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Shenzhen Open: Cameron Norrie beats Borna Coric to reach last eight

  • Posted: Sep 26, 2018

Britain’s Cameron Norrie beat world number 18 Borna Coric to reach the last eight of the Shenzhen Open.

Norrie, ranked 73rd in the world, beat the Croatian third seed 6-4 7-6 (10-8) on the hard court in China.

The British number two hit 14 aces and saved nine of 11 break points before eventually closing out the match at the seventh attempt.

He will face Yoshihito Nishioka next after the Japanese stunned sixth seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada.

Shapovalov had two match points in the deciding set but lost 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-5 to the world number 171.

Britain’s Andy Murray plays top seed David Goffin in the second round on Thursday.

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Wozniacki out in Wuhan

World number two Caroline Wozniacki was beaten 7-6 (12-10) 7-5 by Puerto Rican Monica Puig in the third round of the Wuhan Open.

The Dane saved seven match points but was unable to force a deciding set against Olympic champion Puig, who hit 37 winners in the two-hour-24-minute match.

Australian Open champion Wozniacki has yet to qualify for October’s season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore, which she won last year.

Several big names fell in the round of 16, with Spanish former world number one Garbine Muguruza losing 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-1) to Czech Katerina Siniakova.

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, who has won five WTA titles this year, was beaten 3-6 6-3 6-3 by Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber lost 7-5 6-1 to Australian Ashleigh Barty.

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Felix Knocks Out Chung In Chengdu

  • Posted: Sep 26, 2018

Felix Knocks Out Chung In Chengdu

18-year-old to face Tomic in first ATP World Tour QF

Felix Auger-Aliassime continued to grow in confidence at the Chengdu Open on Wednesday. The 18-year-old #NextGenATP Canadian knocked out last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion, second seed Hyeon Chung, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4, to make his first ATP World Tour quarter-final.

“It feels nice. It was one of my objectives this year to go maybe deep in an ATP 250 or 500. Now I’m here in the quarter-finals, and the tournament’s not done yet, so it’s a very nice feeling and hopefully I can go far,” Auger-Aliassime said.

He raced out to a 4-1 advantage but could not convert a set point chance at 5-4, with Chung serving at 30/40. The Canadian, however, broke clear from 2/2 in the tie-break to take the first set.

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Chung rebounded in the second, though, breaking in the 12th game. But Auger-Aliassime broke right back to start the third and served out the match to love.

“You have to believe in yourself to win these kind of matches, to play against these players,” Auger-Aliassime said. “My plan was… I’m going to play every point, give it everything, and play with my strengths. The keys today were my serve, and I was also able to dictate most of the rallies, and I was very tough mentally… That really paid off.”

The Canadian, who’s the youngest player inside the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings, started the week in 15th position in the ATP Race To Milan. The top seven players in the Race will qualify automatically for the Next Gen ATP Finals, while the eighth spot will be reserved for the winner of an all-Italian qualifier tournament to be held just prior to prestigious 21-and-under event. Auger-Aliassime is 310 points behind seventh-placed Andrey Rublev.

“There are a lot of good players ahead of me. Maybe I’ll get there but I have to start with this week and then we’ll see how it goes for the rest of the year,” Auger-Aliassime said.

ATP Race To Milan

He will next meet Aussie Bernard Tomic, who saved one match point to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. Tomic beat fellow qualifier Lloyd Harris of South Africa 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-6(6) in two hours and 12 minutes, saving one match point at 5/6 in the deciding set tie-break. Harris, who beat fifth seed Gael Monfils in the first round, struck 23 aces.

Seventh-seeded Portuguese Joao Sousa saved two match points at 4-5 in the third set of a 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(0) comeback win over Vasek Pospisil. Sousa couldn’t convert a set point in the first set at 5-4, with Pospisil serving at 40/30, but battled to extend his FedEx ATP Head2Head record to 4-0 against the Canadian, who had led 5-2 in the decider. Sousa now meets Malek Jaziri, a 6-3, 7-6(5) victor over fourth seed Adrian Mannarino.

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When In London, Djokovic Raises His Game To Another Level

  • Posted: Sep 26, 2018

When In London, Djokovic Raises His Game To Another Level

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows how Djokovic and Dimitrov have lifted their games to take home the prestigious season-ending title

Winning at the Nitto ATP Finals often requires players to raise their games to another level. And with the 2018 season finale less than two months away, Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers investigates which players have best lifted their games during the most recent season finales.

During the past three Nitto ATP Finals, only two players have won a higher percentage of points at the season-ending event than they did during the regular season. An analysis of who competed in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in London highlights that the elite level of competition for every match dictates that most players walk away from the tournament losing more points than they win.

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Grigor Dimitrov leads the pack in the past three years with the highest percentage of points won in London at 55.4 per cent. Last year, Dimitrov won a very respectable 53 per cent of points in the regular season, and improved that by 2.4 percentage points to capture the biggest title of his career.

The only other player to perform better in London in November than everywhere else from January to October was Novak Djokovic in 2016. He won 54.9 per cent of his points in the regular season, and inched a little higher to win an even 55 per cent of his points in the last ATP World Tour tournament of the year.

During the past three years, no other player has been able to increase the percentage of points won at the Nitto ATP Finals over their regular season performances.

2015-2017 Percentage Points Won: Regular Season vs. Nitto ATP Finals

Player

Nitto ATP Finals – Year Played

W / L

Season Win %

Nitto ATP Finals Win %

G. Dimitrov

2017

5-0

53.0%

55.4%

N. Djokovic

2016

4-1

54.9%

55.0%

R. Federer

2015

4-1

55.0%

53.5%

N. Djokovic

2015

5-1

55.0%

53.5%

R. Nadal

2015

3-1

53.4%

53.1%

A. Murray

2016

5-0

54.5%

53.0%

R. Federer

2017

3-1

54.9%

52.8%

M. Raonic

2016

2-2

53.0%

51.8%

D. Goffin

2017

3-2

52.0%

50.0%

A. Zverev

2017

1-2

51.9%

49.3%

S. Wawrinka

2015

2-2

52.0%

49.0%

D. Thiem

2017

1-2

51.8%

48.8%

A. Murray

2015

1-2

53.6%

48.5%

M. Cilic

2016

1-2

52.1%

48.4%

M. Cilic

2017

0-3

53.0%

48.2%

J. Sock

2017

2-2

50.4%

47.9%

K. Nishikori

2016

1-3

52.4%

47.5%

G. Monfils

2016

0-2

52.6%

47.3%

K. Nishikori

2015

1-2

52.6%

47.3%

R. Nadal

2017

0-1

55.5%

46.9%

S. Wawrinka

2016

1-2

52.4%

46.5%

T. Berdych

2015

0-3

53.1%

45.7%

D. Thiem

2016

1-2

51.7%

45.5%

D. Ferrer

2015

0-3

53.1%

44.9%

P. Carreno Busta

2017

0-2

50.9%

42.7%

D. Goffin

2016

0-1

51.7%

40.4%

All players who have competed in the Nitto ATP Finals in the past three seasons have enjoyed winning more points than they have lost during the regular season. But only eight times out of 26 attempts has a player walked away with winning more than 50 per cent of their points at The O2.

Editor’s note: Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers author Craig O’Shannessy is also a member of Novak Djokovic’s coaching team.

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Herbert Blocks Tsitsipas' Path In Shenzhen

  • Posted: Sep 26, 2018

Herbert Blocks Tsitsipas’ Path In Shenzhen

Qualifier Nishioka saves two match points to beat Shapovalov

Pierre-Hugues Herbert recorded his biggest match win for 16 months on Wednesday for a place in the Shenzhen Open quarter-finals. The Frenchman proved to be too strong for second-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 41 minutes. Herbert knocked out No. 13-ranked Lucas Pouille in May 2017 at the Mutua Madrid Open first round.

World No. 15 Tsitsipas, who is in the running to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals at Milan in November, has now lost four of his past five matches since advancing to the Rogers Cup final (l. to Nadal) on 12 August.

Herbert next faces Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who edged past Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(3) in two hours and 37 minutes.

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Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka recovered from 0-3 down in the third set and saved two match points at 4-5, 15/40 for a 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 victory over sixth seed Denis Shapovalov, the 19-year-old #NextGenATP Canadian, who is in third position in the ATP Race To Milan. Qualifier Nishioka will face Briton Cameron Norrie, who upset third seed Borna Coric 6-4, 7-6(8).

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Davis Cup: GB & Argentina get wildcards

  • Posted: Sep 26, 2018

Great Britain and Argentina have been awarded wildcards for next year’s revamped Davis Cup.

Great Britain, who won the Davis Cup in 2015, beat Uzbekistan in September to ensure they would be seeded in qualifying for the new event.

But they will now bypass that stage altogether with the wildcard.

Captain Leon Smith’s team are now guaranteed a place among the 18 teams which will compete for the title next November.

“Our Davis Cup record over the last few years is something we are all very proud of, and our ranking amongst the top five nations in the world shows our commitment to the competition,” said Smith.

“We are looking forward to being amongst the best of the best next year, creating more memories and inspiring our fans to get behind us and the team as we look to win the competition.”

The 18 teams next year will be made up of the two wildcards, four semi-finalists from the 2018 Davis Cup – Croatia, France, Spain and USA – and the 12 winners from the 2019 qualifiers, which will be held on 1-2 February.

Australia and Switzerland will replace GB and Argentina in the qualifiers.

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Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

The investment group Kosmos, which is led by footballer Gerard Pique, is promising to pump more than £90m into the Davis Cup and grassroots tennis and, therefore, needs the biggest stars and TV markets to be involved in November’s week-long finals.

Ironically, the Lawn Tennis Association voted against the Davis Cup reforms, but GB still receives a wildcard along with Argentina.

Both teams are in the top five of the rankings, and the two most recent winners of the competition not already exempt.

Now GB and Argentina do not have to play in February’s preliminary round, Switzerland and Australia will be seeded for those ties, which may increase the chances of Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios appearing in November.

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