It might be too soon to call it a rivalry. But China's Zhizhen Zhang, who Friday appears in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final in Shenzhen, already has one eye on his countryman and fellow young talent Yibing Wu. At 17 years old, Wu clinched the 2017 US Open boys’ singles and doubles titles in September. A week later, he claimed Shanghai’s Challenger title. Zhang is fully aware of Wu's recent string of success, but his familiarity with his fellow Chinese hopeful goes back further than that. The two met recently at the 2017 National Games of China, a competition held every four years in which athletes from their provincial teams meet in their respective sports for medals. "[Yibing] is...
Australian Akira Santillan has forged a memorable 2017 - and as a bonus, he's picked up a few pointers as to how to make his 2018 season on the ATP World Tour even more constructive. At just 20 years old, the #NextGenATP star is still learning how to balance his training regimen with tournament play. If the 2017 season has taught him something, it's to pace himself, and to put in the time on the practice courts. "I've played too many tournaments in a row this year and it doesn't suit me,” Santillan said. "I usually play better when I go practise, play my first tournament and get a good result. I'll learn from that and go and play three...
Germany’s Mischa Zverev tells ATPWorldTour.com about his imaginary tennis matches with Andre Agassi and his most emotional moment on court. First moment I realised I loved tennis? Subconsciously, maybe when I was like zero years old and my Mom gave birth to me! I was always around tennis courts and I was always enjoying being around tennis courts. My Mom was telling me that when I was very little, when I was less than two years old, I would grab like a brush or something that had the shape of a tennis racquet and clear my room and play imaginary matches against Agassi, like five-set matches. I think that's when I realised that I really liked tennis! First coach and...
The hunt for an elusive Emirates ATP Rankings point — a goal shared by every aspiring professional tennis player — can be tough and costly. But once attained, the location and year of the achievement will be indelibly marked. Twenty years ago today, on Monday, 22 September 1997, page nine of the weekly rankings list contained this entry: 803T Federer, Roger. The entry didn't attract much attention back then, nor did that of another future World No. 1, '808 Hewitt, Lleyton', just a few lines down. But Federer had taken his first step on the ladder following a four-week series of Swiss clay-court satellite tournaments in Bossonnens — culminating in eight victories and two semi-final runs (l. to Daniele Balducci and...
It’s hard to believe, but just three months ago Damir Dzumhur was fighting just to stay in the Top 100. This week, already at a career-high No. 55 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and set to compete in the St. Petersburg Open quarter-finals Friday, the 25-year-old from Bosnia & Herzegovina is knocking on the door of the Top 50. His impending breakthrough is reward for a stellar eight-week stretch, underpinned by an enhanced fitness regimen, that included a run to the semi-finals in Los Cabos and his first tour-level final in Winston-Salem. It’s been a heartening comeback for Dzumhur, who grew up playing on clay but endured a rough European clay-court season this year, robbing him of the momentum he...
