Nick Kyrgios drew upon all of his physical reserves to beat David Goffin 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and win the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016 on Sunday. The #NextGen star saved 11 of 12 break points and fired 25 aces to secure his first ATP World Tour 500 title in just over two hours. “It was tough, we had a lot of long rallies,” the 21 year old said. “I thought the way I returned today got me a lot of opportunities. It was a high-quality match, but I got lucky at times as well.” The turning point of the match occurred with Kyrgios serving at 4-5, 0/30 in the third set. Goffin stepped into a backhand which wrong-footed the...
For Marcel Granollers and Marcin Matkowski, the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016 titlists, a winning run started with a text message. “I was at home in Spain during the US Open and sent Marcin a text, because I was looking for a partner in Tokyo,” said Granollers, who teamed with the big-hitting Pole to defeat Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-2, 7-6(4) on Sunday. “He was still playing in New York and I was already out. I knew he is a great player, and I’m happy he accepted.” The duo found instant chemistry in their first tournament together, upsetting the No. 3 seeds Dominic Inglot and Jean-Julien Rojer in a Match Tie-break before sweeping their final two matches in...
Tomas Berdych moved to within 330 points of Rafael Nadal in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he won his first ATP World Tour title of the season at the Shenzhen Open. In his 15th meeting with Richard Gasquet, defending champion Berdych retained his title with a 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3 victory in the final on Sunday. Berdych is currently ninth in the year-to-date standings, with the top eight at the end of the regular season set to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Berdych has played at the prestigious season finale in London the past six years. After being forced to miss the US Open due to appendicitis, Berdych has hit top form quickly on his return...
Two consecutive weeks on the ATP World Tour has yielded back-to-back titles for the fast-charging #NextGen contingent, as Karen Khachanov clinched his first title on Sunday at the Chengdu Open. The 20-year-old Russian is projected to soar nearly 50 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 55, after rallying past Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 in Chengdu. Khachanov follows in the footsteps of German teen Alexander Zverev, last week's champion in St. Petersburg, as first-time #NextGen winners. He is the third in total this year, with Nick Kyrgios prevailing in both Marseille and Atlanta. With his arms raised in triumph after two hours and 39 minutes, Khachanov secured the title when a Ramos-Vinolas forehand sailed long....
First-time duo Fabio Fognini and Robert Lindstedt proved to be an unbeatable combination at the Shenzhen Open, winning their first ATP World Tour doubles title together with a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over second seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin in the final on Sunday. "We're really, really happy," said Fognini. "I haven't enjoyed myself this much in doubles in a long time. Thanks to Rob for playing with me. It was a great week." "I think we both played really, really well from the first match on," said Lindstedt. "The only set we lost was very tight as well (against the top seeds). We played some really good teams this week and it was really fun to play." Fognini and...