On the court, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been intense rivals. But on Wednesday, the two all-time greats were nothing more than old friends as Federer joined Nadal to celebrate the official opening of the Rafael Nadal Academy by Movistar in Nadal's hometown of Manacor, Mallorca. “I'm really here to honour the great man, Rafa. I think it's wonderful that he's taken this journey on to give the kids something back,” Federer said. “I've been around the game 17 years. I've seen a lot of hard workers and inspiring players, but you've been the one in my opinion who has been the most inspiring and most influential and made me the player I am today. Because you're left-handed, because...
Fourth seed Pablo Cuevas struck 11 aces to move past qualifier Jozef Kovalik 6-4, 7-6(4) on Wednesday and reach the European Open quarter-finals in Antwerp. He will meet Diego Schwartzman or #NextGen star Taylor Fritz, who won 80 per cent of his first-serve points and came back to beat German wild card Joris De Loore 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Third seed Richard Gasquet lost only two first-serve points (24/26) to beat Spaniard Inigo Cervantes 6-2, 6-4. Fifth seed Gilles Simon, who reached last week’s Shanghai Rolex Masters semi-finals, converted five of six break points in a 6-3, 6-2 victory against German qualifier Yannick Maden. It was Simon's 30th match win of the year. The Frenchman will face another German in round...
Rafael Nadal officially opened the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in his hometown, Manacor, Mallorca, on Wednesday. The high-performance centre combines tennis and education, so that students can continue their pathway to professional tennis without having to neglect their academic studies. “My future is here,” said Nadal. “I don’t imagine myself living away from Mallorca. The sport is my passion and creating this tennis academy is the most important part. You can also play lots of different sports here. I believe this is a centre that kids need. I will be very involved. “There is also an international school, which is important to maintain the academic schedule. The team of coaches here [directed by Toni Nadal] have a lot of...
No. 2 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas survived 10 aces from home favourite Evgeny Donskoy to win 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 in the second round of the VTB Kremlin Cup on Wednesday. Donskoy saved two match points to force a second-set tie-break, which he won to extend the match, but the Russian succumbed after a three-hour battle. Ramos-Vinolas will face Fabio Fognini in the quarter-finals. The Italian broke serve five times in downing countryman Paolo Lorenzi 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in two hours and 13 minutes. Fognini holds a commanding 7-0 lead in his FedEx ATP Hea2Head rivalry with Ramos-Vinolas and has never dropped a set against the left-hander on hard court. #NextGen star Karen Khachanov put up a good show for his home...
Gregoire Barrere, Mitchell Krueger, Omar Jasika and Daniil Medvedev feature in the second edition of the Young Guns Contest, which is part of Tecnifibre's On The Road to the ATP World Tour programme.
The four young players, who are attempting to rise up the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2016, will compete for a $50,000 prize based on their on-court results and also their ability to share their lives on social media.
After a year spent fighting for supremacy on court and on social media, here is how the Young Guns have performed:
