Some players feel pressure playing in front of a home crowd, but Australian teenager Omar Jasika has been thriving on it. The Tecnifibre player finished 2016 by reaching his first ATP Challenger Tour semi-final in Canberra, and has started 2017 with his career-best result. Competing at this week’s $75,000 event in Happy Valley, the 19-year-old wild card from Melbourne upset fifth seed Norbert Gombos in the opening round and took out fourth seed Peter Polansky in the quarter-finals. On Saturday, he fought through Joris De Loore to prevail in a third-set tie-break and advance to his first Challenger final. “I love playing at home and enjoy playing in front of the Aussie crowd,” said Jasika. “I had a pretty good...
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are starting 2017 right where they left off in 2016. On Saturday, the two will play for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title, the first singles crown to be decided during the young 2017 ATP World Tour season. “It's a great test tomorrow. To start the year, it's great to play against one of the best in the world,” Murray said. “We know each other's games better than we know anyone else's.” Murray advanced to the title match by beating third seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 on Friday evening. The Scot extended two streaks with the one-hour and 41-minute victory. Murray pushed his overall winning streak to 28. He also beat Berdych for the seventh consecutive...
Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin have claimed the first ATP World Tour title of 2017. The Frenchmen dismissed third seeds Vasek Pospisil and Radek Stepanek 6-4, 7-6(3) in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open doubles final on Friday to celebrate their first team doubles title. Their familarity with each other certainly paid off this week. Chardy and Martin have known each other since they were eight years old and have played together in the past, including last year at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. They reached the quarter-finals at both events. [ALSO LIKE] “We knew we could beat some good teams,” Martin said. “For me, especially to win with Jeremy, it's the best win I can...
Roberto Bautista Agut fought back from deficits in the second and deciding sets to beat 2008 champion Mikhail Youzhny on Friday for a place in the Aircel Chennai Open semi-finals. Second seed Bautista Agut, who is bidding to capture his fifth ATP World Tour title this week, triumphed 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 over seventh seed Youzhny in just over two hours. Bautista Agut recovered from a set and 1-4 deficit, then a 1-3 deficit in the deciding set. He also saved two break points when he served for the match at 5-4, and will next play fifth seed Benoit Paire for a place in his second Chennai final (also 2013). Youzhny, who came into the ATP World Tour 250 tournament on...