For the third time in 10 months, Lucas Pouille has saved match points en route to an ATP World Tour title. The 23-year-old overcame three-time champion Richard Gasquet 7-6(2), 6-4 at the Open Sud de France to win his fifth tour-level title on Sunday. Pouille saved two match points at 1-6, 3-5 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Saturday’s second semi-final before his compatriot was forced to retire with a left hamstring injury. The World No. 17 seized his opportunity in the final with a fine serving performance, scoring an impressive 87-minute win over Gasquet to lift his second title on home soil (Metz, 2016). "I'm very happy with the win today," said Pouille. "Obviously it was a tough match. Richard is...
Like all things in life, not everything goes your way in tennis -- even if you're the No.1 player in the world. Rafael Nadal experienced that at the Australian Open last month. The Spaniard was forced to retire in the fifth set of his quarter-final match against eventual finalist Marin Cilic due to a leg injury. But Nadal has a supporter in his corner to lift his spirits. A 92-year-old fan half-way around the world wrote a letter to Rafa, urging the ATP World Tour No.1 to get well soon and wishing him future success on the court. "Dear Rafa, in December, I wrote you a letter and sent it to your Balearic Islands Academy in Spain," wrote the woman...
British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski captured their first ATP World Tour team title at the Open Sud de France after beating Ben Mclachlan and Hugo Nys 7-6(2), 6-4 on Sunday. Competing in their second final as a team after reaching the 2013 VTB Kremlin Cup final, the Skupskis won 80 per cent of points behind their first serve against the fourth-seeded duo to win the championship match in 75 minutes. "This is a dream come true for us,” Ken Skupski told ATPWorldTour.com. “We've worked very hard over the years that we have played together. To finally win an ATP World Tour title together, we are extremely happy for us, but also for the family. It is a privilege...
There were two professional athletes who stepped on the court in the second quarter of Saturday evening’s Brooklyn Nets game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The thing is, they weren’t basketball players. Ryan Harrison and Evgeny Donskoy, who are competing at this week’s inaugural New York Open, made many cheering fans happy by throwing and hitting tennis balls into the crowd during the tournament’s players’ party, which was held at the game. “It was really cool to get out there and have a little bit of cross-sport promotional stuff,” said Harrison, who won the event last year when it was held in Memphis. “Most of us who play tennis play other sports...
