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...
Sunday was not Max Mirnyi’s first trip to titletown — not even close. But it will certainly be a moment that the 40 year old won’t soon forget. Mirnyi won his 50th ATP World Tour doubles title, joining Philipp Oswald to defeat singles champion Damir Dzumhur and Antonio Sancic, 6-3, 7-5, in the final of the VTB Kremlin Cup. “You never can say the victory was easy just looking at the score,” Mirnyi said. “There is always a special pressure when you are playing at home. And I think the VTB Kremlin Cup is a home tournament for me as unfortunately we haven't got an ATP tournament in Minsk...many of my relatives and friends came to watch my matches and...
As far as titles go, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga clinched the best year of his career on Sunday. The Frenchman won his fourth ATP World Tour title, a career best, beating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 7-5 at the European Open in Antwerp. “I'm feeling good. It's always good to win tournaments. I played really good tennis this week. I had a very good opponent today. He gave me a hard time. And I played some of my best tennis today on court,” Tsonga said. “It's really good, really positive for me and I hope I will be able to do something even better in the next week.” Tsonga had captured titles in Lyon (d. Berdych), Marseille (d. Pouille) and Rotterdam (d. Goffin)...
The “Tower of Tandil” is rising toward the top of the tennis world again. Fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro defended his Intrum Stockholm Open title on Sunday, defeating top seed and 2013 champion Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 23 minutes. It is the Argentine’s first title since he lifted the trophy in Sweden last year. “I played the best match of the week against Grigor today. Unlucky for that, sorry Grigor,” del Potro said. “It’s amazing to come back and hold this big trophy. And hopefully I can come next year as well. I love to be in Stockholm. I like the city a lot. I like the Swedish people and you treated me very, very good...
Damir Dzumhur made tennis history for Bosnia and Herzegovina last month in Russia. So why not do it again? The first Bosnian and Herzegovinian ATP World Tour champion captured title No. 2 on Sunday, defeating Ricardas Berankis, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to win the VTB Kremlin Cup in one hour, 39 minutes. "I really don't know, but there is something special here in Russia. Maybe the crowd, I don't know," said Dzumhur after the match, eliciting a roar from the crowd. For Dzumhur, it was his third final in his past seven tournaments after never previously reaching a final. The St. Petersburg Open champion moved to 10-0 in Russia this season. He will climb to a career-high in the Emirates ATP...
