Tennis News

Spain Seals ATP Cup SF Spot

Pablo Carreno Busta earned his third consecutive win of the season Wednesday, overcoming Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-4 to book Spain’s place in the semi-finals at ATP Cup in Sydney.

Following Chile’s victory over Norway, Spain needed just one win in its final Group A tie against 2020 champion Serbia to secure a place in semi-finals, where it will play Poland.

In the No. 2 singles match, Carreno Busta, who defeated Alejandro Tabilo and Viktor Durasovic earlier this week, played aggressively against Krajinovic, firing 30 winners and breaking three times to triumph after 80 minutes.

“It was the best match of the group,” Carreno Busta said in his on-court interview. “I am close to 100 per cent. Today I played very well, very aggressively, very solid. I feel very comfortable on court, so it is going well.”

In a dominant performance, Carreno Busta stepped inside the baseline and demonstrated great footwork to dictate with his forehand on Ken Rosewall Arena to improve his ATP Head2Head series record against Krajanovic to 2-1.

“I was very focused on trying to do my best,” Carreno Busta added. “I know Filip is a great opponent. He is very aggressive on return, but I think I served well and I was very solid from the baseline and I dominated more than him, which was the key.”

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In the second match of the tie, Roberto Bautista Agut laid down a marker, moving past Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-4 to give Spain an unassailable 2-0 lead against Serbia.

“I had to play very well,” Bautista Agut said in his on-court interview. “It was very intense. We had to play a lot of rallies because both of us made a lot of returns, so we had to play every point. I am very happy to have won the match in two sets today.”

The World No. 19, who is making his third ATP Cup appearance, won 90 per cent (28/31) of his first-serve points and played consistently from the baseline to triumph after 84 minutes. With his victory, Bautista Agut has maintained his perfect record against Lajovic, extending his lead in their ATP Head2Head series to 5-0.

“The humidity on the court was very tough and we needed some matches coming from Europe,” Bautista Agut added. “I am really happy I have won three matches and that Spain is in the semi-finals.”

It is the second time the pair has met at ATP Cup, with Bautista Agut downing the World No. 33 in the championship match in 2020, before Novak Djokovic turned the tie around for Serbia.

In the final match of the tie, Serbian duo Nikola Cacic and Matej Sabanov edged Pedro Martinez and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-5 in one hour and 48 minutes.

ATP Cup format sees the No. 2 singles played first, followed by the No. 1 singles and the doubles. Doubles uses no-ad scoring and a Match Tie-break in place of a third set.

Each country plays three matches in group play from 1-6 January across Ken Rosewall Arena and Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney Olympic Park. One team emerges from each of the four groups to contest the two semi-finals, which will be split over two days (7-8 January), with the final played 9 January.

See the semi-final qualifying scenarios

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Greece Beats Georgia To Finish ATP Cup On A High

Greece earned its first Group D victory on Wednesday at the ATP Cup, following wins for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Michail Pervolarakis, who recorded his first tour-level victory in Sydney.

World No. 4 Tsitsipas was leading Nikoloz Basilashvili 4-1 in the first set, but the Georgian returned to his Team Zone complaining of breathing difficulties after two points of the sixth game. “It’s not easy playing when you’re not 100 per cent, but I completely understand,” said Tsitsipas.

In a fantastic doubles match, Georgia’s Aleksandre Bakshi and Aleksandre Metreveli saved three match points for a 4-6, 6-3, 16-14 victory over Pervolarakis and Tsitsipas in one hour and 34 minutes. The Greeks held match points at 9/8, 11/10 and 13/12 in the Match Tie-break.

Greece lost to Poland 2-1 and Argentina 3-0 in its two previous Group D ties.

In the No. 2 singles match, 25-year-old Pervolarakis earned his first ATP Cup singles victory for Greece with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Aleksandre Metreveli of Georgia in 68 minutes on Qudos Bank Arena. Pervolarakis said, “It’s unbelievable. It’s my first ATP Tour singles match win.”

Pervolarakis made the most of his opportunity, breaking Metreveli for a 4-2 lead in the first set with a forehand return winner down the line. The 25-year-old recovered from 0/30 when serving for the set, which lasted 37 minutes, closing out on his fourth opportunity. Two breaks of serve — in the first and seventh games — were enough in the second set, which ended with a Metreveli backhand error.

“I’m really excited I was able to get that win for my country and for myself,” said World No. 399 Pervolarakis. “Right now I’m at [an ATP] Ranking where I’m not able to play ATP events weekly, but my goal is to just improve [over the] next year.”

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Knife-Like Pain, Hip Surgery & Roger-Vasselin's Road Back To The Tour

Edouard Roger-Vasselin has been in pain for years. Since 2014, the Frenchman has struggled with his right hip, so much so that he had to stop playing singles at the end of 2016. According to the 38-year-old, he spent more time in the physiotherapist’s room than on the tennis court.

But his biggest blow came last April, when Roger-Vasselin played football with his seven-year-old son, Mateo.

“He was faster than me. I am supposed to be an athlete and I couldn’t play football with my son. Even he was like, ‘Dad you’re too slow, go be the goalkeeper! I don’t want you on my team!’” Roger-Vasselin told ATPTour.com. “I remember perfectly that time when I was like, ‘I need to do something.’

“I have time to play with my kids and I want to be able to play football or do sports with my kids. The quality of life was terrible. If I just had a walk with my wife on the beach, after 30 minutes we had to sit and to stop.”

This was not general soreness or a dull pain. Although Roger-Vasselin has never had a knife in his body, he likened the pain to being stabbed.

“The body reacted every time to protect the pain,” Roger-Vasselin said. “Every time I tried to tie my shoes, the body was reacting and at the end I couldn’t really tie my shoes. The pain was there from the morning until the evening.”

 

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Last July, enough had been enough. Roger-Vasselin decided to undergo hip resurfacing — the same surgery Bob Bryan and Andy Murray had — on his right hip. The Frenchman admitted he was scared of going through with it. He consulted Bryan and Murray as he deliberated.

“Bob told me to do it right away. He said it was amazing and I had to do it,” Roger-Vasselin said. “Andy and I had a couple of discussions and he said he felt much better after. At the end it was my choice, but for quality of life I had no other option.

“To see them also come back on Tour and have some success, the decision was easy. But it took time to decide… I’m really glad I did it. I was scared to do it. Of course, it was hard. But now I’m really happy.”

The early days of Roger-Vasselin’s recovery were not easy. The first week, he recalled, was “really, really bad”.

“It was really painful, to be honest. Then it was quite quick to get back on my feet, to have a regular life. After four weeks, I was able to walk without crutches. I was able to enjoy normal life for another month and then after two months I started to go back to rehab and get back the strength of my leg, because I was really weak,” Roger-Vasselin said. “For personal life, it’s amazing. Going back on court to be an athlete, it took time. Slowly, slowly, slowly. Then I could feel from the beginning of December, this was good.”

Now the Frenchman has no pain. And if anything, the time off gave him a mental reset, as he got to spend a lot of time with his family and friends. The ATP Cup, where he is a member of Team France, is Roger-Vasselin’s first event back.

What is exciting for Roger-Vasselin — who will play with Rohan Bopanna this year — is that even when he was in pain, he performed well. Just 14 months ago, the former doubles World No. 6 made the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals with Jurgen Melzer.

“If I could play with one leg and a half, let’s see what happens with two legs now. I’m really looking forward to it,” Roger-Vasselin said. “I know it’s going to be a long process, but if I’m capable of playing without pain and growing my physical options, I deeply have the feeling I can be much better than I was. Let’s see what’s going to happen.”

Before Roger-Vasselin went under the knife six months ago, he made a deal with his son: They were going to play football in a few months.

“I was like, ‘Listen kid, in three months I’m going to be faster than you.’ He was like, ‘No chance daddy, I know you!’” Roger-Vasselin said. “I was really happy, proud of the work I had done. Now I killed him on the football field in November and December! He was so devastated that he’s slower than me now. But of course he was happy for me and it was maybe the best win of the year, that I could be faster than my son.”

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Chile Wins Again At ATP Cup, Bolsters Spain's Chances

Alejandro Tablio and Tomas Barrios Vera gave Chile its second win of the ATP Cup Wednesday against Norway, but the bigger winner was Spain, which now has a stronger chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.

The Chileans won the deciding doubles rubber 6-0, 6-4 against Leyton Rivera and Andreja Petrovic.

Had Norway won the tie, Serbia would have qualified for the knockout stage with a 2-1 victorv tonight over Spain. But the Chilean victory means that Serbia must now win 3-0 to emerge from the group at Spain’s expense.

“We were close in all the [ties], so we’re pretty happy about that. Especially being able to win two ties is incredible,” Tabilo said. “I think we’re all very happy with how we are playing.”

Casper Ruud had claimed his second No. 1 singles win of ATP Cup when he defeated Cristian Garin to level the Group A tie. The World No. 8 backed up an earlier group win over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Garin, in which he won 82 percent of first-serve points and saved the three break points he faced against the World No. 17.

“It was a tough match and sometimes the score lies and it’s much tougher than it seems,” Ruud said. “There were some close games at the beginning of the second set that probably decided the set. When you play long games and lose you feel like you have a mountain to climb. When you win them you feel like you are on the downhill again.

“I’ve lost to him a couple of times before [both on clay in 2019] so it’s nice to get my first win against him.”

^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
Earlier, World No. 139 Tabilo claimed his first singles win of the 2022 ATP Cup to give Chile an early lead.

The 24-year-old won nine of the first 11 games of the match to seemingly be on the verge of victory at a set and 3-1 up before Viktor Durasovic rallied to take the second set in a tie-break. But the Toronto-born Chilean finished strong to close out a 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-1.

“Nerves got to me,” Tabilo admitted after the match. “Things started off pretty comfortably and I was playing loose, but I was looking for my first win of the year and I put pressure on myself and it showed. Viktor started to play very well but I was able to talk to my team, which helped a lot, and I was able to refocus.

“I had a little taste of playing doubles at the first ATP Cup and now playing No. 2 singles is an honour.”

Neither Norway nor Chile can reach the semi-finals.

ATP Cup format sees the No. 2 singles played first, followed by the No. 1 singles and the doubles. Doubles uses no-ad scoring and a Match Tie-break in place of a third set.

Each country plays three matches in group play from 1-6 January across Ken Rosewall Arena and Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney Olympic Park. One team emerges from each of the four groups to contest the two semi-finals, which will be split over two days (7-8 January), with the final played 9 January.

See the semi-final qualifying scenarios

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Majchrzak Marches Poland To Brink Of ATP Cup Semis

One of the best weeks of Kamil Majchrzak’s career has come at the perfect time for Poland.

Majchrzak moved to 3-0 at the 2022 ATP Cup on Wednesday with a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory against Federico Delbonis, who is ranked 73 places higher. Poland leads Argentina 1-0, with the winner of this tie advancing to the knockout semi-finals in Sydney.

“It was very difficult. Everyone could see it. I was twice a break up in the second set and I couldn’t close the match,” Majchrzak said. “It was very connected with the emotions and with the big fight of Federico. It was a very difficult game from the beginning until the end. It was a very intense match and I’m very happy that at the end I managed to win the last point.”

The 25-year-old is currently No. 117 in the ATP Rankings, but he showed no fear of World No. 44 Delbonis. Majchrzak took the action to the Argentine, winning 47 per cent of his return points in his one-hour, 45-minute triumph.

“I’m trying not to look at the rankings. I was trying to look at Federico and make my plan and make my game to [find] the best possible way to beat him,” Majchrzak said. “I managed to do it. I was watching his matches, so I was ready. My ranking maybe is out of the Top 100, but I feel like I belong in the Top 100 and more, so I’m going for it now.”

Hubert Hurkacz can now send his country to the semi-finals with a win against Diego Schwartzman in the No. 1 singles. If Schwartzman wins, the tie will be decided by the doubles.

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Nominations Open For Tom Perrotta Journalism Award

Nominations for the Tom Perrotta Prize For Tennis Journalism are now open, with the award presented to a writer under the age of 40 for excellence in tennis journalism.

The award commemorates the life and journalism of Tom Perrotta, who provided a large contribution to tennis journalism prior to untimely his death at the age of 45.

The prize money includes a $2,000 cash award and will be presented in New York City during the US Open. Applicants can nominate themselves or be nominated by others. Nominations should include a brief CV and two examples of published work related to tennis in any language. Additionally, please include a brief statement as to why the award is deserved and what it would mean to the applicant.

Submissions should be forwarded to tomperrotta.prize@gmail.com before midnight (EST) 28 February 2022.

ATP, WTA, ITF and The International Tennis Writers Association co-sponsor the award.

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Five Things That Matter On ATP Cup Day 5

It’s ‘win and you’re in’ time on Day 5 at the ATP Cup. Two ties feature head-to-head battles for a semi-final spot – defending champion Serbia looks to beat Spain in Group A at Ken Rosewall Arena, while Qudos Bank Arena hosts a Group D-deciding tie between Argentina and Poland.

Here are the five things that matter most ahead of Day 5 at the ATP Cup.

Spain Searches For Clean Sweep
Spain has enjoyed a perfect start to the 2022 ATP Cup with two 3-0 wins in its group ties. Only Serbia can stop Spain finishing top of Group A, and the two teams face off in the night session on Ken Rosewall Arena. Pablo Carreno Busta will hope to give his team another good start in the No. 2 singles match when he takes on Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic for the third time (1-1). “It’s very important for the first point to be up, to give the confidence to Roberto [Bautista Agut], to give the calm to Roberto”, said Carreno Busta on Monday. Spain looks to maintain its record of never having failed to progress from the group stage at the ATP Cup.

Meanwhile, Serbia looks to bounce back from the deciding-match doubles heartbreak it suffered against Chile. A 3-0 victory for Serbia will be enough for a semi-final spot, although a 2-1 Serbian win combined with a Norwegian victory over Chile would also see the 2021 champion through to the knock-out stage. Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic is set to take on Bautista Agut in the No. 1 singles match and will be hoping to be fresh after retiring with cramp in a battle of attrition against Cristian Garin on Monday. Bautista Agut holds a 4-0 ATP Head2Head lead over the Serbian, including a 7-5, 6-1 win in the 2020 ATP Cup final.

The Feel-Good Factor
Poland and Argentina are both unbeaten at the 2022 ATP Cup and face a winner-takes-all battle for the semi-final spot in Group D. The two teams have enjoyed strong camaraderie within their respective camps this week, with players speaking openly about feeding off each other’s success to keep them going under pressure. World No. 13 Diego Schwartzman emphasised this point in the aftermath of his stunning 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 win over World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Monday. “I think Federico [Delbonis] gave me the confidence, going into the match 1-0 up,” said Schwartzman, “and I think it’s always very important for us. He did the same the previous match.”

Poland’s World No. 117-ranked Kamil Majchrzak believes his win over Georgian Aleksandre Bakshi on Monday will stand him in good stead when he takes on Federico Delbonis in the opening match at Qudos Bank Arena. “I was lucky to play the lefty guy [Bakshi] today, so I’ll be ready for the lefty from Argentina,” said Majchrzak. “He’s a great player, and he’s in very good shape…I’m pretty sure when it comes to the conversation about how to play, how to beat him, we will be ready.” Hubert Hurkacz, the 2021 Miami Open presented by Itau champion, meets Schwartzman in the No. 1 singles match. They share an ATP Head2Head record of 1-1, but the Pole triumphed in their only previous hard-court meeting, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the 2020 ATP Cup group stage.

View Semi-final Scenarios

Norway Taking On Chile…And Their Fans
Norway hopes to emulate the recent exploits of its final Group A opponents Chile in securing its first 2022 ATP Cup win in the day session on Ken Rosewall Arena. Although neither team can qualify for the semi-finals, World No. 8 Casper Ruud will be hoping to notch his first win of 2022 against Chilean No. 1 singles player Cristian Garin, who leads their ATP Head2Head record 2-0. Viktor Durasovic and Alejandro Tabilo face each other for the first time at tour-level in the No. 2 singles match.

Tabilo helped the South Americans win their first ATP Cup tie on Monday, staying cool under pressure with partner Tomas Barrios Vera as they took the deciding Match Tie-break in the doubles against Serbia. “It was pretty exciting, all the fans still watching us pretty late was nice and gave us some extra motivation”, said Tabilo. Chile’s vocal support will be hoping that breaking the duck will inspire further success. “We were looking for this for a long time,” said Garin after the historic victory on Monday. “We are so happy that we got our first win.”

A Fight To The End
Greece and Georgia have both fought hard in Group D in Sydney, although neither team has a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. World No. 570 Aleksandre Metreveli impressed in taking the first set against Hurkacz, before going down 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 on Monday and he now has the chance to build on that performance against Greek Michail Pervolarakis in the No. 2 singles match. The night session on Qudos Bank Arena then sees Stefanos Tsitsipas up against Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Greek holds a 2-1 ATP Head2Head lead over the Georgian, but Basilashvili won their most recent encounter, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, en route to the BNP Paribas Open final in October.

Dancing Diego the Giantkiller
Having beaten Tsitsipas on Monday, Schwartzman now faces Hurkacz as he looks to win a key point for Argentina in their bid to reach the semi-finals. Schwartzman is used to playing taller opponents, something that he spoke to ATPTour.com about in 2020. “When I walk onto a tennis court, I don’t think about how tall I am or how much bigger my opponent is. I know there is a difference, but so what? There are reasons that I might not have made it here, but they have nothing to do with my size. My height isn’t going to change. I’m not going to wake up the size of John Isner or Ivo Karlovic.”

Being of shorter stature certainly doesn’t seem to have affected Schwartzman’s abilities on the dance floor either. He put them to good use on Monday, bringing out some wonderful pre-game karate-style dancing towards Tsitsipas. Mind games, or just a bit of fun? Either way, it seems like it worked. Watch out, Hubert…

SCHEDULE – WEDNESDAY, 5 JANUARY 2022

KEN ROSEWALL ARENA start 10:00 am
Group A – Norway v Chile, Day Session
V. Durasovic (NOR) vs A. Tabilo (CHI)
C. Ruud (NOR) vs C. Garin (CHI)
Subject to change – V. Durasovic (NOR) / C. Ruud (NOR) vs T. Barrios Vera (CHI) / A. Tabilo (CHI)

Start 5:30 pm

Group A – Serbia v Spain, Night Session
F Krajinovic (SRB) vs P. Carreno Busta (ESP)

Not Before 7:00 pm

D. Lajovic (SRB) vs R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
Subject to change – N. Cacic (SRB) / M. Sabanov (SRB) vs A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP) / P. Martinez (ESP)

QUDOS BANK ARENA start 10:00 am

Group D – Poland v Argentina, Day Session
K. Majchrzak (POL) vs F. Delbonis (ARG)
H. Hurkacz (POL) vs D. Schwartzman (ARG)
Subject to change – S. Walkow (POL) / J. Zielinski (POL) vs M. Gonzalez (ARG) / A. Molteni (ARG)

Start 5:30 pm

Group D – Greece v Georgia, Night Session
M. Pervolarakis (GRE) vs A. Metreveli (GEO)

Not Before 7:00 pm

S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs N. Basilashvili (GEO)
Subject to change – A. Thanos (GRE) / P. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs A. Bakshi (GEO) / A. Metreveli (GEO)

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Novak Djokovic will compete at Australian Open with medical exemption

Novak Djokovic will defend his Australian Open title after receiving a medical exemption from having a Covid-19 vaccination.

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Naomi Osaka: Former world number one wins on return after four-month break

Japan’s Naomi Osaka beats Alize Cornet in Melbourne in her first match back after a four-month break from tennis.

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Kokkinakis Off To Strong Start In Adelaide

Thanasi Kokkinakis, who has overcome a series of injuries in recent years, had reason to smile on Tuesday when he lost just five first-service points to knock out fellow Australian John Millman 6-4, 6-3 in 82 minutes at the Adelaide International 1. The 25-year-old will now face fourth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.

In his final match of 2021, Tommy Paul captured his first ATP Tour title at the Stockholm Open. On Tuesday, the sixth-seeded American continued his winning ways with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic in two hours and 17 minutes.

Competing at a career-high No. 43 in the ATP Rankings, Paul earned 25 match wins last year and now challenges Japan’s Taro Daniel, who struck 12 aces to beat #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 in two hours and 34 minutes.

Elsewhere, World No. 113 Egor Gerasimov started his 2022 ATP Tour season in style by knocking out fifth-seeded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 6-4 in 87 minutes. The Belarusian now plays Italy’s Gianluca Mager, who was a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victor over Argentinean qualifier Francisco Cerundolo.

Cerundolo’s younger brother, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, set up a second-round clash against top-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Australian qualifier Alex Bolt in 80 minutes. Monfils will be bidding to capture his 11th ATP Tour title this week at the ATP 250 event.

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