said in his post-match interview. “I had to find another gear to be able to beat him and it was almost not enough, but I managed to find that level and find that fighting spirit to beat him.”

Rising to the occasion ⚡️@holgerrune2003 saves match point against Nishikori to advance to the final four in Tokyo.@japanopentennis | #kinoshitajotennis pic.twitter.com/UJjN0FTkEE

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 29, 2024

The Dane struck 39 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to claim victory in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter. Rune also saved six of the eight break points he faced to become the fifth player to make six tour-level semi-finals this year.

The 21-year-old currently sits 16th in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin as he seeks to qualify for his second consecutive Nitto ATP Finals. He next faces either eighth seed Ben Shelton or #NextGenATP talent Arthur Fils in the final four. 

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Machac downs #NextGenATP Michelsen, reaches last four in Tokyo

Could Tomas Machac be dialling in at the perfect time to lift his maiden ATP Tour trophy in Tokyo?

The 23-year-old has seemingly tapped into the currents in the Japanese capital, breezing past #NextGenATP star Alex Michelsen on Sunday. With a stylish 7-6(2), 6-3 triumph, Machac is into his second ATP Tour semi-final at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Machac struck 34 winners according to Infosys ATP Stats throughout their one hour and 35 minute clash, eventually outlasting Michelsen in the baseline exchanges. The Czech also fired eight aces, won 88 per cent of first-serve points and faced just one break point.

Achievement unlocked 🔓🔓

Tomas Machac defeats Michelsen 7-6(2) 6-3 to reach his first ATP 500 semi-final.@japanopentennis | #kinoshitajotennis pic.twitter.com/UXMXHQsK9g

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 29, 2024

It was a commanding performance that was reflective of his ascent to No. 34 in the PIF ATP Rankings, backing up strong wins against Alexei Popyrin and Tommy Paul earlier in the week.

Michelsen, however, still occupies second place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah and finds himself in a solid position to secure a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals for a second consecutive year.

In the last four, Machac will face off against Ugo Humbert after Jack Draper was forced to retire from their clash with the Frenchman leading 7-5, 2-1.

The 22-year-old, who produced an inspired run to the US Open semi-finals earlier this month, took a medical timeout for an abdominal injury, but it was ultimately to no avail as he called time on their first Lexus ATP Head2Head contest.

Humbert is into his 16th ATP Tour semi-final, bidding to clinch his third title of 2024 after wins in Marseille and Dubai propelled him to a career-high of No. 13 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

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Draper retires from Japan Open quarter-final

Britain’s Jack Draper retires from his quarter-final against France’s Ugo Humbert because of injury.

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Buyunchaokete upsets Musetti, makes Chinese history in Beijing

The rise of Buyunchaokete shows no sign of slowing down.

The Chinese player continued his ascent on Sunday when he upset Paris Olympics bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing. He will next play fourth seed Andrey Rublev or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Guess who? 👻

Bu Yunchaokete grabs the biggest win of his career to reach the quarter-finals in Beijing.@ChinaOpen | #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/AHlKn81qQl

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 29, 2024

Before last week’s Hangzhou Open, Buyunchaokete had played just one ATP Tour event. The 22-year-old made his maiden tour-level semi-final at the ATP 250 and is now into the last eight at his first ATP 500 tournament.

“I’m really happy. I’m really enjoying playing at home, especially last week in Hangzhou, where I practised almost 15 years and here also at home, I’m in China,” he said in his post-match interview. “I was really looking forward to this tournament because it’s my first 500 here and last week was my first 250, so I’m really enjoying.”

Buyunchaokete is just the second Chinese men’s singles quarter-finalist in China Open history, joining Zhang Ze, who accomplished the feat in 2012. He joined the exclusive club by earning his first victory against a Top 20 opponent in the PIF ATP Rankings in one hour and 29 minutes.

Less than five months ago, Buyunchaokete was World No. 239. Now the 22-year-old is No. 83 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and climbing.

The home favourite faced a hobbled opponent in World No. 18 Musetti, who was seemingly in discomfort with his right arm throughout the match. But the Italian still made the Chinese player earn the win, rallying from a double-break deficit in the second set.

Buyunchaokete dictated the action and that proved key. He won 53 per cent of his first-serve return points and converted five of his eight break points according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I lost a little bit my focus, my energy. I was maybe relaxed because he started doing some drop shots, some trick shots,” Buyunchaokete said. “I’m happy [I] came back [at] 4-all and I had a break and [was able] to finish the match. I’m really happy.”

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Five things to know about Tallon Griekspoor

Tallon Griekspoor will try to earn the biggest win of his career on Sunday evening when he faces second seed Carlos Alcaraz for a spot in the China Open quarter-finals.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the No. 39 player in the PIF ATP Rankings before his big match in Beijing.

Tallon reached a career-high World No. 21 in November 2023
Griekspoor is currently the No. 1 Dutch player in the PIF ATP Rankings. Before 2021 he had never cracked the Top 100. He started his 2023 season at No. 95. Winning his maiden tour-level title at the ATP 250 event in Pune in January 2023, the Dutchman boosted his ranking early on in the season.

A third-round appearance at the Australian Open and semi-final run at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam saw him steadily propel through the rankings. With another tour-level title at the ATP 250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in front of his home crowd and a final run at the ATP 500 event in Washington, Griekspoor kept improving.

Showing consistency on the Tour throughout last season, including notable wins over Alexander Zverev and Hubert Hurkacz, he reached a career-high No. 21 in November 2023.

He made ATP Challenger Tour history
Griekspoor holds the ATP Challenger Tour record for most titles in a season, winning eight trophies in 2021. Nobody else has claimed more than six titles in a season (Benjamin Bonzi, Sebastian Baez, Facundo Bagnis, Juan Ignacio Chela, Younes El Aynaoui).

During the 2021 season, Griekspoor started his ATP Challenger Tour title run by winning in Prague in May, followed by wins in Bratislava and Amersfoort.

He then won five titles in a row, starting in Murcia, triumphing twice in Napoli, Tenerife, and the last one of the season in Bratislava again. He finished the season with an impressive 8-0 record in the Challenger finals.

He also holds the record longest winning streak at the Challenger level in a single season with 25 wins in the same season.

The Dutchman is yet to win a match against Alcaraz
Griekspoor trails the Spaniard 0-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

He has never taken a set off the four-time major champion. All the losses have come on big stages and three different surfaces, at 2022 Wimbledon, the 2023 BNP Paribas Open and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Wasn’t my best match, I lost in three. I thought that on grass, if you want to beat the guy at some surface, it would have been grass in my eyes. But he played well there, I didn’t play too great,” Griekspoor said ahead of their 2023 Indian wells match. “He’s one of the best players in the world, that’s for sure. He’s so young. He’s injured, he comes back straight away, he plays so well. So it’s going to be really tough, but at the end I really like the challenge of playing him. Why not?”

<img alt=”Carlos Alcaraz defeated Tallon Griekspoor to reach the third round of the Paris Olympics.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/09/28/22/04/griekspoor-alcaraz-olympics-2024.jpg?w=100%25″ />
^{Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images}
Tennis runs in the family
Born in Haarlem, Netherlands, Griekspoor started playing tennis at the age of six. His older twin brothers Scott Griekspoor and Kevin Griekspoor are former players. As a kid, he used to join the two during their lessons. Scott climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 205 and Kevin reached World No. 655.

In 2018, both Tallon and Scott won Challenger titles.

“I always had two guys to look up to, six years older,” Griekspoor said. “They were much better and stronger than me at that time, so I really enjoyed that.”

His mother Monique is also a tennis instructor.

Family’s racing history
Griekspoor’s father Ron is a former motocross driver.

“I didn’t do [motocross] that much myself. I did it for fun. The other side of my family, my nephews, they’re doing it professionally. In the family it’s tennis and motocross,” Griekspoor said. “Almost every weekend when it’s on, I’m watching it. It’s just part of my youth. I grew up with it and I really, really like it.”

The 28-year-old is also a big Formula One fan and enjoys watching fellow Dutchman Max Verstappen.

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Down the T: Sharky's rapid fire with Ben Shelton

Who is the one person Ben Shelton would never reach out to in an emergency?

Hint: It’s the same person who he thinks is the biggest trash talker.

“Frances Tiafoe would not answer the phone. He’s not answering,” Shelton joked about one of his best friends on tour.

Who is someone outside Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings that Shelton hates to play? And the big question: Who does Shelton think is the greatest player of all time?

Watch social media influencer Sharky put the 21-year-old American on the spot in the latest Down the T interview. Find out Shelton’s answers in the full video below.

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Alcaraz meets table tennis stars in China

Carlos Alcaraz, who won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics earlier this year, crossed paths with fellow athletes and Paris Olympics medalists on Friday in Beijing. He met table tennis singles and team silver medalist Truls Moregardh of Sweden, French team bronze medalists Alexis Lebrun and Felix Lebrun, and Simon Gauzy.

The players were in attendance for Alcaraz’s opening match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The Spaniard, making a second appearance at the China Open, met the players after his straight-sets win against the Frenchman. The table tennis stars are in China for an event that runs through 6 October.

The Lebrun brothers are friends with Eduoard Roger-Vasselin, who is competing in doubles with Santiago Gonzalez at the China Open. The countrymen watched the conclusion of the Alcaraz-Mpetshi Perricard match together.

“I have always enjoyed watching tennis and my brother (Alexis) and I try to play tennis when we are back home in Montpellier,” said Felix, No. 5 in the World Table Tennis rankings.

“It was great to go to the China Open and see the best tennis players and also meet the different players like Alcaraz and (Daniil) Medvedev. Carlos is so fast and very dynamic on the court. He’s very good to watch and he is a nice guy as well. When we met him we talked a little bit about the Olympics and a little bit about his match, but it was a pleasure to meet him and it was great to watch him play.”

“My experience at the China Open was fantastic, great players, great people, great arena, fantastic tennis matches, super high quality and activities for the fans to come and watch,” Moregardh said. “There are so many different foods to eat and I really enjoyed my stay at the China Open.”

Co-tournament director Lars Graff also expressed his pride in having the medalists at the tournament.

“They really enjoyed coming to the China Open and I enjoyed going to WTT to see how they conduct a world-class table tennis tournament,” he said.

Second seed Alcaraz will play Tallon Griekspoor in his bid for a quarter-final spot. He leads the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-0.

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Medvedev solves Mannarino riddle in Beijing

A year ago, Daniil Medvedev made the final in Beijing. Will this be the edition when he breaks through and lifts the trophy at the China Open?

The third seed improved his chances by defeating familiar foe Adrian Mannarino 7-6(6), 6-2 in the second round on Saturday to book his quarter-final spot. He is now three wins from claiming his first tour-level title of 2024.

“It’s not easy to play, so I am happy that [in] the tie-break, [I] managed to save a set point,” Medvedev said. “Two good serves, then return in the court, which was not enough. But tough match, tough battle, happy to win.”

75th tour-level quarter-final 🔓@DaniilMedwed rallies past Mannarino 7-6(6) 6-2! @ChinaOpen | #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/jBrghyqVwF

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 28, 2024

The No. 5 player in the PIF ATP Rankings had to dig deep against the Frenchman, who has always been a tough opponent for him. Down a set point at 5/6 in the first-set tie-break, Medvedev escaped when his opponent missed a return. He then looked more comfortable as the match progressed.

After exchanging service breaks early on in the second set, he took the lead by hitting a blistering forehand down the line to break Mannarino’s serve again. There was no looking back for him as he made quick work of the Frenchman from there, winning four games in a row to seal the match in one hour, 41 minutes. He leveled the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 4-4.

Medvedev fired eight aces and won 80 per cent of his first-serve points. He finished having converted four out of six break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

With the win, Medvedev advanced to his 75th tour-level quarter-final and eighth of the season. The 20-time tour-level titlist will next take on rising Italian Flavio Cobolli, who eliminated qualifier Pavel Kotov 6-4, 6-2.

“Titles are more important obviously than finals. But even then 75 quarter-finals are great,” Medvedev said. “When I made my first quarter-final [it] was [in] Moscow and I was pretty happy. And now it’s 75. I am still happy, but not the same way. But if you want to win the tournament you need to be in the quarter-finals.”

Medvedev is fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin. The 28-year-old aims to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the sixth consecutive year.

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