There is a new star emerging in Australian tennis. After reaching the semi-finals in just his fourth ATP Challenger Tour event, at the Shimadzu Kyoto Challenger, 19-year-old Blake Ellis has plenty of cause for optimism. The Brisbane native showcased his fighting quality in Kyoto, with three consecutive three-set wins over Japanese opposition before falling to top seed John Millman in the last four. Ellis is now one of four Aussie teenagers inside the Top 600 of the ATP Rankings, having risen 164 spots to a new career-high No. 510 in the ATP Rankings on Monday. But don’t let that ranking fool you. Embarking on what he hopes to be his first full season as a professional, he is ready to...
Two weeks ago, Frances Tiafoe hadn't reached an ATP World Tour quarter-final. Now he's an ATP World Tour titlist. The 20-year-old right-hander became the youngest American to win an ATP World Tour title since 19-year-old Andy Roddick at 2002 Houston, and he had to take the hard route to his maiden trophy. Tiafoe beat Aussie Matthew Ebden, who had beaten him earlier this year, then childhood idol and World No. 10 Juan Martin del Potro and Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung. In the semi-finals, the #NextGenATP American beat #NextGenATP Denis Shapovalov, and in Sunday's final, Tiafoe outplayed 2017 Metz titlist Peter Gojowczyk of Germany. After his triumph, Tiafoe talked with ATPWorldTour.com about the career accomplishment. How does it feel to...
Nitto ATP Finals champion and World No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov leads the field at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in a draw that is guaranteed to produce just the second first-time winner of the event since 2009. The prestigious Middle Eastern tournament, which has been voted Best ATP World Tour 500 event 11 times in its history, boasts a diverse and competitive field of players looking to add their name to the list of champions. Dimitrov opens against Tunisian veteran and wild card Malek Jaziri. One-handed backhands are out in full force in Dimitrov’s quarter of the draw, which features fellow single-handed players Philipp Kohlschreiber and #NextGenATP Stefanos Tsitsipas. Rounding out the top half of the draw are 2018...
