Mikhail Youzhny made a memorable ATP World Tour Masters 1000 debut in 2001 at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, where he reached the Round of 16 as a teenager. Now 35, the former World No. 8 continues to compete at the elite level, with more than 100 Masters 1000 tournament appearances to his name. 

One of his best runs came at the Western & Southern Open in 2005, when he defeated future Top 10 players Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils before testing World No. 5 Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals. He reflects on that match and more.

You’ve reached six quarter-finals at this level. Do you have a special Masters 1000 memory?
When I reach a semi-final, then I’ll let you know. (laughs) 

Is there a match that stands out?
Yeah, it was 2005 against Andy Roddick in Cincinnati. It was an evening session, I think. It was a pretty tough match. He beat me in three sets. In Hamburg [in the 2004 quarter-finals], I played against Ivan Ljubicic in the Masters. That was also a long time ago. It was really cold on-court, like usual in Hamburg. (laughs)

What is the greatest match you’ve seen at a Masters 1000 tournament?
So many matches. In that past few years I’ve started to watch more matches. I cannot say just one because there were so many great ones like Djokovic/Murray, Federer/Nadal. There’s so many great matches it’s really tough to pick one. 

What makes the Masters 1000s special?
It’s one of the biggest tournaments by the ATP, and one of the greatest tournaments by the ATP, and you see how many [people] come to watch… From the first day of the qualies, a lot of crowds, a lot of press is here. People like the tennis. [Fans] are waiting for the tournament, players are waiting for the tournament. This is what’s so special about Masters 1000 tournaments… You can feel it’s a really great tournament, they build new stadiums, they build new facilities, everybody is happy. And every year more and more people come to the events. This is the atmosphere of a Masters 1000. 

What is your favourite Masters 1000 tournament & why?
That’s a tough question because now many Masters 1000 tournaments have improved. One of them is Indian Wells. I remember how it was a long time ago and now it’s a great tournament, maybe one of the best. I also like Shanghai as well, their organisation. I think almost all the 1000s are pretty good, I can’t say just one of them.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups for Day 3 of the Western & Southern Open and vote for who you think will win!
Berdych vs. del Potro | Goffin vs. Kyrgios |  Thiem vs. Fognini | Tsonga vs. Karlovic

View Tuesday Schedule

Three of the top four Americans in the Emirates ATP Rankings, led by American No. 1 Jack Sock and No. 2 John Isner, highlight a full slate featuring 14 first- and second-round matches Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. 

Sock, the No. 13 seed, takes on Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in a first-round match on Center Court Tuesday afternoon. Ranked No. 16 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Sock is bidding for his third ATP World Tour title of 2017, having captured his 2nd and 3rd ATP singles titles, respectively, at Auckland (d. Sousa) and Delray Beach (w/o vs Raonic) earlier this year. Sock advanced to the SF in Washington (l. to Anderson) before falling to David Ferrer in the R32 at Montreal last week. He is 1-3 lifetime in Cincinnati, reached the R32 in 2015 (l. to Anderson). Sugita, ranked No. 46 in the world, lost his season debut on hard-court last week in Montreal (l. to Goffin in R64). Last year, Sugita advanced to the R16 in his Cincinnati debut (d. A. Zverev in R64, Mahut in R32, l. to Raonic in R16). Earlier this summer, he captured his 1st ATP World Tour at Antalya (d. Mannarino). Sock and Sugita are meeting for the first time on the ATP World Tour.

Isner, the No. 14 seed, plays under the lights on Tuesday against wild card and countryman Tommy Paul for a berth in the R16. On Sunday, Isner fired 20 aces en route to a straight-set victory over Serbian Viktor Troicki in the first round, improving to 9-1 in his last 10 matches. Isner won back-to-back titles at Newport (d. Ebden) and Atlanta (d. Harrison) earlier this summer and did not drop a set in either tournament. Ranked No. 19 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Isner reached the final in Cincinnati in 2013 (d. No. 1 Djokovic and del Potro, l. to Nadal) and is 12-9 lifetime. The 20-year-old Paul was successful in his Cincinnati debut on Monday, defeating compatriot Donald Young in straight sets. The #NextGenATP American reached back-to-back ATP World Tour QF in Atlanta (l. to Muller) and Washington (l. to Nishikori) during the summer hard-court swing and is currently ranked No. 175 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after reaching a career-high No. 174 the week before. This will be the first meeting between Isner and Paul.

Two players very familiar with each other will kick things off on Center Court Tuesday afternoon when No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych faces 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in an opening-round clash. The two have met seven times previously on the ATP World Tour, with del Potro holding a 4-3 edge in their FedEx ATP Head2Head. Berdych won their most recent encounter in the R64 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells in 2016. Berdych is a two-time semi-finalist at this tournament (2011, d. Federer in QF, l. to Djokovic; 2013, d. Murray in QF, l. to Nadal) and is 18-12 lifetime. The Czech advanced to his fifth ATP World Tour SF of the year in Los Cabos (l. to Kokkinakis) earlier this month before withdrawing from Montreal last week with a rib injury. Last week, del Potro halted Isner’s eight-match winning streak with a 1R victory in Montreal before falling to eventual semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov in the R32. The Argentine advanced to the Cincinnati semi-finals in 2012 (l. to Djokovic) and 2013 (l. to Isner) and is 9-4 lifetime.

The first men’s match on the Grandstand Court Tuesday afternoon is a first-round encounter featuring American Steve Johnson taking on Spain’s David Ferrer for the third time on the ATP World Tour, all on hard-courts. Ferrer took both previous meetings, winning the Vienna final in 2015 in three sets before winning their R32 matchup at the 2016 Australian Open in straight sets. Johnson, ranked No. 37, reached the quarter-finals in Cincinnati in 2016 (d. Tsonga in R16, l. to Dimitrov in QF). In April, Johnson defeated Sock en route to his 2nd ATP World Tour title at Houston (d. Bellucci 76 in 3rd). Ferrer advanced to the Cincinnati final in 2014 (l. to Federer) and is 17-12 lifetime. He captured his 27th career ATP title in Bastad (d. Dolgopolov) last month. 

The marquee evening match on Grandstand Court will feature Austrian No. 1 Dominic Thiem squaring off against Italian No. 1 Fabio Fognini for a spot in the R16. Thiem won their only previous meeting in the R16 at Munich in 2015 on clay. The Austrian is just 5-5 since reaching the SF at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal), squandering match point(s) in losses to Kevin Anderson at Washington and Diego Schwartzman at Montreal. The World No. 8 is bidding for his 40th match win of 2017. On Monday, Fognini defeated #NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev to book his spot in the R32 against Thiem. Fognini, who won his fifth ATP World Tour title in Gstaad (d. Hanfmann) last month, advanced to the QF at Cincinnati in 2014 (l. to Raonic) and is 5-6 lifetime. 

When you listen to a former World No. 1, someone who made it to the pinnacle of the ATP World Tour, experience resides in each phrase. The advice of Juan Carlos Ferrero clearly carries weight with fast-rising #NextGenATP leader Alexander Zverev, who on Sunday won his second consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Montreal.

The chemistry between the two couldn’t have sparked success any faster. Since they began working together in mid-July, victory has been their only destiny: 10 wins in a row (the longest winning-streak in Alexander’s career) and titles in Washington and Montreal (with a tour-leading five crowns in 2017). 

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Zverev has risen to a career-high ranking of No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, having upped his way to No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, just below Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“I didn’t expect to begin with two titles,” admits Ferrero after seeing his pupil dominate in Montreal. “But I have to say that watching how he trained during the 10 days we spent together in Tampa right before playing Washington, I was shocked by his discipline and commitment towards the game. He wants to improve badly and is working to be one of the greatest.”

With his low-profile, analytical method, Ferrero observes a player growing in front of his eyes; a player who already shines despite having large room for improvement. “I think he’s very mature for his age. Maybe that’s the main difference compared to the players of his generation,” Ferrero says. 

“He can still improve his mentality and, for sure, some technical aspects such as volleys or his net game… But he’s 20 years old and has plenty of time to do so.”

Success at the top requires character and determination, and Alexander doesn’t fall short in that department. “He’s a winner,” Ferrero says. “He believes deeply in his chances, no matter who’s at the other side. Federer, Djokovic or any other.”

Zverev has compiled 10 straight wins at Masters 1000 level, something nobody has done at his age since Nadal in 2005. “That’s very important,” Ferrero says.

“With his technical acumen, if he trusts in his game he can be very dangerous. And he enjoys joking with his team. He’s very extroverted even with people he doesn’t know well. Moreover, he’s a hard worker and enjoys the competition.

“Our plans are set: we’ll be together again at the US Open. I’ll be back home during Cincinnati, but we want to keep working until the end of the season.”

Richard Gasquet will take on incoming World No.1 Rafael Nadal in the Western & Southern Open second round after a routine opening to his Cincinnati campaign on Monday. The Frenchman took down Australian qualifier John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 6-4.

Gasquet is coming off a narrow three-set loss to eventual Coupe Rogers champion Alexander Zverev last week, a match in which he held three match points. He will be looking for his first win in 15 FedEx ATP Head2Head clashes when he meets fellow 31-year-old Nadal.

Against Smith, Gasquet broke four times to complete the one-hour, 25-minute result. The Australian had earlier beaten Vasek Pospisil and Christian Harrison to make the main draw.

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Gasquet’s countryman, eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, will take on big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic for a place in the third round. Karlovic eked out a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Czech lefty Jiri Vesely. 
The No. 44 in the Emirates ATP Rankings sent down 29 aces to Vesely’s nine. He broke in the final game of the match to seal the result. 

Portuguese qualifier Joao Sousa brought an end to Brit Kyle Edmund’s Cincinnati campaign. Sousa prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to book a second-round clash with either 11th seed Jack Sock or Japan’s Yuichi Sugita.

In the battle of the lefties it was German Mischa Zverev who got the better of Spaniard Fernando Verdasco on Monday night. The pair had not faced off in nine years and it was Zverev who proved stronger on serve in the 6-4, 6-4 result. 

He did not face a break point and dropped just four points on his first serve. It books a second-round meeting with either 11th seed Pablo Carreno Busta or Paolo Lorenzi.

Dozens of fans and a plethora of ATP World Tour doubles players enjoyed the fourth annual ATP Doubles Showdown at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday afternoon.

Wayne Bryan kicked off the afternoon of fun with a question-and-answer session with players, including Lukasz Kubot, Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo. Bryan also tested the crowd on their tennis knowledge. He even had Kubot, Soares and Melo dancing at one point. Jamie Murray, Rajeev Ram, Raven Klaasen, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic also participated.

The players and fans then hit on Court 4, as the players worked on doubles drills with fans. Other doubles players, including Leander Paes, John Peers, Nikola Mektic, Jackson Withrow, Juan Sebastian Cabal, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi joined for the latter end of the Doubles Showdown.

The second group spent a full hour on court with fans and Bryan. They ended the session with a battle of football tennis with FC Cincinnati.

Put a group of @fccincinnati players on the court with some of the @ATPWorldTour’s doubles stars and what do you get?…

⚽️? #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/sW4Mf0ewPd

— W&S Open (@CincyTennis) August 14, 2017

In ATP World Tour doubles action, Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer will take on the No. 1 seeds, Henri Kontinen and Peers, for a place in the Cincinnati quarter-finals. The Spaniards narrowly snuck past the Italian-Spanish duo of Paolo Lorenzi and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 1-6, 7-6(2), 10-6.

Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus also advanced to the second round. The American and New Zealander posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Steve Johnson and Daniel Nestor to set a clash with eighth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.

French pair Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin took down Americans John Isner and Donald Young 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-5. The experienced pairing of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau joined the Frenchmen in the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 result over #NextGenATP wild cards Jared Donaldson and Stefan Kozlov.

Injuries, heart-breaking losses and doubts about if he’d ever return to the top of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Rafael Nadal has experienced it all since he last reigned at World No. 1, on 6 June 2014.

But during that time, he has courageously placed distractions to the side and forged ahead with the work of improving his career. On Monday 21 August, he’ll received another reward when he returns to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Nadal and Federer were set to battle for the top Emirates ATP Ranking this week at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. But with Federer’s withdrawal because of a back injury on Monday, Nadal is guaranteed to take the top spot in one week.

“Obviously it’s bad news for the event that Roger is not playing. For me personally obviously to be back to that position is something special,” Nadal said on Monday during his pre-tournament press conference.

“A lot of things have happened since the last time I was in this spot. Injuries and some tough moments, of course, but I have held the passion and the love for the game, and that’s why I have the chance to be back in that position again. So I’m just trying to enjoy the moment and just trying to be ready to compete well here. That’s the most important thing for me now.”

Considering the past 12 months for Nadal, his climb to No. 1 must be especially sweet. He ended last season early because of an injury to his left wrist. The final time his fans watched him play in 2016 was a straight-set loss to Serbian Viktor Troicki at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

How would Nadal return in 2017? Would he be able to re-gain his top form? Questions of all kinds were posed at the Spaniard in January. But he has more than answered every question – in the press room and on the court – this season.

Nadal has four titles this year, including his historic “La Décima” at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Roland Garros. He has reached three other finals, including the Australian Open and the Miami Open presented by Itau, falling to Federer, and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, when he lost to Sam Querrey of the U.S. Nadal leads the ATP World Tour with seven final appearances.

“I am having a great season,” Nadal said.

But plenty of tournaments remain for the Spaniard, and for Federer, who could re-take No. 1 later this year. “Roger and I are both having a great season. I think both of us are going to have the chance to be in that position until the end of the season. It depends on the results… So let’s see. I have an opportunity here to compete well this week and I’m going to try to do it,” Nadal said.

He is the top seed at this week’s ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. Nadal has spent 141 weeks at No. 1, and first ascended there nearly nine years ago to the date, on 18 August 2008, at the age of 22.

He will meet Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the second round. The left-hander leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 14-0 and has not lost a set against Gasquet since 2008. “I have been playing great. I think I am practising well, too. I think I am ready to compete,” Nadal said.