Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka – winners of 12 of the past 13 Roland Garros titles – all will be in action on Monday as first-round play continues in Paris. The top-seeded Nadal commences another attempt at history this fortnight. The Spaniard is trying to become the first man – and only the second player – in history to win 11 singles titles at any Grand Slam tournament. Australian Margaret Court won the Australian Open 11 times, including six before the Open Era began in April 1968 (1960-66, 1969-1971, 1973). Nadal meets a familiar opponent on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Italian Simone Bolelli. The two have faced off five times in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, and Nadal has...
As an ATP World Tour player, Carlos Moya lifted the Roland Garros trophy in 1998. His first Grand Slam achievement as a coach came a year ago, when he helped guide Rafael Nadal to his 10th Roland Garros title. ATPWorldTour.com spoke with coach Moya ahead of Rafa's first-round match at Roland Garros against Simone Bolelli. How is Nadal feeling going into Roland Garros this year? Like last year, he's going into Roland Garros with three titles on the season (Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Internazionali BNL d’Italia). Having said that, the circumstances are a little different this year. Losing in Rome to [Dominic] Thiem in '17 (QFs, 4-6, 3-6) was a matter of fatigue. It was significant, of...
A LOOK BACK Loughborough Trophy (Loughborough, UK): There were plenty of intriguing storylines at the inaugural ATP Challenger Tour event in Loughborough. The home faithful were on their feet throughout the week, as local favourite James Ward advanced to his first final since 2015 in his comeback from knee surgery. Meanwhile, Japanese 20-year-old Yosuke Watanuki stunned top seed Lukas Lacko in the first round, en route to the semi-finals, while fellow #NextGenATP Jurij Rodionov, a qualifier from Austria, also made a splash in reaching the quarters. In the end, it was Japan's Hiroki Moriya who emerged with the title without dropping a set, streaking past Ward 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday. The Tecnifibre player scored his third Challenger trophy, surging 77...
There will be no first-round exit for Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros this year. The 6'6” German dominated his opener on Sunday, cruising past Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in only 69 minutes. The second seed hit 11 aces and dropped only four points on his first serve (27/31). Last year, Zverev, after winning his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Rome, lost to Fernando Verdasco in the first round in Paris. Zverev is now a two-time clay-court Masters 1000 titlist after winning the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month (d. Thiem), and he's looking to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final this fortnight. “On clay especially I have been playing well... I have won two tournaments...
#NextGenATP now? Denis Shapovalov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz all meet the #NextGenATP age qualification by being born in 1997 or later, and they're all looking like they'll qualify for the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. The four, in that order, top the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players who compete in Milan. For the second consecutive year, the eighth player will be determined by an all-Italian qualifying tournament. [ALSO LIKE] But just because they're #NextGenATP doesn't mean they haven't been thriving on the ATP World Tour now. The quartet all have posted career-best results during this clay-court swing, and all four look ready to...
