Tennis News

Tsitsipas Rolls Into Lyon Final Over Musetti

In the battle for the final and for best head of hair, Stefanos Tsitsipas prevailed over Lorenzo Musetti 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon on Saturday. The Greek awaits the winner of Cameron Norrie and Karen Khachanov.

Tsitsipas improves to 2-0 in the ATP Head2Head Series against Musetti and now leads the tour with 32 wins. Sitting at a career-high ranking of No. 5, he picked up his sixth title, and first ATP Masters 1000, in Monte-Carlo before reaching the final in Barcelona.

Despite the grandness of the occasion, Musetti showed no signs of nerves in the first set, breaking at 2-2 and showing off his wide array of shots. With Tsitsipas hanging back far behind the baseline, Musetti was effective in hitting drop shot after drop shot.

Tsitsipas stayed calm and took control in the second set, while Musetti couldn’t maintain his level. After Tsitsipas broke at love for 5-3, he didn’t lose another game, racing to the finish line and into his 16th final.

Musetti is one of the newest and youngest faces inside of the Top 100 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. After a run to the Acapulco semi-finals, which ended at the hands of Tsitsipas, the 19-year-old Italian jumped from No. 120 to No. 94.

Musetti’s week in Lyon began as an alternate and he took out seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round and backed it up with wins over Sebastian Korda and Aljaz Bedene.

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Peers/Venus Capture Fourth Team Crown In Geneva

John Peers and Michael Venus improved their perfect ATP Tour finals record to 4-0 on Saturday when they captured the Gonet Geneva Open doubles title.

The second seeds swept past Italian Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez 6-2, 7-5 in 76 minutes at the Tennis Club de Geneve Eaux-Vives. They are now 9-3 on the season, which includes a run to last week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals (l. to Mektic/Pavic).

“It was definitely a tough week,” Peers told ATPTour.com. “We tried three times to get on court for our first match [against Marcelo Arevalo and Matwe Middelkoop] and the ground staff did an incredible job to get the courts ready. It was a nice, sunny day for the final and it was good fun.”

Venus told ATPTour.com, “I didn’t know we had a 4-0 record in finals! It shows that when we’re confident and playing well good things happen. Hopefully we can use this confidence going forwards.”

Peers and Venus captured three trophies in 2020 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Klaasen/Marach), the Hamburg European Open (d. Dodig/Pavic) and the European Open in Antwerp (d. Bopanna/Middlekoop).

The 32-year-old Peers has now won a tour-level crown for nine straight seasons and is 24-12 overall in championship matches. Venus, 33, is now 14-14 in doubles finals.

Bolelli and Gonzalez won the Chile Dove Men+Care Open title in Santiago (d. Delbonis/Munar) on 14 March.

Herbert/Mahut Advance To Lyon Final
Top-seeded Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut advanced to the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon final on Saturday with a 7-5, 7-6(4) victory over Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez.

Herbert and Mahut will bid to capture their 18th team crown (17-6 in finals) on Sunday against fourth seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and German Tim Puetz.

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Lyon Open: Cameron Norrie reaches semi-finals in ATP 250

British number two Cameron Norrie continues his fine form as he beats Arthur Rinderknech to reach the Lyon Open semi-finals.

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Scottish Cup final: When Jamie Murray met Callum Davidson

Hibernian fan and multiple tennis Grand Slam doubles winner Jamie Murray pitches up for a round of golf with St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson before the Scottish Cup final.

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Peers/Venus Book Bolelli/Gonzalez Final In Geneva

Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez took down third seeds Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 on Friday to reach the Gonet Geneva Open final, where they will face second seeds John Peers and Michael Venus.

The Italian and Argentine team bounced back after dropping the first set to Klaasen and McLachlan in a rematch of their Dove Men+Care Chile Open semi-final. But much like in Santiago, Bolelli and Gonzalez raised their level in the decisive moments. They saved one of two break points faced and pulled away in the Match Tie-break to reach the final.

Bolelli and Gonzalez, who went on to lift the trophy in Santiago, will be seeking their second ATP 250 title of the season when they meet second seeds Peers and Venus on Saturday. Peers and Venus also needed a Match Tie-break to see off Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-8.

The Ecuadorian-Uruguayan duo had to do double duty after yesterday’s rain in Geneva, and also contested a quarter-final on Thursday against Rohan Bopanna and Franko Skugor. Behar and Escobar outlasted Bopanna and Skugor 6-3, 3-6, 13-11, but were not able to get across the finish line against Peers and Venus later in the day. 

At the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, fourth seeds Hugo Nys and Tim Puetz defeated Matthew Ebden and John-Patrick Smith 6-3, 6-4 to claim a spot in their second tour-level final of the year.

The Estoril champions await the winner of top-seeded Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Santiago Gonzalez and Marcelo Demoliner.

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Djokovic Targets Serbian Hat-trick In Belgrade

Top seed Novak Djokovic will next week hit the court at his namesake tennis centre in Serbia seeking his 83rd tour-level title, and a third on home soil as he leads the way at the Belgrade Open. 

After starting the 2021 season with a record-extending ninth Australian Open title and breaking the all-time record of weeks at World No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Djokovic has honed in on the clay-court swing as his next target.

In Belgrade, he will be contesting his fourth tournament on the terre-battue, and so far each tournament has gone better than the previous one: Djokovic bounced back from a third-round exit in Monte-Carlo to Daniel Evans with a run to the Serbia Open semi-finals (l. Karatsev), before reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final of the year at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. Nadal).

Into the second round with a bye, Djokovic will start against either Egor Gerasimov or a qualifier as he seeks a Serbian hat-trick, having won two titles in Belgrade during the tournament’s previous four-year run (2009, 2011).

Djokovic could face countryman Miomir Kecmanovic, the seventh seed, in the quarter-finals. The match would be a repeat of their previous quarter-final in Belgrade, contested during last month’s Serbia Open held at the same venue, the Novak Tennis Centre.

Experienced clay court players including Pablo Andujar, who defeated Roger Federer in Geneva, and Pablo Cuevas are also in this section. Third seed Nikoloz Basilashvili and fifth seed Dusan Lajovic also feature in Djokovic’s half.

World No. 14 Gael Monfils is the second seed, and he arrives at the Serbian capital looking to capture his 11th tour-level title – and his first match win of the 2021 season (0-3). He’ll face either countryman Arthur Rinderknech or a qualifier in his opening match. Rinderknech, who also received a Roland Garros wild card, recently turned heads in Lyon after toppling #NextGenATP Jannik Sinner for his first Top 20 win.

Monfils could book another all-French clash in the semi-finals, with fourth seed Adrian Mannarino also landing in his half. Mannarino awaits the winner of Lucas Pouille and Fernando Verdasco in the second round, and could meet sixth seed Filip Krajinovic in the quarter-finals.

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Sonego Lands In Tricky Section Of Parma Draw

Top seed Lorenzo Sonego landed in a tricky quarter of the Emilia-Romagna Open when the ATP 250 draw was revealed on Friday, a section loaded with experienced clay-court players and in-form #NextGenATP stars.

Sonego has often found his best tennis on Italian soil, and he will be seeking his third tour-level title in the northern city of Parma. He won hearts in Rome with an inspired run to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. Djokovic) with wins over Andrey Rublev and Dominic Thiem. Earlier in the year in Cagliari, he also became the first Italian in 15 years to win a title at home. 

The top seed, who returned to his career-high of No. 28 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, could face Italian veteran Andreas Seppi or 20-year-old Sebastian Korda in the second round. Korda isn’t the only #NextGenATP star in Sonego’s section, as he could also face 19-year-old countryman Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-finals. Musetti is set to take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals of Lyon.

Fourth seed Jan-Lennard Struff, sixth seed Tommy Paul and eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka are also in Sonego’s half of the draw. Lefty Nishioka, who landed in Sonego’s quarter, will start against Sam Querrey.

Benoit Paire is the second seed, and he anchors a wide-open bottom half that includes all four qualifiers (to be placed). In the second round, the Frenchman could face either Marbella finalist Jaume Munar or a qualifier.

Fifth seeded Richard Gasquet is a potential quarter-final opponent for Paire. Gasquet will begin his Parma campaign against a qualifier, and could face countryman Gilles Simon or another qualifier in the second round.

Estoril champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the third seed, will face either 22-year-old Emil Ruusuvuori or a qualifier in the second round, and could meet seventh seed Aljaz Bedene, who starts against Italian Salvatore Caruso, in the quarter-finals.

Also in this section, one of the first-round matches to watch includes a battle between Frances Tiafoe and Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato. The pair recently faced off in the first round of Mutua Madrid Open qualifying, with Cecchinato claiming a straight-sets victory en route to the main draw.

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Shapovalov Sets Up Geneva Final Against Ruud

Denis Shapovalov will battle Casper Ruud for the Gonet Geneva Open title on Saturday. Shapovalov topped Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 7-5 on Friday, following Ruud’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Pablo Andujar.

Shapovalov is into this third tour-level final after winning the Stockholm Open and losing in the Rolex Paris Masters final in 2019. The World No. 14 improves to a 2-10 record in semi-finals. His most recent semi-final was a third-set tie-break loss to Lloyd Harris in Dubai.

Cuevas was appearing in his 22nd semi-final overall and first since Estoril in 2019 and has now lost nine straight matches to Top 15 opponents.

In Saturday’s final, Shapovalov and Ruud will be meeting for the first time.

“Denis has also been playing very good on the surface recently and took [Rafael] Nadal to his knees last week in Rome and had match points,” Ruud said. “And I was watching the match. He was playing very well and has been playing well here as well.”

Shapovalov held two match points against Nadal in Rome’s third round, eventually falling to the World No. 3 in a third-set tie-break. He bounced back this week with wins over Marco Cecchinato, Laslo Djere and now Cuevas.

On Friday, Shapovalov stayed patient and stepped his game up at just the right moments, breaking for 5-4 in the first set and 6-5 in the second. The Canadian was still aggressive off both wings, ripping multiple winners with his one-handed backhand and hitting eight aces.

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Tsitsipas Ready For "Serious Business" Against Musetti

Stefanos Tsitsipas says it will be “serious business” on Saturday when he meets Lorenzo Musetti in the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon semi-finals.

The World No. 5 beat the #NextGenATP Italian 6-1, 6-3 in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC semi-finals on 20 March, but knows that their Lyon last-four clash will be very different.

“We played in different conditions [and] on a hard court,” said Tsitsipas, following his 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final victory over Yoshihito Nishioka in Lyon.

“The conditions here are different. We share similar games with a one-handed backhand, which is beautiful to see. Tomorrow is going to be serious business and I know he can play well on this surface and elevate his game.”

The 19-year-old Musetti played seven matches in seven days on the Acapulco hard courts and has since gone 10-6 on the season, including wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda and Aljaz Bedene this week.

“He is one of the best guys on Tour,” said Musetti on Friday. “Acapulco was really tough for me as I played a lot of matches and I didn’t have enough energy to play 100 per cent. He served really well, and he played well with the forehand, moving me around a lot. I will try to lead the match and try not have him dominate me.”

Watch Tsitsipas v Musetti Acapulco Semi-final Highlights

Tsitsipas, the ATP Tour match wins leader this season with a 31-8 record, has been working on different aspects of his game at the ATP 250 clay-court event and has followed Musetti’s progress since their 20 March clash in Mexico.

“I have been following his performances, he has been improving a lot and has a good record on clay, beating some good opponents,” said Tsitsipas. “I expect big things for him.”

The 22-year-old will be attempting to reach his 16th ATP Tour final (6-9) on Saturday, and continue the kind of form that took him to last month’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown (d. Rublev).

For Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, it will be an opportunity to record the second Top 10 win of his career (he beat No. 9 Schwartzman in the Acapulco first round) for a place in his first championship match.

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Djokovic Leads Serbian Hopes In Belgrade; All You Need To Know

After being absent from the ATP Tour calendar for nine years, Serbia will host its second ATP 250 event in as many months at the Belgrade Open.

Held at the Novak Tennis Centre, the same location as the Serbia Open, which was contested in April, the Belgrade Open will be headlined by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic as he seeks his 83rd tour-level title. Djokovic lifted two trophies on home soil during Belgrade’s previous four-year run, triumphing in 2009 and 2011.

The World No. 1 leads a strong contingent of Serbian players vying for home glory, including Filip Krajinovic, No. 36 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, No. 37-ranked Dusan Lajovic and No. 49-ranked Laslo Djere. Top 20 player Gael Monfils and 2021 titlist Nikoloz Basilashvili will also feature.

Note: The 2021 Belgrade Open will be held behind closed doors due to COVID-19 precautions.

Established: 2021

Tournament Dates: 23-29 May 2021

Tournament Director: Djordje Djokovic

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 21 May at 7:30pm

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Schedule
* Qualifying: Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 May, 11am
* Main draw: Sunday 23 – Saturday 29 May, 11am
* Doubles final: Saturday, 29 May, 2pm
* Singles final: Saturday, 29 May, 4pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Novak Tennis Center
Surface: Clay

Prize Money: €511,000 (Total Financial Commitment: €511,000) 

View Who Is Playing, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Did You Know?
The world-class Novak Tennis Centre complex boasts 14 tennis courts, including 11 clay courts. It also features a ‘trophy room’ that holds on display dozens of trophies and mementos from the World No. 1’s legendary career.

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