ATP Challenger Tour Finals: Pella and Cervantes through after two days, Dustov and Cecchinato out - UBITENNIS
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ATP Challenger Tour Finals: Pella and Cervantes through after two days, Dustov and Cecchinato out

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Guido Pella has been business-like through his first two matches, and looks set for the semi-finals

Guido Pella and Inigo Cervantes are both through to the semi-finals of the ATP Challenger Tour Finals in Sao Paulo, after both won their second straight matches.

 

Pella defeated home wildcard Guilherme Clezar, who was a finalist in last year’s event, 6-3, 6-4. Pella is one of the most decorated Challenger players on the tour this season with four titles, all of which came on clay. He won his second match of the year against the Brazilian to advance. Marco Cecchinato was disappointed to lose his second straight match, as he lost to Radu Albot of Moldova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Picks in Bold The defeat means that Cecchinato is now out of the event, and the Italian will be facing Guido Pella as much for pride as anything else. Pella is almost certain of finishing top of the group, requiring only a set to finish first. The position that is yet to be decided is the other qualifier. it will be decided by the winner of Radu Albot and Guilherme Clezar. Clezar has an excellent record in Sao Paulo that belies his ranking, though Albot played Pella close in the first round-robin fixture.

Group B also has a confirmed semi-finalist in the shape of Spaniard Inigo Cervantes. He defeated top seed Paolo Lorenzi in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 for his second win to confirm his participation in the latter stages. At the other end Farrukh Dustov is now out after two matches, following  7-6, 6-1 defeat to Daniel Munoz-De La Nava. It ensures that Munoz-De La Nava has the chance to join his compatriot Inigo Cervantes in the semi-finals provided he can beat top seed Lorenzi on the final day of group play.

Being top after two days, Pella and Cervantes and are now likely to avoid one another, as the two in-form players. There is the potential for the first and second seeds to meet in the semi-finals if Lorenzi beats Munoz-De La Nava. Guilherme Clezar still has the opportunity to defend the heavy ranking points he earned at this event last year.

 

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Carlos Alcaraz beats Yannick Hanfmann on his debut at the China Open

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This year’s Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-4 6-3 in 1 hour and 37 minutes on his debut at the China Open in Beijing three weeks after reaching the semifinal at the US Open. 

 

Alcaraz has improved his win-loss record to 59-7, leading the ATP Tour. The Spanish player leads the ATP Tour with 8 titles and 5 finals. 

Hanfmann saved eight of the eleven break points and broke twice in the first set. 

Alcaraz earned an early break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead, but Hanfmann broke straight back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Alcaraz converted his fourth break point in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Hanfmann pulled back on serve in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Alcaraz earned his third break with a forehand at 4-4 to seal the first set. 

Alcaraz broke twice in the third and ninth games to close out the second set 6-3. The two-time Grand Slam champion did not face a break point in the second set. 

Alcaraz converted five of the sixteen break points he faced. 

Alcaraz set up a second round match against Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Karen Khachanov 6-3 1-6 6-2. Khachanov won at the Zhuhai Open last week beating Yoshihito Nishioka  in the final. 

“Hopefully I have a lot of years to come here to China. Creating my chapter here in China would be great for me. To finally be able to come here to China and show my tennis in front of the Chinese people is something that I wanted a long time ago and I am really happy to do it, hopefully the first of many here”, said Alcaraz. 

Musetti converted his second break point in the second game to take a 3-0 lead. Khachanov broke back in the fifth game to draw level to 3-3. Musetti broke for the second time in the eighth game to seal the first set 6-3. 

Khachanov broke twice in the second and sixth games to close out the second set 6-1. 

Musetti broke Khachanov twice in the sixth and eighth games to seal the third set 6-2. 

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Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari advance to the semifinal in Tokyo

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Number 2 seed Jessica Pegula cruised past Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-0 in just 59 minutes at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to reach her seventh semifinal of the 2023 season.

 

Kasatkina earned an early break in the opening game of the match, but Pegula reeled off 12 consecutive games. The US player hit 25 winners and broke six times. She saved three break points as she served out the first set. Kasatkina was not able to convert eight game points across her first two service games. 

Pegula has scored her second win in as many matches against Kasatkina after beating her Russian opponent 7-5 6-3 in the first round in Rome 2021. 

Pegula has improved to 10-9 against top 20 rivals in 2023. 

Pegula set up a semifinal match against Maria Sakkari, who beat Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-2 in the quarter final. Sakkari claimed her second win in a week over her French rival equalling her career-best streak of seven consecutive match wins. Last week Sakkari beat Garcia 6-3 6-0 in the semifinal of the Guadalajara Open.  

Sakkari hit 15 winners to eight unforced errors and saved all six break points. 

The US player will meet her Greek rival for the ninth time in her career and for the third time this season. Sakkari leads 5-3 in her head-to-head matches against Pegula. They are 1-1 in their 2023 clashes. Pegula took the win 6-2 4-6 6-1 in the semifinal in Doha, but Sakkari turned the tables by winning the Washington semifinal 6-3 4-6 6-2. 

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Asian Games Champion Qinwen Zheng Reveals Shock Departure Of Coach Fissette

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Image via https://twitter.com/WTA_insider

China’s Qinwen Zheng says she feels ‘hurt’ by the decision of her former coach to end their collaboration in order to work with another player. 

 

The US Open quarter-finalist had been working with Belgium’s Wim Fissette in recent weeks following the departure of Pere Riba who is now the coach of Coco Gauff. Fissette has a wealth of experience in women’s tennis after working with the likes of Kim Clijsters and Naomi Osaka. However, Zheng says she is now looking for a new mentor.

“I understand his decision, but my family and I feel hurt. Right now I don’t want to talk about this person (Fissette),’ journalist Bendou Zhang quoted her as saying. 

Fissette is yet to comment on his departure. He had previously coached former world No.1 Osaka between 2019-2022 and during this period she won two of her four Grand Slam titles. The American-based Japanese player is on maternity leave from the sport and gave birth to her first child in July.

20-year-old Zheng is currently ranked 23rd in the world and won her maiden WTA title in Palermo earlier this year. She is the youngest player from her country to have reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in the Open Era following her run at Flushing Medows. This year she has beaten top 10 players Ons Jabeur and Daria Kasatkina. 

Zheng’s latest career milestone is winning gold at the Asian Games on Friday. in the final, she defeated Zhu Lin 6-2, 6-4, in the blistering Hangzhou heat.

“The feeling was incredible,” Zheng said. “I’m really happy about that. That was not an easy match today and also yesterday (in semifinal against Alex Eala). All of them are good fighters.”

It is not clear who Zheng will be working with during the Asian swing. 

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