Fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber brought his best tennis on Monday at the Apia International Sydney, recording a convincing 6-4, 6-4 win over a tricky opponent in Fabio Fognini. Kohlschreiber landed 75 per cent of his first serves in the second set and controlled the baseline rallies throughout the match to prevail in one hour and 21 minutes. Next up for him is the winner of the wild card battle between Aussies Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis. In other first-round matches, Australian qualifier Matthew Barton delighted the local crowd with a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win over Kyle Edmund. In a match featuring no breaks of serve, Barton saved a set point serving at 4-5 and grabbed the final three points of the...
Next Gen ATP star Karen Khachanov met up with top New Zealand chef Nic Watt for a helicopter visit to Waiheke Island during the ASB Classic. Photo: ASB Classic
Day 1 at the ASB Classic in Auckland saw seventh seed Steve Johnson and sixth seed Feliciano Lopez move through their first-round matches on Monday. Johnson opened up main draw action on Centre Court with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Stephane Robert. The American dropped just three points on his first serve during the match (28/31) and kept Robert on the defense throughout. Next up for Johnson is the winner between #NextGenATP star Karen Khachanov and Yen-Hsun Lu. Lopez had a more difficult test against wild card and local favourite Michael Venus. The doubles specialist got the crowd involved by grabbing the opening set, but Lopez regrouped to score a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory. The Spaniard next plays the winner...
Grigor Dimitrov secured his fifth ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, defeating Kei Nishikori 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. The Bulgarian, who is in the process of returning to his top level, has demonstrated that he is well on his way after the first tournament of the 2017 season. Following his victory over Nishikori, Dimitrov's coach Dani Vallverdu assessed his pupil's preseason regimen, how he continues grow and learn and his great week in Brisbane. "Normally, the focus is never on the first week of the year, but you intend to be prepared to compete well," Vallverdu told ATPWorldTour.com. "The priority of the preseason is to create a good plan for the year. It is...