Charlottesville, Virginia—Attendance is up at the annual Jonathan Fried Pro Challenger at the Boar’s Head resort in Central Virginia this week. There are two big reasons: Benoit Paire and Reilly Opelka.
I came down to check out the big American yesterday, who was scheduled to play the night session match. The only glimpse I got of Opelka was from behind, walking slowly toward the exits wearing flip flops and socks and carrying his own bag of dirty laundry. At the time, I didn’t realize it was the last I would see of him, but sure enough, he had withdrawn from the tournament moments earlier. Communications with tournament staff are slower at smaller pro events like this one. It’s all word of mouth. His opponent, Aidan Mayo, advances to today’s quarterfinal match against Alexander Ritschard.
Like Mayo, Benoit Paire was the beneficiary of a walkover when German player Lucas Gerch departed with an injury yesterday afternoon.
The seeds fall so hard in these Challengers that sometimes I don’t even know why they bother to put numbers next to names. The only seed remaining is Paire at #3. Two qualifiers, Quinn and Aidan Mayo, remain in the hunt as well.
Quinn provided a stark reminder to fellow American Emilio Nava that you have to play the matches. Nava bested Quinn 6-1, 6-2 in Stanford earlier this year. Quinn was happy to return the favor with a 6-3, 6-1 result on the indoor hardcourts in Charlottesville on Thursday. “Emilio is unbelievable. He actually waxed me earlier this summer and it made me really question my decision to turn pro, so to get this win today is more important than anything that might happen in the future,” he said regarding the Australian Open Wild Card challenge.
One RIP I mourn is the disappearance of human courtside camera operators at Challenger-level events. In prior years, two people had jobs covering both sides of the show court, but like everyone else, it turns out they were replaceable. I enjoyed their smooth handiwork and these bots have no personalities. Perhaps it was a good thing yesterday that humans didn’t have to cover every point as top seed Michael Mmoh was not having his best tennis day in front of the bots, losing to Alexander Ritschard, 6-3, 7-6(5) in front of a crowd who overwhelmingly appreciated his opponent’s University of Virginia credentials. It was like a home match for the Swiss player and an away match for Mmoh, who spent considerable time growing up in the DC area just two hours away.
Kazakhstan’s Beibit Zhukayev was a slight underdog to Inaki Montes-De La Torre of Spain yesterday. Zhukayev dismissed the impressive qualifier, 6-3, 7-6(8), and he will square off against Croatia’s Nino Serdarusic later today after Patrick Kypson and Brandon Holt kick things off with an All-American quarterfinal at noon.
“Absolutely Asinine”: US Open Decision to Lock Fans Out of Qualifying Puzzles Players and Fans
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
(AUGUST 12)—Of all of the great things about summer, one thing regional tennis fans have on their list is the US Open. Whether you attend qualifying rounds or main draw play, it’s always a great time. And the best part about the US Open is that it allowed fans of all budgets to walk through the metal gates and into a Tennis Wonderland. Hundreds of thousands of students, families and neighbors of the surrounding boroughs have attended qualifying matches for years at the US Open. Qualifying in New York is an event that is truly egalitarian, as millionaires stand next to those who can’t afford a $75 ticket(master) grounds pass for the opening rounds or a $2,800 luxury experience box seat in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Entire junior tennis programs load up buses and head to Flushing for the experience. Without needing to shell out big bucks for a ticket, a fan could feel indulgent and buy a $15 beer or a $40 ball cap and call it a good day.
Those good days are off the calendar for 2021 unless you can afford a ticket to the main draw. The USTA, in a “heartbreaking” move, has called qualifying off-limits to the general public but are prepared to welcome you with open arms and 100% capacity for ticketed main draw rounds. Also scrapped was the phenomenally popular Arthur Ashe Kid’s Day, where $10 bought you a ticket into the greatest stadium in sports along with top-notch entertainment talent.
The reason, according to the USTA, is to protect the players. But many of the players I spoke to at Citi Open last week didn’t understand the logic and had fond memories of attending qualifying as a kid and a fan. No one in the press room last week asked the players about US Qualifying but yours truly and not the talent who reads the transcripts and then reads a teleprompter for Tennis Now. She wasn’t in the house. But once she put my questions out there, it was about time to post my findings, which I was working on for next week. The only reason that the Q&As were in the transcripts is because the ATP wouldn’t let me do one-on-one interviews to ask the players that single question, which would have kept the question and their answers out of the public sphere until my post. In all fairness, I’m glad a bigger media outlet is now, after all of my public questions, covering this matter.
The comments section on the video were almost universally against the fan lockout. Longtime tennis fan Chris Rapseik of Chester, New Jersey was not happy. “As someone who has attended qualifying for many years, I find this decision hypocritical,” he said on Youtube. “I planned to buy tickets for the next week when I attended qualifying, now that is not happening. Yes, there are some costs to allowing fans to see qualies but the fans love the opportunity. So the US Open is not considering the fans, who they want for two weeks, to be able to watch qualies. Shame on them.”
What was most puzzling about the answers I heard at Citi Open evidenced that many of the players I spoke with last week were not aware of the policy, even though it was done to protect “the players.” Which made me wonder if “the players” were even consulted at all about a policy designed to protect “the players” themselves.
“I mean, if you think about that, it seems like there’s that discrepancy or there’s like a double standard as far as what’s allowed and what’s not allowed,” Tennys Sandgren told me last week. “I mean, if you’re allowed to be there for main draw, why shouldn’t you be allowed to be there for qualifying? If you’re going to do one, then you do the other,” he added. “If you’re not going to do one, you wouldn’t do the other. That’s I guess my first reaction to that, would be I don’t really get it. But there’s a lot of this stuff I really don’t get honestly, so it wouldn’t be the first time I felt like there was a double standard or discrepancy there that just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
When I asked Brandon Nakashima about it, he was diplomatic about the protocols of the past year before concluding “I think if they’re able to have fans come in during the main draw, I see really no reason why they shouldn’t be able to come into the qualies as well.”
Denis Kudla agreed. “I feel do they really protect us if (the crowds) showing up three, four days later, it’s going to be packed four days later?” he mused. “I don’t really think that makes sense. Keep it open. We’re not going to be in a bubble. We’re going to be roaming around New York City. We’re responsible for our own health. I don’t see how that’s really making sense. If you’re going to do full bubble, nobody, or just leave it completely open,” he added. “All this kind of half and half things, certain rules for certain people, I don’t think it makes sense in general. So, yeah, that’s pretty much my answer. I think people should be allowed in qualies. I think it’s a huge opportunity for families who can’t spend a bunch on tickets, have an opportunity to watch top guys practice and the future of the sport.”
Steve Johnson is always a straight shooter in press and he didn’t disappoint when I asked him the question last Wednesday. “I’m not the arbitrator of what’s fair and not fair,” he said with a smile. “Me, my perspective, look, we’ve had a lot of confusing COVID rules the last 18 months, especially last six months. I’ve stopped really trying to guess because half the rules make absolutely zero sense, it’s strictly an optical thing that I think is absolutely asinine really,” he added. “I mean, I’m the right guy to probably get a quote from, but I’m the wrong guy to give an impartial decision. Look, I think there should be fans at every stadium. I think we’ve shown in the States that you can do it and it’s safe,” he continued. “There should be fans. Everybody knows the risks. Everybody is willing to do what they want to do. That’s what makes America America. Everyone has their own choice to do whatever they want. If they want to come watch tennis, they should be allowed to. If they feel unsafe, they shouldn’t. There should be fans there the entire time. Again, it’s one of those questions why week one and not week two? Why is it any different? I’ve stopped trying to get those answers because it just makes me more confused than anything.”
Good Dog
In fact, the only player who didn’t express concern was Reilly Opelka. He was having no part of it. “I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds me, you know? They’vebeen great to me,” he said, referring to his benefactors. “The USTA has been great to me. That’s all funded by the US Open. There’s flaws in everything. They’ve been great to me. Martin Blackman and Kent Kinnear, my coach Jay Berger, even Pat McEnroe has been beyond generous to me. There’s nothing negative I can say because they’ve changed my life for the better,” he concluded. He’s one of the nicest guys on tour, but it was clear that he could not be critical in any way of his White Plains Overlords.
Like a good blogger, we reached out to White Plains yesterday to make some sense of this decision. We asked USTA Communications Director Chris Widmaier a few questions by email and followed up with a call to his cell phone, specifically inquiring the following:
1) You must be aware of the crowd size differential between qualifying rounds and the first round of main draw play. Is it fair to say that you expect far more attendees on August 30 and 31 than you would for any day of US Open qualifying in the past?
2) How much money do you expect US Open vendors and partners to lose as a result of the USTA’s decision to close qualifying to the public?
3) Are you aware of the impact of the decision on the thousands of attendees who come to qualifying from struggling neighborhoods all over the region? Will there be widely-advertised discount programs to allow low-income fans to attend the main draw in lieu of free qualifying?
4) Did you consider opening up qualifying for attendees who could provide proof of vaccinations?
5) Was the USTA provided with specific public health guidance that 0% capacity at qualifying would protect players and/or that requiring proof of vaccination for attendees at main draw rounds would be beneficial to the players?
Widmaier called me back. He explained that the decision was “heartbreaking and not an easy decision” for the USTA, and was made several months ago “based on expert medical advice at the time.” He described the Open as a “mega global event” and that all such decisions had to be made in advance for logistical purposes. He acknowledged that the USTA communicated the call to the ATP and WTA, and that he expected that they would have informed the players. “There are never more players on site than during qualifying,” he said. “You have the 256 singles entrants and the qualifying field here at the same time.” According to Widmaier, that medical advice included advising the US Open to build out expanded player areas, including gyms and dining areas to promote social distancing, which they have done.
To quote John McEnroe, “Let’s be honest.” It sounds to me like it was a call that was made, and it’s a call that can’t be challenged or reversed because it’s too late to get security and infrastructure in place for thousands of extra people to show up. Optics are everything, and some feel it’s time to stop blaming COVID-19 for decisions that make little sense except the most obvious—to make a buck and/or keep expenses down, just like a Fortune 500 company beholden to shareholders. It also seems that the last thing the USTA wants is to have to kick fans out after the tournament starts due to an outbreak, which would blow another hole in the organization’s finances after a disastrous 2020.
Perhaps accidentally, though, it feels like the USTA may have missed the mark on its mission statement on this one: “Include all people on a non-discriminatory basis, and make diversity and inclusion an embedded part of USTA.” Because this decision is a heartfelt blow to everyone except the sad rich people in those lower boxes on Ashe. Or as Emma Lazarus, the poet laureate of the Statue of Liberty might say, “Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, not right now, but certainly before 2023.“
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/Citi Open, Mike Lawrence/Citi Open, Ryan Loco/Citi Open
It’s R16 Thursday at @CitiOpen
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
It’s hard to bust through Nadal’s wild opening win in Washington last night, but many other players advanced to the Round of 16 yesterday at the Citi Open and they’re ready for battle today in what is traditionally the best day of this tournament. Eight singles matches will determine the warriors of the weekend with the right to claim an ATP 500 title.
American players are common at American events, and that should surprise no one. In recent years, though, most of them are knocked out in early rounds by higher-ranked international players. This year is different Of the 15 Americans in the draw, seven advanced to the third round – the most at the Citi Open since eight in 1993. You can’t ask for more than that as a local fan. and you still have a chance to see six Americans in the quarterfinals and guaranteed to have one American in there as countrymen Denis Kudla and Brandon Nakashima do battle today for one of those spots. Nakashima is 10-2 since July 19.
Brandon Nakashima (Photo by Peter Staples, Citi Open)
Other opening matches today include Steve Johnson against Ricardas Berankis and Next Gen stars Jannik Sinner taking on Sebastian Korda, who are collectively aged 40 years.
Reilly Opelka
Late afternoon matches feature Kei Nishikori against Cameron Norrie, Reilly Opelka facing off against John Millman, and another Next Gen showdown with a pair of 20-year-olds: #2 seed Felix Auger Aliassime and Jenson Brooksby. Ilya Ivashka and Mackenzie McDonald will fight for a quarterfinal berth in the early evening match before all eyes turn to Stadium Court for Rafael Nadal and Lloyd Harris, the #14 seed.
Yes, We’re Ready! Phased Reopening of Pro Tennis Begins With Universal Tennis Match Series Next Week on Tennis Channel
UNIVERSAL TENNIS AND TENNIS CHANNEL PARTNER TO BRING PROFESSIONAL TENNIS BACK WITH THE UTR PRO MATCH SERIES FEATURING TOP ATP & WTA PLAYERS
May 1, 2020 (Palo Alto, CA) – Universal Tennis today announced the UTR Pro Match Series presented by Tennis Channel featuring top ATP and WTA players in tournament play. The UTR Pro Match Series presented by Tennis Channel will be broadcast live on Tennis Channel and will be the first top tier professional tennis events televised internationally since the global health crisis put a halt to tennis in March.
For fans like you and I, this is a godsend. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself watching sims play tennis on twitch.tv and, just like the player-controlled “Virtua Mutua” Madrid Open, it doesn’t even compare to the real deal of human competition. The last event I covered was the New York Open in February, and it feels like a year’s gone by since Kyle Edmund hoisted the hardware on Long Island. A big thank you to Universal Tennis and Tennis Channel is in order.
The UTR Pro Match Series showcases a vision for how tennis can be played locally and safely through one-on-one matchplay and counts towards a single global rating and ranking with UTR.
The first event of the series will be held May 8-10 with a four-player men’s round-robin event beginning at 12:00 noon ET each day with 3 hours of live coverage. The line up of competitors is as follows:
Reilly Opelka, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)
Matteo Berrettini – 2019 US Open Semifinalist, ATP #8, UTR 15.71 (#12)
All matches will be held at a private court in the West Palm Beach, FL, area with no spectators or public access.
“We are excited to bring back the game to tennis fans and give players the opportunity to compete in a safe, competitive environment,” said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis Chairman & CEO. “The world has changed and we must adapt and innovate. Local, individual and small group play will be the new normal for the foreseeable future. The UTR Pro Match Series showcases how tennis can be played locally, safely and have results count toward the UTR global rating.”
These are the first two events in what will be a continuing US and international series. UTR is partnering with others around the world to deliver UTR Pro Match Series events for players according to local guidelines as restrictions are lifted.
UTR Pro Match Series events are prize money competitions, not exhibitions, and have been reviewed by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) to ensure strict compliance. Results from all Pro Match Series events will be included in a player’s Universal Tennis Rating (UTR), the most accurate international tennis rating system that provides real-time head-to-head rating comparisons based on performance.
UTR Pro Match Series events will follow enhanced safety precautions, going above and beyond the USTA health and safety guidelines, and implement strict screening, cleaning and social distancing measures for players, officials and staff. There will be no spectators, no handshaking, no ballkids and no line judges. One chair umpire will oversee the match, and the court and facility will be professionally disinfected before and after play. Each player will be provided with their own set of marked balls for use during the match. Players will provide their own drinks and towels, and each player will have their own separate area off the court.
“We’re excited to work with our longtime partners UTR to bring professional tennis and high-quality live sports coverage back to millions of tennis fans in the United States and Europe during this uniquely challenging moment,” said Ken Solomon, president, Tennis Channel.
Tennis Channel, partnering with Ross Mobile Productions, will show all matches live. Emmy Award-winning announcer Brett Haber will call play by play for Tennis Channel from the network’s Los Angeles studio during the event. He will be alongside former NCAA champion and professional tour player Prakash Amritraj. During coverage Friday, May, 8, former world No 1. And US Open champion Andy Roddick will also offer commentary via Skype. The four players competing in the tournament will have headsets and be able to interact with Tennis Channel’s studio during changeovers.
The New York Open is back for another year in the Coliseum in Hempstead, New York and we’re back as well at this ATP 250 tour event. A 250-level tournament is tricky for marketing purposes: just a couple of months ago, organizers were selling tickets for “Kei Nishikori Night” for Wednesday night’s matches. Then, Nishikori withdrew (as he just did in Delray Beach) and Nick Kyrgios became the celestial focus. Alas, he dropped out with a week to go, leaving it all to John Isner and the top Americans left to showcase. Let’s look at the draw.
John Isner, 2019 New York Open
Top seed John Isner is still looking for his first NY Open title in three tries. Like the other top 3 seeds, he’ll have a bye, meaning he need only win one match to reach the quarterfinals. He’ll face the winner of the Karlovic-Thompson match. There, I am taking Karlovic to avenge his Roland Garros loss to the Australian. In the quarters, Isner’s likely opponent will be 5 seed and fellow American Tennys Sandgren fresh off of yet another successful Australian Open run. Sandgren should ease past Steve Johnson in their first ever pro meeting on hard courts.
Quarterfinal: Isner vs. Sandgren
Reilly Opelka has his own quarter of the draw as the 3 seed. The 2019 NY Open champion would have been pleased with that, but the draw gods stuck the 2018 champion, Kevin Anderson, right into his section. They will face each other in the quarterfinals if Opelka gets out of his second round match against Nishioka/Laaksonen and Anderson can beat a qualifier and Cam Norrie.
4 seed Ugo Humbert probably has the most intriguing section of the draw. After a bye, he’ll face the winner of Marcos Giron and one Jack Sock. At this point, Sock’s level of play is anyone’s guess. Even if Humbert does advance to the quarterfinals, I don’t think he’s a lock to move on any further. That’s because some of the biggest momentum in this section comes from two players: Tommy Paul and Miomir Kecmanovic. I’m picking the Serb to win their first meeting today and to beat the qualifier he’ll face in the second round. It’s a shame that Paul and Kecmanovic were drawn to play each other in the first round, because these young guns are very dangerous, especially in a 250. Currently, Kecmanovic is the underdog at +125 despite being the seeded player in the match.
Quarterfinal: Humbert vs. Kecmanovic
Milos Raonic, the 2 seed, also has to deal with a stacked quarter of his own. He starts play in the second round and Soonwoo Kwon will likely be his first opponent. Last year’s finalist is this year’s wildcard and Brayden Schnur would love to get back on track here in New York. Unfortunately, he’s drawn Dominik Koepfer in R1 in their first meeting and that match is going to be a tough out. However, with his 6-1 record on the black courts of the Coliseum, I would consider Schnur a value bet at +145. An all-Canadian quarter would be nice.
Quarterfinal: Raonic vs. Schnur
On a hunch, I think a Japanese player will advance to the second round, but I haven’t figured out which one yet. Yasutaka Uchiyama is a big first round underdog against Kyle Edmund. I will pick an upset of Yoshihito Nishioka today by Henri Laaksonen (+295). Or perhaps it will be top qualifying seed Go Soeda if he can get past Bernard Tomic today.
As always, this information is for amusement purposes only. And in just a few hours, the indoor main draw carnival begins.
WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN QUALIFYING FIELDS ANNOUNCED
Qualifying Event Part of First Watch Opening Weekend
Alison Riske (Photo: @Tennis_Shots)
CINCINNATI (July 23, 2019) – Players who have won a total of 11 tour titles this season are among the entrants into the qualifying tournament for the 2019 Western & Southern Open. The qualifying event will take place over First Watch Opening Weekend, August 10-11, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
A total of 15 players – seven women and eight men – will advance out of the two-round qualifying tournament into the 56-player main draw fields for the Western & Southern Open.
The winners of seven ATP titles – Nicolas Jarry (Bastad), Juan Ignacio Londero (Cordoba), Feliciano Lopez (Queen’s), Reilly Opelka (New York), Tennys Sandgren (Auckland), Lorenzo Sonego (Antalya) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Montpellier) – will be joined by four WTA champions – Polona Hercog (Lugano), Alison Riske (‘s-Hertogenbosch), Elena Rybakina (Bucharest) and Yafan Wang (Acapulco) – in the qualifying fields.
Tsonga
In addition, players in the qualifying fields have combined to reach another 14 tour-level finals in 2019. The women’s field also features a duo coming off deep runs at Wimbledon in semifinalist Barbora Strycova and quarterfinalist Riske.
“The qualifying tournament often provides some of the most compelling action because there is a lot on the line for these players who are battling to reach the main draw,” said Western & Southern Tournament Director Andre Silva. “We think these two days are a great opportunity for our fans to not only see these matches across eight courts but also provide a chance to get up-close-and-personal to main draw competitors who are practicing across the other nine courts.”
Tickets for First Watch Opening Weekend start at $14. Tickets for these and all other sessions of the tournament are on sale now at wsopen.com.
Below are the initial player entry lists for the qualifying fields for the 2019 tournament:
WTA Rank • Name (Nationality) Age
32 Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) 33
35 Shuai Zhang (China) 30
37 Alison Riske (USA) 29
43 Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) 26
44 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 28
45 Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) 25
48 Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia) 24
49 Viktoria Kuzmova (Slovakia) 21
50 Kristina Mladenovic (France) 26
52 Yafan Wang (China) 25
53 Alize Cornet (France) 29
54 Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 28
55 Veronika Kudermetova (Russia) 22
57 Margarita Gasparyan (Russia) 24
58 Mihaela Buzarnescu (Romania) 31
59 Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) 24
60 Magda Linette (Poland) 27
61 Iga Swiatek (Poland) 18
64 Anastasia Potapova (Russia) 18
65 Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) 20
67 Kateryna Kozlova (Ukraine) 25
68 Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 34
69 Viktorija Golubic (Switzerland) 26
70 Rebecca Peterson (Sweden) 23
71 Tatjana Maria (Germany) 31
73 Lauren Davis (USA) 25
74 Bernarda Pera (USA) 24
76 Jennifer Brady (USA) 24
ATP Rank • Name (Nationality) Age
38 Nicolas Jarry (Chile) 23
43 Jordan Thompson (Australia) 25
44 Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) 22
45 Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) 31
46 Ugo Humbert (France) 21
49 Joao Sousa (Portugal) 30
50 Marton Fucsovics (Hungary) 27
52 Lorenzo Sonego (Italy) 24
54 Cameron Norrie (Great Britain) 23
55 Dan Evans (Great Britain) 29
56 Juan Ignacio Londero (Argentina) 25
57 Reilly Opelka (USA) 21
59 Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain) 28
60 Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 37
61 John Millman (Australia) 30
62 Martin Klizan (Slovakia) 30
66 Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia) 19
67 Federico Delbonis (Argentina) 28
68 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 34
69 Casper Ruud (Norway) 20
70 Tennys Sandgren (USA) 28
71 Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan) 22
72 Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 35
73 Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan) 23
Four players will be added to each of these fields through wild card entries.
In 2018, the Western & Southern Open attracted more than 194,000 spectators. The reigning singles champions are ATP No. 1 Novak Djokovic and WTA No. 5 Kiki Bertens. In addition to the tennis, the W&S Open features more than 50 musical acts, 20 food vendors, six signature bar areas and a retail plaza for patrons to enjoy between matches.
The Western & Southern Open is an ATP Masters 1000 and a WTA Premier 5 tournament and is a member of the US Open Series. Started in 1899, the tournament annually supports a number of charities in the Cincinnati area.
Busy Month on ATP Tour Sees Federer Claim Title #100, Monfils Return to Form Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
After Novak Djokovic claimed the Australian Open title, the ATP season roared into February with multiple 500 level events and a number of 250s on clay and hard courts across the globe. Here is your look at all the action for the month that was.
Veteran Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won an all French final in this indoor 250 6-4 6-2 against Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The veteran beat Gilles Simon, Jeremy Chardy and Radu Albot in consecutive matches to reach the final, overall he defeated four French players to win the tournament. PHH upset Denis Shapovalov and Tomas Berdych to reach the final.
Bulgaria’s only ATP event was won by the in-form Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-3 against Marton Fucsovics. Fucsovics had a breakthrough after upsetting Andreas Sepi and getting a walkover against Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarters (then edging Matteo Berrettini in the semis). Medvedev got past Gael Monfils in the semis and prior to that he scored wins against Robin Haase and Martin Klizan in consecutive matches. Medvedev’s win helped him reach the top 15, he’s now 1-1 in ATP finals this year.
ATP Cordoba
On clay in Argentina home hero and wild card Juan Ignacio Londero won his first ever ATP title prevailing against Guido Pella 3-6 7-5 6-1 in a huge moment for him. Londero’s breakthrough pushed him to a new career high in the top 70 and he beat clay courters Nicolas Jarry and Federico Delbonis most notably to make the final. Pella had a good month edging Paolo Lorenzi, Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos, and Pablo Cuevas to reach the final in what was a tough path for a 250.
ATP New York
The first ATP 250 in the States this year saw Reilly Opelka lift his first title in three sets 6-1 6-7 7-6 against maiden finalist Brayden Schnur, a Canadian. Opelka also upset top American John Isner, while Schnur edged Sam Querrey in the semis. Opelka’s powerful serve was a difference maker and he should be a factor in Indian Wells and Miami coming up.
ATP Buenos Aires
The 250 on clay in Buenos Aires resulted in Marco Cecchinato’s third career ATP title 6-1 6-2 against home player Diego Schwartzman. Schwartzman upset Dominic Thiem and also beat Aljaz Bedene and Albert Ramos to reach the final. Cecchinato beat Christian Garin, Roberto Carballes Baena, and Guido Pella to reach the final, three accomplished clay courters. This was a great result for Cecchinato outside of Europe.
Gael Monfils returned to form winning his 8th career title 6-3 1-6 6-2 against fellow veteran Stan Wawrinka. It was a thrilling moment played in good spirits and filled with joy for both players who have overcome injuries and adversity to return to the top of the game. Monfils 500 level title included wins against Daniil Medvedev, and David Goffin. Wawrinka upset Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov, and Kei Nishikori before falling short in the final. Both players would love to contend at the slam level again.
The Rio 500 on clay was the top event on the Golden Swing and Serbia’s Laslo Djere claimed his first title 6-3 7-5 against young gun Felix Auger-Aliassime. FAA played well but Djere was the player of the week, as he upset Dominic Thiem and also claimed wins against clay courters Casper Ruud and Aljaz Bedene to reach the final. FAA defeated Fabio Fognini, Christian Garin, Jaume Munar, and Pablo Cuevas to reach the final, showing his all court talent that is set to make him a top 20 player in the near future. Djere broke into the top 40 with the win, the tournament was filled with upsets.
ATP Marseille
Young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas found form and got past Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5 7-6 in the final after defeating David Goffin, and Sergiy Stakhovsky in the late rounds to reach the final. Kukushkin upset Denis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev before getting a winnable semi against Ugo Humbert. This indoor hard court 250 saw some early round upsets but in the end the #1 seed Tsitsipas won his second career title.
Radu Albot made history, winning his first career title and breaking into the top 60 with a 3-6 6-3 7-6 win against Dan Evans in a battle of journeymen in the Delray 250 hard court final. Evans edged John Isner in the semis and upset Frances Tiafoe in round 1 while Albot got past big servers Ivo Karlovic and Nick Kyrgios before nipping Americans Steve Johnson and McKenzie McDonald to reach the final.
Roger Federer won his 100th career title at the Dubai 500 6-4 6-4 on hard courts against the in-form Stefanos Tsitsipas. Federer found form late in the tournament after dropping sets against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco in the first two matches. Marton Fucsovics and Borna Coric were his quarterfinal and semifinal opposition, while Tsitsipas had a relatively easy path until Gael Monfils was his semifinal opponent and he prevailed in that match in a third set tiebreak. The young Greek played well but Federer was just too good.
The Acapulco 500 was won by the struggling big server Nick Kyrgios 6-3 6-4, as he defeated Alexander Zverev in a battle of talented finalists. Kyrgios was focused on the week, edging John Isner in the semis, Rafael Nadal in the second round, and Stan Wawrinka in the quarters while Zverev had a smooth path that included Alex De Minaur in the quarters and Cam Norrie in the semis. Kyrgios has always had the talent to be an elite player, if he can keep this form he will contend in both upcoming Masters tournaments, but that can’t be predicted.
ATP Sao Paulo
Argentina’s Guido Pella won his first ATP title, winning the 250 on clay to close the Golden Swing 7-5 6-3 against Christian Garin. Pella edged Laslo Djere in the semis, while Garin upset Ruud. Pella didn’t have the toughest draw (Roberto Carballes Baena and Marco Trungelliti) but it was still a massive accomplishment to win his first title.
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.
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.
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 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.
Reilly Opelka Beats Qualifier Jared Hiltzik To Advance To Quarterfinals At Las Vegas Tennis Open ATP Tour Challenger $50,000 Men’s Tournament
LAS VEGAS (Oct. 19, 2017) – Six-foot, 11-inch Reilly Opelka took advantage of what he described as perfect court conditions to advance to the quarterfinals of the Las Vegas Tennis Open as the No. 8-seeded Floridian beat qualifier Jared Hiltzik, 7-6 (5), 6-4, at the ATP Challenger Tour $50,000 Men’s tournament taking place at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on the campus of UNLV.
“There is altitude and the courts are playing pretty fast,” said the 20-year-old Opelka. “They are using a Penn ball which tends to be a little more livelier than Wilson. The ball is jumping and it’s a condition that definitely promotes big serves here. It’s easy for everyone to hold.”
Opelka will next meet Britain’s Liam Broady, who scored a solid win over No. 2-seeded and fellow countryman Cameron Norrie by the same exact score at Opelka, 7-6 (5), 6-4, on Friday as the final eight spots have been determined in singles.
Opelka described Broady as a “scrappy lefty” who hits a lot of slice balls “and tries to make you play an extra ball.”
Down 5-4 with Hiltzik serving in the first-set tiebreaker, Opelka hit a nice backhand crosscourt winner to even things up and then served out the first set with an ace.
Opelka spent the summer playing regular ATP-level tournaments, but said “coming back down to the Challenger level” was just what he needed.
“I lost a ton of matches this summer, maybe five of them, 7-6 in a third set and I think four of them I had match points,” he said. “What could have been a great summer ended up being brutal for me. I haven’t had too any main-draw wins consecutively for a while. This is perfect and just where I need to be right now.”
Opelka is rooming this week with fellow ATP “Next Gen” player and quarterfinalist Stefan Kozlov and the pair are staying in a house 20 minutes away from the Strip and UNLV in Henderson.
“Last night was the first night we got out and had dinner on the Strip,” Opelka said, adding that fellow American Michael Mmoh has also joined them for some basketball watching and playing during the week.
Defending champion Sam Groth of Australia was forced to retire down 2-1 in the first set against qualifier Jan Choinski of Germany because of a hip flexor. Top-seeded Tennys Sandgren continued his strong play, beating Lucas Miedler of Austria, 7-5, 6-4.
RESULTS – OCTOBER 19, 2017 Men’s
Singles – Second Round
[1] T. Sandgren (USA) def. L. Miedler (AUT) 7-5, 6-4
L. Broady (GBR) def. [2] C. Norrie (GBR) 7-6(5), 6-4
[Q] J. Choinski (GER) def. [7] S. Groth (AUS) 2-1 Retired
[8] R. Opelka (USA) def. [Q] J. Hiltzik (USA) 7-6(5), 6-4
Men’s
Doubles – Quarterfinals
[1] B. Klein (GBR) / J. Salisbury (GBR) def. B. Kozlov (USA) / S. Kozlov (USA) 7-6(0), 4-6, 10-3
K. King (USA) / R. Roelofse (RSA) def. [WC] B. Lock (ZIM) / C. Lock (ZIM) 6-3, 7-5
ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2017 COURT 1 start 11:00 am
[4] S. Kozlov (USA) vs K. King (USA)
[PR] B. Klahn (USA) vs E. King (USA)
[3] H. Hach Verdugo (MEX) / D. Novikov (USA) vs [2] J. Chaplin (AUS) / M. Libietis (LAT)
COURT 7 start 11:00 am
[1] T. Sandgren (USA) vs [Q] J. Choinski (GER)
[8] R. Opelka (USA) vs L. Broady (GBR)
Tennis Atlantic 