The first of many? Fans who had the opportunity to see #NextGenATP players Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz battle at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday will certainly hope so. The 20-year-olds entertained the crowd with more than 90 minutes of heavyweight hitting and plenty of plot turns. The second-round match on Stadium Court 2 featured 50 winners (28, Fritz; 22, Rublev) and seven breaks of serve. Watch Full Match Replays In the end, the home favourite Fritz reached the third round in Indian Wells for the second consecutive year 6-4, 7-6(4). The #NextGenATP California native was broken in the ninth game in the second set. But Fritz broke right back and, in the tie-break, clinched his second match point...
If he doesn't already, #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur will soon have a reputation on the ATP World Tour as that of a relentless fighter. The 19-year-old battled for two hours and 34 minutes on Friday to pick up his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 victory, coming back from a set down against German Jan-Lennard Struff to advance 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5) at the BNP Paribas Open. De Minaur broke the 6'5” German only one time but he was clutch in the tie-breaks to celebrate victory during his Masters 1000 debut. “After pretty much every point you've got to regroup. Whether it goes well, whether it goes badly, you can't dwell on the past. You've got to move on. The...
What were you doing on Friday nights when you were 17 years old? Felix Auger-Aliassime started his weekend with the biggest win of his young career. The 17-year-old Canadian prevailed past his 27-year-old countryman Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 7-6(4) to earn his first tour-level victory in front of packed Stadium 2 Court at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. #NextGenATP teens have had a perfect start in the desert, going 4-0 with 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov and 19-year-olds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur also reaching the second round. (Frances Tiafoe, 20, lost his opener to 21-year-old Ernesto Escobedo.) The Montreal teenager dominated on serve, hitting 11 aces, including one to save a set point at 5-6 in the second set, and...
“The little things”: They can be hard to describe, but no one doubts that those tiny details can decide a match, a tournament and a season. #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe and his coach Robby Ginepri both admit that Tiafoe, who won his maiden ATP World Tour title last month at the Delray Beach Open, is handling “the little things” better than in the past. Ginepri, however, doesn't struggle to conjure up an example of how Tiafoe used to goof the specifics of his professional life, you know, “little things”, such as remembering to bring your racquets to practice. A year before Tiafoe triumphed in South Florida, Ginepri wanted to test his player's growing maturity, kind of like how parents test...
Two years ago, the ATP World Tour launched its “Next Generation” campaign on the eve of the 2016 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to celebrate the game's plethora of 21-and-under players climbing the ATP Rankings. Two years later, some of the faces have changed, but the theme remains the same: The ATP World Tour has plenty of up-and-coming stars. Five of those #NextGenATP players – Russian Andrey Rublev, Aussie Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Americans Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka – took time out of their day on Tuesday to talk to fans at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden about life on tour and their career aspirations. Read More: Five Must-See First Rounds In Indian Wells ...
