It's only mid-August, but it has already been quite the U.S. summer for Alexander Zverev, whose 10-match win streak was snapped at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday against #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe. The #NextGenATP German has captured two ATP World Tour titles, including the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., his first hard-court crown, and the Coupe Rogers, his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. So while Zverev was hoping to a third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown this week, he accepted the loss in context. “It's been great. I won back-to-back weeks, two big events. Visiting Montreal was very, very special, as well. It's been a positive summer so far,” said Zverev, who handed...
Only three players have won all four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments on North American soil. Michael Chang was the first, with titles at each stop – Canada (1990), Indian Wells (1992, ’96-97), Miami (1992) and Cincinnati (1993-94) – by the age of 21. The American was alone in the exclusive club before Andre Agassi and Roger Federer completed their sets, respectively in 2001 and 2005. One of Chang’s most memorable runs came at the Rogers Cup in 1990, the year the Masters 1000 series was introduced. The 18 year old posted back-to-back wins over Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras before prevailing against another American, Jay Berger, in a third-set tie-break to clinch his first Masters 1000 crown. Now 45,...
American wild card Frances Tiafoe recorded the biggest win of his career - and only his second Top 50 victory - on Wednesday to stop in-form fellow #NextGenATP player Alexander Zverev at the Western & Southern Open. The World No. 87 ended the 10-match winning streak of Zverev, currently at a career-high No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Cincinnati. “These are wins that definitely can change your career the right way,” Tiafoe said. “This is a big relief for me. We grew up together playing junior Grand Slams, playing Under-12s, Under-14s. I have known him for forever. Seeing him rise like that, I was, like, 'Maybe I can do the same'. Then he beat me...
Watch Hot Shot as Mitchell Krueger gets out of trouble in fine style against Juan Martin del Potro on Wednesday at the Western & Southern Open. Watch live matches at tennistv.com. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour
Nick Kyrgios will look to his reach his fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final (or better) on Thursday when he challenges big serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic at the Western & Southern Open. Kyrgios leads 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with five of their nine sets going to tie-breaks. The Australian, who continues to struggle to overcome a hip injury, struck 20 winners – including 15 aces – on Wednesday in a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who committed 36 unforced errors, in the 86-minute encounter. Dolgopolov reached the 2015 Cincinnati semi-finals (l. to Djokovic). Former World No. 3 David Ferrer, rebuilding his form and confidence with the SkiStar Swedish Open crown in recent weeks, found...