Taylor Fritz thought he would have to miss the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships after testing positive for COVID-19 in Seoul, where he had to quarantine for one week. But after arriving just in time for his Tokyo opener on Wednesday, the American has made the most of his opportunity by reaching the final at the ATP 500.

The odds were once again stacked against Fritz against Denis Shapovalov in the Saturday’s semi-finals, but the American battled back from 1-3 down in the deciding set to secure a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 victory and advance to his third ATP Tour final of the season.

“It’s pretty amazing what I’ve been able to accomplish this week,” said Fritz, who benefitted from the withdrawal of Nick Kyrgios prior to their quarter-final matchup. “Just from thinking that I might not even be able to play this tournament to then seven days in a room, wake up at 5 a.m., take a flight here and just show up and play… It’s pretty crazy how quick things happen. It was only four days ago.”

Adding to the achievement, Fritz also clinched what will be his Top 10 debut in next week’s edition of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

In an exhibition of first-strike tennis from both men in the Ariake Colosseum, the American was in control early behind his big serve and forehand. After saving a break point in his opening service game, he claimed the first set then broke for 3-2 in the second before Shapovalov fashioned an immediate reply.

The Canadian was fearless in winning a dramatic tie-break to force a third set. After seeing a Fritz passing shot clip the line to erase a mini-break and knot the score at 4/4, Shapovalov ventured forward again on each of the next two points and was rewarded for his bravery. He then claimed the set by moving Fritz from corner to corner in a tense rally that was one of the longest of the match.

Gesturing to the crowd after sealing the set, Shapovalov then rode his momentum to a 3-1 lead in the decider.

But a love hold helped Fritz rediscover his best form, as he rattled off the final five games of the match to set up an all-American final against his Laver Cup teammate Frances Tiafoe. The standout stat of the semi-final was Fritz’s 82 per cent win rate (47/57) on first serve.

All three of his victories this week have come in three sets, with Fritz also winning the first and third sets against James Duckworth and Japan’s Hiroki Moriya. After initially saying he was concerned with his fitness after falling ill and spending a week in lockdown, Fritz was presented with a new challenge in adapting to the “extremely fast” conditions on the stadium court.

“Honestly, physically I’ve felt fine all week,” he said after reaching the final. “I think the biggest struggle for me this week has been the court speed.”

Due to persistent rain in Tokyo, Fritz was only able to practise on the venue’s indoor courts. But he was able to hit on the show court on Friday evening after receiving a walkover from Kyrgios, and again early Saturday afternoon.

“I felt like that made a really big difference with my confidence and my feel hitting the ball,” he said.

Fritz’s victory set up the first all-American final in Tokyo since Pete Sampras defeated Richey Renenerg in 1996, in what was the fourth straight all-U.S. final at the event. By winning his third Tokyo title, Sampras completed a five-year run of American champions that also included two triumphs for Jim Courier.

Fritz holds a 4-1 ATP Head2Head series lead against Tiafoe, who advanced to the final with a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 victory against Soonwoo Kwon earlier on Saturday.

Frances Tiafoe saw his perfect set record this week in Tokyo shattered as he conceded a shocking 6-0 second set in Saturday’s semi-finals. But the in-form American made sure the middle stanza would be a mere footnote as he regrouped for a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 victory against Soonwoo Kwon.

“It was a weird match, but I’m happy to get through,” said Tiafoe, who is into his second final of the season and his fifth overall. “It’s not always going to be pretty, it’s not always going to be the best stuff, but a win is what matters.”

After the fourth seed powered through the opening set without facing a break pint, Kwon did the same in the second, dropping just three points on serve on his way to the shutout set.

“A little bit of a loose game, I got broken [early] in that second set, but he started definitely picking up his level. Then after that he was playing really well. I let the set go a little bit as well, but he was playing really well.”

The South Korean ran his tally to seven games in a row and threatened for eight with a break point at 1-0 in the final set, but Tiafoe found his footing to stop the bleeding at the crucial moment. Two aces and a backhand swinging-volley winner put the American on the board in the decider as he escaped 30/40.

On return at 2-2, Tiafoe brought up his second break chance of the game after claiming a cat-and-mouse point in which both men scrambled back and forth between the net and baseline. He converted when a Kwon volley floated long, then padded his lead with another break he tracked down a lob and managed a spinning backhand, which his opponent incorrectly chose not to play back.

That would not be the final twist, as Kwon got one break back to close to 4-5, but Tiafoe made no mistake on his second attempt to serve out the match, winning four points in a row from 0/15 to seal progress to the second ATP 500 final of his career (Vienna 2021).

More to follow…

He was a 19-year-old prodigy ranked somewhere in the hundreds, but he had been invited to practice in Monaco with the World No. 1 player – at the height of his game, coming off a second consecutive Wimbledon triumph.

More than seven years ago, this was the first on-court meeting between Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic.

“He’s not going to speak to me,” Medvedev, who considered Djokovic a god, thought to himself. “I came there and because I was shy, I didn’t speak. So he was asking me questions, talking to me like a friend. I was really surprised and it never changed since I was 600 in the world or four.”

Medvedev related this story early last year, after Djokovic defeated him in the 2021 Australian Open final in straight sets and less than two hours.

“It’s a matter of time when you’re going to hold a Grand Slam that’s for sure,” Djokovic told him during the trophy ceremony. “But if you don’t mind waiting a few more years.”

Medvedev, as it turned out, minded.

Less than seven months later, at the US Open, Medvedev defeated Djokovic – in straight sets – for his first major title. Those two major finals in 2021 were the eighth and ninth meetings at the ATP Tour level and they have established one of the best rivalries in professional tennis today.

On Saturday, at the Astana Open in Kazakhstan, they meet for the 11th time (6 p.m., local time) in a highly anticipated semi-final match. Djokovic advanced with his seventh consecutive victory, 6-4, 6-3, over Karen Khachanov. Later, Medvedev scorched Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-1.

No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas meets No. 5 Andrey Rublev in Saturday’s first semi-final.

“We meet again,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview, “and I’m really happy. I feel like it’s not a bad rivalry, not of course close to Novak against Roger [Federer] or Rafa [Nadal], but still … I need to be at my best tomorrow.”

Tantalizingly, this is their first meeting of 2022. That might not be the case if Djokovic had played the Australian Open or the US Open. Djokovic, at 35, is nine years older than Medvedev and playing with a historic sense of urgency. He trails Rafael Nadal in the all-time Grand Slam singles count 22-21 and you get the idea that, going forward, Medvedev may well play a role, one way or another, in shaping that race.

It’s been a fascinating matchup, going back to their first meeting five years ago in Davis Cup. Djokovic took that one and the first three overall, before Medvedev – then 23 – responded with back-to-back victories in 2019 at the ATP Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo and Cincinnati. They split in 2020, with Djokovic winning an early match at the ATP Cup in Australia and Medvedev scoring a victory at the Nitto ATP Finals.

In their most recent match, at last year’s ATP Masters 1000 in Paris, Djokovic came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win his record-extending sixth title in Paris and collect his record 37th Masters 1000. That match underlined just how evenly matched these two players are.

“I think the similarity that we both have is that we are controlled attackers, we are good in defense,” Djokovic explained in his post-match press conference. “I think his anticipation is really, really good and he’s so solid, particularly from the backhand side. He doesn’t make many mistakes at all.

“He makes you run and work for every single point and he tries to wear you out – but that is kind of also my formula throughout my career.”

This year, although they never crossed paths on the court, they engaged in an entertaining back-and-forth in the Pepperstone ATP rankings. On 28th February, Medvedev rose to No. 1 for the first time, supplanting Djokovic. That reign was brief, only three weeks, but it happened again in mid-June. This time, Medvedev held No. 1 for 13 weeks – before his 2021 US Open points came off and 2022 winner, Carlos Alcaraz, ascended the throne.

Both players have plenty of motivation here. While fifth-placed Medvedev is in a better position regarding the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin, neither man has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals as of yet. Medvedev, who trails Djokovic 6-4 in head-to-head play, would like to narrow that count.

Djokovic said that playing Medvedev will be his biggest challenge so far in Astana.

“I’m expecting a physical battle,” Djokovic said. “I know that I have to be ready to play very long points. Hopefully, I can serve well. That’s going to be important. I know he’s going to serve really well, he’ll have some free points on his first serve. Going to try to get some returns in play, make him play, make him uncomfortable.

“I know the tactics, but I don’t want to talk about it too much in the media – save it for the match.”

At the age of 34, Adrian Mannarino is breaking new ground. The Frenchman made his first tour-level doubles final on Friday at the Astana Open, combining with compatriot Fabrice Martin to beat Polish duo Hubert Hurkacz and Jan Zielinski 2-6, 6-2, 10-5.

The last time Mannarino won a doubles title at any level came 15 years ago, when he bagged four at Futures level.

“I didn’t even know it was my first doubles final. No, I won’t get emotional with this one,” said the left-hander, who has reached 11 singles finals, including when Astana first hosted an ATP event in 2020.

“I hope we’re going to make it all the way. Let’s try to build something out of this tournament.”

Mannarino’s day did not begin as he hoped.

He faced Andrey Rublev in the singles quarter-finals, having won their last ATPHead2Head on an indoor hard court — like Astana’s playing conditions — in Moscow last year.
But Rublev needed just 55 minutes to advance and set up a semi-final clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas downed Hurkacz, so one of the two losing quarter-finalists in the day session was bound to be a little happier after the doubles. It turned out to be Mannarino.

“I was just trying not to think about what happened earlier in the day,” said Mannarino. “I didn’t play such a good match, but Andrey played really good.

“I think my level wasn’t that bad, actually, so I was just trying to make my best and give a good quality in doubles, and it worked out pretty well in the end.”

The end of the contest is where Mannarino and Martin especially thrived against Hurkacz and Zielinski, who won the crown at the Moselle Open in Metz last year and landed in the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 Canada in August. From 4-4 in the match tiebreak, the French duo reeled off six of the last seven points.

The most memorable came at 6-5, when the quartet produced perhaps one of the finest doubles points of the season.
Hurkacz held firm to volley Mannarino’s lasered forehand, before Martin later pulled off an instinctive half-volley from Hurkacz’s drive off a net-cord.

The point ended with a Martin put away at net — and smiles from Mannarino, Martin and Hurkacz.

Martin, No. 54 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, reached his 19th career doubles final but first of the season.

“It’s super nice. I’ve had a tough year this year,” said the 36-year-old. “Trying to find a partner, and I felt I was playing great the whole year, physically well. Luckily, Adrian was keen to play doubles. We’re great friends and always have fun on court so that was a good option to finish the year well.”

Mannarino and Martin upset top-seeds Tim Puetz and Michael Venus in the quarter-finals. To go all the way, they will have to beat second-seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.

They topped third-seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 3-6, 7-6 (4), 10-7 in a repeat of last year’s Wimbledon final the Croatians also won.

Mektic and Pavic began their comeback by saving four break points to start the second set and also trailed 4-2 in the second set tiebreak.

Daniil Medvedev set a blockbuster semi-final clash against Novak Djokovic on Friday at the Astana Open, where he raced past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-1.

In one of his best performances of the season, Medvedev looked in complete control. He struck his flat groundstrokes with consistent power and depth, acting as a brick wall to force the Spaniard into errors and advance after 64 minutes.

“I am happy to play the right game, to be really solid and to do everything I can to make his life difficult and I am really happy to beat him,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “I tried to mix it up as it is not easy to play against Roberto. I tried to mix it up and surprise him a little bit and it worked very well.”

Bautista Agut entered the match leading Medvedev 4-1 in their ATP Head2Head series. However, the 34-year-old was unable to hit through the World No. 4 on the hard courts in Kazakhstan, with Medvedev dramatically turning the tables to earn his 40th tour-level win of the season.

The 26-year-old will next play Novak Djokovic after the former World No. 1 downed Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-3. Medvedev, who is seeking his second tour-level title of the season this week at the ATP 500 event, trails the Serbian 4-6 in their ATP Head2Head series.
Saturday’s semi-final clash will be the first time the pair has met since the Paris final last November, when Djokovic won in three sets.

“I am really happy to play against Novak,” Medvedev said. “I thought about it before the match and we have only played one tournament together this year, which was Roland Garros. This is the second one and we meet again and I am really happy.”

With his victory over Bautista Agut, Medvedev has further strengthened his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 13-20 November in Turin. The 14-time tour-level titlist triumphed at the end-of-season event in 2020 and is currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic found a hot streak just in the nick of time against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos on Friday at the Astana Open, where the second seeds won the final five points of the match to clinch a 3-6, 7-6(4), 10-7 semi-final victory.

Mektic and Pavic trailed 5-7 in the Match Tie-break before their late heroics capped a dramatic one-hour, 44-minute triumph as the Croatian pair surged to their eighth tour-level final of the season at the ATP 500 event in Kazakhstan.

Mektic and Pavic, who are currently fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, will now bid for their fifth ATP Tour crown of the year against Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin in Sunday’s final. The French pairing scored a narrow semi-final win of its own, taking out Hubert Hurkacz and Jan Zielinski 2-6, 6-2, 10-5.

It is the first time Mannarino has advanced to a tour-level doubles final.

“I didn’t even know it was my first doubles final. No, I won’t get emotional with this one,” said the left-hander, who has reached 11 singles finals, including when Astana first hosted an ATP event in 2020.

“I hope we’re going to make it all the way. Let’s try to build something out of this tournament.”

Martin, No. 54 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, reached his 19th career doubles final but first of the season.

“It’s super nice. I’ve had a tough year this year,” said the 36-year-old. “Trying to find a partner, and I felt I was playing great the whole year, physically well. Luckily, Adrian was keen to play doubles. We’re great friends and always have fun on court so that was a good option to finish the year well.”

Matos/Vega Hernandez Seal Final Berth In Tokyo
At the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez defeated Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-5, 6-4 on Friday to reach their fifth tour-level final since pairing for the first time together in March.

The third-seeded Brazilian-Spanish duo lifted their first ATP Tour hard-court trophy in Sofia last week. Matos and Vega Hernadez’s opponent’s in Sunday’s championship match will be Mackenzie McDonald and Marcelo Melo. The unseeded McDonald and Melo advanced to the final after a left knee issue for Nick Kyrgios forced the Australian and his partner Thanasi Kokkinakis to withdraw.

Novak Djokovic, playing with his usual uncanny precision, won his seventh consecutive match Friday night, defeating Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-3 at the Astana Open.

The Serbian star advanced to his sixth semi-final of the season, where he will play No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev for the first time this year. Should Djokovic back up last week’s Tel Aviv championship run with a second consecutive title (and 90th overall), he will qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Djokovic served exceptionally well against Khachanov and, at the same time, one of history’s greatest returners converted three of five break point opportunities against the World No. 18’s formidable serve.

“I didn’t play as well from the baseline as I did in the first two matches, but still it was enough,” said Djokovic after the match. “I managed to produce some good tennis when it was the most needed in both sets.”

The two matches Djokovic played for Team Europe at the Laver Cup in late September were his first for three months following his triumph at Wimbledon in July. Yet the 35-year-old seems to be returning to familiar form on indoor hard courts.

Djokovic broke the unseeded Khachanov in his first service game and led 3-0, before Khachanov found an equilibrium and won the next three games. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, a backhand error gave Djokovic set point. He converted it with a stunning backhand volley into the open court.

After failing to convert a break point against Khachanov in the second game of the second set, Djokovic managed it in the fourth. A forehand winner that may have clipped the line gave him a 3-1 lead. Djokovic’s steadiness in the long points ultimately proved decisive, and he wrapped his 88-minute victory with an emphatic ace to secure a semi-final berth on tournament debut.

“I always expect highs from myself,” said Djokovic said. “Hopefully I can elevate still the level of my game for tomorrow because it’s going to be needed, obviously, whoever I play against.”

Khachanov, who has now lost 20 straight matches to Top 10 opponents – nine in 2022 – has now fallen in seven of eight matches to Djokovic across his career.

Did You Know?
By winning Wimbledon in July, Djokovic is guaranteed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals as a current-year Grand Slam champion who finishes within the Top 20 of the Pepperstone ATP Race To Turin should he win the Astana Open. Victory at the ATP 500 would give Djokovic enough points to guarantee that he will be in the Top 20 of the Race on the Monday after the Rolex Paris Masters.