Top seed John Isner will vie for his third title at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open, setting a final clash against first-time ATP World Tour finalist Matthew Ebden on Sunday. World No. 21 Isner booked his spot in his 23rd tour-level final and first of the year with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-4 victory over Bjorn Fratangelo. The big-hitting American's serve was on song throughout the 73-minute affair, firing 15 aces, while not facing a break point. He won 78 per cent of total service points. "It went well and was a pretty good match," Isner, who has not dropped serve all week, told reporters. "I served well and started it off well. I was all over him from...
Transitioning between two surfaces in consecutive weeks is a difficult task, even for the most talented and most experienced of players. Ask anyone on tour and they will likely tell you that the summer swing from the European clay to grass and over to the North American hard courts is the toughest test of their abilities. Ruben Bemelmans is making the transition look easy this week at The Hague Open, a €64,000 event on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 29-year-old Belgian is peaking at the right time, extending his dominant form from a third round finish at Wimbledon to the clay of Scheveningen, where he advanced to his third Challenger final of the year. "For me, it's no problem," Bemelmans...
They beat him in ATP World Tour finals and denied him his Grand Slam dreams. But Andy Roddick said on Saturday during his induction speech at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport that he feels fortunate, not unlucky, to have played at the same time as all-time greats Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. “I can't believe the level of tennis that I got to see in my career. The shots hit, the records that were broken, and the records that continue to be broken. Thanks to Murray, Novak, Roger and Rafa for playing the game at a higher level than it's ever been played,” Roddick said. Trying to win titles against the 'Big Four'...
#NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev showed great maturity in reaching his first ATP World Tour final on Saturday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag. He will now meet fourth seed Paolo Lorenzi. World No. 74 Rublev knocked out wild card Ivan Dodig 7-6(4), 6-1 in one hour and 41 minutes to become the second teenager (after then 19-year-old Alexander Zverev at the Open Sud de France in February) to reach a tour-level final this year. "I'm happy that I'm in my first final," Rublev said. "The key was staying strong mentally. I feel that both of us weren't feeling really well on the court and the conditions were tough. It was more mental." The Moscow native is into the final...
David Ferrer recorded his 25th match win at the SkiStar Swedish Open on Saturday, where he hopes to claim his third title at the beach resort tournament against Alexandr Dolgopolov. It will be Ferrer’s first ATP World Tour final since October 2015 at the Erste Bank Open 500, one of five titles he won that year. Former World No. 3 Ferrer, who ranks fifth in the active title-leaders list behind the ‘Big Four’ with 26 career crowns, takes a 9-4 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Dolgopolov into the final. Dolgopolov did, however, win their last clash 6-4, 6-4 at the Rio Open presented by Claro in February. Eighth seed Ferrer cruised into his fourth Båstad final – and his 52nd...
