Milos Raonic delivered one of his best serving performances of the year on Tuesday to get his indoor season back on track at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. The Canadian hit 17 aces and won 98 per cent of his first-serve points (41/42) to beat Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(5), 6-4. The 25 year old didn't face a break point in the one-hour, 14-minute match and took advantage of the only one he saw against Carreno Busta, breaking for 3-2 lead in the second set. The match was also played to Raonic's liking – quickly. About 86 per cent of the points ended before five shots had been hit. The World No. 5 will try to keep the same...
Tomas Berdych kept alive his Barclays ATP World Tour Finals qualification hopes in Paris on Tuesday, surviving a tight second-round match against Joao Sousa to advance, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. “My approach to [London] is very simple: I have to do well here. I have to play good tennis because if you don’t play your best, you don’t really deserve to be there,” said Berdych. “Luckily, I’m healthy and can play. Who would have said that I’d be answering questions about London when I was in the hospital in Cincinnati? This is a nice bonus.” The Czech player credited coach Goran Ivanisevic with adding new dimensions to his game that he believes will serve him well. “He’s introducing a couple of new things...
Henri Kontinen and John Peers will make their team debut at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals next month. The Finn/Aussie pairing became the seventh doubles team to qualify for the year-end championships on Monday with a 6-2, 6-2 rout against Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. “We knew what we had to do and it was good to be able to do it,” Peers said. Buy Tickets Kontinen/Peers converted all four break points and erased the only two break points they faced in the 46-minute victory. They'll face seventh seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the second round. “We're going to finish here, try to concentrate here on every match,” Kontinen said,...
Pablo Carreno Busta, who is knocking on the door of the Top 30 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Fabio Fognini on Monday at the BNP Paribas Masters. Carreno Busta, a winner of two ATP World Tour titles this year at the Winston-Salem Open (d. Bautista Agut) and VTB Kremlin Cup (d. Fognini), won 84 per cent of his first serve points, while Fognini committed 33 unforced errors in the 52-minute encounter. The Spaniard will next meet fourth seed Milos Raonic, who reached the 2014 final (l. to Djokovic). Joao Sousa will play seventh seed and 2005 titlist Tomas Berdych after he saved all six break points he faced for his 27th match win...
Marin Cilic sent a strong message to fellow contenders in the Emirates ATP Race To London, powering to the Swiss Indoors Basel title on Sunday. The fourth-seeded Croatian downed Kei Nishikori 6-1, 7-6(5), riding his dominant serve and potent forehand to victory after one hour and 37 minutes. Cilic notched his 16th tour-level title and second of the year. Two months after capturing his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown in Cincinnati (d. Murray), he earned his first title at the 500 level. Cilic strengthened his position among the final two players looking to secure bids at the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, boosting his point total to 3,090 in the Emirates ATP Race To London. Currently in...
