The step up for a former top junior prospect is fraught with hurdles even at the best of times. Form, fitness and finding yourself – let alone the right coaching mix – is all part of the juggling act as a teenager about to take on the world. For former junior World No. 3, Duckhee Lee, this is only compounded having been born deaf. The #NextGenATP Korean can hear vibrations, but must rely on hand gestures from the umpire and line judges. Coached by Woo Chunghyo, Lee rose as high as No. 130 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in April. It has been a tough few months since, however, with the 19 year old falling to his current mark of...
Milos Raonic has won eight tour-level titles. He's reached No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, and he's played in a Wimbledon final. But Raonic has yet to win a home ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, an achievement that would satisfy him more than almost anything else on the ATP World Tour. Raonic, the sixth seed this week at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, talked about that elusive title and his biggest win at a Masters 1000 so far. Which ATP World Tour Masters 1000 host city is your favourite and why? A standout is Toronto because that's where I grew up but also, I like the fact that the Masters 1000 tournament in Canada continually changes year in...
What’s been the secret to Denis Shapovalov’s success in Quebec this season? “Maybe it’s the poutine,” said the Canadian with a laugh of the Quebecois dish, ahead of the Coupe Rogers. The 18 year old won 13 straight matches in the Canadian province, picking up a pair of ATP Challenger titles in Drummondville and Gatineau, before the run came to an end last week in the Granby semi-finals (l. to Polansky). On Tuesday afternoon in Montreal, with Wayne Gretzky watching from his box, Shapovalov collected another W in Quebec as he saved four match points en route to victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva on Court Central. “It’s pretty crazy, the Challengers that I’ve won have been in home in Canada,”...
Before the end of last year, Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo of Brazil had played together only two times. But those two weeks in Vienna and the results they produced – two Erste Bank Open 500 titles and an 8-0 record – had convinced the pairing that they might have a future successful partnership between them. They acted on those ideas this year, joining forces in January, and the results have been almost as perfect. During their first seven months as a team, Kubot and Melo posted a 36-10 record and captured five tour-level titles, including Wimbledon, Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Ricoh Open in 's-Hertogenbosch and two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns – the Mutua Madrid Open...
Wayne Gretzky knows a thing or two about being the best in his discipline, and it comes as no surprise to the hockey legend that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are currently battling for No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, more than a decade after the pair first dominated the ATP World Tour. “Oh yeah, when you’re that good and that dedicated, anything is possible,” Gretzky exclusively told ATPWorldTour.com in Montreal on the opening day of main draw action at the Coupe Rogers. Gretzky hung up his skates at the age of 38, finishing his career with four Stanley Cups, an all-time best 894 goals and countless records in 20 NHL seasons. Federer, a five-time year-end World No. 1,...
