There will be no first-round exit for Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros this year. The 6'6” German dominated his opener on Sunday, cruising past Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in only 69 minutes. The second seed hit 11 aces and dropped only four points on his first serve (27/31). Last year, Zverev, after winning his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Rome, lost to Fernando Verdasco in the first round in Paris. Zverev is now a two-time clay-court Masters 1000 titlist after winning the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month (d. Thiem), and he's looking to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final this fortnight. “On clay especially I have been playing well... I have won two tournaments...
#NextGenATP now? Denis Shapovalov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz all meet the #NextGenATP age qualification by being born in 1997 or later, and they're all looking like they'll qualify for the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. The four, in that order, top the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players who compete in Milan. For the second consecutive year, the eighth player will be determined by an all-Italian qualifying tournament. [ALSO LIKE] But just because they're #NextGenATP doesn't mean they haven't been thriving on the ATP World Tour now. The quartet all have posted career-best results during this clay-court swing, and all four look ready to...
Let's start here: No one is predicting Rafael Nadal will lose at Roland Garros. The Spaniard is a 10-time champion at the clay-court Grand Slam and, at times this year, the 31-year-old has looked better than ever on clay. Before losing to Dominic Thiem in the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals on 11 May, Nadal had clay-court winning streaks of 50 sets – an Open Era record – and 21 matches. But legends do stumble. So if, on the off chance that Nadal has a bad day in Paris, who might have a chance at challenging him? We present six who could trouble Rafa on la terre battue. [ALSO LIKE] Keep in mind, however, these six – Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem,...
Japanese superstar Kei Nishikori lost in the first round at Roland Garros in 2014 against Martin Klizan. But the No. 19 seed showed no intentions of letting that happen again this year. Nishikori moved past French wild card Maxime Janvier 7-6(0), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours, 19 minutes, advancing to the second round at the clay-court Grand Slam for the fourth year in a row. "It wasn't easy. He was playing pretty good tennis. I didn't know him, so I checked a little bit, but I had to check in the match," Nishikori said. "I think I was a little lucky to finish in three sets... he was playing pretty good." Last year in Paris, Nishikori earned his seventh Grand...
Roland Garros has been the site of many memories for 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up David Goffin. Some, like his first Grand Slam quarter-final in 2016, are great. Others, like being forced to retire due to a fluke accident — he got his foot stuck in a tarpaulin cover — last year in the third round, are not as great. When he trailed two sets to none against Robin Haase on Sunday evening, it appeared the No. 8 seed's tournament was heading toward the latter category. But Goffin battled back to oust the Dutchman, beating Haase 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the second round for the fourth consecutive year. The 27-year-old won 17 of the match's final...
