Kei Nishikori bounced from the French Open in 1st Round - UBITENNIS
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Kei Nishikori bounced from the French Open in 1st Round

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TENNIS FRENCH OPEN – Kei Nishikori is having a most bizarre year. The 24-year-old has finally made it into the top 10 solidifying his status as one of the premier young stars on the tour, but now finds himself packing for home after losing to Klizan 7-6, 6-1, 6-2. Cordell Hackshaw

Interviews, Results, OOP, Draws from the Roland Garros

Kei Nishikori (9) is having a most bizarre year. The 24-year-old has finally made it into the top 10 solidifying his status as one of the premier young stars on the tour. He is playing some of the best tennis of his life but his body is betraying him in the big moments. In Miami he beat Roger Federer for the 2nd consecutive time but had to withdraw from the semifinal matchup against Novak Djokovic. He won Barcelona and got to the final of Madrid but had to retire from the match in the 3rd set against Rafael Nadal. He arrived in Paris with a lot of steam behind him and the probability of getting to the Round of 16, equaling last year’s effort, but now finds himself packing for home. Martin Klizan of Slovakia took out the Japanese number 1 in straight sets 7-6(4) 6-1 6-2. “It’s tough for me, but I guess this is my tennis life, you know. I have to take care of my body and injury will come again, for sure. So I have to mentally, you know, be ready. I have to do whatever, you know, I can do to get healthy” stated Nishikori after the match.

It was clear from the opening game that Nishikori was not 100% as Klizan broke for an early 2-0 lead. Nishikori came back and won five of the next six games. He served for the set 5-3 but Klizan broke back and held serve for 5-5. Though ranked 59th in the world, Klizan is not to be overlooked. He recently won the Munich tournament beating Tommy Haas (16) and Fabio Fognini (14) en route to the title. Sensing the vulnerability of his opponent, Klizan turned up the intensity and forced the issue to a tiebreaker where he took it 7-4 points.

Klizan only needed this 1st set under his belt to then take complete control of the match. Nishikori showed recently that he can play with the greatest of all left-handed players, Nadal. However, it was the lesser lefty player in the form of Klizan who proved to be too much for him. The quality of play in the 1st set was very even as both players had a similar winner to error ratio; Klizan being 10:18 and Nishikori 9:21. Their serving statistics were negligible. The 2nd and 3rd sets were different matters altogether. Klizan was simply relentless, dogging Nishikori on every service game breaking him four times and never once facing break points on his own serve. Nishikori looked winded and no longer able to construct points in an effective manner. He committed 19 errors in those two sets compared to 9 from Klizan. Klizan opened up the court with that lefty swinging forehand for the easy put away shots. Klizan took the 2nd set in 27 minutes 6-1 and then raced out to a 5-1 lead in the 3rd. Soon, Klizan had match point and closed it out 7-6 6-1 6-2.

In the press conference, Nishikori spoke of the lack of practice since Madrid as one of the factors for his loss: “I didn’t have much practice. First time playing points after Madrid, so I didn’t have much rhythm. And also serve, I didn’t hit any serve 100%, you know, before today.” He added “I was really disappointed with my performance…I was playing well on clay in Europe, so it’s very sad for me to lose first round here.” However, Nishikori remains hopeful despite this loss. He is very happy with the progress of his game this year so far as well as his partnership with new coach, 1989 French Open Champion, Michael Chang. Klizan on the other hand will face Robin Haase in the 2nd round.

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Nick Kyrgios Opens Up About His Self-Harm Battle And Murray’s Support

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Nick Kyrgios (AUS) playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) in the third round of the Gentlemen's Singles on No.1 Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 6 Saturday 03/07/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jonathan Nackstrand

Nick Kyrgios says he became addicted to pain during his battle with self-harm that lasted between 18 and 24 months.

 

In an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV, the former Wimbledon finalist spoke about his mental health issues. Kyrgios has previously spoken publically about the topic but has now revealed further details about the extent he went through and the role Andy Murray played in supporting him. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward in London and contemplated suicide following the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

“It was pretty dark to be honest,” Kyrgios told Morgan. “I won tournaments on the professional tour, drinking every night, self-harming, burning things on my arm, cutting myself for fun. It became an addiction of pain. I hated myself. I hated waking up and being Nick Kyrgios.”

One of those who tried to help the Australian address his self-harm problem was three-time Grand Slam champion Murray who noticed cuts on Kyrgios’ arms during one of their practice sessions four years ago. According to The Times, the former world No.1 then alerted Kyrgios’ manager John Morris about the cuts.

Paying tribute to the Brit, Kyrgios says Murray has supported him throughout his career. The 28-year-old has been ranked as high as 13th in the world and has won seven ATP titles. Besides his run to the Wimbledon final last year, he has also reached the quarter-final stage of a major on three other occasions.

“Andy was always a big supporter of me,” Kyrgios said. “As soon as I came on the tour, he kind of saw a work in progress and took me under his wing. Then he realised later in my career that I don’t think I was coachable or I was on my own path, but he was always someone that was looking out for me.
“He saw it [the self-harm] and he said, ‘What’s that on your arm?’ It was pretty bad at that stage. Andy obviously was trying to give me advice on it. But I was just so stuck in my ways at that time that I didn’t listen. Obviously I’m very thankful. I thank him a lot.”

Kyrgios, who has only played one match on the Tour this season due to injury, hopes that he can help others by speaking publicly about his mental health battle. Something he describes as ‘the most powerful thing in his career.’

“I feel like I’ve helped so many people after I opened up about it and put it on social media,” Kyrgios said.
“I’ve almost been a beacon for people who are struggling. When they feel like they’re overwhelmed and they’re going towards drinking, drugs and stuff, they open up and they feel like I’m relatable.
“That’s been the most powerful thing in my career; people coming to me with genuine issues.
“They send me photos in my Instagram, direct messages, self-harming and genuinely wanting to commit suicide.
“I have conversations with these people. Sometimes I’ve had phone calls with these people. That’s making a real difference and I’m just really proud.”

Kyrgios recently had a stint in broadcasting after working for The Tennis channel during the ATP Finals in Milan. He is continuing his rehab from injury but it is unclear as to when he will make his return to professional tennis.

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Hamad Medjedovic earns first place in Red Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

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Hamad Medjedovic beat Abdullah Shelbayh 3-4 (6-8) 4-2 4-3 (7-5) 4-2 to earn first place in the Red Group with a perfect 3-0 record at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. 

 

Medjedovic needed to win at least one set to reach the semifinals, while Shelbayh needed to win the match in three or four sets. Luca Van Assche qualified as the second-placed player from the Red Group.

Medjedovic will face Dominic Stricker in the semifinal, while Van Assche takes on Arthur Fils.  

Medjedovic fired 18 aces and won 88 % of his first-serve points. He saved all three break points against Shelbayh. 

Medjedovic fired a tournament-leading 45 aces and was broken twice. 

Medjedovic saved three break points to hold serve in the fourth game of the first set. Shelbayh went up a mini-break twice, but Medjedovic pulled back on serve both times. Shelbayh won the final three points to clinch the tie-break 8-6. Both players went on serve in the first five games before Medjedovic earned the break to win the second set 4-2. 

The third set went on serve with no break points en route to the tie-break. Shelbayh earned the first mini-break to take a 3-2 lead. Medjedovic pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. The Serbian player earned a second mini-break to close out the tie-break 7-5. 

Medjedovic started the fourth set with an early break in the first game. He held on his next service games and sealed the win on his first match point. 

Medjedovic set up a semifinal match against Dominic Stricker. Luc Van Assche will face Arthur Fils in an all-French semifinal.“It was a great match. I played really good after the first set He is a very good friend of mine. He is a very good player and obviously the crowd here loves him and I respect that. It was a pleasure to play in front of the crowd”, said Medjedovic. 

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Dominic Stricker cruises past Luca Nardi at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

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Third seed Dominic Stricker cruised past Luca Nardi 4-1 4-1 4-2 in 54 minutes in the fastest match in the history of the Next Gen Finals at the Next Gen ATP Finals at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah bouncing back from his defeat in the first match against Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday. 

 

Stricker converted four of his six break points and hit 13 winners, including 3 aces. 

Stricker came back from 15-40 down in the first game after two double faults from Nardi and broke serve with a return winner on the deciding point to take a 1-0 lead. The world number 94 saved three break-back-back points in the second game from 15-40 down before breaking for the second time in the fifth game to win the first set 4-1. 

Stricker broke serve at 30 in the second game of the second set and held serve at love in the third game to race out to a 3-0 lead. Stricker served it out on his second set point. 

Stricker earned an early break in the first game of the third set on the deciding point and held his next service games. Nardi saved the first match point but he hit his backhand into the net on the second match point after the longest rally of the match. 

“We had a long discussion yesterday evening about how to do it today. I think it was really good that we talked a lot after what maybe was not my best performance. Now to come out today like that, I think nobody expected that. I am just happy that I did it and now I am going to try my best to recover for the third group match”, said Stricker. Stricker is now 1-1 in Green Group. The Swiss player is aiming to reach his second consecutive semifinal at the Next Gen Finals. He is looking to crown a good year after reaching the fourth round at the US Open. 

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