Roger Federer will make his first appearance in Montreal since 2011 at next week’s Coupe Rogers, when he begins his North American summer swing. The Swiss superstar has not competed in Canada since a 2014 final loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga when the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was held in Toronto. “I’m happy to be coming back to Montreal, as I have not had the chance to play there for many years,” said Federer. “This 2017 season has been very exciting and I am really looking forward to being back on the court on the ATP Tour.” Buy Tickets Federer captured two titles in Toronto in 2004 (d. Roddick) and 2006 (d. Gasquet). He also finished as runner-up in...
Dominic Thiem boasts wins over Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic already this year. Now the 23 year old enters new territory at this week’s Citi Open as top seed at an ATP World Tour 500 event for the first time. The Austrian boasts a 38-16 start to the season and will look to further improve on that mark when he makes his Washington debut against Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen. In a stacked field, it will be a matter of who has made the transition from Wimbledon’s grass best in a bid to dethrone defending champion Gael Monfils. “It’s always a little bit tricky for me on the US hard courts because they’re a little bit fast so there are some...
When you take a look at Ernesto Escobedo’s iPhone tracklist you get a hint a about his roots. He slides his finger across the screen and some of his favourite artists appear: Maluma, Carlos Vives, Miguel Bose, Joey Montana, Luis Fonsi, Danny Ocean, Daddy Yankee, Pitbull. He listens to Latin music because it motivates him, and his level of Spanish allows him to understand the lyrics. There is another hint about his roots. A poster in the stands that accompanies him around the world during his matches says: “Porra Jerez. ¡Vamos Neto!”. It is always held by one of his family members, and it’s written in Spanish. The reason is simple: his parents, Ernesto and Cristina, are from Jerez, Mexico....
It happened quietly, without the publicity of a big win or a breakthrough. But last month and again last week, Juan Martin del Potro reached his highest Emirates ATP Ranking – No. 30 – since October 2014, months before del Potro would sit for the majority of another season because of wrist injuries. But to del Potro, the ranking didn't symbolise that his comeback from wrist injuries in 2014 and 2015 was complete. At the Citi Open this week for the fifth time, the Argentine is simply glad to be back on the court. “I don't care if I'm 30 or 50. I just want to play tennis,” said del Potro, who, 17 months ago, was No. 1,045. “I would...
The ATP World Tour will heat up on the North American hard courts in the coming weeks, with the US Open Series set to get underway at the BB&T Atlanta Open. Now in its 14th season, the US Open Series links four North American hard-court tournaments to the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. After hitting the courts in Atlanta, players move to a pair of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal and Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, followed by the Winston-Salem Open. Jack Sock is the top seed this week in Atlanta, with three-time champion John Isner looking to return to the winners' circle at Atlantic Station after a...