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More @DelrayBeachOpen Seeds Fall on Saturday; Four Quarterfinal Spots Left

Posted by Admin on January 10, 2021
Posted in: ATP, Australian Open, Delray Beach. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

More Delray Beach Open Seeds Fall on Saturday; Four Quarterfinal Spots Left

Steve Fogleman in Delray Beach

January 10, 2021–The seeds kept dropping on Saturday at the Delray Beach Open in Delray Beach, Florida. Gianluca Magher, the man who defeated Rio Open top seed Dominic Thiem last March, continued his underdog magic with a rude dismissal of #6 seed Sam Querrey, 7-6(8), 6-1.

Next up was Christian Harrison, and Christian’s Mission continued as he handled the tournament’s top seed Cristian Garin, 7-6, 6-2. He continues to marvel at his run in Delray Beach, where as a child he first saw pro tennis played in person.

Following up on Harrison’s heroics, Sebastian Korda advanced over #5 seed Tommy Paul. The tournament’s highest remaining ranked player, John Isner, served his way past Thiago Monteira in the night cap in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(4).

Those results set up a quarterfinal square-off between Magher and Harrison and an All-American match with Isner and Korda. The top half of the singles draw has now lost two of its seeded players, leaving only #4 Hubert Hurkacz in the driver’s seat. In that top half, either Harrison or Magher will reach the semifinals and play on Tuesday. All eyes will be on Hurkacz in today’s day session when he will play his first ever match at Delray Beach following his first round bye.

SUNDAY SCHEDULE

STADIUM – start 11:00 am

[WC] C. Harrison (USA)/R. Harrison (USA) vs O. Marach (AUT)/L.D. Martinez (VEN)

Not before 12:30 pm

[4] H. Hurkacz (POL) vs D.E. Galan (COL)

Not before 2:30 pm

[8] F. Tiafoe (USA) vs B. Fratangelo (USA)

Night Session – Not before 6:00 pm

[Q] R. Quiroz (ECU) vs I. Karlovic (CRO)

Not before 8:00 pm

C. Norrie (GBR) vs [3] A. Mannarino (FRA)

Court 1 – start 2:00 pm

A. Krajicek (USA)/S. Querrey (USA) vs A. Molteni (ARG)/H. Nys (MON)

Not before 4:00 pm

N. Monroe (USA)/F. Tiafoe (USA) vs [PR] M. McDonald (USA)/T. Paul (USA)

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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
Posted in: ATP, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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. “

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

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2019
Posted in: ATP, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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)

It’s Quarterfinals Friday at Charlottesville Challenger (@CMPChallenger)

Posted by Admin on November 2, 2018
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Charlottesville, USTA Pro Circuit. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Michael Mmoh, 2018 Charlottesville Challenger

Michael Mmoh, 2018 Charlottesville Challenger

It’s Quarterfinals Friday at Charlottesville Challenger

Paris it is not, but eight men are vying for smaller hardware this weekend at the Charlottesville, Virginia Men’s Pro Tennis Challenger at the Boar’s Head Resort, home of the University of Virginia tennis program.

I’ve attended this event seven times in the past, but only once for the final weekend of the event. As more than half the playing field had been dismissed prior to my arrival, I found the resort to be less crowded and was surprised to see players hanging around who’d lost their singles and doubles matches, just killing time before Knoxville.

First up this afternoon is 8 seed Peter Polansky against Jelle Sels of the Netherlands. The Canadian is a 2013 finalist at this event and is now 9-3 in Charlottesville main draw matches. This will be a first time match-up between the players.

ADVANTAGE: POLANSKY

Favorite “Son” Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of the University of Virginia impressively dismissed 2017 Charlottesville champion Tim Smyczek yesterday and will need another big showing today against 2 seed Michael Mmoh to advance to the semifinals. Mmoh won a two-setter against the tricky Evgeny Karlovsky on Thursday, and he was happy to get out in two sets after the Russian pulled the upset on Thanasi Kokkinakis on Wednesday. Mmoh is now 8-2 in his last ten matches on hard courts and has a 7-3 cumulative record in this event. This is another first time meeting.

ADVANTAGE: MMOH

Bradley Klahn is assured of being ranked inside the top 100 next week, and how high he’ll go in the rankings depends on where he lands this weekend. The tournament’s top seed, Klahn hasn’t disappointed in the early rounds, and today will be a real test in Bjorn Fratangelo, who is enjoying a resurgence of his form. Fratangelo is 9-1 in his last 10 hard court matches. Fratangelo also owns a 3-1 head to head advantage over Klahn. Expect this one to go three.

ADVANTAGE: FRATANGELO

The happy hour match will feature the biggest man in the entire American Fall Challenger circuit: Ivo Karlovic. 2015 Charlottesville finalist Tommy Paul will try to size him up today. Paul is a lucky loser who’s ripped off two big wins after failing to qualify, beating Noah Rubin and Kamil Majchrzak in straight sets. Both players are 8-2 in their last 10 hard court matches and something will have to give. In yet another first time meeting between players, I’m going to have to go with Dr. Ivo.

ADVANTAGE: KARLOVIC

—S. Fogleman

 

 

 

From 32 to 8, Charlottesville’s @TinsleyClassic on Track for Exciting Weekend Finish

Posted by Admin on April 27, 2018
Posted in: Charlottesville, ITF, USTA, USTA Pro Circuit, Virginia, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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When the weather cooperates, the Boyd Tinsley Women’s Tennis Classic in Charlottesville, VA, is one of the best tennis experiences in the world. I’ve been through monsoons here and I’ve been through beautiful spring days. And Thursday was a beautiful day on the Har-Tru at the Boar’s Head Sports Resort. 16 first round matches and 8 second round matches were on order due to Wednesday’s rainout. It was perfect for the fans and for the dogs. I saw more dogs today at a tournament than I have ever seen before. It’s called “growing the sport.”

Conditions were a little doggy for the players in the early going. For the first players on the courts on Thursday, the surface played very slow. After Allie Kiick beat Louisa Chirico before 11 a.m., she told me that “we were both hitting” dropshots and that “for two whole games, we had nothing but dropshots.”

Jen Brady and Allie Kiick needed three sets to open the day, with both staging comeback wins over Irina Falconi and Louisa Chirico respectively. In the 2nd round, it was all Jen Brady from the start and she advanced to a quarterfinal match today against Katerina Stewart.

Camilla Rosatello needed little time to dispatch Olga Ianchuk, who immediately went behind the court and sobbed into a phone call after the match. Cheer up, Olga! Mariana Duque-Marino spoiled my debut of Iga Swiatek 7-6(3), 6-3, and in the nightcap, Duque-Marino proved the tougher competitor in  a 6-2, 6-3 sweep of Rosatello. She’ll face the plucky Grace Min today for a spot in the semis.
As for Min, she beat an error-prone Jamie Loeb yesterday morning before taking out Sophie Chang in the nightcap. Chang continued to impress since Charleston with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Victoria Duval earlier in the day.

Top seed Madison Brengle looked out of form, in all of her talking to herself idiosyncratic ways and plaintively looking at her mother in the stands all day. She wasted little time taking out American Maria Sanchez in straights in the first round and then completely fell apart in the round of 16, losing 6-2, 6-1 to Mari Osaka. Osaka plays Anhelina Kalinina later today.

Speaking of dogs: Ashley Kratzer celebrated with her dog, Koa, after a win over Lizette Cabrera in the morning. In late afternoon, she faced Sesil Karatantcheva. That’s when Krasher’s real dog days began. Karantantcheva advanced to play Taylor Townsend, 6-2, 7-6(5).

And then there’s Taylor Townsend. Inching ever closer to the Roland Garros Wild Card, she made another big step forward yesterday to make the quarters at this $80,000.00 event. The window is closing on other Americans to step up and make it a race. With Brady, Stewart and Min the only other Americans still standing at Charlottesville, a semis showing here should nearly wrap it up for Townsend. She showed yesterday that she is heads above the talent field at this level and it’s good to see her succeed.

—S. Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

 

Qualifiers Gnaw Way Into Main Draw at 2017 Charlottesville Challenger

Posted by Admin on October 30, 2017
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, ATP Qualifying, Charlottesville, USTA Pro Circuit. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Qualifiers Gnaw Way Into Main Draw at 2017 Charlottesville Challenger
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

Alex Rybakov, 2017 Charlottesville Challenger (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

Alex Rybakov, 2017 Charlottesville Challenger (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

(Charlottesville, VA-October 30)–Qualifying concluded at the 2017 ATP Charlottesville Challenger at the Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville,  Virginia this afternoon. The four qualifiers are set: South Africa’s Ruan Roelofse survived a three-setter against Alexander Ritschard, 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3. With 63 life years combined on court, 29-year-old Edward Corrie of Great Britain earned an impressive, calculated comeback against 34-year-old Frederik Nielsen, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. American Jared Hiltzik advanced over Canadian Samuel Monette in two tiebreaks, 7-6(6), 7-6(4). Joining Hiltzik in the draw is fellow American Alex Rybakov, who at 20, was the youngest to qualify in Charlottesville after a 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 thriller over Neil Pauffley of Great Britain.

“The past couple of weeks I had some really tough matches, 7-6 in the third, that I lost,” Rybakov told me. “Here, I’m ready all day for anything. I put my heart out and at the end of the day I was ready for it,” he said.

As far as his chances go in the main draw, “it’s good,” he said.  “I like playing qualifying because you get a couple of matches on the courts and if you qualify you’re used to the courts going in. This is my sixth challenger so I’m getting a good feel for it.”

Although the four qualifiers hadn’t been drawn in at the time of this report, two of them will play Filip Peliwo and Liam Broady in Round 1, and two of them will face each other.

 

Sock, Goffin, Berdych, Ostapenko, Radwanska Upset at @CincyTennis

Posted by Admin on August 16, 2017
Posted in: ATP, Cincinnati, Western & Southern Open. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Sock, Goffin, Berdych, Ostapenko, Radwanska Upset at @CincyTennis

It didn’t take long to get things moving on a hot and muggy day at the Western & Southern Open. Five big names went down yesterday, but the biggest stars remain in contention heading into the latter part of the tournament.

Juan Martin del Potro had the fan support and the support of 17 aces as he came back from the brink to win against 10 seed Tomas Berdych, 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-0. Speaking of aces, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was sprayed by 19 of them from Ivo Karlovic en route to the big man’s 6-4, 7-6(9) tiebreak win. Delpo plays qualifier Mitchell Krueger on Grandstand this afternoon.

Grand slam champion Jelena Ostapenko was forced to play a match on far-flung Court 8, perhaps the most obscure court of all at the tournament. While non-slam winners like Radwanska, Cibulkova, Konjuh and Goerges got show court match ups, Ostapenko got Court 8. And she got Krunic, the qualifier who upset her 6-4, 6-2. Krunic gets Suarez Navarro later today.

Aga Radwanska got a show court, but Julia Goerges was the one who put on the show in a 6-4, 6-4 routining. The German faces Canadian Francoise Abanda next.

David Goffin was no match at all for the plucky Nick Kyrgios. The Aussie breezed past 9 seed Goffin, 6-2, 6-3. Kyrgios meets Dolgopolov next.

Jack Sock was sent off early with a fine performance by Yuichi Sugita on Center Court, 7-5, 6-4. Sugita advanced to face qualifier Joao Sousa tonight.

And of course tonight is the night of Rafael Nadal, who opens his campaign against Richard Gasquet. More heat and humidity in store today, but the real sizzle is the on-court action.

Your Washington Women’s Champion is @KateMakarova1!

Posted by Admin on August 6, 2017
Posted in: Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Your Washington Women’s Champion is Kate Makarova
Steve Fogleman in Washington

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Today’s Citi Open women’s final between Ekaterina Makarova and Julia Goerges couldn’t be more evenly matched on paper, with two players born in 1988 who each hold two pro career titles, one premier and one international. And as it turns out, it was evenly matched on court too.

Makarova had the advantage of far more experience playing in the Washington’s hot hard courts, having competed at the Citi Open for 6 of the 7 years of the WTA events existence. Makarova had also beaten Goerges in straight sets in their only prior meeting at the 2015 Australian Open. And she beat her again today, with Makarova coasting to home in 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-0 victory for the D.C. title.

It was Goerges who came out swinging early and playing error-free tennis. But Makarova broke her early in the second set and we all thought it was going three. Goerges was patient from that point forward and managed to level the set at 5-all and tried to serve it out at 6-5. She failed and lost the tiebreak 7-2. Goerges hadn’t won a pro title in over 6 years, and her inability to seal the victory is a prime example of her difficulties in tough situations.

Although it was an entertaining final, you have to feel that Washington was an opportunity missed by the WTA and tournament organizers, who had counted on Halep in the final to bring some press to this side of the action. In the end, Makarova’s and Goerges’ back stories are good, but the women’s side really could have used some more juice in the final. There’s always next year.

Sascha Zverev Conquers @CitiOpen

Posted by Admin on August 6, 2017
Posted in: ATP, Citi Open, Washington. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Sascha Zverev Conquers Citi Open
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

The men’s final at Citi Open in Washington was a perfect contrast of players on tour. In the near corner stood your 31-year-old challenger, Kevin Anderson, at 6’8″, a man who’d spent the last seven years inside the top 100, and who peaked at world #10. I chose to call him the challenger because he was installed as a 3-1 underdog by the global bookmakers. Though he has had success in his ten years as a pro, some of Anderson’s greatest moments in the game came as a standout for the University of Illinois. The pro success came in the form of three titles over his career at ATP 250 tournaments, which would made a victory in Washington the undisputed high point of his career thus far.

In the far corner stood the kid, a 20-year-old phenom and son of tennis royalty who skipped college to go straight to work in the pros. Standing two inches shorter than Anderson, Zverev’s meteoric rise in the four years since he turned pro saw him break out of the top 100 in 2015, reach top 20 status in 2016 and conquer the top 10 this year.

And today, the kid is the champion of Washington in a 6-4, 6-4 showing of perfect tennis by Zverev.

Zverev got through Kei Nishikori, Daniil Medvedev and Tennys Sandgren in straight sets. He also beat Jordan Thompson in a third set tiebreaker in his opening match at Citi Open.

After the win, he was asked about his role in the ATP Next Gen series. He replied, “I’ve already won four titles this year, so I’m not an ‘in-the-future’ guy.”

Kevin Anderson couldn’t rely on his big serve today and it cost him. Still, it was a fabulous run for Anderson as he beat Jack Sock in straights to advance to the final. Previously, he survived in three sets against Yuki Bhampbri, took out Dominic Thiem in a third set tiebreak and breezed past Malek Jaziri in his opening round.

Anderson hadn’t even been a finalist in an event in almost two years before today’s final, having last hoisted hardware as the winner of the 2015 Winston-Salem Open. By contrast, Zverev had lifted three trophies in 2017 alone, including the Masters 1000 event in Rome.

Anderson and Zverev had dueled twice before with both matches going three sets. In 2015, Zverev was the victor in Washington and earlier this year, Zverev took out Anderson en route to the biggest prize of his career in the Italian Masters.