Noah Rubin storms to Launceston title, Mitchell Krueger thrashed - UBITENNIS
Connect with us

ATP Challenger

Noah Rubin storms to Launceston title, Mitchell Krueger thrashed

Published

on

Rubin has had a successful Australian season, and will be looking to build on the Launceston win for the rest of the season (Zimbio.com)

Noah Rubin completed what has been a successful time in Australia for the former Junior Wimbledon champion. The young American sealed his first challenger title of 2017 by defeating compatriot Mitchell Krueger in the final 60 61.

The final score was a little surprising given how Krueger had been playing in Launceston this week. He had defeated eighth seed Akira Santillan, Burnie Champion Omar Jasika, and sixth seed Mohamed Safwat en route to the final, all players in good form and ranked higher than him. Yet Krueger has an unpredictable nature, often losing to heavy scorelines when his game fails to get going, and that is what happened in the Launceston final.

Krueger’s bubble burst, and Rubin was able to take full advantage, dropping just one game in the final. It will be a welcome relief for Rubin, who struggled himself in Burnie after knocking out Krueger in the first round of that event in much closer circumstances.

Rubin lost in the second round there, but can ultimately define his period in Australia a successful one. He qualified and reached the second round of the Australian Open, winning four matches overall, before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets. Rubin , ranked at No.196 coming into the week, will likely add more security to his Top 200 ranking, potentially moving up close to forty places depending on other ranking movements.

Krueger, despite his defeat, will break the Top 200 for the first time in his career, moving above his former career high ranking of No. 210.

It was a good week for Americans, as Krueger and Rubin were joined by an unlikely semi-finalist in Daniel Nguyen, after he took advantage of the wide loss of seeded players across the draw.

The Launceston Challenger officially brings to an end the main Australasian swing that started with ATP events and Challengers in Happy Valley, peaking with the Australian Open, before a few Challenger events finished the opening section of the season.

ATP Challenger

Danielle Collins beats Caroline Garcia to reach the second semifinal of her career in Miami

Published

on

Danielle Collins beat Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-2 in 80 minutes to reach her second semifinal at the Miami Open. Collins became the first qualifier to reach the semifinal in the history of this tournament. 

Collins achieved her third win against a seeded player in five matches over the past seven days. 

Collins dropped just 11 points in nine service games against Garcia and hit 22 winners to Garcia’s 12. 

Collins earned a break in the eighth game and held serve to seal the first set 6-3. The US player broke serve in the third game of the second set and never looked back to close out the match in 1 hout and 19 minutes. 

Collins has extended her record to 4-0 in her head-to-head matches against Garcia and has not lost a set to her French opponent. 

Collins set up a semifinal match against the winner of Wednesday night’s match between Jessica Pegula and Elena Alexandrova, who beat world number one player Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.  

Collins won two WTA titles in Palermo and San José in 2021 but she has not reached a WTA Tour level final since losing to Ashleigh Barty in Melbourne in 2022. 

“I think Caroline Garcia comes out here and fights her butt off. She hits some really strong shots. I don’t think the set scores are a reflection of how close the match really is”, said Collins. 

Garcia beat Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff to reach the quarter finals in Miami for the first time in her career. The French player was troubled by an injury to her right shoulder and received treatment early in the second set. 

Continue Reading

ATP Challenger

Dominic Thiem To Return At Marbella Challenger, Joins Wawrinka In Stacked Field

Dominic Thiem will be joining Stan Wawrinka in making his return to action at the Marbella challenger next week.

Published

on

Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem (@SK_Tennis - Twitter)

Dominic Thiem will finally make his return to the ATP tour at the Marbella challenger next week.

The Austrian hasn’t played a tennis match since retiring at the grass court event in Mallorca last June due to a wrist injury.

Despite being scheduled to play at the Australian Open and at the Indian Wells-Miami swing, Thiem had to postpone his return as he wasn’t quite ready to compete in matches.

However now Thiem has decided to return as he will begin his clay court swing next week at the Marbella Challenger.

The former Roland Garros finalist took to Instagram to announce the news as he looks to climb back up the rankings.

The world number 50 will face tough competition with former Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka also making his comeback at the event in Spain next week.

At the blockbuster event there will also be the likes of Holger Rune, Pablo Cuevas, Jaume Munar and Lucas Pouille competing.

The winner of the event will receive 125 ranking points but much more importantly for Thiem and Wawrinka much needed match practice ahead of a busy European clay-court swing.

Thiem will be the top seed while Wawrinka will be unseeded with their being a possibility of the two heavyweights meeting in the opening round.

Play will start on Monday with Jaume Munar being the defending champion.

Continue Reading

ATP Challenger

Roberto Bautista Agut reaches his second career final in Doha

Published

on

Roberto Bautista Agut reached the second final of his career at the Qatar Exxon Mobil with a 6-3 6-3 win over defending champion Andrey Rublev. 

Bautista Agut broke serve in the fourth game with a forehand winner to open up a 3-1 lead and held on his next service games to close out the first set 6-3 after 29 minutes. 

The Spaniard started the second set with an early break. Rublev broke straight back in the second game and won his next two service games to take a 3-2 lead. Bautista Agut saved two break points to hold serve before getting two consecutive breaks to claim the second set 6-3. 

Rublev was playing his first match this week after two walkovers. The Russian player claimed the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam last week. 

“It was very difficult to play tennis today, with the windy conditions, but I put a lot of pressure on his second serve and played really good tennis. I played a long match yesterday against Dominic Thiem, but I felt fresh and I had a lot of power on the court. This is one of my favourite tournaments. I played one of my best matches here in Qatar two years ago, and I hope I can win one more match tomorrow”, said Bautista Agut.

Bautista Agut set up a final against Nikoloz Basilashvili, who beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-3) 6-1. 

Basilashvili, who beat Roger Federer in the quarter final, rallied from one break down to win the tie-break of the first set 7-3. The Georgian player broke twice in the second and sixth games to close out the second set 6-1.  “To reach the final means a lot. I am playing well and I am relaxed. It’s great to play in front of a crowd and a nice atmosphere”, said Basilshvili. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending