Buoyed by his career-high ranking of No. 6 and playing on home soil, Austrian Dominic Thiem made a confident start to his campaign at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna on Tuesday. The second seed at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament won his first meeting with 20-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 20 minutes. The 24-year-old put just 44 per cent of first serves into play but was highly effective when he found his range, dropping just four points on his first delivery. Chasing his second title of the year (Rio de Janeiro), Thiem broke Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Rublev four times to advance to a second-round meeting with veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet...
Even after a year away from the Swiss Indoors Basel due to injury, it looks as if top seed Roger Federer did not miss a beat. The 36-year-old began his campaign for an eighth title in his hometown, defeating #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe for the third time this season, 6-1, 6-3 in 61 minutes. Federer, who was a ballboy at the indoor event for two years and first played in the tournament as a 16-year-old in qualifying, advanced to 10 consecutive finals from 2006 to 2015, and at one point won five of six championships. His 12 total finals appearances in Basel are the most of any event he has competed in. If he can triumph again, he will capture...
Denis Shapovalov continued his rise by qualifying for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, guaranteeing his spot with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over Yuichi Sugita in two hours on Monday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. “Just kept at it,” Shapovalov said. “It’s great to get a win back under my belt. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so I’m very happy I was able to turn around the match and fight my way through it.” The Canadian left-hander became the fourth player to qualify for the year-end event in Milan from 7-11 November, something he could not have imagined at the beginning of the year. “I’m very excited," Shapovalov said. "I heard about the event at...
Denis Shapovalov continued his rise by qualifying for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, guaranteeing his spot with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over Yuichi Sugita in two hours on Monday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. “Just kept at it,” Shapovalov said. “It’s great to get a win back under my belt. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so I’m very happy I was able to turn around the match and fight my way through it.” The Canadian left-hander became the fourth player to qualify for the year-end event in Milan from 7-11 November, something he could not have imagined at the beginning of the year. “I’m very excited," Shapovalov said. "I heard about the event at...
Alexander Zverev has come a long way since losing in the final round of qualifying in his last appearance at the Erste Bank Open 500 in 2014. A five-time champion this season, Zverev began his pursuit of a sixth title this year in Vienna on Monday with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory against Viktor Troicki. The German, who is No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, is attempting to find his best form to close out his season on a high note. Zverev took one hour, 47 minutes to get by the Serbian, extending his FedEx ATP Head2Head record over the veteran to 3-1. The 6’6” right-hander will next play the tricky Frenchman Gilles Simon, who defeated Ernests...
