Bjorn Fratangelo, the World No. 109 who advanced to the semi-finals at the 2017 Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island, qualified for the inaugural New York Open on Monday with a third-set tie-break victory against #NextGenATP Kazakh Alexander Bublik. The 24-year-old American spoke to ATPWorldTour.com about his favourite things to do off the court, who he admires most and more: What’s your biggest passion outside of sport and why? I would say food. I come from a big Italian family and I actually really enjoy cooking every time I’m back home, which isn’t too often. I always try to work on my cooking skills. Favourite dish? Steak and some sort of side. What was the last...
One might be surprised that one of the opening-night matches at the inaugural New York Open — held on Long Island — features a 17-year-old. But don’t be. Wild card Sebastian Korda recently won the Australian Open boys’ singles event, the victory catapulting him to the top spot in the junior world rankings. And not only that, but the right-hander — who is competing in his first ATP World Tour match against compatriot and friend Frances Tiafoe on Monday evening — has a bloodline plenty familiar to Long Islanders. > Former World No. 2 Petr Korda, Sebastian’s father, defeated 94-time tour-level titlist Ivan Lendl in straight sets to triumph at Long Island’s ATP World Tour event 16 years ago. “We...
The first ATP World Tour 500 tournament of the 2018 season gets underway this week in Rotterdam, where Roger Federer steps out for the first time since winning the Australian Open. The Swiss legend will reclaim the No. 1 ATP Ranking for the first time in more than five years if he reaches the semi-finals. As 'Frantic February' enters its second week, we'll also see two 250 tournaments in Buenos Aires and New York. 10 THINGS TO WATCH IN ROTTERDAM (1) First 500 of Season: This is the first of 13 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments of the season. The 45th anniversary of the popular Dutch indoor tournament features seven of the Top 20 in the ATP Rankings, led by...
There were two professional athletes who stepped on the court in the second quarter of Saturday evening’s Brooklyn Nets game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The thing is, they weren’t basketball players. Ryan Harrison and Evgeny Donskoy, who are competing at this week’s inaugural New York Open, made many cheering fans happy by throwing and hitting tennis balls into the crowd during the tournament’s players’ party, which was held at the game. “It was really cool to get out there and have a little bit of cross-sport promotional stuff,” said Harrison, who won the event last year when it was held in Memphis. “Most of us who play tennis play other sports...
