The afternoons were routine: When the clock struck 5 p.m., a young Fernando Verdasco dashed home from school, dropped off his backpack, then rushed over to Madrid's tennis facilities to watch either his current coach, Ignacio Truyol, or his former coach, Juan-Luis Rascon-Lope, hone their games on the practice courts. His intent was twofold: The seven-year-old wanted to learn from his future mentors but also hoped to get a few minutes of court time with the professional players. If that wasn't an option, he'd imitate their movements and motions by hitting balls against a fence. Now, plenty of children are looking up to Verdasco. The Spaniard earned the 500th match win of his career Tuesday by defeating Italian Paolo Lorenzi...
Before his maiden ATP World Tour title in Istanbul on Sunday, Japan's Taro Daniel hadn't reached a tour-level semi-final, let alone leave a tournament with the biggest trophy. But at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, the 25-year-old won five matches in a row to claim the ATP World Tour 250-level tournament. In doing so, Daniel jumped 32 spots in the ATP Rankings to a career-high of No. 82. Earlier this year at the Miami Open, he spoke with Scoop Malinowski about his career highlights, the traveling life of a tennis player and which quality he admires most in people. [ALSO LIKE] First Tennis Memory: My parents used to be members of a tennis club in Japan. They had clay...
Taro Daniel arrived at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open having never advanced to an ATP World Tour semi-final. The Japanese right-hander was on the verge of falling short again, trailing 0-4 in the deciding set of his quarter-final. But after an impressive performance Sunday against fellow first-time tour-level finalist Malek Jaziri, Daniel raised his first ATP World Tour trophy. Daniel spoke to ATPWorldTour.com after the match about what the victory means to him, how he approached the moment and more. How does it feel to be holding your first ATP World Tour trophy? Obviously I’m very happy. But I’m very surprised, mostly. I lost in the first round of a Challenger two weeks ago, so winning an ATP World...
There may be an air of inevitability coming into the Mutua Madrid Open, with Rafael Nadal once again on a clay court rampage in 2018. But third seed Grigor Dimitrov is seeing the gauntlet laid down by the Spaniard as a challenge he’s up for facing. Nadal comes into Madrid after his 11th tournament wins, respectively, in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. He is on a 12-match winning streak in all competitions and is looking to retain his title in the Spanish capital. Dimitrov will be one of those tasked with stopping the Mallorcan, and is relishing the opportunity to keep working and get himself to a level on clay where he can try to bring down Nadal. “For me personally, [Rafa's...
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, fresh off his 11th victories in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, respectively, is ready to compete at the Mutua Madrid Open in his home, Spain. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.
