Richard Gasquet and Damir Dzumhur both made second-round exits on Wednesday at the hands of Italian opponents at the Gazprom Hungarian Open. World No. 159 and qualifier Lorenzo Sonego recovered from a 2-4 deficit in the second set to beat third seed Gasquet 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 43 minutes. Last week, Gasquet became the first Frenchman to record 500 match wins en route to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters quarter-finals. Sonego will next face fifth-seeded Slovenian Aljaz Bedene, who beat Italian qualifier Matteo Berrettini 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-4. Earlier in the day, lucky loser Marco Cecchinato lost just eight of his service points to beat Dzumhur, the second seed from Bosnia & Herzegovina 6-3, 6-1 in 60 minutes. Cecchinato won seven...
By the time Rafael Nadal finishes his legendary career, will any clay-court record not have his name on it? The Mallorca native extended his Open-Era clay-court mark on Wednesday during his Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell opener against countryman and Ecuador Open champion Roberto Carballes Baena. The No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings won his 37th and 38th consecutive sets on clay, extending a record that he set on Sunday when he won his 11th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title. Nadal also stretched his clay-court match-win streak to 15. Clay-Court Sets Win Streaks Sets Player Year(s) 38 Rafael Nadal 2017-18 35 Guillermo Coria 2003-04 34 Ilie Nastase 1973 32 Rafael Nadal 2010-11 31 Rafael Nadal 2007-08 30 Rafael Nadal 2012 30 Rafael...
Slovakia’s Martin Klizan produced a big upset to beat Novak Djokovic 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Wednesday. The 2015 semi-finalist (l. to Nishikori) converted each of his three break-point opportunities in the one-hour, 39-minute contest to defeat Djokovic, who was playing his first match in Barcelona since losing on his debut to Daniel Gimeno Traver in 2006. Klizan, who reached a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 24 after his run to the last four in 2015, will meet Feliciano Lopez for a place in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard beat Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic in three sets on Tuesday. Klizan began the match in fine form, breaking in the first game to capture the initiative. A...
Grigor Dimitrov notched his 15th win of the 2018 ATP World Tour season on Wednesday, beating Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1 in 82 minutes at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Last week's Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semi-finalist (l. to Nadal), hit 18 winners, including 12 off his forehand side, to secure his first win in the Spanish city on his third visit. Dimitrov narrows the gap in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Simon to 4-5, having now won four of their past five encounters since the 2016 Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. The World No. 5 will face Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri for a place in the quarter-finals. The two met for the first time at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships...
Rafael Nadal and his 10-match win streak at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, understandably, will garner most of the attention this week at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament. But, away from the spotlight, two-time champion Kei Nishikori of Japan will look to start a winning streak of his own during his return to the clay-court event. Nishikori missed Barcelona last year because of a right wrist injury. But, a year prior, he had won 14 consecutive matches in the Spanish city, including back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. His run ended in the 2016 final against Nadal. Watch: Nishikori Looks Forward To Barcelona Return The two played again on Sunday during the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final, which Nadal won...
