At every barrier Gilles Muller crossed during his career-best 2017 – the usual ups and downs of a season, the elbow injury and the mental wear of it all – the left-hander had two people on his mind: Lenny, 6, and Nils, 5 – his two sons. Ever since the boys were born, Muller had sought to share tennis with them. The Luxembourg native wanted to extend his career long enough so that he would still be playing at a high level once Lenny and Nils were old enough to remember Dad's tennis life. Read & Watch: Muller's First Title Like A Movie “I always wanted to see them in the stands, watching me play,” Muller exclusively told ATPWorldTour.com. A...
As Marcelo Melo’s results dropped off from the 2017 Brisbane International presented by Suncorp and the clock edged closer to midnight in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on Sunday night, 9,347 miles away — and with a 16-hour time difference — in Sydney, Australia, Lukasz Kubot received news. The 35-year-old Pole had risen to No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, tied with his partner Melo. For the first time since Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan jointly held top spot for the final time on 25 October 2015, the team discipline has two stand-out performers. View Latest Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings Speaking at the Sydney International on Tuesday, having reflected on the achievement overnight, Kubot told ATPWorldTour.com, “It’s a dream. As...
One of the stories of the Australian summer is continuing this week at the Sydney International. Alex de Minaur, the 18-year-old Aussie who reached the semi-finals of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp last week (l. to Harrison), collected another win on Tuesday at the Sydney International. [ALSO LIKE] The #NextGenATP Aussie, who's from Sydney, saved six of seven break points and knocked out Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-2 in 76 minutes. De Minaur, who is receiving guidance from Lleyton Hewitt, will next meet seventh seed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “It's definitely helping me out every day I'm out here on court and competing,” said de Minaur. “It's a huge boost in confidence, playing against high-level opponents...
Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev won 33 of his 36 first-service points and struck eight aces to overcome sixth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-3 in 69 minutes on Monday at the Sydney International. He will next face American Jared Donaldson or France’s Gilles Simon, who captured the Tata Open Maharashtra – his 13th ATP World Tour title. Fifth-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino fought hard to beat Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 20 minutes for a second-round meeting with Lithuanian lucky loser Ricardas Berankis, who beat Australian wild card Alex Bolt 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. Bolt struck 21 aces in the one-hour and 57-minute encounter. John Millman was strong on serve in beating fellow Autralian and 18-year-old qualifier...
Jordan Thompson made good use of a wild card at the 2017 Sydney International, winning his first-round match before falling in a battle against the fifth seed. Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi had no intention of letting the home favourite advance to the second round this year. The 36-year-old defeated Thompson 7-6(5), 6-4 to set up a second-round match against top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The World No. 43 was broken in his first service game and faced a break point in his second, but steadied the ship from there. After claiming an intense first-set tie-break, the right-hander sprinted to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Despite failing to serve out the match at 5-3, Lorenzi broke his opponent a third...
