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Zverev Downs Ferrer, Advances At Rotterdam

  • Posted: Feb 12, 2018

Zverev Downs Ferrer, Advances At Rotterdam

Third seed finishes off Spaniard in straight sets at ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

Alexander Zverev advanced to the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 win over David Ferrer on Monday. The 20-year-old Zverev needed one hour and 24 minutes to dispatch the veteran Spaniard.

“It’s not easy to play Ferrer, especially in the first round of a tournament,” Zverev said. “This is a tough tournament, and I’m happy with the win.”

While Zverev struggled with his serve, he still managed to save nine of 11 break point opportunities. He also converted on five of six break-point opportunities (2/11 for Ferrer). Both committed an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors (Zverev, 26; Ferrer, 31).

You May Also Like: Former Champion Berdych Wins In Rotterdam

“The court is quite quick and the balls are bouncing low. I’m quite tall so a low bounce is difficult but I like quick courts. I’ve won a lot of tournaments on quick courts,” Zverev said. “I want to make my game more dimensional. I felt good returning; I felt well in the long rallies.”

With the win, Zverev moves to 1-2 lifetime in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Ferrer. He’ll next face Italian Andreas Seppi, who beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

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Qatar Open: Maria Sharapova falls in first round to Monica Niculescu

  • Posted: Feb 12, 2018

Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu fought her way to an impressive win over Maria Sharapova in the first round of the Qatar Open.

Russia’s Sharapova, 30, was beaten 4-6 6-4 6-3 in two hours and 38 minutes by the world number 92 in Doha.

Sharapova, a former world number one, struggled for consistency, with 52 unforced errors throughout the match.

Niculescu will play either Magdalena Rybarikova or wildcard Fatma Al Nabhani in the next round.

Sharapova, ranked 41st in the world, was making her first appearance in Qatar since 2013 after being handed a wildcard.

After clinching the first set at the fourth opportunity, Sharapova was frustrated by Niculescu’s slices, and lost her rhythm as the Romanian went on to serve out the match.

Britain’s Johanna Konta plays her first round match against American qualifier Bernarda Pera – who beat her in the Australian Open in January – on Tuesday.

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Former Champion Berdych Wins In Rotterdam

  • Posted: Feb 12, 2018

Former Champion Berdych Wins In Rotterdam

Czech defeats Mischa Zverev to reach the second round

Tomas Berdych defeated Mischa Zverev 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to secure his place in the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

Berdych, who won the title in 2014 (d. Cilic) and reached the final in 2015 (l. to Wawrinka), won 82 per cent of his first serve points and recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the first set. Berdych will meet the winner of Jan-Lennard Struff and Viktor Troicki’s first-round clash for a place in the quarter-finals.

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Earlier in the day, Feliciano Lopez also booked his place in the second-round, with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over 2016 champion Martin Klizan.

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Did You Know?
Tomas Berdych has now won 20 matches at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, including nine consecutive wins from 2014-2015.

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'Highly Motivated' Federer Wants No. 1 ATP Ranking

  • Posted: Feb 12, 2018

‘Highly Motivated’ Federer Wants No. 1 ATP Ranking

More than five years after he last sat atop the tennis world, Roger Federer this week in Rotterdam can reclaim the No. 1 ATP Ranking

Roger Federer has his sights set on overtaking Rafael Nadal at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings this week at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, where he competes for the first time since 2013. A semi-final run would return the Swiss star to the summit of men’s professional tennis for the first time since 4 November 2012.

“I only ever said I would think about the ATP Rankings after the Australian Open was over,” said Federer in Rotterdam on Monday. I did not expect to win the Australian Open again and by not winning the [Nitto] ATP Finals, I never thought it would happen again and it may be out of sight. I played at the Australian Open not thinking about the rankings, but I knew I had the flexibility in February over my calendar.

“After the Australian Open was over, I thought I’d love to play Rotterdam and give it a go. Our team is very excited, that I’m here and that I will give it a go. You have to do it, not because it’s the right thing to do, but you have to be here with all your heart and really go for it. Try my very best. Having the option of getting to No. 1 is highly motivating and very exciting to say the least.”

The 36-year-old would guarantee a return to No. 1 next Monday if he advances to the semi-finals in Rotterdam. If he reaches Friday’s quarter-finals, Federer could meet fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

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See Federer’s Career History In Rotterdam

“I would love to be in that position [to attain No. 1] against anybody,” said Federer. “If I get back to that spot you don’t want it to happen in an easy way. The achievement would be quite incredible. It’s exciting to have Stan in my section [of the draw].”

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Federer is competing at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament for the first time since capturing his sixth Australian Open crown, and his 20th Grand Slam championship, on 28 January. He opens his ninth Rotterdam campaign Wednesday against 30-year-old Belgian qualifier and World No. 116 Ruben Bemelmans. It will be the first meeting between the players.

When asked about winning three of the past five majors, Federer admitted, “If I would have won one Grand Slam I would be over the moon. In 2016, Novak [Djokovic] and Andy [Murray] were in their prime. Rafa was young enough to come back. I always believed I could do it once, [so] it’s an incredible journey.”

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If Federer does get back to No. 1 on 19 February, the gap of five years and 106 days will be the longest between stints at No. 1. At 36, he would also become the oldest World No. 1, replacing American Andre Agassi (aged 33), who last held the top spot on 7 September 2003.

Two-time former Rotterdam champion Federer is one of seven players in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings competing at the Dutch tournament. Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, last year’s finalist David Goffin, 2015 winner Stan Wawrinka, 2014 champion Tomas Berdych and last week’s Open Sud de France champion Lucas Pouille also feature in the draw.

DID YOU KNOW?
Federer holds the record for most weeks spent at No. 1, with 302 weeks. Pete Sampras is second on the list with 286 weeks. See the full list.

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Skupski brothers win first ATP World Tour title together

  • Posted: Feb 12, 2018

British brothers Ken and Neal Skupski won their first ATP World Tour team title by beating Ben Mclachlan and Hugo Nys in the Open Sud de France doubles.

The Liverpool pair took 75 minutes to win 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 against Japan’s Mclachlan and France’s Nys.

Victory in Montpellier came a week after they won ATP Challenger Tour doubles event in Quimper, France.

“Our parents will be extremely happy with us,” said Neal.

“It is my first [ATP World Tour] title, and Ken’s fourth, so it is nice to get it as a pair.”

“We made one final before, we had match points in Moscow, so it is nice to get that monkey off the back and hopefully we can get a few more this year.”

It was the brothers’ second final together, having reached the 2013 VTB Kremlin Cup final, which they lost to Mikhail Elgin and Denis Istomin.

“This is a dream come true,” said Ken.

“We’ve worked very hard over the years. To finally win an ATP World Tour title together, we are extremely happy.”

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