STORY UPDATED 14 AUGUST:, 12.45pm EDT Roger Federer withdrew from the Western & Southern Open Monday due to a back injury. The ATP World Tour returns to Cincinnati this week for the seventh Masters 1000 event of the year. Held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, the Western & Southern Open welcomes Rafael Nadal as its top seed and seven-time champion Roger Federer as the second seed. 1) No. 1 On the Line: Either Federer or Nadal will be World No. 1 following the Western & Southern Open. If Federer and Nadal meet in the Cincinnati final on August 20, the winner will reclaim No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on August 21. See below for all scenarios. NADAL...
1. Rafa Eyes No. 1: Rafael Nadal will retake No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings if he reaches the Coupe Rogers semi-finals. Nadal has not been World No. 1 since 6 July 2014. The Spaniard is making his 11th appearance at Coupe Rogers, where he is 28-7 overall and 18-4 in Montreal. 2. Back at the Top: Nadal and Roger Federer are the top two seeds in Montreal. The Spaniard and Swiss have not been the Top 2 seeds at Coupe Rogers since 2009. That year, Federer was the No. 1 seed, Nadal was No. 2, and both lost in the quarter-finals. Nadal is a three-time champion (2005, 2008, 2013) and Federer is a two-time winner (2004, 2006). The...
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN WASHINGTON 1) The Champs Are Here: The last four Citi Open champions return to the nation’s capital this week in search of another ATP World Tour 500 title: Juan Martin del Potro (2008-09, 2013), Milos Raonic (2014), Kei Nishikori (2015) and Gael Monfils (2016). All four men can claim that they are defending champions because none have played in Washington since winning the Citi Open title. 14 Straight Wins: Del Potro is 14-1 at the Citi Open with his only loss coming as an 18-year-old in 2007 (l. to Wayne Odesnik). The three-time champion is on a 14-match win streak at the tournament, but just 14-8 with no finals this season. Del Potro is 0-6...
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN HAMBURG 1) 500 Time: This is the eighth ATP World Tour 500-level tournament of the season and the top four seeds are Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Pablo Cuevas, Karen Khachanov and Gilles Simon. This is the fourth ATP World Tour tournament of the year in Germany (also Munich, Stuttgart, Halle). 2) Former Champions: The lone former champion in the field is 2011 winner Simon. Cuevas (2016), David Ferrer (2014), Federico Delbonis (2013) and Tommy Haas (2012) are former finalists. 3) German Title Hopes: The last German champion in Hamburg was current tournament director Michael Stich in 1993. There are eight Germans in the draw, led by Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer, Jan-Lennard Struff, wild cards Daniel Altmaier, Haas...
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN UMAG 1. Back on Clay: The ATP World Tour returns to clay this week with the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag and SkiStar Swedish Open. Headlining in Umag are Top 20 players David Goffin and Gael Monfils, defending champion Fabio Fognini and Croatia’s #NextGenATP superstar Borna Coric. 2. Goffin is Back: Goffin has earned 31 victories this season despite suffering a right ankle injury at Roland Garros that forced him to miss the entire grass-court swing. In February, he became the first Belgian to break into the Emirates ATP Rankings Top 10. Goffin is seeking his first ATP World Tour title since 2014 Metz, having lost his last six finals. He is making his Umag...
