Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrated a hat trick of ATP World Tour titles this season on Saturday, prevailing past Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6(2), 7-5 in the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon final. The title is Tsonga's first clay-court crown and his 15th overall title. The Frenchman improved to 3-0 in title matches this season, having also won back-to-back indoor crowns at Rotterdam and Marseille in February. “I am very happy. First title on clay court. It is now added to my CV and I can move on. I am going to enjoy this title today and tomorrow. It has been a great week overall,” Tsonga said. Never before has Tsonga won more than three titles in a season, although he looks poised to...
Alexander Zverev was competing in his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final on Sunday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, but he handled the occasion like it was a familiar feeling. The 16th seed captured the biggest title of his career with a brilliant display of tennis to defeat second seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3. “I'm very happy with the way I played and my performance all week, I think today was one of the best matches I ever played,” said Zverev. “I knew I had to be aggressive from the first point to the last. It was very important for me to be able to stay this aggressive and not let him take over the game.” Zverev was given...
French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut won their first ATP World Tour team title of the season on Sunday in Rome as they triumphed at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 victory over Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers. Herbert and Mahut are set to rise to fourth in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race to London after securing 1000 points with their victory at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament. "It's good to enjoy being on the court so much, it's been a while since I felt we were close," said Herbert. "It's nice to live this together. From the start to the end, the attitude was very good. We stayed together and were calm...
Can anyone stop Rafael Nadal on clay this season? The Spaniard was as relentless as ever on Sunday, answering everything Dominic Thiem tossed at him during the Mutua Madrid Open final to overcome the Austrian 7-6(8), 6-4 in La Caja Mágica. The 30-year-old Nadal won his fifth Mutua Madrid Open title and his record-tying 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, matching World No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the all-time lead. Player Masters 1000 Titles Rafael Nadal 30 Novak Djokovic 30 Roger Federer 26 Andre Agassi 17 Andy Murray 14 Pete Sampras 11 This season, Nadal improves to 15-0 on clay and has now won three consecutive titles, including two Masters 1000 crowns: Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell...
Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo dominated the doubles field at the Mutua Madrid Open, clinching their second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of the year without dropping a set. Kubot and Melo downed Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 20 minutes on Sunday. The Polish-Brazilian pair turned in an impressive serving performance, claiming 88 per cent of first serve points and saving three of four break points faced. Also the champions in Miami and runners-up in Indian Wells, Kubot and Melo are off to a flying start in their first full season together. They improve to 17-7 in 2017 and open a 240-point lead over Henri Kontinen and John Peers atop the Emirates...
