Khachanov Outlasts Crowd Favourite to Reach Montreal QF - UBITENNIS
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Khachanov Outlasts Crowd Favourite to Reach Montreal QF

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Courtesy: ATP Media/TennisTV

-Montreal, Quebec

Karen Khachanov spoiled the party in Montreal on Thursday afternoon. Not only did he defeat Montreal native Felix Auger-Aliassime at his home tournament, he sent him home on his birthday no less.

Khachanov and Auger-Aliassime played a two hour 50 minute entertaining three setter on Court Central in the 3rd Round of the Rogers Cup and it was the 22-year old Russian who got the better of the 19-year old Canadian 6-7 (7-9), 7-5, 6-3.

It wasn’t the cleanest of matches between the two opponents. Both players combining for 98 unforced errors as opposed to just 53 winners. 12 of Auger-Aliassime’s 52 mistakes were double faults, something that has plagued the teenager in matches of late.

The crowd was understandably very pro Auger-Aliassime but at times they got a little too carried away. Fans began shouting “out” on a couple of occasions when a Khachanov ball appeared close to the baseline. The World No. 8 got somewhat agitated and chair umpire Mohammed Lahyani had to ask the crowd to be respectful to both players.

Khachanov who has won four career ATP titles, had a chance to take the opening set on several occasions. He served for the opener up 5-4 but was quickly broken after making three of his 23 errors in the set. He then lead 6-4 in the tiebreak but couldn’t convert either of his set points. After missing a forehand to go down 8-7 in the breaker, Khachanov whacked a ball entirely out of the stadium in frustration and received a warning from Lahyani. Auger-Aliassime hammered a big serve a short time later and the set was his.

In the second set, Auger-Aliassime looked to be building momentum breaking Khachanov in the opening game and then quickly  holding serve at Love to go up 2-0.

However, the Canadian couldn’t contain the lead. Auger-Aliassime was broken in three straight service games which again gave Khachanov a chance to serve out the set. But he couldn’t do it, as he was broken at Love.

Three games later he did get the job done. A double fault and a pair of forehands including one that went long on set point evened up the match for the No. 6 seed.

The difference in the third set came in the fourth game. With Auger-Aliassime beginning to look tired Khachanov gave himself two break point chances in the game. He converted the second after Auger-Aliassime sent a backhand long. That gave the Russian a 3-1 lead. Despite the Canadian crowd urging their player on, Khachanov was unfazed and wasn’t really challenged in his final service games. He finished things off with a big serve down the middle and sent the pro Auger-Aliassime crowd home disappointed.

“I’m happy. I have to stay proud of what I’ve done,” said the birthday boy. “For sure frustrated because it was a big occasion. There was a lot of expectations, pressure, you name it. I think I handled that well. But to be playing in the end good and to lead in a match, to have a chance to win… It’s tough to see it slip away, but there’s reason for that. It just means that I still have things to improve to win these type of matches and to deal better with these type of moments.”

“It was rollercoaster match. Sometimes it’s called winning ugly,” said Khachanov.  I think of the conditions and everything, it was completely different comparing when I played against Stan yesterday. I think it was really a competitive match from both of us. Felix is a great player, as I said many times before.”

At the end of the match as the players shook hands, the TV microphones picked up the Russian saying “Sorry” to his opponent. It was a moment Khachanov explained after the match to the Press.

“I didn’t have anything against him, so I just said sorry like in terms if he felt that I was going against him, that I was not polite to him. I just said sorry so he doesn’t think it was against him. I just explain him that it was the crowd. I don’t have anything against when they cheer for Felix. It’s normal. He’s home favorite, especially from Montreal. I wish they could cheer the same way in Russia for me (smiling). But still, you know, not when I miss or not wishing me to miss, screaming during the points, Out. I think it’s unrespectful. I just got crazy. On the other side, I provoke the crowd, and that gave me also some kind of energy, as well.”

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Alcaraz Halts Sinner’s Winning Streak To Reach The Final In Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells fending off Jannik Sinner’s assault to his ATP no. 2 spot

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Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz (right) - Indian Wells 2024 (photo Twitter X @BNPPARIBASOPEN)

All good things come to an end. Jannik Sinner was on a 19-match winning streak since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals that included his first Grand Slam win in Australia last January, and appeared as the most in-form player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season. But as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in an eagerly-awaited semifinal, he was unable to continue his quest for the third consecutive title of the season, succumbing to the Spaniard 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The match was a face-off for the no. 2 spot in the ATP ranking that Alcaraz will still occupy next Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final, and this is a much-needed confidence boost for him after a disappointing start of the season where he was handily beaten in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Zverev and did not win any tournament during the South American clay court swing where he was ousted by Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires and had to retire for an ankle injury at the Rio Open.

The match, originally scheduled for 1.30 pm Pacific Time, had to be suspended for over three hours after only three games because of an unusual downpour. As the match resumed, Sinner appeared once again the perfectly-tuned machine that had been crushing opponents with metronomic regularity for the past weeks while Alcaraz was struggling to keep up with his opponent’s pace from the baseline.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Italian who cruised to a comprehensive 6-1 in 27 minutes: Alcaraz was tentative from the baseline and could not find the right position to fire his screamers and change the tactical discourse of the match. “Then at the beginning of the second set, as I saw he was making a lot of mistakes, I tried to be as solid as possible when I should have kept pushing instead – Sinner said during his press conference – and that’s what cost me the match in the end”.

While serving at 1-2 in the second set, a few uncharacteristic forehand mistakes started to dot his thus far spotless game, and that cost him the break that sent Alcaraz flying to a 4-1 advantage. The Spaniard then found the confidence to change his return position and make Sinner work a lot more on his service games, as the Italian struggled to find a countermeasure to the tactical shift in the match: “I kept doing the same thing over and over again”, Sinner stressed, and forehand unforced errors started to pile up to reach the burdensome number of 27 at the end of the match.

Sinner had the chance to find his way back into the second set while Alcaraz was serving at 3-5, but Carlos cancelled his break point with a laser backhand down the line that had the 15,000-strong crowd cheering on their feet.

The third set ran away very quickly from the Italian, who started touching repeatedly the back of his left leg around his knee. Sinner got broken again during the third game, and while going for a last-ditch attempt to recover a short volley by Alcaraz he tumbled to the ground slightly injuring his right elbow and arm. From there onwards it was just more mistakes by Sinner and a clinical execution by Alcaraz on how to take home a match.

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“It Feels Great’ – Novak Djokovic Marks Indian Wells Return With Milestone Win

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Novak Djokovic - Indian Wells 2024 (foto Ubitennis)

Novak Djokovic says he still has a ‘great feeling’ in Indian Wells after playing his first match at the event for five years. 

The world No.1 battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, win over Aleksandar Vukic in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. It was a far from smooth encounter for Djokovic, who hit 23 winners and won 83% of his first service points. In the second set, he was broken twice with the second of those occurring when he was serving at 5-6. Nevertheless, he battled back in the decider to win. 

This year is the first time Djokovic has been able to play in the Masters 1000 event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, he was unable to play the next three editions due to restrictions placed on unvaccinated foreign visitors to America. Despite the absence, the five-time champion states that his love for the event is as strong as ever.

“It feels great to come back with the win. It’s been five years and the great feeling is still there. I enjoyed myself very much. Beautiful stadium. Great atmosphere.” Djokovic said during his press conference. 
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning. I haven’t played a match in more than five weeks. I thought the start was good. Then I think he upped his game.
“I probably lost a little bit of the momentum. We got into the third set, I thought the level of the tennis was pretty good in the third. Great points. He made me produce some really important points in games in order to prevail in this match. I’m glad that I was pushed, as well, which is important.”

Djokovic’s latest victory is his 400th in a Masters 1000 tournament. He is only the second player in history to have reached this milestone since the tournament category was introduced in 1990. The first to do so was Rafael Nadal who currently has 406 wins to his name. 

He could create more history in Indian Wells should the Serbian go on to claim the title this year. If he does, he would become the first man to have won it for a sixth time. Although Djokovic is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. 

“I would love to,” he said of trying to claim a sixth title. “Obviously there is still a long way to get to the title match, but it’s a good start.’
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”

Djokovic will play Italy’s Luca Nardi in the next round. 

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Carlos Alcaraz Brushes Aside Injury Doubts To Reach Indian Wells Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is into the third round at Indian Wells after a three set win over Matteo Arnaldi.

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(@BNPPARIBASOPEN - Twitter)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury doubts to edge past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells.

The world number two had to endure an aggressive opening set from the in-form Italian to reach the third round.

After a tight opening set, Alcaraz raced through the last two sets as he set up a third round showdown with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard had entered this match with injury doubts after retiring from his match with Thiago Monteiro in Rio De Janeiro.

However Alcaraz was very pleased with how his ankle held up as he moved on in California, “Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.

“It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that. I had to change just a few things. I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.

“But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well. But I think I have to get a good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this one. This [is a] really special tournament for me. I want to do it well. This is the first match playing high intensity and I didn’t know how it’s going respond, the ankle.

“I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving differently, hitting the ball differently. My game is playing aggressive all the time. And try to stay calm and wait for my chances.

“When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big difference.”

Alcaraz will hope for a good week this week as he defends the Indian Wells title as he aims to win a first title since Wimbledon this week.

Next for the Spaniard will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Constant Lestienne in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime currently leads the head-to-head 3-1 but Alcaraz won their last meeting in Indian Wells last year.

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