It was one of the more riveting matches of the year: a five-set thriller between Rafael Nadal and Lucas Pouille less than a month ago at the US Open. Ready for an encore? The second-seeded Spaniard and sixth-seeded Frenchman are on a collision course for a quarter-final rematch at next week's China Open. Nadal must go through Paolo Lorenzi, followed by either Albert Ramos-Vinolas or a qualifier for his potential shot at revenge. Pouille, who prevailed in a dramatic deciding tie-break, enters in top form after lifting his first ATP World Tour trophy at the Moselle Open in Metz. He opens against wild card Yen-Hsun Lu. View Draw The potential encounter could have significant implications in both players' bids to...
Kei Nishikori, a two-time champion in Tokyo, will face an experienced opponent in the first round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016. The 2012 and 2014 winner will take on Nicolas Almagro, a Spaniard who reached No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2011 and beat Nishikori 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3 in the Tokyo quarter-finals in 2013. A deep run in Tokyo will help the Japanese star's qualification bid for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but first he will need to work his way through a difficult section of the draw. David Goffin and Kevin Anderson are possible quarter-final opponents, while a meeting with Marin Cilic, who topped Nishikori in the 2014 US Open final, could occur...
Fresh off his first ATP World Tour title at the St. Petersburg Open, Alexander Zverev arrived in Shenzhen on Tuesday following an overnight flight to Hong Kong. Zverev opens his Shenzhen Open campaign Wednesday against fellow NextGen rival Yoshihito Nishioka, who celebrated his 21st birthday Tuesday. WEDNESDAY PREVIEW: Three days after the biggest win of his budding career, Alexander Zverev will play a tour-level match in China for the first time against fellow #NextGen player Yoshihito Nishioka. Zverev stunned US Open champion and World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka at St. Petersburg on Sunday, capturing his first ATP World Tour title by ending the Swiss’ 11-match win streak in finals. The 19-year-old German is the youngest ATP World Tour champion since...
Alexander Zverev is setting his sights on ATP World Tour history after his recent breakthrough title. The 19-year-old #NextGen star is trying to become the first teenager to finish the year in the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since 2006. Zverev, currently ranked No. 24, would join an exclusive list of players if he were to accomplish the feat. Since 1994, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, World No. 2 Andy Murray, former Top 10 player Richard Gasquet and former World No. 1s Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick are the only players who have finished a year in the Top 20 as teenagers. [ALSO LIKE] Zverev, who turned 19 in April, matched his career-best ranking of No....
Marcos Baghdatis attended the draw ceremony for the inaugural Chengdu Open on Saturday. The historic Chinese city, capital of Sichuan province, will host an ATP World Tour event for the first time. The state-of-the-art venue in Chengdu boasts a centre court capacity of 6000, two additional show courts with 2000 seats each, and a total of 20 hard courts and 12 indoor courts. Main draw action at the ATP World Tour 250 event will kick off on Monday. “[Chengdu] is a great city and I am happy to be here,” Baghdatis said. “The environment is very beautiful here, the facilities are great and I am excited to get my tournament underway.” The luck of the draw did Baghdatis no favours,...