Henri Kontinen and John Peers booked their spot in the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing with a 7-5, 7-6(6) victory over Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas on Thursday. The Finnish-Australian duo are already assured of their place at the year-end Nitto ATP Finals in London, where they are defending champions. This week, they are chasing their third tour-level title of the year, to add to victories at the Australian Open – their first Grand Slam title – and Washington. Peers and Kontinen are also into their eighth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season. They will next face Mischa Zverev and Paolo Lorenzi, who squeaked by wild cards Juan Martin del Potro and Leonardo Mayer, 6-4, 7-6(5). The...
Jonathan Erlich and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi tasted victory for the first time as a team, claiming the Chengdu Open title on Sunday. The Israeli-Pakistani duo downed Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner 6-3, 7-6(3) in one hour and 29 minutes, claiming two of seven break chances. They take home 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $96,610 in prize money. "This week is very special," said Qureshi. "When I came here, I was on one leg and I had an MRI and wasn't sure if I would even play. I signed up with Jon five minutes before the deadline. He was still in Israel. He took the risk and flew all the way here on Sunday. Thanks to him for trusting...
For a partnership formed just over a week ago, the Shenzhen Open worked out well for the duo of Rajeev Ram and Alexander Peya, who beat top-seeded Nikola Mektic and Nicholas Monroe 6-3, 6-2 to win the title in their first tournament playing together. “It was an unbelievable week for me, I guess for both of us,” said Peya. “Luckily I was able to find such a great one [partner] and it worked out perfect for us." Peya's usual partner, Julian Knowle, suffered an injury last week in St. Petersburg. "I want to wish [him] a speedy recovery from his elbow surgery," Peya said. Ram and Peya dropped just one set, in the semi-finals, en route to their victory. Ram said...
Santiago Gonzalez, Nenad Zimonjic, Daniel Nestor and #NextGenATP star Andrey Rublev assist with tennis clinics during the Chengdu Open. Video courtesy Chengdu Open
Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin delighted the home fans on Sunday at the Moselle Open, capturing the doubles title 7-5, 6-3 over Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak. It was the third tour-level triumph for the French tandem, with all victories coming on home soil. They previously lifted trophies in Marseille and Roland Garros in 2014. The third seeds dropped just one set all week, capping the strong run in Metz with the 74-minute win over Koolhof and Sitak. They fired five aces and saved eight of nine break points. "We stayed solid in the big moments today, especially at 30/40 on my serve in the second set," said Benneteau. "We forced them to make some mistakes and that was the...