Top singles stars including Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic took the court for doubles on Wednesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, but it was the top-seeded doubles pairings who moved into the quarter-finals with impressive wins. Djokovic and Viktor Troicki fell 6-3, 6-4 to top seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers. The top-ranked doubles team saved all nine break points they faced to advance in 65 minutes. They’ll play the winner between fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, and Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas. Bopanna/Cuevas won the lone first-round match of the day over Marcin Matkowski and Alexander Peya 6-3, 6-7(7), 10-2. Second seeds and defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Wawrinka and Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-2. Herbert/Mahut went...
The doubles field at this week’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters is not only stacked with all the top doubles players on the ATP World Tour, but also many of the world’s best singles players. Stan Wawrinka prevailed in his first-round match with Fabio Fognini on Sunday by ousting the veteran team of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 6-4, 7-6(2). Their path won’t get any easier as second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut await in the next round. Two-time Monte-Carlo singles champion Novak Djokovic teams up with fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki and will open against Gilles Muller and Gilles Simon. Djokovic/Troicki ousted Herbert/Mahut en route to a quarter-final finish last month at the BNP Paribas Open. Should they win their first...
Gregarious Italian Fabio Fognini moved up 12 places to his highest position in the Emirates ATP Rankings since 15 February 2016 (at No. 24) courtesy of reaching the semi-finals at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The World No. 28 won five matches in Florida, including a straight-sets victory over second seed Kei Nishikori, to earn a spot in his first Masters 1000 semi-final since 2013, when he played the last four in Monte-Carlo (l. Djokovic). Donald Young continues to build on his impressive start to 2017, as he climbed nine places to No. 42. The American secured semi-final spots at the Memphis Open and Delray Beach Open. Then at Indian Wells he toppled Abierto Mexicano Telcel champion Sam Querrey and World No. 17 Lucas Pouille en route to the...
Fabio Fognini is on a tear at the Miami Open presented by Itaú. The enigmatic Italian’s run continued on Wednesday as he advanced to his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final at the expense of Kei Nishikori, beating the second-seeded Japanese star 6-4, 6-2. World No. 40 Fognini notched his first victory in three attempts over Nishikori, scoring his first Top 5 win since defeating then-No. 4 Rafael Nadal in the third round at 2015 Barcelona. It earns him a spot in his first Masters 1000 semi-final since 2013, when he reached the last four in Monte-Carlo (l. to Djokovic). “At the moment, I'm just happy. Of course this is a big, big tournament for me. I’m feeling really...
Fabio Fognini reflects on his win over Kei Nishikori at the Miami Open presented by Itau and looks ahead to his semi-final match. Watch live matches at tennistv.com. Photo: Getty Images
