They say that Montreal is the Paris of North America, and French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut certainly made it their home this week. Herbert and Mahut claimed their ninth title together, edging Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 on Sunday at the Coupe Rogers. The fifth seeds improved to 20-8 this season after one hour and 22 minutes, firing four aces and notching 88 per cent of first serve points. It was the fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown for the French duo, all coming at different tournaments. Last year, they prevailed in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, and earlier this year they lifted the trophy in Rome. "It was a hard match against...
The Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London kicked into high gear on Sunday in Washington, as the top two teams in 2017 clashed for the Citi Open crown. After a one-hour and 33-minute battle, it was top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers taking the title 7-6(5), 6-4 over No. 2 pairing Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. The Finnish-Aussie duo came up clutch in the big moments, firing 11 aces and saving both break points faced. "Every tournament we play, we feel more comfortable out there playing with each other," said Kontinen. "We're one of the contenders in every tournament. There are a lot of good teams out there. Kubot and Melo are exceptional too. We just have to play...
Before this week, outdoor hard courts had been the lone surface Alexander Zverev hadn't yet had success on during his career. But if his dominating week at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. is a sign, he's well on his way to mastering those conditions as well. The #NextGenATP German dropped only one set all week in the U.S. capital and finished the stretch with an exclamation point, beating South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first ATP World Tour 500 title. The 20-year-old Zverev has now won four titles this season – the Open Sud de France (indoor hard), the BMW Open by FWU (outdoor clay) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Rome (outdoor...
Pablo Cuevas and Guillermo Duran earned their first team title in dramatic fashion at the Generali Open, surviving a thrilling Match Tie-break for the Kitzbühel crown. Fourth seeds Cuevas and Duran saved one match point to defeat Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Andrei Vasilevski 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 in one hour and 26 minutes. It was the third victory in a Match Tie-break for the Uruguayan-Argentine duo this week. "We’ve known each other for a long time but we never had the chance to play together," said Cuevas. "It’s a pleasure to play with a friend and it feels even better if you end the tournament in this way. We are very happy." Podlipnik-Castillo and Vasilevski did well to handle the pressure of...
It was home cooking for Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Generali Open, as the local resident captured his second Kitzbühel crown on Saturday. In what was the final clay-court match of the year on the ATP World Tour, Kohlschreiber dismissed Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes to take his eighth tour-level title. It was an emotional victory for the 33 year old, who was forced to retire from his Hamburg semi-final just one week ago with a leg injury. But Kohlschreiber would bounce back strong in Kitzbühel, fighting back from a set down to defeat Dusan Lajovic in the quarters and ousting Gstaad champion Fabio Fognini in the semis before downing Sousa on Saturday. The local resident,...
