Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Donald Young of the U.S. advanced to the Roland Garros semi-finals on Monday, upsetting fifth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4). Murray/Soares served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and had a match point at 40/30, but Gonzalez and Young, playing together for only the second time, strung together three consecutive points to break and stay in the quarter-final contest. The next game, they erased a break point and held, and they later took the tie-break to even the match. Neither team broke in the decider, but Gonzalez/Young claimed their first match point. Gonzalez/Young actually won eight fewer points than Murray/Soares during the two-hour and 19-minute match, 111 to...
Tomas Berdych and 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic have split after 10 months together. Berdych announced the change on his social media on Monday. The World No. 14 lost last week in the second round at Roland Garros to #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov. It was Berdych's earliest exit from the clay-court Grand Slam since 2013, when he lost in the first round to Frenchman Gael Monfils. “Goran and I will not be working together anymore. I enjoyed the ride and we will remain great friends. Wish him all the best in the future and I am committed to go after my goals with current team,” wrote Berdych, who also works with Luka Kutanjac. News from my team...️#tbteam pic.twitter.com/vnSNRRXgdh — Tomáš...
Rafael Nadal may be peerless on clay with nine titles and a 76-2 record at Roland Garros, but Toni Nadal still admits he feels nervous if his nephew wins too easily. Nadal has lost just 20 games in four matches this year at the clay-court Grand Slam championship and remains on track to capture his 10th trophy without dropping a set – as he did at Roland Garros in 2008 and 2010. “I am always scared when we win easily,” admitted Toni Nadal. “Then you have a close match where you are 4-4, 5-5 and you get surprised to reach that stage… The first week has been perfect or at least that’s what the results show. Rafael has won his...
Don't look now but third seed Stan Wawrinka appears to be rounding into championship form again at Roland Garros. The 2015 titlist withstood Gael Monfils' best defensive tennis on Monday, combating the Frenchman's athletic ability with a barrage of power to advance 7-5, 7-6(7), 6-2 in two hours and 46 minutes. Wawrinka moves into his third consecutive Roland Garros quarter-final and his fourth overall. The 32-year-old Swiss also continued his dominance against Frenchmen at their home Grand Slam. He has won nine of his 10 match-ups against Frenchmen at Roland Garros. “It was a really close two sets. I think was a tough match, tough conditions, quite windy, a lot of tension, because we know each other so well. So...
Kei Nishikori advanced to his eighth Grand Slam championship quarter-final on Monday when he defeated Fernando Verdasco 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 at Roland Garros in two hours and 35 minutes. Eighth seed Nishikori will now challenge World No. 1 Andy Murray, who reached last year’s final. Murray leads 8-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and won their lone clay-court clash at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open. "We have played so many times," said Nishikori. "He's a great player, a very smart tennis player. It's never easy, and I think this week he's been playing well. He's hitting great balls. So I'm sure it's going be tough one, but I will try to enjoy it and try to win the...