Judging by their performance in the first round of Roland Garros qualifying, a slew of #NextGenATP players are ready to make their mark in Paris. Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime was one of nine #NextGenATP competitors to notch a win in the French capital on Monday, defeating South African Lloyd Harris 6-4, 6-3. The 17-year-old became the first player born in the 2000s to compete in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event earlier this year at the BNP Paribas Open, where he earned his maiden tour-level victory against compatriot Vasek Pospisil. Since, Auger-Aliassime has gained even more momentum by advancing to the quarter-finals at two ATP Challenger Tour events in Portugal. “Sometimes you expect to be nervous, to be tight, to...
Gael Monfils arrived in Lyon attempting to get back on track following consecutive 3-6, 1-6 losses in Madrid and Rome. But the No. 6 seed let slip a 6-2, 4-3 lead in his debut on Monday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon. German Maximilian Marterer eliminated the Frenchman 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting after one hour, 50 minutes. It is the second year in a row that Monfils has lost three consecutive matches ahead of Roland Garros. In 2017, the former World No. 6 advanced to the Round of 16 in Paris before falling in straight sets against Stan Wawrinka. Marterer, whose only previous win against a player sitting higher in the ATP Rankings than...
Stan Wawrinka has won back-to-back titles at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. But a 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier will look to knock the home favourite off his throne in the second round this year. Jared Donaldson ousted Uzbek Denis Istomin 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 in one hour, 48 minutes, snapping a five-match losing streak to set a clash against the Swiss superstar, who is the No. 3 seed. The American pushed Wawrinka to three sets two years ago in Cincinnati in their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, and will look to even the series for a spot in the quarter-finals. [ALSO LIKE] Speaking of young Americans, Donaldson was not the only one to move on in Switzerland....
Moldovan Radu Albot arrived in Lyon for the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon having lost his past six matches at all levels. Not only that, but the World No. 97 had dropped 12 of his past 14 matches overall. Yet the 28-year-old bounced back, defeating Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday to set up a second-round clash against Miami champion John Isner, whom he beat at the New York Open earlier this year. In fact, this will be the pair’s third FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting of the season, as the American returned the favour against the Chisnau native the following week, ousting Albot at the Delray Beach Open in three sets. It was not easy for Albot to set...
Less than a month ago in Budapest, Andreas Seppi saw his hopes of capturing his first ATP World Tour title since 2012 (Moscow) come to an end in the semi-finals against eventual first-time champion Marco Cecchinato. The Italian veteran got revenge against his compatriot, ousting Cecchinato 7-5, 6-4 in one hour, 38 minutes at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open on Sunday. It was a successful debut in Geneva for the 34-year-old Seppi, who just three weeks ago reentered the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since 27 June 2016. The 6’3” right-hander lost to No. 16 seed Lucas Pouille in a third-set tie-break last week at his home ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, the...
