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Reilly Opelka Wins Maiden ATP Title @NewYorkOpen

Posted by Admin on February 17, 2019
Posted in: ATP, New York, New York Open, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Reilly Opelka Wins Maiden ATP Title at New York Open
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

American Reilly Opelka triumphed in the New York Open final, defeating first time ATP finalist Brayden Schnur, a young Canadian, 6-1 6-7 7-6 in 2 hours of tennis. The final two sets were decided by 9-7 tiebreaks, with Schnur taking the second set breaker but losing the third. Opelka’s 43 aces were the difference maker as he won 88% of his first serve points (with Schnur winning almost 7 in 10 of his service points). Schnur generated no break point chances in a tight match after the runaway first set for Opelka. Schnur saved break points in two different second set service games and saved a match point to force a third set.

In the third set Schnur faced three more break points at 1-2, and despite holding on and forcing a tiebreak he couldn’t hold his nerve. Opelka squandered three more match point chances but finally went up a minibreak 8-7 and served it out 9-7 to win his first ATP title.

The result moves Opelka into the top 60 for the first time in his career, while Schnur moves to world #107, just outside the top 100 after he made the final as a qualifier.

The German pairing of Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies combined to take the doubles title against Santiago Gonzalez and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.

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It’s Hardware Sunday @NewYorkOpen, and A Maiden Title On the Line for @ReillyOpelka & @BraydenSchnur

Posted by Admin on February 17, 2019
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It’s Hardware Sunday at New York Open, and A Maiden Title On the Line for Opelka, Schnur

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)
Reilly Opelka, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

It’s been a great week for both American Reilly Opelka and Canadian Brayden Schnur. Tonight, one of them will have a “1” in their little stats column on your ATP scoring app as one will pick up their first ATP tour-level singles title at the New York Open in Uniondale, New York. I looked at the odds on my phone before yesterday’s matches, and Betfair had the odds of this final matchup at 10-1. Savor this rare moment of upset tennis in the men’s game, because it comes with the bonus of watching a first-timer hoist the hardware. In this case, it’s a giant abstract painting, but you get the idea.

IMG_0564

Reilly Opelka got there by beating a familiar nemesis in John Isner, and the man in whose house Opelka watched the Superbowl just two weeks ago. Opelka had shocked Isner in Melbourne at the Australian Open in January, and Opelka didn’t let any nerves get to him even after he’d lost the first set tiebreak. Two more tiebreaks that did go his way landed Opelka in the final after shaking off six match points from Isner. The performances by the pair, 6’10 and 6’11, was as bold and pugilistic as the gentlemen’s size. In the arms race that has become professional tennis, these players are the heavy artillery of the game, with popping returns and 136 mile per hour serves the normal. 81 aces made for a record-breaking but very boring night of tennis. It’s the most aces combined in a best of three match since they started tracking these things in 1991. Generally speaking, it paid the bills but wasn’t easy to watch.

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Brayden Schnur got here on the local train. He ran through 17-year-old Long Island native Cannon Kingsley and up-and-comer Alexei Popyrin to qualify before earning the first ATP win of his young career over Columbia University sophomore Jack Lin. It all started to click for Schnur when he saved 2 match points and came back from a 5-2 third set deficit to knock out #3 seed Steve Johnson last Wednesday.  Friday saw him survive a marathon against veteran Paolo Lorenzi in three sets against another player who was playing on another level this week. That all made yesterday’s upset of #6 seed Sam Querrey less surprising than his other results of the week,

I’m sure some tournament organizers were in agony last night, as it might be less attractive for a casual fan to bundle up and take the Long Island Railroad out to see the Opelka-Schnur prize-fight. An Isner-Querrey final would have been preferred by the marketers and branders, none of which are in short supply in New York. Last year’s Anderson-Querrey final shouldn’t be the norm. The top seeds fly out of ATP 250 tournaments so often that you can’t often tell the difference between a Newport and a Challenger. For a true fan, there can be nothing more exciting at a 250 than being guaranteed to see a young player win his first pro level title.

Here’s to Super Sunday. The doubles final of Santiago Gonzalez and Aisam-Ul-Haq against Germany’s Kevin Krawietz and Andrea Mies goes live at 2:00 p.m. and the singles final starts at 4:00 p.m.

Schnur Stars in Semifinal Saturday Upset Win @NewYorkOpen

Posted by Admin on February 16, 2019
Posted in: ATP, Canada, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Schnur Stars in Semifinal Saturday Upset Win at New York Open
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

The fans finally showed up on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the New York Open after sparse crowds earlier in the week, and they were treated to an early semifinal that showcased the dazzling talent of Canadian Brayden Schnur.

Sam Querrey was a 4 1/2-1 favorite over Brayden Schnur at the start of the match after opening at 3-1 last night.  Schnur held his first serve at love and you had a feeling this one was going to be a tiebreak affair. And the first set tiebreak was a grand affair. Neither player was perfect, but the unexpected return of a Querrey slam down the line changed the balance. Schnur won three challenges in the first set and seemed to be extremely relaxed on court, even fake-celebrating an ace that he knew was a let. He fist-pumped with a sheepish grin, and moved on to the next serve. He later admitted that he was “extremely embarrassed” that he didn’t realize the serve was a let.

After Schnur broke Querrey in the second game of the second set, it seemed as if it were the veteran American who was frazzled and the 23-year-old Canadian in control. It was as if Querrey simply wasn’t expecting Schnur to return so many balls.

Then, nerves set in and Querrey was content to let Schnur make unforced errors. Querrey finally got a break back and then another to take the match to a third set with the momentum in his favor.

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Or so Schnur wanted us to believe. Schnur was lucky to be able to serve first in the final two sets and jumped to a second consecutive 3-0 lead. This time, though, Schnur would not be broken back and propelled by a small crowd of Schnur fans, he held tough all the way.

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Schnur, a 3 time All-American at the University of North Carolina, picked up some fans this week, people he’d never met before. At match’s end, he made sure to acknowledge them.

“The second set got off to a good start but there was a little bit of a letdown,” he said. “Sam played some good tennis. In that third set, you guys got me through so I’ve got your tickets tomorrow. “

World #9 @JohnIsner, @FilaTennis Extend Partnership

Posted by Admin on February 12, 2019
Posted in: ATP, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment
John Isner, 2019 New York Open

John Isner, 2019 New York Open

FILA Extends Partnership With Top Ranked American Male, World No. 9 John Isner
 
(FILA Global) – FILA announced today it has extended its partnership with the top ranked American male, World No. 9 John Isner. FILA has been a partner of Isner for the past three years, and during that time he has risen to a career-high ranking and captured six titles – including his first Masters 1000 singles crown at the 2018 Miami Open.
“The progress John has made in the last three years, elevating his game to become a top 10 ranked player in the world, is impressive,” said Gene Yoon, Global Chairman at FILA. “We are confident John has a lot of great tennis ahead of him and are thrilled to support him moving forward.”
Isner is fresh off his career-best season in which he earned three titles – two in singles (Atlanta and Miami) and one in doubles (Indian Wells). He also registered impressive performances in the Grand Slams, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and quarterfinals at the US Open. At the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, John joined an illustrious club by reaching 10,000 career aces and in the process passed Roger Federer for second all-time. He finished the year by competing in the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London, the first appearance of his career. Isner currently holds 19 career championships – 14 in singles and 5 in doubles.
“My relationship with FILA has been tremendous and I am excited that we are going to continue working together,” said Isner. “The team at FILA goes to incredible lengths to make sure I have the best apparel and footwear, and that has been instrumental to my performance the last few years.” 

Exclusive Interview: Bernard Tomic Notches First Tour Victory of 2019 at @NewYorkOpen

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2019
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Bernard Tomic was on court a full five minutes before Lukas Lacko sauntered into his first round main draw match on Grandstand court this afternoon just before 2:30. Early bird Tomic sent Lacko packing in 53 minutes, 6-4, 6-2, and will face top seed John Isner on Wednesday night at the New York Open.
On facing Isner, I got a great quote out of him: “I think it’s gonna be pretty easy, no?”

Bernard Tomic, 2019 New York Open
Bernard Tomic, 2019 New York Open

Seriously though. “We’ve played a couple of times,” he told me after the match. “Last time I had a chance to win. I lost 7-6 in the 4th (set) in Davis Cup. You know, he has one of the best serves in the world. There’s not much you can do sometimes. I have to go out there and try to play the way I did today.”
Tomic appeared on Australian Television last week and described the poor treatment he received from former US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt during the early days of Tomic’s career.

“There’s a lot of pressure in this sport and you learn how to deal with it,” Tomic told me. “I had a lot of pressure when I was young. I’ve played really solid and really well so far in my career. I mean I haven’t won slams and that, but maybe that’s something I can do in the future. But 10 years in this career, maybe 8-10 years still in this career. I still feel super young. I’m 26 and there’s guys who are 38, 37, 39 and still playing. It’s been a long journey, but got to keep going and do what I do and hopefully one day it’ll pay off.”

—S. Fogleman

Popcorn Match Monday @NewYorkOpen with Qualifying Finals and a Taste of Main Draw

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2019
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Ernesto Escobedo, 2019 New York Open

Ernesto Escobedo, 2019 New York Open

Mondays are usually lazy days at an ATP 250 tournament. With a field of 32, there’s always a smaller number of qualifiers and tournament organizers can’t schedule the big names with the byes until the first round is complete. Local favorite Noah Rubin is scheduled to marquee the night session today, and that leaves some popcorn match qualifiers for today’s day session followed by two singles main draw matches.

Ernesto Escobedo came back from a set down to beat Yasutaka Uchiyama, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) yesterday to set up an all-American affair with Chris Eubanks, who breezed past wild card Adam El Midawhy, 6-3, 6-2. Eubanks was so comfortable after the win that he ate the popcorn a fan offered him and autographed the nearly empty bag. I expect Eubanks to get some revenge today, as Escobedo won their qualifying final here in New York 364 days ago. Eubanks also beat Escobedo at last year’s Aptos Challenger.

Alexei Popyrin is the breakout player that everyone hopes breaks out in their tournament. The 19-year-old Australian is at a career high of 123, and he faces Canadian Brayden Schnur, who’s also moving within reach of the top 100, at #153. There’s no head to head matchups on these two, so pick a winner.

Tennys Sandgren takes on 37-year-old Paolo Lorenzi in the tournament’s first main draw match on stadium court. It’s hard to expect anything less than a victory for Sandgren, as Lorenzi is only 1-12 versus top 100 players in the last year. The winner will be rewarded with a second round match against either Peter Polansky or Ryan Harrison.

Around the same time as the Sandgren/Lorenzi showdown, Bernard Tomic will try to continue to resurrect his tennis career in a first round match against Lukas Lacko. Though the pair each have a victory against the other, they haven’t faced each other in seven years, so this really is the rubber match. A focused and in-form Tomic should easily prevail in this one.

What did they bring Noah Rubin to his homecoming on opening night in his hometown? They brought him his biggest test of the year to date: Jordan Thompson, the world #60. Rubin will have to do everything right tonight to win this match and move things in his direction in 2019, where he’s already lost to the likes of Mikael Ymer and Kamil Majchrzak.

NEW YORK OPEN – UNIONDALE, USA
$773,985
11-17 FEBRUARY 2019

RESULTS – FEBRUARY 10, 2019

Mens
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) d [Alt] T. Puetz (GER) 63 62
Qualifying – [2] A. Popyrin (AUS) d J. Ward (GBR) 75 64
Qualifying – [3] R. Ramanathan (IND) d [Alt] R. Smith (USA) 46 62 64
Qualifying – [4] C. Eubanks (USA) d [WC] A. El Mihdawy (USA) 63 62
Qualifying – [5] B. Schnur (CAN) d [WC] C. Kingsley (USA) 76(3) 63
Qualifying – E. Escobedo (USA) d [6] Y. Uchiyama (JPN) 46 63 76(5)
Qualifying – T. Smyczek (USA) d [7] R. Quiroz (ECU) 67(6) 63 75
Qualifying – [8] A. Arnaboldi (ITA) d Y. Watanuki (JPN) 75 46 63

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019
STADIUM COURT start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [4] C. Eubanks (USA) vs E. Escobedo (USA)
Qualifying – [3] R. Ramanathan (IND) vs T. Smyczek (USA)
[8] T. Sandgren (USA) vs P. Lorenzi (ITA)

Not Before 7:30 pm
[WC] N. Rubin (USA) vs [7] J. Thompson (AUS)
[WC] B. Evans (USA) / J. Isner (USA) vs S. Gonzalez (MEX) / A. Qureshi (PAK)

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [1] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) vs [8] A. Arnaboldi (ITA)
Qualifying – [2] A. Popyrin (AUS) vs [5] B. Schnur (CAN)
L. Lacko (SVK) vs B. Tomic (AUS)

Osaka, Sabalenka Into Third Round of @USOpen; Kasatkina Upset by Sasnovich

Posted by Admin on August 30, 2018
Posted in: New York, US Open, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment


Early play at the US Open in New York on Thursday found one upset, as Aliaksandra Sasnovich, a perennial qualifier in Premier tournaments and slams, upset the Russian, 6-2, 7-6. For Sasnovich, whose high water mark was this year’s fourth round at Wimbledon, she will try to keep her US Open magic alive when she meets Naomi Osaka on Saturday.

Osaka was efficient in the morning heat, needing just 50 minutes on court to dismantle an injured Julia Glushko. In press, she talked about the fine line of deciding to go aggressive or play it safe with each shot.

“You win more if you play safe,” she said. “I would say it’s fun to take the chances when you’re feeling good, like, when you know it’s not 50/50, more like 70/30. So I sort of have to hold myself back on the days I don’t feel good. That’s a little bit hard for me.”

Aryna Sabalenka has been called out for dead–“hit the wall”–by the commentators on US Open Radio in both matches she’s played here. The first time was when she lost the second set to Danielle Collins and today they were at it again in the second set when the Belarusian made a couple of unforced errors. The commies were wrong both times. Sabalenka beat 2010 Flushing Meadows finalist Vera Zvonareva, 6-2, 7-6 to earn a date with Petra Kvitova, and probably her first distinguished court assignment.

It’s funny, because I thought this was going to be a tournament of upsets on the women’s side after Simona Halep went out in the first 90 minutes of the tournament on Monday. Since then, other than Kasatkina today and Muguruza last night, things are shaping up nicely with many marquee players into the weekend. Kerber’s currently in a battle with Johanna Larsson, but there’s plenty of stars left to produce a great second week of women’s tennis.