An athlete with as prolific a global profile as Roger Federer’s is typically accustomed to being chauffeured around at events. Always one to try keeping it real when away from the glare of the spotlight, however, it may come as little surprise the Swiss often prefers to jump behind the wheel – or in the case of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Monday – jump on the Metro to make his way to the tournament site. The No. 2 seed at this year’s penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Federer arrived in Shanghai earlier than usual to resume his hunt for a record-equalling sixth year-end Emirates ATP Rankings No. 1 spot. The stint on the Metro train was a...
Two former Shanghai Rolex Masters finalists will get their 2017 campaigns underway in China on Monday. Juan Martin del Potro, the No. 16 seed, returns to Shanghai facing a first-round encounter against qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili. Del Potro, who beat Rafael Nadal on his way to the 2013 final, has a tough opponent in the 25-year-old Georgian, who reached the final in Memphis earlier this season. The ninth seed, Roberto Bautista Agut, who upset then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic en route to last year’s final in Shanghai, will begin his attempt at a repeat run when he plays #NextGenATP Hyeon Chung. The Spaniard, who lost in his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final last year against Andy Murray, is seeking his...
Sunday is of the utmost importance in Tokyo, as one player in the final is competing for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals, while his opponent is attempting to capture his maiden ATP World Tour title. The championship match of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships features unseeded Adrian Mannarino against No. 4 seed David Goffin, who has won both previous meetings, in Marseille (2012) and Basel (2015). Mannarino is trying to become the first Frenchman to win the Tokyo title since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2009, while Goffin is attempting to become the first Belgian to win the event. Goffin is appearing in the Tokyo final for the second-straight year (l. to Kyrgios) and the he enters his attempt...
The leader in the Emirates ATP Race To London is playing an opponent who is attempting to salvage his dreams of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in a blockbuster final at the China Open on Sunday in Beijing. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is pitted against No. 8 seed Nick Kyrgios in the fifth Fedex Head 2 Head meeting between the two (2-2) and the third of this season alone. Nadal won 6-3, 6-1 in May in the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open before Kyrgios won 6-2, 7-5 in the quarter-finals at Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August. This is their first meeting in a final. Nadal is appearing in his fourth China Open final...
If there is one thing you can be certain of Saturday, it is that the China Open semi-finals will not disappoint. For the first time in the tournament’s history (since 2004), the top three seeds are in the semi-finals in Beijing. It just so happens that those three seeds are three of the top five players in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal leading the way. There is no shortage of talent behind him either, with World No. 4 Alexander Zverev, who officially qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals Friday, World No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov and three-time ATP World Tour titlist Nick Kyrgios completing the stunningly talented quartet. Nadal is the only former champion...