Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic first played together at Miami in March 2017, but began their partnership with a 7-7 record. According to Marach, their lack of early success led to a discussion about splitting up three months later in Stuttgart, where they would go on to reach the final, falling short against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. “I like to forget it,” Marach joked of the match Friday. Seven months later, you’d never think splitting was ever a possibility for the Austrian-Croatian duo. After a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, the pair’s first title together at Stockholm and a match win at the Nitto ATP Finals (d. Bryan/Bryan) as alternates, Marach and Pavic were flying high. And after earning...
Former World No. 6 Gilles Simon rolled back the years on Friday to beat top-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic for the sixth time in seven FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings (6-1) for a place in the Tata Open Maharashtra final. Simon, making his debut at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament this week, recovered from a slow start to beat No. 6-ranked Marin Cilic, the two-time former champion, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 52 minutes. The Frenchman is now 32-82 lifetime against opponents in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. The 33-year-old Simon will now bid to improve upon his 12-6 record in ATP World Tour finals with his first title since February 2015 at the Open 13 Marseille...
Andrey Rublev was one point away from seeing opportunity turn to disappointment. Serving at 4-5 in the third set of his semi-final at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, the 20-year-old faced match point against Guido Pella, who was seeking his third ATP World Tour final. But after hitting a booming ace, the #NextGenATP Russian found his best tennis to escape the game and eventually the match, using an impressive 26 winners to swing past the Argentine 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2) after a two-hour, 26-minute classic. "It feels amazing. I have no words to describe this match," Rublev said. "I think it was such an amazing match for both of us. We made amazing rallies, such unreal rallies. I'm really happy...
Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Nick Kyrgios at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp after defeating Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4 on Friday night. The World No. 3 moved to a 16-4 career record in the Queensland event after a hard-fought two-hour, 25-minute win over Edmund and will meet home favourite Kyrgios, who came from behind to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day. Dimitrov will attempt to increase his seven-match winning streak further in his semi-final against Kyrgios. The two, who last met in the 2017 Western & Southern Open final, have clashed on two previous occasions with Dimitrov winning both to lead their FedEx ATP Head2Head series....
Nick Kyrgios has rallied from a set down for the second straight match to move into the semi-finals of the Brisbane International. The richly talented Australian dropped the first set against Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov before stepping up his intensity to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Far from being concerned about his sluggish start, Kyrgios said that he is reassured by his ability to raise his game when it counts. "As bad as it is to say, it's kind of like a tap. I can turn it on when I want to," he told reporters after the match. Kyrgios, 22, will next meet top seed and defending champion Grigor Dimitrov, who edged past Briton Kyle Edmund late night. In his opening match,...
