Dominic Inglot and Mate Pavic notched their first team title in their first tournament together, celebrating a 6-4, 2-6, 11-9 triumph over Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez in the Grand Prix Hassan II final on Saturday. For Inglot, it was his seventh ATP World Tour title and the Brit's first of the season. His most recent crown had come in St. Petersburg last year with current World No. 1 Henri Kontinen. Pavic, meanwhile, claimed his sixth ATP World Tour doubles title and first since lifting the 's-Hertogenbosch trophy in 2016 with Michael Venus. "This is the first we played together and we had a great week," said Inglot. "Mate played very well. The level was extremely high, almost like at...
#NextGenATP Winners The #NextGenATP contingent picked up where they left off in 2016, boasting strong performances early in 2017. Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Bublik, Hyeon Chung and Noah Rubin all lifted trophies thus far this season, with Shapovalov and Bublik claiming their maiden crowns. The quartet are currently Nos. 10-13 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan and remain in the hunt to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in November. Back in March, Shapovalov delighted the home crowd with his first Challenger title at the $75,000 Challenger Banque Nationale Drummondville in Canada, defeating fourth seed Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 6-3, 6-2. He is the youngest Challenger winner this year and the first 17-year-old Challenger titlist since Norwegian Casper Ruud prevailed last year in Seville,...
The season is only three months old but there's already a plethora of storylines to track. Here are the top seven stories of 2017 so far: 1. Roger Federer's Surprise Start Federer, arguably the greatest player of all-time, has been the story of 2017. The Swiss star is still bringing his love for tennis that has helped millions of fans adore him. But Federer's ability to change might be the most impressive detail about his comeback so far. The right-hander has surprised and impressed most with his new flattened-out backhand, aided by his bigger, 97-inch racquet. Heck, the fact that Federer still wants to tinker with his game – at 35 years old, in his 20th year on tour and...
Kontinen New No. 1 Finland’s Henri Kontinen on Monday became the 50th player in the history of the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings to rise to No. 1, following a strong run of form with his regular partner John Peers over the past six months. Kontinen's rise to the summit ends the 38-week stint at the top spot for France’s Nicolas Mahut. Read: Kontinen No. 1 Tribute Kontinen and Peers have put together a 25-6 match record since mid-October 2016, picking up titles at the Paris Masters (d. Herbert-Mahut), the ATP Finals (d. Klaasen-Ram) and the Australian Open (d. Bryans). They were also runners up at the Shanghai Rolex Masters (l. to Isner-Sock). In 2017, they are the early pace-setters in...
Henri Kontinen is the new No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, ending the 38-week stint of France’s Nicolas Mahut at the summit of the professional game. He is the first Finn and 50th player overall since the establishment of the team rankings in March 1976 to become World No. 1. Just as hard-graft helped Jarkko Nieminen become world-class for a place in Finland’s sporting history, alongside the likes of Janne Ahonen, Mika Häkkinen, Sami Hyypiä and Teemu Selänne, Kontinen’s determination to succeed has also helped his talent blossom. In four short years, the 26 year old has risen from competing in ITF Futures tournaments on the comeback trail from injury, uncertain of his future, to today leading the...