Tennis News

Tsitsipas Set To Climb To World No. 3: 'I've Put In So Much Work To Make It'

Stefanos Tsitsipas is excited to be back in Toronto for the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. But the Greek is also thrilled for recognition he will earn before striking a ball at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event.

The 22-year-old is projected to climb to a career-high No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday, passing Rafael Nadal.

“Being at the ranking that I will be tomorrow, it is a huge motivation and a very good indication that I’ve done great so far,” Tsitsipas said. “[I am] just generally blessed that I’ve put in so much work to make it to the top three, which [I would consider] quite a special milestone.”

Tsitsipas first cracked the Top 10 more than two years ago after a run to the Dubai final. But the Greek sees this accomplishment on another level.

“That [Top 10 breakthrough] was a great dream of mine being fulfilled. The top three is on its own, something completely different,” Tsitsipas said. “My purpose of doing this is self-improvement and trying to become a better person through tennis, so it matters.”

The Greek will not stop pushing to improve, though. That is Tsitsipas’ daily focus.

“I wake up every single day with a goal: to get better. To get better with my tennis, to get better in the sport that I chose to follow in my life,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m very happy I get to play that sport. I’m very happy that I get to inspire people doing what I do.”

Tsitsipas has fond memories of Toronto, where he made his first Masters 1000 final in 2018. During that run, the Greek became the youngest player to beat four Top 10 opponents at a single tournament since the ATP Tour was established in 1990.

Seeded third at this edition, Tsitsipas will hope to go even further at the Aviva Centre. He will play French lefty Ugo Humbert or Italian Lorenzo Sonego in his opening match and could face 2021 breakthrough star Aslan Karatsev in the third round.

“I’m feeling good with my game, really happy to be back to Toronto, one of my favourite places to compete and play tennis,” Tsitsipas said. “The location is exactly as I remember it. I’m just generally happy to be competing here again.”

Source link

Klaasen/McLachlan Capture Washington Title

Fourth seeds Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan overcame Neal Skupski and Michael Venus 7-6(4), 6-4 on Sunday at the Citi Open in Washington to win their first ATP Tour title of the season.

The South African-Japanese tandem did not drop a set this week en route to the trophy in the United States’ capital. Klaasen and McLachlan battled back from 3-5 in the first set, winning 86 per cent (32/37) of their first-service points to record victory in one hour and 46 minutes.

“It is a fantastic feeling,” Klaasen said. “To finally get over that hump, as we have lost a couple of semi-finals, it is nice to have finished it off. Especially here in Washington, where I won the title in 2019, it was nice to come out here and do it again. In the second set we were hanging on for dear life and we were probably the worse team. But being together for a year now, the experience probably helps.

“With this scoring system, you know things can change in a heartbeat. We have been on the receiving end of a few losses like this. We made a couple of key returns at 3-5 in the first set to stay alive and fortunately today it worked out for us. You have to hang in until the end of the set.”

Klaasen and McLachlan enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July, and reached the semi-finals at ATP 250 events in Santiago, Estoril and Geneva this year.

It is the second ATP Tour crown the pair has won together, having captured the bett1HULKS Championship in Cologne last October on their team debut. Individually, It is the 18th tour-level title Klassen has won, while it is the seventh time McLachlan has triumphed.

In a tight first set, Klaasen and McLachlan responded from losing serve in the eighth game to quickly level at 5-5. They then raised their level in the tie-break to move ahead before breaking at 5-4 in the second set to seal their victory.

Second seeds Skupski and Venus were making their team debut this week and beat #NextGenATP stars Sebastian Korda and Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.

Earlier in the season, Skupski reached back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 finals with Daniel Evans in Miami and Monte-Carlo (l. to Mektic/Pavic both times) and won the title in Acapulco with brother Ken Skupski. Venus has captured two titles with two partners this year: Hamburg with Tim Puetz and Geneva with John Peers.

Source link

Toronto Scouting Report: Nadal Chases Sixth Title, Medvedev & Tsitsipas In Action

The world’s best players are set to compete this week at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto. Five-time champion Rafael Nadal and Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas are among a stacked field of talent in Canada.

They will be joined by top seed Daniil Medvedev, Russian Andrey Rublev and home favourite Denis Shapovalov, while #NextGenATP Jannik Sinner makes his debut at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto, which alternates hosting duties with Montreal.

Before play begins, ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch in Toronto.

View Draws: Singles | Doubles

Listen To The ATP Tennis Radio Podcast:

1) Nadal Targeting No. 6 In Canada: Reigning champion Nadal arrives at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers with fond memories, having captured back-to-back titles at Canada’s Masters 1000 event in 2018 and 2019. The 35-year-old, who also lifted the crown in 2005, 2008, and 2013, made his return to the Tour at the Citi Open last week after he recovered from a foot injury.

The Spaniard will be aiming to win his 89th tour-level title this week, having already claimed trophies in Rome and Barcelona earlier this year. The second seed could face a tricky opening foe in Lloyd Harris if the South African overcomes a qualifier in the first round. Harris upset Nadal in a three-set Washington thriller.

2) Medvedev Top Seed: Medvedev will lead the field as the top seed in his third appearance (also 2018 and 2019) at the hard-court event. Although he did it when the tournament was held in Montreal, the Russian star made his first massive splash at this event two years ago. Medvedev did not lose a set en route to his first Masters 1000 final. It was his second of six consecutive championship matches.

The 25-year-old most recently made the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Olympics and has captured two ATP Tour titles this year (Marseille and Mallorca). Medvedev also led Russia to the ATP Cup title in February. He could face Italian Sinner in a third-round blockbuster as he attempts to claim a 12th tour-level title.

3) Tsitsipas Back In Toronto: Like Medvedev, Tsitsipas made his first Masters 1000 breakthrough at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. Three years ago in Toronto, then World No. 27, Tsitsipas beat four consecutive Top 10 opponents to reach his first Masters 1000 final, where only Nadal was able to stop him.

Tsitsipas has been on the rise since then, and he sits in second place in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin. The Greek star, who made his first Grand Slam final earlier this year at Roland Garros, will be looking to enjoy another successful trip to Toronto. Tsitsipas will begin his run against Halle champion Ugo Humbert or Cagliari titlist Lorenzo Sonego In his opening match.

4) Rublev Making A Masters 1000 Push: Rublev has played better than ever at Masters 1000 events this year, reaching his first semi-final in Miami and championship match in Monte-Carlo. The 23-year-old, who is in fourth place in the ATP Race To Turin, will try to go one step further at this level in Toronto, where he lost in the first round in 2018 in his only previous main draw appearance. Now the fourth seed, Rublev faces a challenging draw. The Russian will play big-hitting Italian or 2019 Monte Carlo champion Fabio Fognini in the second round.

5) #NextGenATP Stars In Action: #NextGenATP stars Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jenson Brooksby and Sebastian Korda will all be in action in Toronto. Sinner was victorious at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne earlier this year and became just the fourth teenager to reach the final at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. The 16th seed, who is playing in the Citi Open final on Sunday evening, is making his debut at Canada’s Masters 1000 tournament and will face Taylor Fritz or a qualifier in the first round.

Home favourite Auger-Aliassime will be competing in the main draw in Toronto for the second time (also 2018). The 20-year-old, who is in second position in the ATP Race To Milan, advanced to his eighth tour-level final at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart in June. The ninth seed could play Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals.

Brooksby, who made his first ATP Tour final in Newport and his maiden ATP 500 semi-final in Washington, received a wild card. Like Sinner, Brooksby and Korda will be making their debuts at Canada’s Masters 1000 tournament.

6) Home Favourite Shapovalov: Canadian Denis Shapovalov returns to home soil on the back of a strong grass-court season in which the 22-year-old advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic) and reached the last four at The Queen’s Club. It will be the lefty’s fifth appearance at Canada’s Masters 1000 event and the World No. 10 could face Korda in the second round and Rublev in the quarter-finals. 

7) Kyrgios Leads Wild Cards: Australian Nick Kyrgios will compete in his sixth event of the season after accepting a wild card into the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. The 26-year-old, who is making his seventh appearance at Canada’s Masters 1000 event, has played in Atlanta and Washington in recent weeks following his run to the third round at Wimbledon. Kyrgios faces big-serving Reilly Opelka in one of the most intriguing first-round matches. In addition to Kyrgios and Brooksby, home favourite Vasek Pospisil also received a wild card.

8) Ruud On A Roll: Norway’s Casper Ruud is on a roll. The 22-year-old became the first player since Andy Murray in October 2011 to win three ATP Tour titles in three weeks when he backed up triumphs in Bastad and Gstaad by clinching the crown in Kitzbühel. Ruud used that surge to climb to eighth in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin. The sixth seed, who is in the same half as Nadal, will look to transform his winning clay-court form to hard courts this week.

Read More: Getting To Know… Casper Ruud

9) Can Hurkacz Deliver Again? Hubert Hurkacz became Poland’s first Masters 1000 singles champion at the Miami Open presented by Itau in April. The 24-year-old backed that up by reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon in July. This will be Hurkacz’s second main draw appearance in Canada. The seventh seed will meet Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic or former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori in his first match. 

10) Mektic/Pavic Lead Doubles Field: Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have had a dream maiden year together, clinching nine tour-level titles – including three ATP Masters 1000s and Wimbledon – while also capturing gold at the Tokyo Olympics. The top seeds will lead the field in Toronto and are joined by second-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. American-British tandem Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are seeded third, while Halle champions Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau are the fourth seeds.

Source link

Medvedev: 'On Hard Courts, I Am Hard To Beat'

Top seed Daniil Medvedev is feeling confident he can have further success on hard courts in the coming weeks as he prepares to compete at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto to start his North American summer hard-court swing.

The Russian has won 10 of his 11 tour-level titles on hard courts, with the other coming on grass earlier this year in Mallorca. Medvedev is targeting a strong run in Toronto after reaching the final of this event in Montreal in 2019. The two cities alternate hosting duties of Canada’s Masters 1000 tournament.

View Singles Draw

“I am the top seed so anything except the final will not be a good result,” Medvedev said, cracking a smile. “I want to play good tennis. I know when I play good tennis on hard courts, I am hard to beat.

“I am keen to win. I know I am capable of beating a lot of guys on hard and I know I can win big tournaments. At the same time, everybody plays well, everybody can beat everybody. It is unpredictable.”

The 25-year-old enjoyed a memorable breakthrough run to the Montreal final in 2019, defeating Austrian Dominic Thiem en route to the championship match before falling to five-time champion Rafael Nadal. It is an experience that Medvedev relished as he went on to win his first Masters 1000 crown in Cincinnati later in August and reach his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open the following month.

“It was a special tournament,” Medvedev smiled. “It was my first Masters 1000 final. I came here from Washington and I was pretty exhausted already. I didn’t know what to expect, I just wanted to play good tennis. It was the best result of my career at the time. It was a special feeling. I like playing in Canada.”

The World No. 2, who has won three Masters 1000 titles, leads the field in Toronto as the top seed. While Medvedev enjoys being viewed as one of the favourites going into events, he admitted it adds pressure.

“Each week, you are going to play strong opponents who will want to beat you as you are No. 2 in the world,” Medvedev said. “I played quite good tennis at Wimbledon, but being top four in the world, even though it was a tough five-set battle against Hubert Hurkacz, to lose in the fourth round at a Grand Slam was not a good result.”

Medvedev will begin his Toronto campaign against Brit Daniel Evans or Alexander Bublik, whom the Russian leads 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series.

Source link

Nadal: 'The Main Thing Is To Feel I'm Improving'

Second seed Rafael Nadal believes he is feeling physically stronger ahead of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers as he continues to manage a foot injury that has plagued him since Roland Garros.

The Spaniard has won Canada’s ATP Masters 1000 event five times, capturing back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. However, Nadal is focusing on gradual improvement on the eve of the tournament in Toronto.

View Singles Draw

“I am going day by day,” Nadal said in his pre-tournament press conference. “The main thing is to try and feel I am improving and feel I am playing better and better, which is the goal at this tournament.

“I need to have a couple of weeks with less pain to have the confidence again with my movement. I am coming here to try and win, but also to keep feeling positive with my foot. I am not at my peak yet, but I have been practising better than I played in Washington, so I am excited to play here. Hopefully, I will be able to compete well.”

Nadal has been managing his foot injury since June when he reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros. The Spaniard returned last week at the Citi Open for the first action since Paris. Nadal defeated Jack Sock but fell to Lloyd Harris in the third round. However, the Spaniard left Washington with fewer injury concerns than when he arrived.

“I couldn’t practise for a couple of weeks [after Roland Garros],” Nadal said. “It was around 20 days without a racquet trying to recover. Also, [it was difficult] mentally as well. I didn’t play well enough [at Roland Garros].

“Last week in Washington, the first round was tough with my foot, but in the second round, I felt a little bit better. Even if I lost, that is a positive thing for me. It is about trying to find the routine again on court. Trying to be competitive again. I need to have the feeling of playing a few days in a row without any problems.”

Nadal, who will begin against South African Harris or a qualifier, captured his first National Bank Open Presented by Rogers title in 2005 in Montreal, with Toronto sharing hosting duties with the Quebec City. As he aims for a Canada Masters 1000 hat-trick this coming week, having captured the trophy in 2018 and 2019, the 35-year-old is happy to be back in Canada where he has experienced so much success.

“I am happy to be here,” Nadal added. “It is a place where I have had a lot of success in the past and many good memories.

Source link

Skupski/Venus Set Klaasen/McLachlan Final In Washington

Second seeds Neal Skupski and Michael Venus cruised past #NextGenATP tandem Sebastian Korda and Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-0 to book a place in the Citi Open doubles final.

The Brit and Aussie team is making a successful debut, reaching the final in their first tournament together without dropping a set. The pair continued to dominate against Korda and Sinner, another team making its doubles debut. Skupski and Venus did not face a break point, and won 87 per cent of points (26/30) behind their first serves to win in 44 minutes. 

Earlier in the season, Skupski reached back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 finals with Daniel Evans in Miami and Monte-Carlo (l. to Mektic/Pavic both times) and lifted the trophy in Acapulco with brother Ken Skupski. Venus, who clinched the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics with Marcus Daniell last week, won two titles with two partners in 2021: Hamburg with Tim Puetz and Geneva with John Peers.

Skupski and Venus will meet fourth seeds Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan in the final, after the South African and Japanese duo defeated Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 7-5 in a hotly contested semi-final. 

Anyone know how many times @marcelomelo83 has been hit? ?‍♂️

We’ve honestly lost count ?

?: @TennisTV | @CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/jfj2bskpz0

— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 7, 2021

After narrowly taking the first set, Klaasen and McLachlan raced out to a 3-0 lead in the second set. But after surrendering the double break to Daniell and Melo, they regrouped to edge back in front and seal the victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

Klaasen and McLachlan are seeking their first title of the year in Washington, D.C. The pair recently reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, and made the semi-finals at ATP 250 events in Santiago, Estoril and Geneva. 

Source link

40 Stats For Roger Federer's 40th Birthday

In honour of Roger Federer’s 40th birthday, the ATP Tour is celebrating by reliving 40 facts, moments or memories that have made his tennis career spectacular thus far.

40 – The age Federer is now! The Swiss is the only 40-year-old inside the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, the elite group he has been part of — without dropping from it — since 11 October 1999
39 – Combined wins against Novak Djokovic (23) and Rafael Nadal (16)
38 – Age when Federer won his most recent title at the 2019 Swiss Indoors Basel. He has lifted the trophy at his hometown tournament 10 times
37 – Age when Federer won his 100th tour-level title at the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The only other player who has also reached that milestone is Jimmy Connors, who captured 109 trophies

^{The Swiss claimed his 100th tour-level title in Dubai in 2019. Photo Credit: Francois Nel/Getty Images}
36 – Federer’s age the last time he was No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings the week of 18 June 2018, making him the oldest World No. 1 in history
35 – Consecutive matches won by Federer in 2005, which he topped with 41 straight wins in 2006-07
34 – Combined wins against former Top 10 players David Ferrer (17-0) and Mikhail Youzhny (17-0) without losing a match
33 – Five-set wins in his career
32 – Age when his second set of twins — brothers Leo and Lenny — were born on 6 May 2014. Federer and his wife, Mirka, also have twin daughters, Myla and Charlene, who were born on 23 July 2009
31 – Different tournaments won in 19 different countries
30 – Number of countries where Federer has played since making his ATP Tour debut in 1998
29 – Days to win three titles on three different surfaces in 2004 (Wimbledon, Gstaad, Toronto)
28 – ATP Masters 1000 titles

^{Federer’s most recent Masters 1000 title came in Miami in 2019. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images}
27 – Longest Grand Slam win streak of his career (twice), snapped by Rafael Nadal in the 2006 and 2007 Roland Garros finals
26 – Indoor titles, leading all active players. Andy Murray is second among active players with 15 indoor trophies
25 – Countries represented by the 51 players whom Federer has defeated for his 103 titles
24 – From 2003-05, Federer won 24 consecutive finals that he played in and 24 straight matches against Top-10 opponents
23 – Wins needed for Federer (1,251) to match Jimmy Connors’ record of 1,274 tour-level victories
22 – Age at which Federer first climbed to No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings
21 – Years since the Swiss made his first ATP Tour final in Marseille in 2000
20 – Grand Slam titles
19 – Grass-court titles, nine more than second on the Open Era list, Pete Sampras
18 – Consecutive Fans’ Favourite crowns in the ATP Awards, taking the title each year from 2003-2020
17 – Seed at the 2017 Australian Open when he came back from knee surgery to win the title

^{Federer won the 2017 Australian Open as the 17th seed. Photo Credit: Getty Images}
16 – Federer’s year-end FedEx ATP Ranking in 2016, which remains his only year-end ranking outside of the Top 10 since 2001
15 – Total losses in a three-year span (2004-2006) in 262 matches
14 – Consecutive years spent inside the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings (2002-2016)
13 – Number of match wins in his first full season on the ATP Tour in 1999
12 – Career-high titles won in a single season in 2006
11 – Grand Slam runner-up finishes
10 – Consecutive Grand Slam finals reached from 2005 Wimbledon through the 2007 US Open. He won the title in eight of those events
9 – Federer is No. 9 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on his 40th birthday
8 – Doubles titles won, including a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 alongside Stan Wawrinka
7 – Number of Grand Slam finals won before first loss (2006 Roland Garros to Nadal)
6 – Nitto ATP Finals trophies
5 – Year-end No. 1 finishes (2004-07, 2009)
4 – He is one of four players to finish at No. 1 in the year-end FedEx ATP Rankings in at least four consecutive years, joining Pete Sampras (6), Jimmy Connors (5) and John McEnroe (4)
3 – Won three Grand Slams in a calendar year on three occasions, in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Federer and Novak Djokovic are the only players to accomplish that feat
2 – Tournaments at which Federer has won 10 titles. He has done so at the Swiss Indoors Basel and the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle
1 – Federer has spent 310 weeks atop the FedEx ATP Rankings, including a record 237 consecutive weeks from 2004-08

– Statistical assistance provided by Joshua Rey

Source link

Shapo In Toronto: 'I'm Becoming A Really Big Threat

After a grass season to remember, Denis Shapovalov is relishing the return to hard courts on home soil in Toronto as he gears up for the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the North American swing at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

Shapovalov turned heads in July as he reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon, defeating Andy Murray, Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov along the way. He arrives in Toronto back in the Top 10 of FedEx ATP Rankings, equalling his career-high at World No. 10.

The 22-year-old enters his home event as the fifth seed, landing in the same half of the draw as World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, and could face Olympic medalist Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals. But after his Wimbledon run, Shapovalov told the media that he backs his chances against any player.

“I’m super excited, the momentum is great from Wimbledon and I just feel like the past couple of months my game level has improved a couple more steps up,” Shapovalov said in a pre-tournament press conference. “I just feel like a confident player right now, I feel like I’m able to compete with anyone. I feel like I’m becoming a really big threat. Those are definitely super positive things for me.” 

The Canadian has certainly proved that he is an all-surface threat in 2021. On clay, Shapovalov pushed eventual champion Rafael Nadal to the limit in Rome, holding two match points before the Spaniard fought his way back. Rather than dwell on the defeat, he bounced back by reaching his first clay-court final the next week in Geneva (l. to Ruud). 

“I think it’s always important to back yourself in sports in general, but especially in tennis. If you’re going out in the match and you don’t fully believe you can win, then you obviously don’t have a chance. In this sport, anyone can beat anyone on any given day,” he reflected. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Denis Shapovalov (@denis.shapovalov)

After missing Roland Garros due to a shoulder injury, Shapovalov hit the ground running on the lawns of London. He reached the semi-finals at cinch Championships, and backed it up at Wimbledon as he battled his way into the last four before falling to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Shapovalov was left in tears after pushing Djokovic across three very close sets, losing 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5 to the eventual champion, but he looks back on the moment as a crucial learning experience: he measured his game against the best, and realised that he can go toe-to-toe with them.

“For me, I’ve always backed myself against any player, but especially in that Wimbledon I felt like my game was really at that level to go far and even lift that title,” Shapovalov said. “It was a good feeling. And coming off of that tournament, all the emotion from those two weeks kind of got to me – that’s why I had that reaction [crying] after the match. It was just a combination of everything.”

Into the second round in Toronto with a bye, fifth seed Shapovalov awaits the winner of Sebastian Korda and a qualifier. The Canadian has previously reached the semi-finals in 2017 with victories over Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, and owns a 8-4 record at the event.

Source link

McDonald Outlasts Nishikori To Reach First Final In Washington

Mackenzie McDonald is through to his first ATP Tour final at the Citi Open after winning a hard-fought battle against former champion Kei Nishikori 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 on Saturday. 

The American arrived in Washington, D.C. looking for momentum, having not won back-to-back tour-level main draw matches since the Australian Open in February. McDonald found that and more in the American capital, toppling Nick Kyrgios and 13th seed Benoit Paire on his way to the semi-finals. 

He had to face 2015 Citi Open champion Nishikori, a player McDonald has idolised since childhood. McDonald fired 30 winners, including 21 off of his forehand, to outlast Nishikori after two hours and 43 minutes.

“I’m super happy with my level right now and how I’m playing. I think I’m staying focussed throughout these matches which is really key, and something I don’t think I could have done a couple of years ago,” McDonald said in an on-court interview. “I’m super excited to be in a final, my first one. And here in the States, in D.C., it’s something special.”

McDonald will face #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner for the first time on Sunday for a shot at his first ATP Tour trophy. Sinner edged past 20-year-old Jenson Brooksby 7-6(2), 6-1 earlier in the day to advance. 

The No. 107 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings had to stay focussed to keep Nishikori at bay, as the pair traded eight breaks of serve between them across the first two sets. Every time McDonald took the lead, Nishikori was right back in it as the Japanese player covered the court and changed direction of the ball to keep McDonald under pressure. 

After reeling off the last four games of the second set to level the match at a set apiece, the momentum was firmly with Nishikori. The Japanese player created three break points across two service games in the final set, but McDonald found some big serves to keep himself in the contest. McDonald finally broke through late in the set, dodging a tie-break as he ripped a forehand return to force an error from the Nishikori racquet to seal the victory. 

Source link