Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan advanced to the quarter-finals with clutch serving on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The Americans saved four of five break points and won 74 per cent of their service points in the 6-1, 7-6(3) victory against Marcin Matkowski and Jean-Julien Rojer. The 38-year-old twins, who won the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in 2014, will meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nenad Zimonjic in the quarter-finals. The Frenchman/Serbian pairing denied fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-2 in 61 minutes. Before Wednesday's matches, Klaasen/Ram were in sixth place in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. The South African/American duo has never qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held...
Milos Raonic moved to within a match of his best showing at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday. The fifth seed dominated his second-round contest against Italian Paolo Lorenzi, advancing 6-2, 6-4 in 65 minutes. The Canadian won 84 per cent of his service points (36/43), converted all three break points and never faced one on his serve. He also earned the customary “free points”, nailing 14 aces. "I have to be happy with the way I played. It was very important for me to be efficient out on court today," he said. Raonic, who withdrew from his Beijing semi-final match last week because of a right-ankle injury, said he's still feeling some pain but has learned to play with...
A career-best four tour-level titles, including a third Grand Slam singles crown, is a dream season in most players’ books. But Stan Wawrinka is one for keeping his targets simple. After he easily accounted for British qualifier Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday, the Swiss No. 3 seed said he set himself just one goal heading into 2016. “At the beginning of the season for me, it was to qualify for London,” Wawrinka said. “My goal is to do the right thing, to practise well, to be strong and tough with myself mentally, to fight in every match. That’s the only way I can give myself the chance to win big...
Finishing the year inside the Top 20 and making ATP World Tour history is looking more like a distinct possibility for #NextGen star Alexander Zverev. The 19-year-old German reached the third round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Tuesday, coming back to beat eighth seed Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 54 minutes. Zverev struck seven aces and was particularly effective when approaching the Croatian, winning 10 of 12 net points. Last month, Zverev became the first teenager to win an ATP World Tour title since 19-year-old Cilic won New Haven in 2008. The Hamburg native is trying to become the first teenager to finish the year inside the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since...
Novak Djokovic with a new mindset played a lot like the Novak Djokovic of old on Tuesday during his 2016 debut at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The top seed rolled through Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-3 to improve to 39-1 during his past 40 matches in Asia. The World No. 1 also converted four of five break points and benefited from seven Fognini double faults to pad his Shanghai record to 25-3. The Serbian hadn't played a match since exactly a month ago when he fell to Stan Wawrinka in the US Open final. Djokovic didn't contend for his seventh China Open title in Beijing last week because of an elbow injury. But the three-time Shanghai champion showed little rust....