Had any other 18 year old experienced such a year, it would have been a dream debut season. During Taylor Fritz's first full year on the ATP World Tour, the American reached the final of the Memphis Open presented by ServiceMaster in only his second ATP World Tour tournament. He went on to make the quarter-finals in Acapulco and Atlanta. The #NextGenATP star finished the season even stronger, ending the year as the youngest player in the Top 100, which earned him the ATP Star Of Tomorrow presented by Emirates award. “That was a big thing for him to get the award from the ATP [World Tour],” said David Nainkin, Fritz's lead coach. Yet both Fritz and Nainkin look back...
Darian King would have deemed his Memphis Open a success had he qualified for just his second ATP World Tour main draw. Having done that, however, the 24-year-old entered uncharted territory on Tuesday when he took down No. 5 seed Bernard Tomic in the opening round to become the first player from Barbados in the Open Era to win an ATP World Tour match. The World No. 140 in the Emirates ATP Rankings prevailed 6-4, 6-4. “Playing against Bernard, the No. 5 seed is a dream come true, playing on Centre Court especially,” King said. “The discipline in Barbados is not as big so to come from there and compete against these guys as you can see, it’s a lot...
Robert Lindstedt had played at the Memphis Open three times prior to this year. But the Swede had always begged off on visiting St. Jude Children Research Hospital, which is headquartered in downtown Memphis. The hospital is a beneficiary of the Memphis Open and is often visited by ATP World Tour players during the tournament. Lindstedt had always passed on the trip because he knew what he'd see: Children battling life-threatening illnesses. St. Jude treats only children with catastrophic diseases, primarily cancer, sickle cell disease and paediatric HIV. The not-for-profit hospital doesn't charge its patients any money, instead relying on donations and grants to run the hospital, its eight affiliate clinics and its 24 partner sites throughout the world. [ALSO...
Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer took to a different court location on Tuesday ahead of the Argentina Open. The duo had a hit on Puente de la Mujer, a rotating footbridge in the commercial district of Buenos Aires. "It’s a really beautiful place here and [it's] really fun to have some time with David," said top seed Nishikori. "I hope I can stay healthy here this week and hope I can enjoy this week." [ALSO LIKE] "We were on the bridge, it was nice with Kei," added Ferrer. "It’s important for the tournament and we have fun." Nishikori will face the winner of the match between Diego Schwartzman and Facundo Bagnis, while Ferrer, the third seed, will open in the...
Grigor Dimitrov is ripping apart 2017. The 25-year-old Bulgarian comes into Rotterdam this week 14-1 on the season, with two ATP 250 titles in Brisbane and Sofia, and a strong run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open sandwiched in between. Dimitrov played what many considered the highest-quality match in Melbourne this year – a five-set, semi-final thriller against Rafael Nadal. Dimitrov rose two spots this week in the Emirates ATP Rankings, up to No. 12. His highest ranking was No. 8 in August, 2014. He is perfectly poised to surpass that in the next few months, as he has very few points to defend from 2016 Masters 1000 events from March through to the next Grand Slam event at Roland...
