ATP

NextGen Crashes Out Of Cincinnati In An Upset-Filled Afternoon

Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov are sent packing, only Andrey Rublev survives

Published

12 months ago

15/08/2019

It appears that more than one top player has got stuck in the mud that is surrounding the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. Just as several cars were forced to request a “towing help” to get back on the road after the thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday evening turned the parking lots into muddy pits, on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon in Southern Ohio quite a few big names have not managed to continue their ride towards the final rounds of the Western&Southern Open.

The first top player to bow out of the tournament was sixth-seed Japanese Kei Nishikori, who suffered a 7-6(2) 6-4 loss to his fellow countryman Yoshihito Nishioka. Nishikori appeared not to be on his best day as he called for the doctor twice during the match: the first time he complained about not being able to breathe properly, and he was given a nasal spray to help decongest his sinus. A few games later, after he lacklusterly lost the first set, he was given some tablets, but his performance remained well below par, allowing Nishioka to record the most important win of his career, against the player who is almost a legend in Japanese tennis.

Immediately after Nishioka’s celebrations, Cincinnati’s Grandstand offered another upset: No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, after crashing out of the Rogers Cup in Montreal on his first match one week ago, came across another unexpected loss against German Jan-Lennard Struff (n. 36 ATP), who conceded only 19 points on his serve (out of 98) in the entire match, and scored an impressive 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(8) win.

As the afternoon proceeded and the temperature climbed above the 30-degree mark, Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev, today No 70 as he is rebuilding his ranking after a lower back stress fracture, booked his spot to play Roger Federer in the third-round defeating Stan Wawrinka by 6-4, 6-4.

But the most stunning upset of the day came saw another qualifier, Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, defeated No. 7 seed Alexander Zverev 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, taking full advantage of the deflagration of the German’s serve. Zverev had already manifested some issues with his serve last week in Montreal, when he served 14 double faults during his victorious third-round match against Nikoloz Basilashvili, but today the full extent of the problem appeared when the German double faulted almost one in two second serves he tried to play during the two hours, 20 minutes match.

After Tsitsipas and Zverev, another representative of the “NextGen” was sent packing ahead of schedule: Canadian Denis Shapovalov was eliminated in straight sets (6-4 6-4) by Frenchman Lucas Pouille in a match played on Court 4 where stands were packed at capacity and fans had resorted to climbing to the top row of the nearby Court 3 stands to catch a glimpse of the action. Pouille led the match from start to finish, never allowing Shapovalov to find rhythm on his return and neutralizing very effectively the Canadian’s left-handed serve trajectories. The Frenchman broke very early in both sets and carried the lead to the end to reach the third round in Cincinnati, sending Shapovalov to a ranking position that most likely will prevent him from being seeded at the forthcoming US Open.

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ATP

Petra Martic comes back from one set down to beat Ludmila Samsonova in Palermo

Published

23 hours ago

06/08/2020

sampaolo

Top seed Petra Martic from Croatia came back from one set down to beat qualifier and world number 117 Ludmila Samsonova 5-7 6-4 6-2.

Martic saved six break points in the 10th game of the opening set, but Samsonova converted her third break point in the 12th game to win the first set 7-5.

Martic earned an early break in the first game to open up a 2-0 lead. Samsonova broke back at love in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Martic broke for the second time in the ninth game to win the second set 6-4. The Croatian player broke twice in the third and seventh games to close out the third set 6-2.

Martic will face world number 50 Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus in the quarter finals. Sasnovich came through the qualifying round before beating Jasmine Paolini in straight sets.

Former top 30 Camila Giorgi rallied from losing the first set to beat Slovenian teenager Kaja Juvan 3-6 6-2 6-4 after 2 hours reaching her second WTA quarter final of the season. Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 outbreak Giorgi reached the top 8 in Lyon. Juvan qualified for the Main Draw at the Australian Open and beat five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in three sets at the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco.

Giorgi started with an early break at deuce at the start of the first set and opened a 2-0 lead. Juvan broke twice to take a 4-3 lead. Giorgi dropped serve for the third time after a double fault on the set point.

Giorgi came back from 1-2 down by winning five consecutive games with two consecutive breaks in the fifth and seventh games.

Giorgi broke twice to race out to a 3-0 lead at the start of the third set. Juvan pulled one break back at love in the fourth game but Giorgi got another break to race out to a 5-1 lead. Juvan broke at 30, when Giorgi was serving for the match at 5-2. The Italian player earned two match points and sealed the win on her second chance.

“I think I was more solid in playing my game. I was moving more forward, so it was much for me. At the start of the match, I was making too many tactical mistakes because I was trying to finish points for no reason. I started to adopt better tactics in the second set and that’s when things started working for me”, said Giorgi.

Number 4 seed Anett Kontaveit from Estonia came back from one set down to beat Laura Siegemund 3-6 6-2 6-2 after 2 hours and 20 minutes booking her spot in the quarter finals at the Palermo Ladies Open.

The Estonian player has reached her third quarter final this year after the Australian Open and Dubai.

Kontaveit set up a quarter final against Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who became the youngest Italian player to reach the quarter final of a tournament since Sara Errani in 2006.

“I am quite happy about the way I was handling close situations, playing the close games and turning the close games around. I thought I actually handled that sort of pressure, that I didn’t think I would be used to, quite well”, said Kontaveit.

ATP

Andrea Gaudenzi recognizes the contribution of the Italian Tennis Federation in staging the Internazionali d’Italia

Published

2 days ago

05/08/2020

sampaolo

ATP President and former Italian tennis player Andrea Gaudenzi spoke in an interview to Italian TV channel Supertennis about staging the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome before the French Open and recognised the contribution of the Italian tennis Federation (FIT) in staging the tournament in the Italian capital.

The Rome ATP Masters 1000 and WTA Premier 5 tournaments will be held from 20th to 27th September one week before the French Open (27th September to 11th October).

“We are grateful to everyone, holding an event this year is difficult from an organizational and financial point of view. We thank the Italian Federation and those who organize the Challengers. Italy is making a great contribution. I think the players are waiting for the BNL Internazionali d’Italia. The Foro Italico is among the most beautiful venues in the world. Rome is splendid in September”, said Gaudenzi.

During his tennis career Gaudenzi scored wins over Roger Federer in Rome 2002, Pete Sampras in the first round of the 2002 French Open, Jim Courier in the 1994 US Open, Goran Ivanisevic, Thomas Muster, Michael Stich and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Gaudenzi claimed three ATP titles in Casablanca in 1998, St. Poelten and Bastad in 2002. He graduated in law at the Bologna University and obtained a MBA with Honours at IUM.

ATP

No US Open For Rafael Nadal Due To COVID-19 Concerns

The will be no men’s world No.1 in New York this year.

Published

3 days ago

04/08/2020

Adam Addicott

BY EMIL EVTIMOV

The 2020 US Open will be staged without it’s defending champion Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard has withdrawn from this year’s tournament which is set to start in New York later this month.

The reason for his decision is the ongoing COVID-19 situation and the increased number of cases lately. His participation was always in doubt given his interviews in the previous weeks where he stated his concerns about the situation with the pandemic.

The world No.2 announced his decision through the social media. He thanked the organizers for their efforts staging the event and described the decision as a one he “never wanted to take”.

View this post on Instagram

Tras pensarlo mucho he decidido no participar en el US Open de este año. La situación sanitaria sigue muy complicada en todo el mundo con casos de COVID-19 y rebrotes que parecen fuera de control. Sabemos que el calendario de este año tras 4 meses sin jugar es una barbaridad, si bien entiendo y agradezco los esfuerzos que todas las partes están poniendo para que se jueguen torneos. Acabamos de tener la noticia de que el torneo de Madrid también ha sido anulado. A dia de hoy la situación es complicada para hacer torneos y todo mi respeto a la USTA, organizadores del US Open y a la ATP por los esfuerzos que están haciendo para que se juegue el torneo para los millones de fans que lo verán por TV o en las plataformas digitales. Esta es una decisión que no querría tomar pero en este caso sigo mi corazón para decidir que por ahora prefiero no viajar. After many thoughts I have decided not to play this year’s US Open. The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still don’t have control of it. We know that the reduced tennis calendar is barbaric this year after 4 months stopped with no play, I understand and thank for the efforts they are putting in to make it happen. We have just seen the announcement of Madrid not being played this year. All my respects to the USTA, the US Open organisers and the ATP for trying to put the event together for the players and the fans around the world through TV. This is a decision I never wanted to take but I have decided to follow my heart this time and for the time being I rather not travel.

A post shared by Rafa Nadal (@rafaelnadal) on Aug 4, 2020 at 11:12am PDT

This means that for the first time since the 1999 US Open there will be a Grand Slam tournament (if played) that will not have either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in the field. With the absent of the Spaniard the second seed in New York should be Dominic Thiem. The other big names missing in the entry list are Gael Monfils, Fabio Fognini, Stan Wawrinka, Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille. At the moment, the last direct entry in the main draw goes to world No. 127 Sumit Nagal.

As for Nadal, after the cancellation of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid and his decision about US Open, his 2020 season can restart at the earliest in Rome, the only one clay Masters tournament still in the calendar, starting on 20 September.