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Alcaraz/Ruud earn crucial early points for Europe on Laver Cup Day 3

  • Posted: Sep 22, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz and a redemption-seeking Casper Ruud injected some early intrigue into the final day of Laver Cup action on Sunday in Berlin.

The duo overcame Team World’s Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 7-6(6) in a thrilling doubles encounter at Uber Arena to haul Team Europe close to parity at the teams event. Alcaraz and Ruud, the latter of whom had struggled in a heavy doubles defeat alongside Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday evening, prevailed after one hour, 40 minutes in an encounter packed with top-class shotmaking from all four players.

With three points available for each match win on Laver Cup Sunday, Team Europe now trails Team World 7-8. Europe captain Bjorn Borg will hope Daniil Medvedev can continue his team’s bid for a comeback triumph, one which would deny John McEnroe’s Team World a third consecutive Laver Cup title. The No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings Medvedev takes on Shelton in the opening singles match of the day.

“It was a bit humiliating last night. I felt like I’d never played doubles before and it was quite embarrassing, honestly,” said Ruud in his on-court interview. “So I went to bed. Carlos was eager to play. I don’t understand why, because what he saw yesterday was not the best, but I’m happy that he had faith in me.

“Carlos is such a great guy, so fun to play with, and he brought out the best in me today.”

One of the highlights of the match was a stunning angled touch volley from Alcaraz at 2-3, 30/0 in the second set. On-court interviewer Mark Petchey later replayed the shot for Alcaraz in the Spaniard’s on-court interview.

“I just tried to do that shot, and [once I did it], I felt so good, I’m not going to lie,” said Alcaraz. “In practice my coach Juan Carlos [Ferrero] used to say to me, ‘If you go to the net, [hit the ball to the baseline]’. I used to say, ‘I have to do it in practice in order to show it in the matches’. Maybe if he watches that shot, he won’t tell me that anymore.”

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Cilic saves MPs against Uchiyama, advances to Hangzhou SFs

  • Posted: Sep 22, 2024

Can Marin Cilic complete his fairytale comeback to the ATP Tour following his return from injury?

Former US Open champion Cilic came back from the brink of defeat, saving two match points to survive Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) Sunday to advance to the semi-finals at the Hangzhou Open.

The Croatian was serving at 5-6, 15/40 down in the final set, but rallied to win the match in a tie-break and down Uchiyama, who upset top seed Holger Rune on Saturday. The 35-year-old Cilic also saved eight of the nine break point chances against him to seal his 67th Tour-level semi-final in his career and take his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Uchiyama to 2-0.

Cilic is playing as a wild card in his first ATP Tour event since Buenos Aires in February, after he was sidelined with a knee injury for several months. Progressing to the semi-finals means that Cilic is now one step closer to attaining a 21st ATP Tour title and completing a perfect comeback.

“I think today’s match was a really great level from both of us,” Cilic said in his post-match interview. “In the second set he played really great, was serving great under pressure and served great until the end of the match.

“For me, it was an amazing comeback, great to win that game at 5-3 when he was serving for the match and definitely thrilled with the win.”

The former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings will meet fourth seed Brandon Nakashima in the semi-finals. Nakashima battled past Australian Rinky Hijikata, winning 7-5, 6-3 to reach his sixth ATP Tour semi-final.

The American, who is at a career high No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings, converted all three of his break point opportunities to close out the match in 89 minutes. Nakashima also won 81 per cent of his first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to extend his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Hijikata to 2-0.

“[It was a] very close match, I got off to a little bit of a slow start and went down an early break,” Nakashima said after the match. “But I picked my level up when I needed it most in the first set and managed to ride the wave a bit and build some confidence”.

Home hope Buyunchaokete advanced to his maiden ATP Tour semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin.

The Chinese wild card hit 17 winners to claim victory in one hour, 23 minutes. The 22-year-old also converted four of his seven break points to become the fifth Chinese player to reach the last four in an ATP Tour event.

The World No. 124 will face either compatriot Zhizhen Zhang or Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the semi-finals.

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Musetti battles past Mannarino, advances to Chengdu SFs

  • Posted: Sep 22, 2024

Top seed Lorenzo Musetti overcame Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday to advance to the semi-finals at the Chengdu Open.

The Italian, who was a semi-finalist last year in Chengdu, struck 23 winners to take his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the Frenchman to 1-1. The No. 19 in the PIF ATP Rankings also saved three of the four break points against him to close out the match in two hours, 16 minutes.

The 22-year-old Musetti recorded a personal best 35th win of the season. He has reached a sixth semi-final in his last eight events.

“I think today was a really great match from both players, he [Mannarino] raised the level the second set and he was starting to serve better and giving me less chances to break him and go forward,” Musetti said in his post-match interview. “So I had to be really focused each point to make it happen and at 2-2 [in the final set] when I made the break, that was the key moment that probably changed the match.”

Musetti will next face qualifier Alibek Kachmazov in the semi-finals.

Kachmazov upset third seed Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 6-4 to record the biggest win of his career and advance to his maiden Tour-level semi-final.

The No. 252 in the PIF ATP Rankings lost just one point on serve in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He is the lowest-ranked semi-finalist in tournament history.

“I’m playing very good, very solid this week. So I’m hoping I can continue this way,” Kachmazov said after the match. “Today was a little bit better, it was a little bit easier to play long rallies and just a perfect day again.

“It’s an amazing week here for me already but I hope not to stop and not to think about it too much, and just continue to play”.

 

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How it feels to have Alcaraz on your side: Team Europe stars weigh in!

  • Posted: Sep 21, 2024

Most weeks of the year, Carlos Alcaraz’s ATP Tour rivals are focused on how they might defeat him on some of the biggest stages in tennis. This week at the Laver Cup, some of those same rivals are discovering what it is like to have the Spaniard’s sublime talent on their own side for once.

On his singles debut at the teams event on Saturday in Berlin, Alcaraz downed Ben Shelton in straight sets to earn two crucial points for Team Europe. As his teammates supported from courtside, the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings gave them a reminder of why he is such a tough opponent.

One of those watching from the Team Europe bench was Casper Ruud, who is yet to notch a win in four Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes against Alcaraz, including in the 2022 US Open final.

“I’m happy to have him on my team, that’s for sure,” Ruud told ATPTour.com prior to Alcaraz’s match against Shelton. “He’s an incredible player, so I’d rather have him on my team than against me. It’s cool. He’s going to come out explosively, as always, to hopefully get some important wins for Team Europe. We all know how great he is and it’s his debut so I’m sure he would like to do well.”

Alcaraz is lining up alongside fellow former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, and former Grand Slam finalists Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas for Team Europe this year. A stellar cast, yet the presence of the Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion has made a clear impact to his team’s spirits.

[ATP APP]

Competing in his fourth Laver Cup in Berlin, Tsitsipas is a relative veteran at the annual teams event compared to debutant Alcaraz. The Greek only had good things to say about the latest addition to Team Europe.

“I think he’s having a lot of fun. I think he enjoys the format,” said Tsitsipas of four-time major champion Alcaraz. “These are the rare occasions where you can have a teammate like that. Having the opportunity to be on the same side and strive for the same result and for the same accomplishment, that is something I would have never thought of. That is what makes the Laver Cup stand out, and I’m definitely loving it so far.”

Bjorn Borg is captaining Team Europe for the seventh and final time in Berlin. The legendary Swede could hardly have asked for a bigger weapon in his armoury as he plots his team’s bid for a first Laver Cup title since 2021.

“I am so excited to have all these guys in my team, and to have Carlos for the first time is exciting,” said Borg. “People are excited, and hopefully he’s going to win a few matches.”

So how did Alcaraz himself adjust to the unique dynamic of his ATP Tour rivals cheering him on Saturday against Shelton?

“It was fun. Honestly it was a great feeling having them supporting me behind, being like coaches,” the Spaniard told ATPTour.com after his 6-4, 6-4 triumph. “Having Bjorn on the bench as well, it is a great support for me. Normally I watch my team after every point. Here I’m looking at my partners and Bjorn [instead of] my team. So it is a different feeling.

“For me it was unique experience that I enjoyed a lot. Having, for example, Grigor [Dimitrov] all the time coaching me, telling me the tactics that I have to do during the match, it was crazy. Having Stefanos and all the players behind me in all the break times, it was great for me. I’m going to take this experience for a long time, and I honestly learn a lot from them as well.”

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Fritz extends winning streak vs. Zverev at Laver Cup

  • Posted: Sep 21, 2024

Is Taylor Fritz set for a late-season surge that takes him all the way to the Nitto ATP Finals?

The Team World star on Saturday notched his seventh victory against a Top 10 opponent in 2024 by overcoming Team Europe’s Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-5 at the Laver Cup. Fritz rallied from 2-4 down in the second set before securing a one-hour, 57-minute win, his third consecutive tour-level triumph against the German, to set Team World on course to opening an 8-4 lead after Day 2 in Berlin.

“I think over the years we have always had close matches,” said Fritz in his post-match press conference of his rivalry with Zverev. “I think the games match up well. I can serve and hang in there with my serve, because he’s very tough to break. You have to have a good serve to stay in the match with him or else he’s just going to serve you out of the match.

“His backhand is incredibly good. I think my backhand is my stronger side, too, so I feel like maybe I can neutralise and hang with him on that side where maybe some people wouldn’t be able to stay in a pattern. But the biggest thing is I have just been playing well.”

The 26-year-old Fritz arrived in Germany off the back of reaching his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open, where he defeated Zverev in four sets in the quarter-finals. Having also prevailed in the pair’s fourth-round clash at Wimbledon in July, he now leads the German 6-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Fritz fired a series of searing winners from deep to overcome Zverev on home soil in Berlin, where Team World and its captain John McEnroe are chasing a third successive victory at the teams event. Although Zverev channelled home support to move a break ahead in the second set, he was unable to maintain his charge as Fritz secured a victory in which he fired 27 winners to his opponent’s 11.

Although no PIF ATP Rankings points are available this week at the Laver Cup, where Fritz is competing as the World No. 7, Saturday evening’s victory against home favourite Zverev at Uber Arena was another reminder of the momentum the American has built heading into the final two months of the season. He is fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin as he chases a second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Ben Shelton and Alejandro Tabilo built impressively on Fritz’s momentum for Team World by notching a comfortable doubles victory against Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final match of the day. The pair eased to a 6-1, 6-2 triumph to open up an 8-4 lead for John McEnroe’s men as they head into Day 3, when four matches worth three points each are on the schedule.

“We put [Shelton and Tabilo] together and they stepped up big time,” said Team World captain McEnroe in his on-court interview. “We’ve had a great day and we’re pumped for tomorrow.

“We need two wins, and I think we’re going to come out tomorrow in the doubles guns blazing. I like our chances, and hopefully if we win that, we need one out of three [singles matches]. Team Europe are great, three of the top four players in the world are in Team Europe, so we know we’ve got our hands full, but we are totally psyched for tomorrow.”

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What Chinese history did Zhang & Buyunchaokete make in Hangzhou?

  • Posted: Sep 21, 2024

When Zhang Zhizhen defeated Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals in Hangzhou Saturday, he made history for Chinese tennis.

It is the first time multiple Chinese players have made the quarter-finals of the same ATP Tour event. On Friday his countryman Buyunchaokete upset second seed Karen Khachanov to reach the quarter-finals.

“We’re happy to [earn] some wins for Chinese people,” Zhang shared after the match.

In a near-perfect performance, Zhang fired six aces and faced no break points throughout the match as Bellucci made 29 unforced errors. The Chinese will face Roberto Carballes Baena in the quarter-finals. It will be the first meeting in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Buyunchaokete will face Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarter-finals. It will also be the pair’s first meeting.

Did You Know?
Zhang became the first Chinese player in PIF ATP Rankings history to break into the Top 100 in October 2022 and Top 50 in January 2024. Zhang and Buyunchaokete will try to join Wu Yibing (2023 Dallas) as Chinese ATP Tour titlists.

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Tiafoe upsets Medvedev: 'I felt like I was Roger Federer, honestly'

  • Posted: Sep 21, 2024

Frances Tiafoe caught such fire on Saturday in Berlin that he felt like he was Roger Federer.

That form helped the Team World player rally past Team Europe’s Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 to give his side a 4-2 lead in Berlin.

“Honestly I just started having fun. Laughing with my team, laughing with my team over there and here. Just having a bit of fun and started really finding my rhythm,” Tiafoe said. “The courts are obviously much slower than I’m used to playing on, so it’s tough playing Daniil on this court. But after the second set, midway into the second and in the tie-break, I felt like I was Roger Federer, honestly.”

Federer, who was in the crowd, gave on-court reporter Mark Petchey a double thumb’s up when asked about Tiafoe’s comment. The American is playing some of the best tennis of his career, having just reached the US Open semi-finals for the first time after making the final in Cincinnati.

Tiafoe entered the match facing a 0-5 Lexus ATP Head2Head deficit against Medvedev, but did not let that intimidate him. He played freely in the critical moments and had a blast on court even when losing points. After one Medvedev shot drew Tiafoe to his side of the court, the American did his signature sprinkling celebration to compliment his opponent.

[ATP APP]

“I just have a lot more confidence in myself. I’m having a lot of fun playing the game at the moment,” Tiafoe said. “I’m just trying to play the right way and compete as hard as I can, let the chips fall where they may. I respect everyone, but I’m just not fearing anyone at the moment. I’m just going out there, taking it to guys and seeing what happens.”

Team Europe’s Carlos Alcaraz and Team World’s Ben Shelton are now meeting in the second match of the day.

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Uchiyama upsets Rune, advances to Hangzhou QFs

  • Posted: Sep 21, 2024

Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama upset top seed Holger Rune 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the quarter-finals at the Hangzhou Open.

The No. 160 in the PIF ATP Rankings won 77 per cent of his first-serve points to record the joint biggest win of his career, after his victory over World No. 14 Kyle Edmund at Brisbane in 2019. The 32-year-old Uchiyama also saved two of the four break points that he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to close out the match in one hour, 40 minutes.

“I’m very excited, I’m happy with my performance today,” Uchiyama said after the match. “I couldn’t imagine winning in two sets, I was just thinking about my performance, I had to play 100 per cent the whole match to get the chance to beat him, so it went well for me today”.

Uchiyama will compete in the third ATP Tour quarter-final of his career, in which he will face wild card Marin Cilic.

Former US Open champion Cilic eased past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-1 Saturday to seal his place in the quarter-finals in Hangzhou.

The former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings struck 32 winners to take his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the eighth seed to 2-0. The Croatian wild card also converted four of his six break point chances as he wrapped the match in just 69 minutes.

[ATP APP]

“It was a really good match even though I was a break down in the first set at 4-3,” Cilic said after the match. “Sometimes you have to wait for the right moments to get your game together, when everything clicks and luckily I made that break to come back and win the first set and then everything started to fall into place so definitely extremely pleased with the level.

“I know what my level can be and when I’m getting to the level where I’m close to my best. I try to stay there as much as I can, try to push myself and get as many points as I can to try to play well.”

Cilic achieved consecutive ATP Tour wins for the first time since reaching the 2022 Tel Aviv final.

Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena rallied to defeat lucky loser Mitchell Krueger 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The 31-year-old won 76 per cent of his first-serve points to close out the match in two hours, 30 minutes. The No. 55 in the PIF ATP Rankings extended his winning streak to seven matches at all levels after capturing a Challenger title in Seville last month.

 

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Musetti rallies to beat O’Connell, advances to Chengdu QFs

  • Posted: Sep 21, 2024

Lorenzo Musetti battled past Christopher O’Connell 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(4) on Saturday to advance to the quarter-finals at the Chengdu Open.

The top seed recovered from 5-3 down in the deciding set to notch a personal-best 35th win of the season and progress to his seventh quarter-final of the year. The 22-year-old Musetti hit 33 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to close out the match in two hours, 37 minutes.

“That was a difficult match, he [O’Connell] was serving pretty sharp and really precisely and I didn’t find so many break points,” Musetti said after the match. “But at the end I stayed focused, I played the right tactics and I managed to play well throughout the match.”

The Italian will meet fifth seed Adrian Mannarino in the quarter-finals, after the Frenchman survived a scare to beat home hope Yi Zhou 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4.

Mannarino rallied from 1-3, 0/40 down in the deciding set to overcome the 19-year-old wild card and advance to his second quarter-final of the season (Dallas). The No. 46 in the PIF ATP Rankings saved eight of the 12 break point chances against him.

By sealing victory in two hours, 45 minutes, the 36-year-old became the oldest quarter-finalist in the tournament’s history.

[ATP APP]

“It was really hot conditions out here, I was feeling really tired in the match and it wasn’t easy because I could see that he [Zhou] was super fresh,” Mannarino said in his post-match interview.

“But at the end he was playing too good so I thought ‘Okay, try to put one more ball in the court’ and I was lucky that he made some mistakes at the end.”

The Frenchman defeated Musetti in their only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter (Indian Wells 2023).

Second seed Alexander Bublik defeated Federico Agustin Gomez 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final eight.

The four-time ATP Tour champion hit 25 winners en route to victory over the qualifier. The 27-year-old Bublik also saved four of the five break points against him to close out the match in 97 minutes.

Bublik will face either #NextGenATP star Shang Juncheng or eighth seed Roman Safiullin in the next round.

 

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