Carlos Alcaraz’s dream run to the title in front of his home fans at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell has consolidated the 18-year-old’s place in the Top 3 in the ATP Race To Turin.

The reigning Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion defeated his mentor Pablo Carreno Busta in Catalunya on Sunday to make it three titles won in 2022. He moves within 70 points of third-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Race as he seeks to reach the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

Eight singles players and eight doubles teams will qualify for the season finale, to be held in Turin from 13-20 November, and Alcaraz is now 560 points clear of Daniil Medvedev in fourth and 1260 points ahead of the player currently occupying eighth spot in the Race, Casper Ruud.

Tsitsipas’ victory at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters two weeks ago had firmly established the Greek in second spot behind leader Rafael Nadal, but Alcaraz roared back with a strong showing in front of his home fans in Barcelona. His title run included an enthralling three-set quarter-final victory over top-seeded Tsitispas, and the 18-year-old now boasts a 23-3 match record for the season.

The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Tsitsipas (2,530 points) and Alcaraz (2,460 points) remain behind leader Nadal (3,350 points), with the Spaniard due to return from a rib injury sustained in Indian Wells at the Mutua Madrid Open in May.

ATP Race To Turin Standings (26 April)

Medvedev has missed the start of the clay season due to a minor hernia procedure but the 2020 champion remains in fourth place with 1,900 points, while Indian Wells winner Taylor Fritz’s run to the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo ensures he remains a strong contender in fifth place with 1,765 points.

Sixth-placed Andrey Rublev (1,730 points) took the chance to exert pressure on the Top 5 as he surged to an 11th ATP Tour title at the Serbia Open, lifting the trophy on debut in Belgrade by overcoming World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and a wave of strong home support for the Serb at the ATP 250 event.

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s 2022 season has stuttered somewhat since he clinched a maiden tour-level title in Rotterdam and reached the final in Marseille in February, but the Canadian retains a strong position in his push for maiden appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals in seventh place with 1,630 points. Ruud (1,200 points) retains his place in eighth, and the Norwegian will be confident of increasing his points tally on his favoured clay in the coming weeks. The seven-time ATP Tour titlist reached the semi-finals on Nitto ATP Finals debut in 2021.

Jannik Sinner (980 points) and Matteo Berrettini (945 points) are the best-placed Italians in the race at 14th and 15th respectively. Sinner lost out to Alexander Zverev in an epic quarter-final duel in Monte Carlo, while Berrettini hopes to return to action by mid-May following surgery on his right hand.

Roger Federer will seek an 11th title at the Swiss Indoors Basel this year, with the five-time ATP year-end No. 1 confirming on Tuesday that he will play at the ATP 500 event to be held from 24-30 October.

“Looking forward to playing back home,” wrote Federer via an Instagram story. The 40-year-old has won the past three editions of the tournament in his homeland, which was last held in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federer has a outstanding overall record in Basel. He has lifted the trophy there 10 times and possesses a 75-9 match record at the event.

 

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The 28-time ATP Masters 1000 champion recently gave a positive update on his rehab following knee surgery, which he underwent after his run to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year.

Federer has also confirmed his participation as part of Team Europe at the 2022 Laver Cup, to be held at The O2 in London from 23-25 September.

Rafael Nadal will make his return to the ATP Tour in his home nation to play the Mutua Madrid Open, it was confirmed Monday by the 36-time ATP Masters 1000 champion and the Madrid event. Nadal is a five-time champion in Madrid, most recently in 2017, and will be competing at the event for a 19th time.

“Despite having a short preparation and facing a difficult event, I can’t wait to play at home, where we don’t have many chances to do so,” Nadal said in a Tweet, confirming his participation in the year’s fourth ATP Masters 1000 event. “I’ll try to do my best. See you in Madrid!”

Nadal had been sidelined since Indian Wells with a rib stress fracture that he sustained against Alcaraz in the semi-finals, though he fought through the injury to take the court against Taylor Fritz in the final. He announced on 22 March that he would be out for four to six weeks, and his Madrid return puts him right on schedule.

Despite his inactivity, Nadal comfortably leads to ATP Race To Turin behind his 20-1 start to the season. He enjoyed a career-best start to the season with a 20-match win streak, claiming titles at Melbourne, the Australian Open and Acapulco before his Indian Wells final run.

The Spaniard holds a 54-13 record at the Madrid event, which switched from hard court to clay in 2009. Nadal made his debut at age 16 in 2003 and won his first title in ’05. In the 2021 tournament, he met Carlos Alcaraz for the first time and scored a dominant win on the way to the quarter-finals.

The Mutua Madrid Open will be held from 1-8 May at the Caja Magica.

Rafa is coming!

We’re delighted to welcome back our five-time Mutua Madrid Open champion 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

Can’t wait to see you in the Caja Mágica!@RafaelNadal | @atptour | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/e9F90DNoVp

— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 26, 2022

CINCINNATI (April 25, 2022) – Single session tickets for the 2022 Western & Southern Open will go on sale Tuesday, April 26, at 11 a.m.

Tickets for all 16 sessions of the Aug. 13-21 tournament include reserved Center Court seating along with access to the other seven match courts and nine practice courts. The single session offerings range from opening weekend access starting at just $10 to premium offerings to see the trophies lifted on Championship Sunday.

In addition to seeing the best players from both the ATP men’s and WTA women’s tours, fans can experience more than a dozen restaurants, more than a half dozen signature bar areas, nearly 40 live musical performances and various shopping opportunities. General parking is included with single session ticket purchases.

In 2022, there will be added amenities for fans attending the Western & Southern Open, including a new fan experience area at the south end of the venue featuring outdoor lounge seating, interactive entertainment experiences and a full line-up of programming. Fans can also expect autograph sessions, player Q&A events and Kids Day to return to the tournament this year.

Tickets may be purchased online at WSOpen.com and Ticketmaster.com. While single session tickets will go on sale Tuesday, April 26, Full Series and Mini Plan ticket packages are on sale now. The tournament will once again be a fully digital ticket operation and fans will be able to access their tickets through the Western & Southern Open App.

The Western & Southern Open is one of only five premier events globally to host an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tournament in the same week at the same venue, joining Indian Wells, California, Madrid, Miami and Rome.

Since becoming a single-week tournament in 2011, the Western & Southern Open has hosted more than 1.8 million spectators, including ticket buyers who have traveled to Cincinnati from all 50 states and 35 different countries.

The 2021 singles championships were won by Ashleigh Barty and Alexander Zverev while the doubles titles were claimed by Sam Stosur & Zhang Shuai and Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos.

The Western & Southern Open is part of the US Open Series and is held annually at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

About the Western & Southern Open
Founded in 1899, the Western & Southern Open is an ATP Masters 1000 and a WTA 1000 tournament. The Western & Southern Open annually welcomes nearly 200,000 fans who come from all 50 states and more than 35 countries and is seen by more than 120 million global viewers in over 160 countries. The tournament is also one of the last stops on the US Open Series before the US Open in New York. Since 1974, the tournament has contributed more than $11 million to various beneficiaries including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Barrett Cancer Center and Tennis for City Youth. The tournament is held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, 20 miles north of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. For more information, visit www.wsopen.com.

About the US Open Series
The US Open Series serves as a true “regular season” of summer tennis in North America, linking nine WTA and ATP Tour tournaments to the US Open. Featuring a cohesive weekly viewing schedule, as well as comprehensive outreach and grassroots engagement initiatives, the Series serves as a vital platform to promote and grow the game of tennis in person and at home. Fans can follow along all summer as today’s top champions go head-to-head with tomorrow’s emerging stars, while each tournament engages its local community with a variety of programs geared toward showcasing and promoting the game to new and existing fans.

Frances Tiafoe was feeling “under the weather” entering his first-round matchup Monday at the Millennium Estoril Open. He must have felt even worse as he trailed Dusan Lajovic by a set and a break, but after an off-court visit with the physio, he was able to take command of a match that seemed to be slipping away.

The fifth-seeded American dominated the second half of the match to run away with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 victory.

“I’m not feeling very well. I’m a little but under the weather,” said Tiafoe, who reached the Estoril final on his 2018 debut. “It was tough for me to move or breathe and stuff like that. The physio saved me today. He took me in there, down a set and a break, and I started feeling a little bit better.”

What a comeback 😳@FTiafoe comes back from a set and a break down and not feeling well to defeat Lajovic 2-6 7-5 6-0 in a bizarre match in Estoril! pic.twitter.com/DF2p0JrHRC

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 25, 2022

Tiafoe saved a pair of break points to avoid going behind 0-3 in the second set before briefly leaving the court. When he returned, he won 12 of the last 15 games — including the last eight in a row — to advance.

His started his comeback by connecting on some all-or-nothing shots as he looked to shorten the points. After getting back on serve, he began to win points in many other ways, including claiming the long rallies that Lajovic owned throughout the opening set. 

It was all working for the American in set three, as he mixed in some drop shots to go along with his baseline brilliance to see out the match with ease.

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Following the victory, he gave a special shout-out to a young fan named Pedro who had watched him on his 2018 final run. Tiafoe secured tickets for the youngster to watch Monday’s match.

“I didn’t want to give up,” Tiafoe said. “I wanted to win so he could watch me play here all week.”

Addressing the Portuguese crowd as as a whole, he later added: “I love the fans here. You guys get so much behind me. You guys love the tennis I bring, so that means a lot to me.”

Tiafoe will play Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the second round on Wednesday after the 25-year-old wild card advanced past Pablo Andujar via a second-set retirement. 

Soonwoo Kwon also advanced on Monday, beating Benoit Paire, 6-4, 7-5.