Tennis News

Herbert/Mahut Start Strong In Montpellier Opener

Playing as a pair for the first time this season, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut picked up where they left off at the Open Sud de France on Wednesday.

The 2021 Nitto ATP Finals doubles champions scored a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili and Dustin Brown in Montpellier. The top-seeded French duo raced to 3-0 and 4-0 leads in sets one and two, and held on for the win behind a perfect five-for-five mark on break points. Brown and Basilashvili threatened on the return as well, but could only take one of their eight break chances.

With Herbert not travelling to Australia in January, Mahut teamed with countryman Fabrice Martin but suffered a first-round exit after three sets at the year’s first Grand Slam event.

One of three all-French teams to reach the last eight, Herbert/Mahut will face countrymen Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg and Luca Van Assche in the quarters. Martin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also through following a straight-set win on Monday.

Also in opening-round action, Jonny O’Mara of Great Britain and Hunter Reese of the United States knocked off the second-seeded duo of Matwe Middelkoop and Philipp Oswald, 6-3, 6-4. One quarter-final match has already been completed, with Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara getting past Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, 6-4, 6-4. Nedovyesov/Qureshi, the fourth seeds in Montpellier, beat Mahut/Martin to reach the second round at the Australian Open.

Top Seeds Survive In Cordoba
Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni battled through three tie-breaks, including a Match Tie-break, to reach the semi-finals at the Cordoba Open. The top seeds edged the Italian duo of Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori, 7-6(6), 6-7(2), 10-3.

The Mexican-Argentine duo trailed by a break in both sets but answered back each time.
They also had to claw back from 1/4 down in the first set tie-break, but never trailed in the Match Tie-break after opening up a 4/0 lead.

The only other doubles match of the day completed the opening round, as the fourth-seeded Argentine pairing of Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez beat Facundo Bagnis and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals Set In Pune
Four matches completed the opening round at the Tata Open Maharashtra on Wednesday, with all but one decided in straight sets.

Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan, the tournament’s second seeds, went the distance in a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win over Americans Nicholas Monroe and Jamie Cerretani. Bopanna/Ramanathan are one of three Indian teams still in contention in Pune. Saketh Myneni and Mukund Sasikumar also advanced to the quarter-finals on Wednesday, while N.Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan are already into the semis after a win and a quarter-final walkover.

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Schwartzman Cruises In Cordoba Opener

Diego Schwartzman bounced back from an early Australian Open exit with a comfortable win at the Cordoba Open in his native Argentina.

The top seed needed just over an hour to defeat countryman Juan Pablo Ficovich, 6-3, 6-2, and progress to the quarter-finals. A finalist in Cordoba in 2020, Schwartzman is chasing his second ATP Tour title in Argentina, following his triumph in his hometown of Buenos Aires last year.

“I’m trying to keep focus, to win matches every tournament. For me, winning two or three matches per tournament is very important,” Schwartzman said post-match.

“When you are not serving 210 [kph], you have to run, you have to have a good feeling. Winning matches is the easy way to have the confidence for the next tournament… If I play good tennis, I know that I have chances to win many matches every tournament.”

Against the 25-year-old qualifier, the World No. 14 controlled the rallies throughout on the red clay and closed out the match with a down-the-line backhand winner. The key difference in the contest was on first serve: Schwartzman won 89 per cent of points (25/28) on his first delivery, while winning half (19/38) of his first-serve return points.

Following a first-round bye, the victory puts the Argentine through to the quarter-finals. After another off day, he’ll face lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan. The Colombian World No. 127 defeated Spain’s Jaume Munar, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, earlier on Wednesday on centre court.

Also through to the last eight is Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Londero, who upset eighth seed Pedro Martinez, 6-3, 7-6(3). He will face lucky loser Nikola Milojevic, who closed out the evening session with a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Argentine wild card Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The Serb replaced the injured Dominic Thiem on the draw’s bottom line and inherited the Austrian’s first-round bye.

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Djokovic Covid tests were valid, Serbian officials say

Doubts have been cast over the validity of documents the tennis star submitted to enter Australia.

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Gasquet Tops Humbert Again In Montpellier

Two weeks after a four-set comeback win over Ugo Humbert at the Australian Open, Richard Gasquet has again come from behind to upset his countryman in the Open Sud de France opening round.

The 35-year-old won two tie-breaks in that Melbourne victory, but had to recover from dropping an opening-set tie-break on Wednesday in a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3 victory against the seventh seed.

“I really like to play on this court,” said Gasquet, who was born in nearby Beziers. “With a crowd it’s really special to play here. That’s why I fought a lot in the second set. It was a great match against one of the best players in the world.”

After a trade of breaks in the first, Humbert saved five break points in an eight-deuce game to hold for 6-5. Gasquet then saved a set point on serve at 5-6, before Humbert won the last four points of the tie-break. In set two, the unseeded Frenchman broke in the final game after saving four break points at 3-3. 

Gasquet took a decisive lead midway through the third, but needed to save break points in his last two service games—including a 0/40 escape in the final game—to close it out. He’ll next challenge South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Hugo Gaston on Tuesday.

Adrian Mannarino and Mackenzie McDonald were also first-round winners on Wednesday.

In second-round action later in the day, fifth seed Filip Krajinovic ended the feel-good run of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-4, 7-6(2), though the Frenchman can take heart from a battling performance against the World No. 36.

“I think I played a very, very good match,” Krajinovic assessed. “I started really well. I knew Tsonga is always a dangerous player. He’s a great champion and I knew that he was going to serve big.”

The Serb’s decision to receive first paid dividends with an immediate break of serve on the lone break point of the first set. There was more drama in set two, as Tsonga stepped up his aggression and created five unclaimed break points. The Frenchman showed why he reached the heights of World No. 5 with some exquisite touch at the net and well-placed passing shots, but he could not stop his opponent from running away with the tie-break.

“I think he served really big in the second set especially,” Krajinovic continued, “but I stayed in the match. I was playing aggressive and my tactic was working today.”

The 29-year-old is through to the Montpellier quarter-finals for the third time in three appearances. He reached the semis in 2020, losing to Gael Monfils.

Also defeating Frenchmen to advance to the quarter-finals were second seed Roberto Bautista Agut and sixth seed Alexander Bublik. Spain’s Bautista Agut led Gilles Simon, 6-4, 3-2, before a Simon retirement, while Kazakhstan’s Bublik was a 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 winner over Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Those two winners will face off on Friday.

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Djokovic, Medvedev Nominated For Laureus Awards

Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev were among six tennis stars to be nominated for the 2022 Laureus World Sports Awards on Wednesday. Ashleigh Barty, Emma Raducanu, Diede de Groot and Shingo Kunieda were also among those shortlisted by the organisation for various honours.

Djokovic is one of six nominees for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, alongside Tom Brady, Max Verstappen, Robert Lewandowski, Eliud Kipchoge and Caeleb Dressel. The Serb is a four-time winner of the Sportsman of the Year Award (2012, ’15, ’16, ’19), and has won the honour each time he has been nominated.

Ranked World No. 1 for the entirety of the 2021 season, Djokovic won five titles on the year, including at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He also reached the US Open final and the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals as he eclipsed Roger Federer’s record of 310 cumulative weeks as World No. 1.

? It’s official. These are the Nominees for the 2022 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award:

? @TomBrady
? @DjokerNole
?‍♂️ #CaelebDressel
?‍♂️ @EliudKipchoge
⚽️ @lewy_official
? @Max33Verstappen#Laureus22 pic.twitter.com/jQ1lmofCuo

— Laureus (@LaureusSport) February 2, 2022

In his first Laureus nomination, Medvedev was shortlisted for the Breakthrough of the Year Award. He is joined by Raducanu, Pedri, Neeraj Chopra, Yulimar Rojas and Ariarne Titmus. The Russian won his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2021 US Open and finished the season with a firm grip on the World No. 2 ranking, his career-high position. He won four titles on the year, including at the ATP Masters 1000 Canada in Toronto.

pic.twitter.com/0yc4RW3Dlw

— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) February 2, 2022

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Laureus Awards: Emma Raducanu one of six British nominees

US Open champion Emma Raducanu is one of six British sports stars nominated for the 2022 Laureus World Sports Awards.

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Vukic Sets Musetti Showdown In Pune

Australian Aleksandar Vukic rallied past Frenchman Hugo Grenier 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) on Tuesday at the Tata Open Maharashtra to set a second-round showdown against second seed Lorenzo Musetti. The World No. 140 is looking forward to the opportunity.

“He’s one of the youngsters who are really trying to crack through,” Vukic said. “It will be a great match, but I’m feeling good and it will be a good match either way.”

It took a big effort for the 25-year-old, who reached the second round at the Australian Open, to earn his spot in the second round in Pune. Vukic needed two hour and 21 minutes to advance.

“[It was] very, very physical. I thought I played a pretty sloppy first set, but then started to find some form,” Vukic said. “Dug out a few games, got up 3-1 in the third and credit to him, he kept fighting and he broke me back then. Honestly could have gone either way, but always that first match is so tough, so very happy with it.”

In other action, sixth seed Emil Ruusuvuori clawed through a tight second set to defeat Belarusian Egor Gerasimov 6-0, 7-6(11). The Finnish star will next face Czech Vit Kopriva, who eliminated Turkey’s Cem Ilkel 6-4, 6-1.

Portuguese veteran Joao Sousa, the former World No. 28, battled past Indian wild card Arjun Kadhe 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-2 in two hours and 26 minutes.

“It was a tough match today against a local player. I knew I was perhaps a little bit better on my level, but it was definitely a tough match after being a set down and a very close second set,” Sousa said. “In the end I was able to hit some good shot to get my level a little bit higher.”

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Martinez Manages Monteiro Marathon In Cordoba

Pedro Martinez was two points from defeat on Monday in Argentina, but the Spaniard found a way to win.

The eighth seed battled past Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 57 minutes to reach the second round at the Cordoba Open. Monteiro served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but never held a match point.

At 30/15 in that game, the Brazilian was in a good position to close out a victory. But Martinez guessed right at net for a volley on that point before staving off a forehand barrage from Monteiro on the next point and eventually breaking back to get on serve.

Martinez will next play German Yannick Hanfmann or Argentine wild card Juan Ignacio Londero. The Spaniard reached his first ATP Tour final last year on clay in Kitzbühel.

The second main draw match of the day also went to a final-set tie-break. Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas outlasted home favourite Facundo Bagnis 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5) after three hours and 17 minutes.

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Martin/Tsonga Make Strong Start In Montpellier Doubles

Fabrice Martin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made a good start to their first tournament together on Monday in Montpellier. The Frenchmen defeated countrymen Albano Olivetti and Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Open Sud de France.

Tsonga has won four ATP Tour doubles titles — all with Frenchmen — including the 2009 Rolex Shanghai Masters crown with Julien Benneteau. Martin is a full-time doubles player who has lifted seven tour-level doubles trophies.

In other Montpellier action, Czech Roman Jebavy and Slovakian Alex Molcan defeated French wild card Robin Bertrand and Antoine Hoang 6-2, 6-2.

Argentines Enjoy Success In Cordoba
Two all-Argentine teams, both wild cards, earned straight-set victories on Monday at the Cordoba Open to advance to the second round.

Juan Pablo Ficovich and Facundo Mena eliminated Chileans Tomas Barrios Vera and Cristian Garin 6-4, 7-5 and Pedro Cachin and Tomas Martin Etcheverry ousted countrymen Federico Coria and Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4. 

Top Seeds Advance In Pune
Top seeds Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith ousted Italian Stefano Travaglia and Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1, 6-4 to move into the second round of the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune. Saville recently represented Australia at the ATP Cup, where he won two of his three matches alongside John Peers.

Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul also advanced in Pune when they upset third seeds Szymon Walkow and Jan Zielinski of Poland 6-3, 7-6(5).

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Defending Champ Goffin Battles From Brink In Montpellier

David Goffin’s Open Sud de France title defence was in jeopardy on Monday in Montpellier, but the Belgian battled into the second round.

Eighth seed Goffin rallied past Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 53 minutes to improve to 9-3 at the ATP 250. He will play Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round.

“The match was a very tough one, especially at the beginning when I was a little bit tight. My groundstrokes were a little bit too slow, a little bit too short,” Goffin said. “It’s never easy when Benjamin is playing like that. He had time to hit some big groundstrokes, big first serves and he’s very aggressive, so it’s never easy. But during the match I stayed positive even though I was one set and one break down.”

Bonzi led 6-2, 3-0, but was unable to prevent the 2021 champion’s comeback. Goffin earned five service breaks in the match.

“I tried to stay focussed, to stay as long as possible on the court to try to get some confidence, to work on certain things: to be more aggressive, [hit] a better quality of ball,” Goffin said. “At the end it was better and better, so I’m really happy the way I played at the end of the second and in the third.

“It’s a good win for me, very important for my confidence. I’m happy to [try to] defend my title and be in the second round.”

Sixth seed Alexander Bublik also moved into the second round with a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

The Kazakhstani’s only previous appearance in Montpellier came two years ago, when he lost against Goffin in the Round of 16. Next up for the 2021 ATP Tour aces leader (840) will be French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert or German Peter Gojowczyk.

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