Gael Monfils arrived in Lyon attempting to get back on track following consecutive 3-6, 1-6 losses in Madrid and Rome. But the No. 6 seed let slip a 6-2, 4-3 lead in his debut on Monday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon. German Maximilian Marterer eliminated the Frenchman 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting after one hour, 50 minutes. It is the second year in a row that Monfils has lost three consecutive matches ahead of Roland Garros. In 2017, the former World No. 6 advanced to the Round of 16 in Paris before falling in straight sets against Stan Wawrinka. Marterer, whose only previous win against a player sitting higher in the ATP Rankings than...
Stan Wawrinka has won back-to-back titles at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. But a 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier will look to knock the home favourite off his throne in the second round this year. Jared Donaldson ousted Uzbek Denis Istomin 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 in one hour, 48 minutes, snapping a five-match losing streak to set a clash against the Swiss superstar, who is the No. 3 seed. The American pushed Wawrinka to three sets two years ago in Cincinnati in their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, and will look to even the series for a spot in the quarter-finals. [ALSO LIKE] Speaking of young Americans, Donaldson was not the only one to move on in Switzerland....
Mate Pavic was going through final match preparations with his Austrian partner Oliver Marach on Friday, stretching his muscles, with one eye on a nearby television screen, when he learned — below ground level at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, prior to competing on the picturesque Pietrangeli court — that he had achieved one of his long-time goals. In officially becoming the 52nd player since March 1976 to rise to No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings today, replacing Poland’s Lukasz Kubot in the top spot of tennis’ team discipline, the 24-year-old Croatian has become the youngest player for 22 years to fulfill a dream that every child, who picks up a racquet, nurtures. “It means a lot for sure,” Pavic...
