Tomas Berdych took a significant step in his quest to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for a seventh consecutive year, downing Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 7-5 in the Shenzhen Open semi-finals. He will face off against Richard Gasquet for the title. Defending champion Berdych needed one hour and 22 minutes to dispatch his Brazilian opponent, securing his place in the Shenzhen final once again. He fired nine aces and claimed an impressive 88 per cent first serve points, while converting four of 10 break chances. "It's always a pleasure to play in front of a full stadium here," said Berdych. "Today it was a great atmosphere and a great time to be on the court. I like the...
Albert Ramos-Vinolas backed up his victory over top seed Dominic Thiem by advancing to his first ATP World Tour hard-court final at the Chengdu Open on Saturday. The fifth-seeded Spaniard ousted third seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(6), 1-6, 7-6(3) in a titanic tussle lasting just under three hours. He will now face #NextGen star Karen Khachanov in the final. Ramos-Vinolas is currently at a career-high No. 31 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and poised to crack the Top 30 after reaching his third ATP World Tour final. After finishing runner-up in the Casablanca final four years ago (l. to Andujar), Ramos-Vinolas lifted his first trophy earlier this year on clay in Bastad, defeating Fernando Verdasco. [ALSO LIKE] “The match was tough,...
Aussie #NextGen star Nick Kyrgios made the most of his time at the Chengdu Open by visiting one of its main attractions on Saturday - the Cube Oceanarium. Located just five minutes from the Sichuan International Tennis Centre, at The Seaside City Shopping Mall, the Cube Oceanarium is the largest ocean viewing window in the world. It houses over 33,000 ocean creatures across seven themed zones, including one exclusive to jellyfish, which showcase the biggest jellyfish in the world. “I saw some sharks and stingrays and some jellyfish - those are probably the coolest things around," said Kyrgios. "I spent some time filming some iguanas as well. I like going to aquariums. I’ve been to one in Paris as well...
Richard Gasquet is through to his second ATP World Tour final of the season at the Shenzhen Open. The Frenchman was leading 6-2, 4-1 when Janko Tipsarevic was forced to retire from their semi-final clash with a groin injury. "Tennis is a tough sport," said Gasquet. "It’s difficult to have no injuries, especially at this time on the year. Our matches are very tough, physically everyone is getting better and better. The game is more and more demanding. He’s had injuries in the past, same as me, and I hope he will recover well." Competing in his 26th ATP World Tour final, Gasquet will look to win his 14th title when he faces defending champion Tomas Berdych. The right-hander lifted...
A third #NextGen star could be in line to win his first ATP World Tour title in 2016 after Karen Khachanov reached the Chengdu Open final with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over sixth seed Viktor Troicki on Saturday. Nick Kyrgios (Marseille, Atlanta) and Alexander Zverev (St. Petersburg) are both #NextGen first-time ATP winners this season. Taylor Fritz (Memphis) and Borna Coric (Chennai and Marrakech) have also reached their first finals in what has been a breakout season for the Next Generation on the ATP World Tour. The 20-year-old Khachanov has taken down three seeded players to reach the final of this ATP World Tour 250 tournament, also upsetting seventh seed Joao Sousa in the first round and fourth seed Feliciano...
