It's not often that Roger Federer walks through the grounds of an ATP World Tour event without memories of lifting the trophy. But that is the case this week in Montreal, as the Swiss makes his long-awaited return to the Stade Uniprix. Appearing for the first time in six years, Federer has reached the final just once in the Canadian metropolis, falling to Novak Djokovic in 2007. The Coupe Rogers has witnessed the 35 year old lift the trophy on two occasions, defeating Andy Roddick in 2004 and Richard Gasquet in 2006, but both victories came in Toronto (the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event alternates between the two cities every year). But Federer says that despite his lack of...
Montreal fans are among some of the most vocal and passionate on the ATP World Tour, which will create a rock concert atmosphere when home favourite Milos Raonic takes the court at the Coupe Rogers. The sixth seed will start his Montreal campaign against Adrian Mannarino or #NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev. Raonic has enjoyed success on home soil before, finishing runner-up at this event in 2013 (l. Nadal) and reaching at least the quarter-finals in four of his past five attempts. Most importantly, he has moved past the injuries that plagued him at the beginning of the season and is able to play and practise the way he wants. “I’ve been healthy physically for a while now, which is nice,”...
Rafael Nadal could reclaim his standing as World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings at the Coupe Rogers, but the Spaniard said he’s focused on the matches at hand for now. A semi-final finish in Montreal will allow top seed Nadal to unseat Andy Murray in the top spot, a position he hasn’t held since July 2014. But with several tricky opponents potentially standing between him and the last four, including home favourite Milos Raonic, red-hot John Isner and the always dangerous Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal said he can’t afford to look ahead. “I don’t even think about that now. I’m trying to have the right preparation now and that’s it,” said Nadal. “I’m going to keep trying...
The Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London kicked into high gear on Sunday in Washington, as the top two teams in 2017 clashed for the Citi Open crown. After a one-hour and 33-minute battle, it was top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers taking the title 7-6(5), 6-4 over No. 2 pairing Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. The Finnish-Aussie duo came up clutch in the big moments, firing 11 aces and saving both break points faced. "Every tournament we play, we feel more comfortable out there playing with each other," said Kontinen. "We're one of the contenders in every tournament. There are a lot of good teams out there. Kubot and Melo are exceptional too. We just have to play...
Before this week, outdoor hard courts had been the lone surface Alexander Zverev hadn't yet had success on during his career. But if his dominating week at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. is a sign, he's well on his way to mastering those conditions as well. The #NextGenATP German dropped only one set all week in the U.S. capital and finished the stretch with an exclamation point, beating South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first ATP World Tour 500 title. The 20-year-old Zverev has now won four titles this season – the Open Sud de France (indoor hard), the BMW Open by FWU (outdoor clay) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Rome (outdoor...