Everywhere he went, ATP World Tour Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode heard the same thing on Monday at the Winston-Salem Open. “Every player comes up and says, 'What an amazing event. It's so friendly. Loads of practice courts. Good facilities.' So no wonder it won the best 250 award on tour. I can quite see why it won. It's brilliant,” Kermode said. [ALSO LIKE] The Winston-Salem Open, along with the If Stockholm Open, was voted by players as the best ATP World Tour 250 Tournament in 2016. Kermode attended the tournament for the first time on Monday to help officials celebrate the honour. “It's amazing. I arrived and I had no idea what to expect, and then I come...
#NextGenATP Taylor Fritz was slipping and nearly out of the Winston-Salem Open on Monday evening. The American had dropped five consecutive games to Tunisia's Malek Jaziri and risked going down a set and a double break to the 33-year-old veteran and 2015 Winston-Salem Open semi-finalist. But Fritz erased four break points in that 1-2 game in the second set, and the hold energised his play. The 19 year old evened the match and earned a crucial break in the decider to serve out the contest and advance 4-6, 6-4 6-3 in two hours and three minutes. Fritz, a wild-card entry, hit 12 aces and had success with his serve-forehand combination throughout the match, especially in the latter stages. The 6'4”...
The life of an ATP World Tour player can become pretty routine. Wake up. Eat. Practise. Eat. Stretch. Workout. Toss in a match here and there, and you have the life of a player when he's competing at a tournament. But on Monday at the Winston-Salem Open, players were happy to welcome a historic distraction to their daily routine: the eclipse. Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was close to the path of the total solar eclipse, which cut through the continental U.S., from Oregon on the west coast to South Carolina on the east coast, and players, with the help of tournament officials, made sure to take in the once-in-a-100-year phenomenon. [ALSO LIKE] They wore special eclipse glasses and stared into the...
The Winston-Salem Open, 2016 ATP World Tour 250 Tournament of the Year, kicked off on Sunday. In a stacked top quarter of the draw, Marcos Baghdatis moved into the second round following a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Ricardas Berankis. Serbia's Dusan Lajovic dismissed another Cypriot - wild card Petros Chrysochos 6-2, 6-3 - in just 59 minutes, saving both break points while converting on three of his own. Baghdatis will next face 16th seed Jiri Vesely, while Lajovic squares off against top seed and last year's finalist Roberto Bautista Agut. The winners of both encounters will meet in the third round. [ALSO LIKE] In other action, Thiago Monteiro won his second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Alexandr Dolgopolov in less...
1. Best in Class: The Winston-Salem Open, the final men’s event in the US Open Series, was voted by players as the 2016 ATP World Tour 250 Tournament of the Year along with the If Stockholm Open. 2. Back on Top: Last year’s finalists, Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, are the top two seeds. Carreno Busta won his first ATP World Tour by rallying past his countryman 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 6-4 in the longest final by games in tournament history. Bautista Agut is the No. 1 seed for third time at an ATP World Tour tournament (2016 Sofia champion and 2016 Moscow second round). 3. Past Finalists: Carreno Busta and Bautista Agut are joined in the draw...
