There is no stopping Max Mirnyi, even at the age of 40. 'The Beast' captured his 52nd tour-level doubles title on Saturday evening at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, teaming with Philipp Oswald. The Belarusian-Austrian duo rallied past Andre Begemann and Antonio Sancic 6-7(2), 6-4, 11/9 under the lights at the River Oaks Country Club. They captured their third team title and second of the year, having emerged with the trophy on the indoor hard courts of New York in February. "I'm definitely coming to the end of my career and I hope I have another go here next year," said Mirnyi. "It's my first title in Houston after all these years. I want to...
For just the second time in the past 15 years, the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship will feature an all-American final. Tennessee native Tennys Sandgren will clash with California's Steve Johnson for the title, after both battled through tricky semi-final encounters on Saturday. Johnson and Sandgren are slated to meet for the first time at the tour-level, marking the first championship clash in Houston between home hopefuls since 2015, when Jack Sock defeated Sam Querrey. That year, Sock lifted his maiden ATP World Tour trophy and Sandgren will look to do the same on Sunday. The 26-year-old toppled Ivo Karlovic 7-6(2), 7-6(4) in one hour and 38 minutes, surviving an offensive onslaught from the big-hitting Croatian....
Kyle Edmund reached his first ATP World Tour final at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Saturday, beating Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4. In a battle of the last two remaining seeds in Marrakech, it was Edmund who came out on top to win his second match of the day after beating Malek Jaziri in the delayed quarter-finals on Saturday morning. The second seed hit 11 aces throughout the 72-minute clash to earn his second win in three matches against the Frenchman. Edmund will face experienced competition in Sunday’s championship match, with two-time event titlist Pablo Andujar winning the second semi-final against Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-4. The 2011 and 2012 winner moved one step closer to becoming the most successful player...
Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya won their second match of the day to capture the Grand Prix Hassan II title in Marrakech, defeating Frenchmen Benoit Paire and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 3-6, 10/7 on Saturday. Mektic and Peya, who beat Divij Sharan and Jan-Lennard Struff earlier in the day in the semi-finals, won 72 per cent of points behind their first serves in the championship match to win their first title as a team in 86 minutes. It is Mektic’s third tour-level triumph, and the 16th time Peya has lifted a trophy. The Croatian-Austrian duo was appearing in its third final of 2018, after runner-up finishes in Rio de Janeiro and Sofia. "It was our third final together. We didn't want...
ATP World Tour stars hoping to reach the Grand Prix Hassan II final started their double shift on Saturday in Marrekech after rain washed out Friday’s play. Two-time champion Pablo Andujar needed three sets to advance to the semi-finals, ending the surprise run of Russian qualifier Alexey Vatutin 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday. The champion in 2011 (d. Starace) and 2012 (d. Ramos-Vinolas), reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final since Barcelona in 2015 (l. to Nishikori) after two hours and 47 minutes to improve his tournament record to 13-2. Vatutin was bidding to reach his first tour-level semi-final after securing his first two wins on tour to reach the quarter-finals. Andujar will face Portugal’s Joao Sousa later in the...
