The Nitto ATP Finals in Turin start the countdown with the official press conference - UBITENNIS
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The Nitto ATP Finals in Turin start the countdown with the official press conference

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3 years ago

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The countdown to the 2021 ATP Finals in Turin has begun. The best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams will take part in the eigh-day tournament to be held from 14 to 21 November 2021 at the Pala Alpitour in Turin. 

 

The Turin tournament was officially presented to the Italian media in a press conference held at the headquarter of Intesa San Paolo, the Host Partner of the ATP Finals, in Turin. The press conference was attended by ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi, Italian Tennis Federation President Angelo Binaghi and Turin Major Chiara Appendino, who is a keen tennis fan. 

With less than one year to go, the press conference marked the launch of a coordinated national and international communication campaign by the City of Turin, Piedmont Region, Turin Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Turin, the ATP and the Italian Tennis Federation. The ticket sale has just start. Spectators and tourists will be able to follow matches and experience throughout the city. Ticketing promotion will be focused on attracting younger generations and schools closer to tennis.

“I started working as ATP President last year and I was behing the scenes as a Board Member of the ATP, when the cities presented their bid to host this event. Turin showed passion enthusiasm and this made the difference. Italy has hosted the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for many years and has shown that this country is able to host high-quality events. We want to attract a lot of fans in the next years. We started this year with the pandemic, but I am optimistic that we will overcome this crisis and the ATP Finals will be a very successful event. Italian players are reaching a very good level and it’s a very important factor for the future success of the ATP Finals“, said ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.

“Launching the countdown to the tournament is an exciting milestone, and we look forward to five years of close collaboration with all event partners, to build upon the growth of our season finale. We are very ambitious. We have set a very high standard in 12 years when London hosted the ATP Finals from 2009 to 2020. The event attracted more than 3 million spectators in 12 years. I am confident that Turin, Piedmont and Italy will make a great job. As a former player my dream was to qualify for the ATP Finals, but I have never managed to fulfil this goal, but I am happy that I will take part at this tournament as ATP President. As Italian, I am happy that Italy will host the Finals. The tournament has been hosted in cities around the world. I am very proud. We will do a great job.

“We thank our sponsors Nitto, Emirates, FedEx, Rolex and Dunlop. Without their support it would not be possible to host this tournament. We have one billion of fans in five continents. We have to do a lot of work, but this tournament is a great opportunity to promote our sport. We hope to improve the distribution of this event through the media and show a high-level tournament to our fans. The Finals are the most important tournament for the ATP, as this tournament crowns the best player of the season. We hope that we will be back to normal and return to our traditional ATP Race to Turin, that includes only the results from 1 January 2021. We are confident that we will have a normal calendar and host the clay tournaments in their traditional dates”.

It has been two years since Turin bid to host the Nitto ATP Finals from 2021 to 2025 after prevailing over forty foreign cities. 

“We would not have done it without the passion and drive of the region, in particular the Mayor of Turin Chiara Apendino, and without the support of the Government, the Piedmont Region and our brand partners. The ATP Finals are the most important indoor tournament in the world. To win the bid to host the ATP Finals was like climbing the Mount Everest. The success of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia was the recognition of years of work and we continued to set higher goals. We have built a great team with the Italian Government, the Italian region, the City of Turin and our sponsors and our goal is to host a great edition in 2021. Our goal is to make 15000 spectators true tennis fans. We also want to show our recognition to the local partners, who have shown their support”, said Angelo Binaghi. 

Turin is aiming its long tradition in hosting big sport events that started in 2006 with the Winter Olympic Games. 

“I feel emotional. When we presented our bid, we had only a very small chance to win it, but we have never given up and we continued working hard as a team. Without the support of our local parners, we would have never managed to win the bid. We will welcome the best players in the world and we want to stage a great event. Turin has a long tradition of sport, and thanks to an extraordinary team effort, we are delighted to bring the Nitto ATP Finals to our city. We look to the next five years with determination, confident in the knowledge the event that will have a positive economic impact to our territory and strenthen the image of Turin all over the world”, said Chiara Appendino.

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Hamad Medjedovic wins the Next Gen Finals title in Jeddah

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2 days ago

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02/12/2023

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Hamad Medjedovic came back from one set down to beat Arthur Fils 3-4 (6-8) 4-1 4-2 3-4 (9-11) 4-1 after 2 hours and 11 minutes at the Next Gen ATP Finals at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. 

 

Medjedovic hit 38 winners to 21 unforced errors. 

The first set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Medjedovic earned a mini-break to take a 3-2 lead and held two set points at 6-4, but he was not able to convert them. Fils won four consecutive points to win the tie-break 8-6. 

Medjedovic earned a break in the second game to win the second set 4-1. 

Medjedovic becomes the sixth Next Gen ATP Finals champion, joining top 10 players Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The 20-year-old Serbian player is the lowest-ranked champion in tournament history. 

Medjedovic started the third set with an early break in the first game. The Serbian player held on his serve to seal the set 4-2. 

Medjedovic recovered from squandering two match points at 6-4 in a thrilling tie-break of the fourth set at 5-6 and 7-8. Fils saved both chances on second serves and won four of the next five points to win the tie-break 11-9 forcing the match to a deciding set. 

to win the first five-set final in tournament history. The Serbian player won 88% and converted his third match point to clinch the biggest title of his career so far. 

Medjedovic earned a break in the second game of the fifth set. Fils earned himself a penalty point for a smash of his raquet and went down 0-3. Medjedovic held on his next service games and converted his third match point. 

“Two of us from Serbia. Djokovic won the big Masters, the real one, and I won the Next Gen. Obviously it’s a huge thing and I am happy to follow in his footsteps in some way. I can’t believe I have won this title. It’s going to give me a lot of confidence for 2024. Arthur is an amazing player. He is top 40 for a reason”, said Medjedovic. 

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Elena Rybakina headlines a strong line-up in Adelaide

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2 days ago

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02/12/2023

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Elena Rybakina, Zheng Qinwen, Carolina Garcia and Angelique Kerber will highlight the Adelaide International, a WTA 500 tournament.

 

Rybakina reached the final at the Adelaide International on her tournament debut in 2022, losing to now retired Ashleigh Barty. Rybakina went on to win her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon later last year. The Kazakh player finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final in 2023. 

Zheng won her first WTA 500 title in Zhengzhou and reached the final in Zhuhai, ending the 2023 season at a career-high of world number 15. 

Angelique Kerber will make her come-back to the WTA Tour at the United Cup before playing her first WTA draw in Adelaide. Kerber gave birth to her daughter Liana last February. The German player won titles at the 2016 Australian Open and in Sydney 2018 and reached in Sydney 2014 and in Brisbane 2018. 

Kerber is one of the three former number 1 players, who are making her come-back on the WTA Tour after giving birth to their children. 

Caroline Wozniacki lost to eventual champion Coco Gauff in the Round of 16 at the US Open in her third tournament back. 

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is planning to make her return next January after giving back to her child Shai last July. 

“It’s definitely way more tournaments than I used to play. So I think some people will be happy with that. I realized that I don’t know how the beginning of the year is going to go for me. I don’t know the level of player and I think I have to ease into it. At the very least, I will set myself up for a very good end of the year”, said Osaka.

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Arthur Fils beats Luca Van Assche in all-French semifinal at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

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3 days ago

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01/12/2023

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World number 36 Arthur Fils beat his friend Luca Van Assche 2-4 4-1 4-3 (7-1) 4-3 (8-6) in an all-French clash after 1 hour and 37 minutes to reach the final at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. 

 

Van Assche, who was born in Belgium but moved to Belgium when he was three years old, broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and served out the first set to 15. Van Assche won 12 of the last 14 points. 

Fils hit a couple of big forehands to earn three break points at 2-1 15-40. Van Assche saved one break point with a volley, but Fils converted his second chance to open up a 3-1 lead, as Van Assche netted a backhand. Fils served out with a hold at 15 to level the match at one set apiece. 

The first five games of the third set went on serve. Van Assche led 2-3 30-40 on Fils’serve to earn two set points. 

Fils saved them before racing out to a 5-0 lead. Van Assche won his first point with a forehand. Fils earned five set points and closed it out when Van Assche netted a backhand. 

Fils won 22 consecutive points on his first serve until 2-1 in the fourth set. Van Assche faced a match point at 2-3, but Van Assche saved it to force another tie-break. Fils opened up a 4-1 with a mini-break. Van Assche won three points to 4-4 before saving two match points at 4-6 and 5-6. Fils hit a forehand to earn a fourth match point and converted it when Van Assche sent a backhand over the baseline. 

Van Assche beat Fils in the boys’ singles final at 2021 Roland Garros. Fils won his first title in Lyon last May. 

“I played every point trying everything with my forehand, moving very good. I was very happy with the tie-break. Today was a tough match against a great friend. We have known each other since we were nine, so it was a little bit tough and I am happy with the win. I came onto the court with the mindset that I can win. The first set was tough, he was playing very good and defending so well, running very fast. I kept my focus and I am really happy with the win”, said Fils. 

Fils set up a final clash against Hamad Medjedovic, who advanced to the championships match, when Dominic Stricker was forced to withdraw in the second set due to a back injury in the semifinal. 

Medjedovic was leading 4-3 (7-5) 2-1 when Stricker walked to the net and ended the match. 

Medjedovic hit 12 winners to 3 unforced errors. The Serbian player won three matches in the round-robin group. 

Medjedovic won 93% of his first serve points in the first set. Stricker did not drop a point on his first serve. Medjedovic earned his only mini-break to seal the tie-break 7-5. 

Medjedovic earned an early break in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead before Stricker retired from the match. 

Medjedovic reached two semifinals in Gstaad and Astana. He is coached by Viktor Troicki. Stricker advanced to the semifinals at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. 

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