Italian wild card Gianluigi Quinzi must have felt like it was 2013 again. The former junior World No. 1, who won the 2013 Wimbledon boys junior title, was even with top seed Andrey Rublev for 90 minutes on Tuesday at the Next Gen ATP Finals. The 21-year-old Quinzi had recovered from blowout sets, pushed through exhaustion and found a way to extend the favoured Rublev into a fifth set. But it was late in that decider when the 20-year-old Rublev, already an ATP World Tour titlist, focused on the end goal and sprinted to the finish. The Russian won 11 of the final 14 points against the home favourite to avoid a stunning opening loss, beating Quinzi 1-4, 4-0, 4-3(3),...
They say that one point could change a match. That rang plenty true in the third match of the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals. Borna Coric used a line-clipping return down set point in the first set to turn his opening match of the tournament around before ousting Jared Donaldson, 4-3(2), 4-1, 4-3(5), on Tuesday evening. The American appeared to be control, having broken at 2-2 in the opener. But on a deciding-point deuce, the Croatian lunged out wide for a forehand, which he sent flying crosscourt off the edge of the line to save the set and with it, gain all the momentum he needed to storm away from his opponent. As Coric’s coach said after his charge won...
The innovative format of the Next Gen ATP Finals played a key role in the second match of the inaugural tournament, bringing plenty of excitement in the key moments. And in those moments, it was Hyeon Chung who found an edge, and eventually defeated the youngest player in the field, 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov of Canada, 1-4, 4-3(5), 4-3(4), 4-1, in one hour, 36 minutes. The South Korean looked to be in total control of the match in the fourth set as he served for the match at 3-1. However, the Canadian phenom dug into the game, reaching 15-15. Chung hit a serve off the net — there are no lets in Milan — that popped up right in front of...
The inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals has begun with an upset. Seventh seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia came back from a set down on Tuesday afternoon to surge to the top of Group B, knocking out countryman Karen Khachanov 2-4, 4-3(6), 4-3(2), 4-2 at the Fiera Milano. The all-Russian battle was dominated by Khachanov in the early goings, as the 6'6” Russian controlled play with his heavy forehand. But his 6'6” countryman Medvedev evened the contest in an entertaining and back-and-forth tie-break. In the third and fourth sets, Medvedev pulled away as he kept Khachanov in the back of the court and frequently dictated play. The seventh-seeded Medvedev in particular used his backhand up the line well against his countryman....
Denis Shapovalov says that he feels like he is part of history to be playing at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals. Watch the Next Gen ATP Finals LIVE on Amazon Prime Video: www.primevideo.com/ATP.