Fourth seed Marin Cilic’s Rakuten Japan Open Championships 2016 campaign is off on the right foot after downing last year's finalist Benoit Paire on Monday. Cilic raced through the opening set in only 20 minutes, but the Frenchman rebounded strongly before succumbing 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 49 minutes. Cilic reached the quarter-finals in Tokyo last season before falling to home favourite Kei Nishikori. He will bid to reach his ninth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season when he next faces Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. [ALSO LIKE] Paire, who defeated Nick Kyrgios and Nishikori en route to last year’s final, slipped to 1-2 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Cilic, whose superior firepower proved telling on Monday. The Croatian...
Tomas Berdych moved to within 330 points of Rafael Nadal in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he won his first ATP World Tour title of the season at the Shenzhen Open. In his 15th meeting with Richard Gasquet, defending champion Berdych retained his title with a 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3 victory in the final on Sunday. Berdych is currently ninth in the year-to-date standings, with the top eight at the end of the regular season set to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Berdych has played at the prestigious season finale in London the past six years. After being forced to miss the US Open due to appendicitis, Berdych has hit top form quickly on his return...
Two consecutive weeks on the ATP World Tour has yielded back-to-back titles for the fast-charging #NextGen contingent, as Karen Khachanov clinched his first title on Sunday at the Chengdu Open. The 20-year-old Russian is projected to soar nearly 50 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 55, after rallying past Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 in Chengdu. Khachanov follows in the footsteps of German teen Alexander Zverev, last week's champion in St. Petersburg, as first-time #NextGen winners. He is the third in total this year, with Nick Kyrgios prevailing in both Marseille and Atlanta. With his arms raised in triumph after two hours and 39 minutes, Khachanov secured the title when a Ramos-Vinolas forehand sailed long....
First-time duo Fabio Fognini and Robert Lindstedt proved to be an unbeatable combination at the Shenzhen Open, winning their first ATP World Tour doubles title together with a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over second seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin in the final on Sunday. "We're really, really happy," said Fognini. "I haven't enjoyed myself this much in doubles in a long time. Thanks to Rob for playing with me. It was a great week." "I think we both played really, really well from the first match on," said Lindstedt. "The only set we lost was very tight as well (against the top seeds). We played some really good teams this week and it was really fun to play." Fognini and...
Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram boosted their chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals as they captured their second ATP World Tour team title with a 7-6(2), 7-5 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta and Mariusz Fyrstenberg on Sunday in the final of the Chengdu Open. "This week we came with a goal in mind to improve our performance after the US Open," said Ram. "We felt like we didn't play as well as we could have there. We got through this whole tournament without losing a set. I think it’s a really good step in the right direction for us to finish of the season." The South African/American duo is currently seventh in the Emirates ATP Doubles...