ATP off-court coaching trial to begin at 2022 US Open
Off-court coaching is to be trialled at the US Open and other major events in the second half of this season, the ATP announces.
Off-court coaching is to be trialled at the US Open and other major events in the second half of this season, the ATP announces.
The ATP Tour and Formula 1 have plenty in common, not least that both are inherently international sporting organisations with events and talent spanning the globe. Each is also involved in a Netflix series to showcase the life of the world-class athletes that compete for the top prizes in their respective sports.
ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi sat down with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to discuss some of those commonalities and look ahead to the future of tennis through the lens of OneVision, the ATP’s transformational game plan to grow the sport.
“It has been important, very important,” Domenicali said of the Netflix series ‘Formula 1: Drive To Survive’. “I have to say when we had the idea, some of the teams and drivers were saying, ‘We don’t want to be involved.’
“But at the end of the day we are discovering that that was the right decision. It’s a different way of talking about Formula 1.”
Domenicali explained how the Netflix series helped his sport share the stories of its athletes beyond the competition on the track. Gaudenzi has a similar vision for tennis and is excited to provide more behind-the-scenes content to fans.
“It’s a concept of trying to grow the pie and trying to elevate the sport for everybody,” he said. “Ultimately, everybody will benefit.”
That same idea applies to OneVision, as Gaudenzi explained, with the goal of creating engaging and original media to provide a richer fan experience.
“I strongly believe that our sport is very well suited for the digital transformation that is happening,” he said, noting the near-daily competition which provides content nearly 300 days out of the year with more than 64 tournaments, including competition in more than 30 countries.
Another important part of the OneVision plan centres around elevating the ATP Masters 1000 events as the ATP Tour’s premium product.
“We are also mindful that we need to finance the Challenger Tour,” added Gaudenzi, “because we need the stars of the future, the talent and the younger players to be able to actually make a living when they are preparing for the Tour.”
OneVision: In Conversation With Stefanos Tsitsipas & Andrea Gaudenzi
Formula 1 has a similarly tiered system that also includes F2, F3 and F4 as a pipeline to the elite level.
At all levels, both leaders stressed the importance of economic transparency, and the need for all stakeholders to work together.
“I do see the value in the transparency,” Gaudenzi said, replying to Domenicali’s comments on F1’s efforts in that regard. “We’re trying to do the same thing to provide visibility to the players and also a share of the upside, of the future success, with our profit-sharing formula.”
Both agreed that, ultimately, their sports are competing against other sports leagues and the entertainment industry for the time and attention of fans.
“I keep trying to tell my stakeholders that we always have internal fights, [but] we’re actually competing with other sports like Formula 1, soccer or football, NFL,” said Gaudenzi. “We’re also competing with entertainment platforms, whether it’s gaming, whether it’s music, Spotify. We’re competing with Netflix in a way.”
Unity was a constant thread throughout the discussion — the concept that a rising tide lifts all ships — whether that be within the respective sports or across the sports industry as a whole.
“There’s a huge opportunity that comes through unity,” Gaudenzi summarised, “because the individual interest obviously doesn’t always match the collective interest of the sport.”
Domenicali closed with a vote of confidence for the ATP’s OneVision plan, congratulating Gaudenzi on the concept.
“I think will be a big boost up in the system,” he said. “You will have your challenges, but I’m sure that with your credibility and your authenticity, you’re going to be able to achieve that.”
Phase One of OneVision, approved by the ATP Board in June 2022, comes into effect from January 2023. Learn More About OneVision
Ryan Peniston had not played a tour-level match entering last week’s Cinch Championships, but he has not looked back since.
After reaching the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club, the Briton made a good start to his run at the Rothesay International on Tuesday. Peniston rallied past #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 to reach the second round.
“Very, very happy with that. Tough start, but managed to fight thanks to you guys. Very happy with the win,” Peniston said in his post-match interview. “It’s been madness to be honest. A couple weeks ago it was a lot different. Now things have changed a little bit, but I’m loving it.”
Eighth seed Rune held a mini-break advantage at 4/3 in the second-set tie-break and was within two points of victory at 5/5, but was unable to convert. Peniston hit a deep backhand return to clinch the second set and never looked back.
The lefty won 72 per cent of his second-serve points to set a second-round clash against a Spaniard: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Pedro Martinez.
Italian Lorenzo Sonego also moved on with a 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(1) win against Australian qualifier James Duckworth.
BBC Sport looks at the impact of periods on tennis players and asks whether the problem of wearing white at Wimbledon while menstruating should be discussed.
Aslan Karatsev and Joran Vliegen sprung a surprise in their first tour-level match as a team on Monday at the Mallorca Championships, where they held their nerve in a pair of tie-breaks to edge fourth seeds Andrey Golubev and Maximo Gonzalez 7-6(1), 7-6(6).
Karatsev and Vliegen wrapped up the match with three consecutive points, the first of which fended off a set point for their opponents, to claim the second-set tie-break. Their next opponents at the ATP 250 event in Spain will be Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez or Tallon Girekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp.
In the other opening-round match played on Monday in Mallorca, Austrian wild card duo Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler enjoyed a 7-5, 3-6, 10-4 victory against Sebastian Baez and Joao Sousa.
Mahut/Roger-Vasselin Advance In Eastbourne
At the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin were 6-4, 7-6(8) winners against Top 50 singles stars Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Pedro Martinez. Mahut and Roger-Vasselin are chasing their second title together on grass after their triumph in Newport in 2013.
There was also opening-day success on the English south coast for Maxime Cressy and Ugo Humbert, who overcame Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 4-6, 10-8, while Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Aisam-Ul-Haq-Qureshi downed home wild card pairing Julian Cash and Henry Patten 6-4, 7-6(4).
The third Grand Slam event of the season will see the world’s best players compete at Wimbledon, with defending champion Novak Djokovic, two-time titlist Rafael Nadal and 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini in action.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the tournament in the UK capital:
Wimbledon 2022 will be held from 27 June – 10 July. The grass-court Grand Slam tournament, established in 1877, will take place at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in London, UK. The tournament director is Jamie Baker.
Wimbledon will feature two-time champion Nadal, six-time winner Djokovic, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Wimbledon singles draw will be made on Friday 24 June at 10 a.m.
The Wimbledon doubles draw will be made on Friday 24 June at 12 p.m.
* Qualifying: Monday, 20 June – Thursday, 23 June at 11 a.m.
* Main Draw: Monday, 27 June – Sunday, 5 June, start times TBC.
* Doubles Final: Saturday, 9 July, start time TBC.
* Singles Final: Sunday 10 July, start time TBC.
*View On Official Website
The prize money for Wimbledon is £40,350,000.
SINGLES
Winner: £2,000,000
Finalist: £1,050,000
Semi-finalist: £535,000
Quarter-finalist: £310,000
Round of 16: £190,000
Round of 32: £120,000
Round of 64: £78,000
Round of 128: £50,000
DOUBLES (£ per team)
Winner: £540,000
Finalist: £270,000
Semi-finalist: £135,000
Quarter-finalist: £67,000
Round of 16: £33,000
Round of 32: £20,000
Round of 64: £12,500
TV Schedule
Hashtag: #Wimbledon
Facebook: Wimbledon
Twitter: @Wimbledon
Instagram: wimbledon
Novak Djokovic won the 2021 Wimbledon singles title with a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory against Matteo Berrettini in the championship match (Read More). Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic lifted the doubles trophy in London with a 6-4, 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-5 triumph against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the final (Read More).
Most Titles, Singles: Roger Federer (8)
Most Titles, Doubles: Todd Woodbridge (9)
Oldest Champion: Roger Federer, 35, in 2017
Youngest Champion: Boris Becker, 17, in 1985
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 1 Bjorn Borg in 1980, John McEnroe in 1984, Pete Sampras in 1993-94, 1997-99, Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, Roger Federer in 2004-07, Rafael Nadal in 2010, Novak Djokovic in 2015, 2019, 2021
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 125 Goran Ivanisevic in 2001
Last Home Champion: Andy Murray in 2016
Most Match Wins: Roger Federer (105)
View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown
Jack Sock led a group of seven Americans through to the second round of Wimbledon qualifying on Monday at Roehampton.
Sock, who lost a heartbreaker in the ATP Challenger Tour final on Sunday in Ilkley against Zizou Bergs, bounced back for a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Argentine Andrea Collarini.
This is the first time Sock is playing qualifying at the grass-court major since 2013. The 29-year-old is up to No. 102 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, putting him on the verge of returning to the Top 100 for the first time since the week of 29 October 2018.
View Monday Qualifying Results
Third seed Stefan Kozlov was one of the other six Americans who advanced. Kozlov defeated Frenchman Evan Furness 7-5, 6-3.
Veterans who moved on include German Philipp Kohlschreiber, Italian Andreas Seppi and Moldovan Radu Albot.
Kohlschreiber, the 38-year-old who first competed in the Wimbledon main draw in 2005, eliminated Frenchman Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 6-2. After the match, he announced this will be his final tournament.
Seppi, who has played the main draw at every edition of The Championships since 2005, ousted Mirza Basic 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. Seventh seed Albot defeated Italian Roberto Marcora 6-1, 6-4.
A group of #NextGenATP players also moved on: Swiss Dominic Stricker, Brazilian Matheus Pucinelli De Almeida, Australian Rinky Hijikata, Briton Arthur Fery, Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante, Czech Dalibor Svrcina and Croatian Duje Ajdukovic. Ajdukovic earned the upset of the day when he cruised past former Top 10 star Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3.
Top seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles clawed past Indian Yuki Bhambri 7-5, 6-1. The Spaniard is trying to qualify for Wimbledon for the second consecutive year.
Britons Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart both come back to win in three sets in their respective first-round matches at Eastbourne, but Heather Watson loses.
With Wimbledon just a week away, BBC Sport looks at what is different at the grass-court Grand Slam this year.
Serena Williams is set to make her comeback after a year out of tennis when she plays in the Eastbourne doubles on Tuesday.