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Halle Doubles Couldn’t Have Been Scripted Better

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Alexander Zverev was a beaten finalist in both the singles and doubles in Halle (Zimbio.com)

The Gerry Weber Open doubles final, in Halle, Germany, couldn’t have been scripted any better. Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil, the No. 1 seeds, faced Alexander and Mischa Zverev, the unseeded hometown heroes, (even though they are from Hamburg). The match-up featured Kubot and Melo, the top team in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race to London against the brothers, who had upset Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Rajeev Ram of the US, the two-time defending champions, in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-3.

 

The teams had one previous encounter, which took place this year at the ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo. The Polish/Brazilian tandem were victorious, 6-1, 6-7, 14-12. Going into the final, they had a 26-9 record in 2017. The Zverevs were 10-5 for the season, and had claimed the Open Sud De France title in early February in Montpellier.

Kubot and Melo brought the curtain down on the 2017 Gerry Weber Open, winning a thrilling contest, 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 over the Brothers Zverev. This, of course, was after the younger Zverev took a 6-1, 6-3 lesson from Roger Federer in the singles final.

Zverev had been looking to match a “royal” record established in 2005. Naturally, Federer, who has a lifetime contract at the Gerry Weber Open, set the standard. Twelve years ago, he defeated Marat Safin of Russia, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 for the singles trophy then teamed with countryman, Yves Allegro to down Joachim Johansson of Sweden and Safin, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 and score the only Halle double in history. Older brother, Misha Zverev wanted to duplicate the success he had in 2008 when, with Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, joined forces to defeat Lukáš Dlouhý of the Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India, 4-6, 6-3, 10-3.

Halle, the ATP Tour 500 series tournament, always showcases the game’s top international stars. Saying that the competition is first rate understates the quality found in the draws, annually. The fact that Alexander Zverev dropped both singles and doubles finals puts him a rarefied group of players. Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia was doubled down on the Gerry Weber Stadion grass in 1996. He was defeated by Nicklas Kulti of Sweden 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the singles final, and then lost with Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic when he came up 6-1, 7-5 short against Byron Black of Zimbabwe and Grant Connell of Canada in the doubles battle. (Safin also had a “double loss” Sunday in 2005.)

In order to complete the Halle history course, it should be noted that, that in 2000, David Prinosil of Germany stopped Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-2 for singles honors, but was a 7-6, 7-6 finalist, with Mahesh Bhupathi of India, against the Swedish tandem Nicklas Kulti and Mikael Tillström. Federer downed Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 7-6, 7-6 in the 2014 singles final. Andre Begemann of Germany and Julian Knowle of Austria kept the legend from adding to his stellar Halle record by scoring a 1-6, 7-5, 12-10 over the singles winner and his Basel pal, Marco Chiudinelli.

The 25th Gerry Weber Open was historic. Roger Federer, along with Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, claimed the trophies, but Alexander Zverev gave every indication why he is not only the game’s future, but a resource Halle will treasure for years to come.

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Lorenzo Musetti, Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov reach the semifinals in Chengdu

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Lorenzo Musetti moved past Arthur Rinderknech 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 28 minutes at the Chengdu Open to reach his third semifinal of the season following Barcelona and Bastad. 

 

Musetti earned his first break in the fourth game to win the first set 6-3. The Italian player broke twice in the first and ninth games to close out the second set 6-3. 

“It was a step forward from yesterday. Yesterday’s match gave me a lot of confidence and today I started very well, breaking him immediately and that was the key to my win. A really solid performance from the baseline and I am really happy to be in the semifinals”, said Musetti.   

Musetti set up a semifinal match against this year’s Wimbledon quarter finalist Roman Safiulin, who advanced to his first semifinal of the season as Jordan Thompson was forced to withdraw from the match after Safiulin had won the first set 7-6 (7-1). 

Alexander Zverev came back from one set down to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7 7-5 6-2. Zverev has reached his seventh semifinal this season. 

Kecmanovic earned an early break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Zverev broke straight back in the fifth game and held on his serve to draw level to 3-3. Kecmanovic broke for the second time in the 12th game to close out the first set 7-5. 

Zverev broke in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. Kecmanovic broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Zverev earned his second break in the 11th game to seal the second set 7-5. The German player earned two breaks in the first and seventh games to close out the third set 6-2. 

The German player is currently seventh in the ATP Race to Turin and is aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Zverev will face Grigor Dimitrov, who cruised to a 6-4 6-1 win over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell. Dimitrov, who won the 400th match win of his career at ATP Tour leve, is chasing his first title since his triumph at the 2017 ATP Finals. Dimitrov broke three times in the 10th game of the first set and in the second and sixth games of the second set.

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Wang Xiyu claims her first WTA title at the Guangzhou Open

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China’s Wang Xiyu claimed her first WTA Tour title after beating this year’s Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette 6-0 6-2 in the final of the Guangzhou Open. Wang Xiyu, US Open girls’ champion in 2018, dropped just one set en route to her first title. 

 

Linette beat Wang in their only previous match in the quarter finals in Hua Hin in 2020.   

Wang won 84% of her first service points and never faced a break point. The Chinese player hit eight winners to six unforced errors. 

Wang broke three times to take a bagel win in the second set. 

Wang earned an early break to open up a 2-0 lead in the second set. Linette won her first game before breaking back to draw level to 2-2, but Wang earned two more breaks in the fifth and seventh games to win the second set 6-2 after 80 minutes.   

Wang became the fifth Chinese champion in Guangzhou following in the footsteps of Li Na (2004), Yan Zi (2005), Zhang Shuai (2013 and 2017), Wang Qiang (2018). 

The 22-year-old player is the third Chinese champion this year after Zhu Lin in Hua Hin and Zheng Quinwen in Palermo. 

“It was very exciting and it’s a very emotional moment because every player is really tough. It’s very difficult to be here on the last day. I am very happy to be here and I think I cannot say it because it’s very emotional. I wanted a title from the first day, event when I started tennis. It was really a dream for me. I think there are going to be bigger tournaments, tougher matches waiting for me, and I am trying my best like I did this week”, said Wang Xiyu.

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Team World leads 4-0 over Team Europe after day one in the Laver Cup in Vancouver

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Team World took a 4-0 lead over Team Europe on Day one of the Laver Cup in Vancouver. 

 

This year’s US Open semifinal Ben Shelton came back from 1-4 down in the tie-break of the first set to beat Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in the opening singles match. 

“It’s different pressure, for sure. I love the type of pressure of playing for a team. In the back of your head, you don’t want to let them down, but the win is so much greater, when you get to do it for them and Team World, not just for yourself”, said Shelton. 

Francisco Cerundolo made a debut in the Laver Cup with a 6-3 7-5 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. 

Felix Auger Aliassime scored the third singles win for Team World by beating French veteran Gael Monfils 6-4 6-3. Auger Aliassime broke Monfils twice to win five straight games from 4-4 in the first set. The Canadian player won 85% of his first service points. 

Auger Aliassime improved to 3-2 in Laver Cup singles matches with this win.  

“It felt nice. Last year it was an amazing win in London, but if we can win on home soil for the first time, that would be also cool. It was our first win for Team World. To do it with the crowd supporting us, and for me especially as a Canadian, it feels good. It feels good to get a first win under my belt here in the competition, and overall in my season it’s nice to get some wins”, said Auger Aliassime. 

Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul came back from 0-3 down in the Match Tie-Break to beat Arthur Fils and Andrey Rublev 6-3 4-6 10-6 in the doubles match. The first team to reach 13 points will win the Laver Cup. Two points will be awarded for each win on Saturday, and three for each win on Sunday.

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