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French Teen Gueymard Wayenburg Topples Veteran At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 22, 2023

French Teen Gueymard Wayenburg Topples Veteran At Roland Garros

Marozsan, who upset Alcaraz in Rome, also advances

Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg made a successful start to his Roland Garros campaign on Monday when he defeated 27th seed Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying.

The teen has not yet played a tour-level match, but he did not show his lack of experience against a veteran in Kudla, who has competed in 200 tour-level matches. The home favourite saved 11 of the 12 break points he faced and converted all three of his opportunities to advance after one hour and 32 minutes.

Another teen, Chinese 18-year-old Shang Juncheng, set the wheels in motion for a run at this year’s Roland Garros when he moved past former World No. 19 Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4.

The #NextGenATP star struck 28 winners on the Parisian clay to advance after one hour and 16 minutes. Shang, who reached the second round of the main draw at the Australian Open on his Grand Slam debut in January, will next play Fabian Marozsan. The Hungarian, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Rome, moved past Australian Li Tu 6-3, 6-4.

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Dominic Stricker, who competed at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, also moved on. The Swiss lefty eliminated Dutchman Jelle Sels 7-6(5), 6-3. The 20-year-old, currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, has captured two ATP Challenger Tour titles this season. He will next meet Dalibor Svrcina after the Czech ousted Swiss Leandro Riedi 6-4, 6-4 in a battle of Next Gen ATP Finals contenders.

Spaniard Pedro Martinez beat Belgian Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 6-1, while Argentine Facundo Bagnis downed Italian Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-4. Martinez has made four main draw appearances at Roland Garros, where he reached the third round in 2020.

In other action, Giulio Zeppieri defeated former World No. 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-1 and Jurij Rodionov overcame Brandon Holt 7-6(2), 6-4. The 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Juan Manuel Cerundolo beat Zachary Svajda 7-6(4), 6-3 and Zizou Bergs downed former World No. 21 Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4.

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Wu Saves Match Point To Advance In Geneva

  • Posted: May 22, 2023

Wu Saves Match Point To Advance In Geneva

Mannarino, Jarry advance

Wu Yibing is finding his footing on clay. After earning his first tour-level win on the surface in Rome, he earned another on Monday in Geneva.

The Chinese star saved one match point en route to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) victory against home favourite Marc-Andrea Hustler in the first round of the Gonet Geneva Open.

“[He is] a very tough opponent to play against. It’s the first time we played each other and of course he is from here, there’s more people cheering for him,” Wu said in his on-court interview. “But I’m glad I [pulled] through these ups and downs, especially the first few games in the second set. I made like 10 double faults in a row, which shouldn’t happen. [I will] try to be better next time.”

Wu, who hit seven double faults in the match, found his best when it mattered most. Huesler earned match point at 6/5 in the final-set tie-break, but Wu played aggressively and finished off the point at the net with an overhead.

“I’m very happy,” said Wu, who will next play 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato. “It’s my first time here playing Geneva, first time for me here in Switzerland and it’s a beautiful country. First few days I practised and I tried to visit the city a little bit. You guys have amazing watches and chocolate!”


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In other action, former finalist Nicolas Jarry continued his love affair with the Geneva ATP 250 event. The Chilean, who lost against Alexander Zverev in the title match in 2019, defeated Banja Luka champion Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round.

Jarry, currently No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, reached the semi-finals on clay in Rio de Janeiro in February before he lifted the title in Santiago in March. He will next play Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia or Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

Eighth seed Adrian Mannarino defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the second round in Geneva for the second time. The 34-year-old snapped a four-match losing streak with his 13th tour-level win of the season. Mannarino will next meet Guido Pella or Ilya Ivashka.

Spaniards Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Roberto Carballes Baena also advanced. Zapata Miralles downed Ukrainian qualifier Vitaliy Sachko 6-2, 6-4, while Carballes Baena beat countryman Daniel Rincon 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Rincon was making his second tour-level appearance after coming through qualifying.

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Alcaraz Returns To The Top, Mover Of Week

  • Posted: May 22, 2023

Alcaraz Returns To The Top, Mover Of Week

ATPTour.com looks at the top Movers of the Week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, as of Monday, 22 May 2023

The third and final clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event of the season saw Daniil Medvedev lift the title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, while several Top 100 stars enjoyed deep runs.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as of Monday, 22 May 2023.

View Pepperstone ATP Rankings


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No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, +1 (Joint Career-High)
The Spaniard has returned to top spot once again following his exploits on the clay in Madrid and Rome. The 20-year-old lifted his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid and returned to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after playing his opening match in Rome, where he reached the third round.

No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, +1
The 27-year-old has climbed to No. 2 after he won his maiden clay-court title in Rome. Medvedev dropped just one set en route to his sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown, defeating Holger Rune in the final. Medvedev has captured five titles this season and earned a Tour-leading 39 wins.

No. 6 Holger Rune, +1 (Career High)
The Dane has moved to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after he advanced to his third ATP Masters 1000 final. The 2022 Paris champion, who reached the title match in Monte-Carlo last month, defeated Top 5 stars Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud in Rome. He will head to Roland Garros 13-3 on the clay-court season.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 13 Hubert Hurkacz, +2
No. 26 Jan-Lennard Struff, +2 (Career High)
No. 28 Francisco Cerundolo, +3
No. 38 Ugo Humbert, +12
No. 46 Tomas Martin Etcheverry, +15 (Career High)
No. 55 Gregoire Barrere, +8 (Career High)
No. 64 Yannick Hanfmann, +37 (Career High)
No. 67 Max Purcell, +20 (Career High)
No. 73 Marco Cecchinato, +10
No. 75 Christopher Eubanks, + 11 (Career High)
No. 76 Nuno Borges, +12
No. 78 Arthur Rinderknech, +11
No. 79 Luca Van Assche, +6 (Career High)
No. 80 Marton Fucsovics, +12
No. 84 Alexander Shevchenko, +9 (Career High)
No. 96 Aleksandar Vukic, +32 (Career High)

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Nakashima, Fils Earn Opening Wins In Lyon

  • Posted: May 22, 2023

Nakashima, Fils Earn Opening Wins In Lyon

Kecmanovic advances at ATP 250

Brandon Nakashima earned his first tour-level win since March on Monday when he moved past Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals champion has struggled to find his best form this season, falling in the first or second round at all six previous events he has played this year. The eighth-seeded American looked sharp on the clay in Lyon, though, striking his groundstrokes with aggression to advance after two hours and two minutes on tournament debut.

After earning his fourth win of the season, Nakashima will next face Arthur Rinderknech after the Frenchman defeated South African qualifier Lloyd Harris 6-4, 6-2.


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#NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils defeated China’s Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-2 to continue his impressive season.

The 18-year-old had not earned a tour-level win before this year, but his 74-minute victory against Zhang was his seventh win of the season at this level, with the teen overpowering the World No. 70.

Earlier this year, Fils reached semi-finals in Montpellier and Marseille, before he came through qualifying to advance to the second round in Rome. The 18-year-old, who is currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, will next play Mikael Ymer or Richard Gasquet.

In other action, fifth seed Miomir Kecmanovic snapped a three-match losing streak when he defeated Spanish lucky loser Oriol Roca Batalla 6-1, 6-3. The Serbian won 83 per cent (20/24) of his first-serve points and did not face a break point to triumph after 74 minutes.

Kecmanovic will next meet Briton Jack Draper. Kecmanovic is chasing his first title of the season this week, having advanced to finals in Delray Beach and Estoril earlier this year.

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Medvedev Extends Live Race Lead With Rome Title

  • Posted: May 22, 2023

Medvedev Extends Live Race Lead With Rome Title

Medvedev leads Alcaraz, Djokovic

Daniil Medvedev leaves Rome with a healthy lead in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin after claiming his first clay-court title on the ATP Tour.

The 27-year-old, who passed Carlos Alcaraz in the Live Race when he reached the Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals, now leads the 20-year-old Spaniard by 845 points. Medvedev is 1,555 points ahead of third-placed Novak Djokovic.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (after Rome)

 Player  Points
 1) Daniil Medvedev  4,300
 2) Carlos Alcaraz  3,455
 3) Novak Djokovic  2,745
 4) Stefanos Tsitsipas  2,590
 5) Jannik Sinner  2,275
 6) Andrey Rublev  2,215
 7) Holger Rune  2,125
 8) Taylor Fritz  1,825

The Rome champion has made an early statement in the battle for year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone, which he is trying to claim for the first time. Medvedev ascended to World No. 1 last year, but he has not yet claimed year-end No. 1 honours.

Alcaraz became the youngest year-end No. 1 last year aged 19. Now 20, he is once again in the heat of the battle, as is Djokovic, who holds the record of year-end No. 1 finishes with seven.

Of the Top 8 players in the Live Race, six of them competed in last year’s Nitto ATP Finals. Fourth-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas, sixth-placed Andrey Rublev and eighth-placed Taylor Fritz played at the Pala Alpitour last November.

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Medvedev Clinches First Clay-Court Crown, Triumphs In Rome

Fifth-placed Jannik Sinner competed in the season finale as an alternate in 2021 and seventh-placed Holger Rune was an alternate last year. Rune climbed two places during the season’s final clay-court Masters 1000 event by advancing to the final. The 20-year-old is trying to earn his place in the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

There are four players within 595 points of Fritz, who currently holds the final qualifying spot for the year-end championships. Those players are Karen Khachanov, Cameron Norrie, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe. From that group, only Norrie has previously played a match at the season finale.

Casper Ruud, who reached the championship match in Turin last year, surged nine places to 15th in the Live Race by advancing to the Rome semi-finals. The Norwegian is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the third consecutive year.

Plenty can change in the coming weeks, with ATP 250 events this week in Geneva and Lyon ahead of Roland Garros, where one player will earn 2,000 points. This year’s season finale will be held from 12-19 November in Turin at the Pala Alpitour.

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