The crowd support playing in a French-speaking part of the world is doing the French doubles players no harm at this week’s Coupe Rogers with three duos advancing to the Coupe Rogers quarter-finals in Montreal. The all-French pairing of Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin pulled off the biggest upset of the day when they defeated No. 2 seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-2.
Not to be outdone, Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire pulled off an upset of their own when they took down the No. 3 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The Frenchman prevailed 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 10-5 in one hour and 51 minutes.
There was guaranteed to be at least one all-French pairing into the quarter-finals as fifth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut took to the court against Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Herbert and Mahut booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-3 result over their compatriots.
South Korea’s hearing-impaired NextGenATP player on steep learning curve
The step up for a former top junior prospect is fraught with hurdles even at the best of times. Form, fitness and finding yourself – let alone the right coaching mix – is all part of the juggling act as a teenager about to take on the world.
For former junior World No. 3, Duckhee Lee, this is only compounded having been born deaf. The NextGenATP South Korean can hear vibrations, but must rely on hand gestures from the umpire and line judges.
Coached by Woo Chunghyo, Lee rose as high as No. 130 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in April. It has been a tough few months since, however, with the 19 year old falling to his current mark of World No. 171.
“Last year I start to play in Challengers, I feel it was too tough for me,” Lee said this week from the Jinan Challenger event in China, where he fell in the quarter-finals to former World No. 50 Ricardas Berankis.
“This year is getting better, but still got lots to improve. I still got nervous before a big match . So my results aren’t too sharp this year because it’s also my first full Challenger year.”
The teenager said he felt he was beginning to turn his season around. But the jump up, even from Futures to the ATP Challenger Tour, was a steep learning curve.
“I feel in Futures, even if I lose first round it doesn’t matter. I believe I can get good results next one,” Lee said. “But in Challengers, I will meet lots of players ranked higher than me. So it’s not easy to keep my performance at a steady level. That’s something I need to work on.”
Last month, he reached the quarter-finals of the Presidents Cup Challenger event in Astana, Kazakhstan before falling to Bosnian Aldin Setkic. His two match wins there snapped a six-match losing streak.
Last week, he fell in the opening round in Chengdu to Zhe Li, a Chinese player ranked No. 288. The answer to his early exit in China, however, may be simpler than you’d think.
“I play lots of Challengers in China,” Lee said. “I was not comfortable with Chinese food, but now I am getting better, especially the soup noodles.”
Lee is the first to admit it is all part of growing as he builds towards his goal of cracking the Top 100. His main goal for now is to land a breakthrough Challenger title.
“If I can get a title I will try to play more qualifying in ATP tournament,” he said. “I am working a lot with my serve and forehand, especially the serve. That’s the key for men’s game.”
Nick Kyrgios might have gotten the better of Alexander Zverev back in March, twice beating the #NextGenATP German at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. But on Thursday evening at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, Zverev put himself on the board in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.
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The right-hander continued his red-hot run during the North American swing, winning his seventh consecutive match on the blue hard courts, dating back to his Citi Open title last week in Washington, D.C. Zverev beat Kyrgios 6-4, 6-3 in 73 minutes to move into the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 event in Canada.
“I’m happy to be through. Obviously against him, it’s not easy because he’s one of the biggest servers that we have. He plays with not a lot of rhythm,” Zverev said.
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Zverev has now reached the quarter-finals or better at four Masters 1000 tournaments this season, including the Miami Open presented by Itau, the Mutua Madrid Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he won his maiden Masters 1000 title. He’ll try to get a step closer to his second Masters 1000 crown on Friday when he faces South African Kevin Anderson, who beat Sam Querrey of the U.S. 6-4, 6-1 in 59 minutes.
Anderson avenged his Round of 16 Wimbledon loss to Querrey from earlier this year. Against Zverev, he’ll again try to avenge a loss from this season. The 6’6” German beat Anderson in the Citi Open final on Sunday.
“The momentum is definitely with me. But I’m playing Anderson tomorrow… He’s played a lot of matches. He’s playing very, very well. It’s going to be another interesting one,” Zverev said.
Kyrgios was in prime form when he beat Zverev in March, reaching the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the semi-finals in Miami. But the Aussie has struggled with shoulder and hip injuries of late. Zverev, meanwhile, has only ascended the Emirates ATP Rankings since their earlier FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. He arrived in Montreal at a career-high No. 8, and was focused throughout their third-round match in Canada.
Zverev broke in the third game to lead 2-1 and fended off six break points in the opener, including four while serving at 3-2, to take a one-set lead. Kyrgios held to start the second set, but Zverev broke in the fifth game and never lost his serve. For the match, Zverev erased all eight break points.
American Sloane Stephens shocked third seed Angelique Kerber to reach the Rogers Cup quarter-finals in Toronto.
Former world number 11 Stephens missed nearly a year of action because of a foot injury before returning at Wimbledon last month.
But she defeated Germany’s Kerber 6-2 6-2 in 58 minutes to reach the last eight after beating number 14 seed Petra Kvitova in the previous round.
The unseeded 24-year-old will face Lucie Safarova in the next round.
New world number one Karolina Pliskova survived a scare to reach the quarter-finals as Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka retired.
The 19-year-old qualifier, ranked 50th in the world, won a second set tie-break but called for the trainer and retired while Pliskova was leading 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 1-0.
“She played well, especially in the second set she was fighting pretty hard,” said Pliskova
“I was just trying to stay in the game and I didn’t know she was injured.”
The Czech, 25, playing in her first event as the world’s top-ranked player, won four straight games to take the first set from Osaka.
But Osaka matched top seed Pliskova shot-for-shot in the second set before dominating the tiebreak 7-4 to level the match.
During the changeover, Osaka told her coach that she was suffering from abdominal pain and was told to withdraw if the pain persisted to avoid the risk of further injury.
Pliskova will meet sixth seed and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the last eight.
In a battle of former Rogers Cup champions, a ruthless Wozniacki swept past 10th-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-1 in only 78 minutes.
Romanian second seed Simona Halep, who won the tournament last year, eased through her last-16 match with a 6-1 6-0 demolition of the 26th-ranked Barbora Strycova inside an hour.
Czech Lucie Safarova also made the last eight by beating Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-7 6-2, while France’s Caroline Garcia beat 18-year-old American Catherine Bellis 6-4 6-2.
Two more last-16 matches – Elina Svitolina v Venus Williams and Ashleigh Barty v Garbine Muguruza – were due to take place later on Thursday.
Gretzky Declares Federer One of Greatest Athletes of All-Time
Aug102017
‘The Great One’ says Federer is among the Top 4 athletes ever
Tennis fans have debated this for years: Who’s the greatest player of all-time, and where does Roger Federer fit on that short list?
But to “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky, there’s no discussion. In an interview with the Canadian sports channel Sportsnet at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, Gretzky said he considers Federer not only the greatest tennis player ever but also among the top four athletes of all-time.
“He deserves to be up there with guys like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Pele. He’s a special man. He’s got charisma, he’s got style, he’s got class. He’s a winner. He loves his sport. He’s got a passion for the game. He’s a little bit like how Gordie Howe was. He’s just a special man,” Gretzky said, referring to the beloved Canadian hockey great.
The four-time Stanley Cup champion and his family have been watching ATP World Tour Masters 1000 action all week at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. Gretzky’s 14-year-old daughter, Emma, who plays tennis, has also practised with some ATP World Tour stars, including Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.
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“The organisers of the tournament have been so wonderful to my family and I. We’ve had an opportunity watch a lot of tennis and watch the players practise, too,” said Gretzky, who grew up in Brantford, Ontario.
But, as complimentary of Federer as Gretzky is, he’s confident that, years from now, someone else will come along and marvel tennis fans, and maybe even more so than Federer has during his 20-year career. Everyone will miss Federer, of course, but, just as great players have come along since Gretzky retired from hockey, other tennis players will emerge and impress on the ATP World Tour.
“Years from now, the tennis world and the sports world is going to look back and go, ‘Wow, was that guy ever a great athlete?’ But let me tell you the great thing about sports. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, somebody else comes along, and you go, ‘Wow, we never thought we’d see a guy that good again’”, Gretzky said.
“You go back to the McEnroe days, obviously Pete Sampras, and Bjorn Borg, and people thought, ‘Well, are we ever going to get a guy as good as that guy?’ And all of a sudden this guy [Federer] comes along and might be as good as all of those guys combined. So that’s the great thing about sports. Every sport seems to get better and every sport seems to have that guy who comes along.”
Kyrgios, Federer, Nadal In Action Thursday Montreal
Aug102017
Young #NextGenATP star Shapovalov sets up first encounter with Nadal
View FedEx ATP Head2Head for Thursday of the Coupe Rogers & vote for who you think will win! Federer vs. Ferrer | Nadal vs. Shapovalov | Zverev vs. Kyrgios
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• There is a little of everything in the Coupe Rogers third round on Thursday: four #NextGenATP players, four men who’ve saved match points this week, and only six of the tournament’s 16 seeds. All of the above is Alexander Zverev, who meets Nick Kyrgios on Court Central in a showdown of the Emirates ATP Race to Milan leader and the top #NextGenATP player from the 2016 season.
• Zverev and Kyrgios, who played doubles together at 2016 Roland Garros, go back to the ITF Juniors Circuit. An 18-year-old Kyrgios beat a 16-year-old Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in the 2013 Aegon Junior International final. They’ve met twice on the ATP World Tour, with the elder Australian sweeping the younger German at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells on March 14 and Miami on March 30.
• Kyrgios’ FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over Zverev pales in comparison to Roger Federer’s dominance of David Ferrer. Federer is 16-0 against Ferrer and seeks an unprecedented 17th win over the Spaniard on Thursday. Ferrer is tied with Mikhail Youzhny for the most losses without a victory against Federer. They have not met since the 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati final.
• Federer needs to reach the semi-finals in Montreal for a chance at reclaiming the No. 1 ranking on Aug. 21. Rafael Nadal will return to No. 1 on Aug. 14 if he defeats Denis Shapovalov on Thursday and Hyeon Chung or Adrian Mannarino on Friday. Shapovalov, an 18-year-old Canadian wild card, is the youngest player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 Round of 16 since Nadal at 2004 Miami.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer both won their opening matches at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
Top seed Nadal, 31, who will claim the world number one spot from Andy Murray if he reaches the semi-finals in Canada, beat Borna Coric 6-1 6-2.
Murray pulled out of the competition with a hip injury, which has also ruled him out of the Cincinnati Masters.
Federer, playing in his first match since winning the Wimbledon title, beat Peter Polansky 6-2 6-1 in 53 minutes.
Konta loses after holding match points
The 36-year-old’s 32nd victory of the season sets up a third-round meeting with Spain’s David Ferrer, who upset 15th seed Jack Sock 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-1.
Nadal, a three-time champion in Canada, took 71 minutes to beat 20-year-old Croat Coric, facing just one break point in the match.
The Spaniard meets Denis Shapovalov next – the Canadian who was disqualified from his Davis Cup match against Great Britain in February for hitting the umpire in the face with the ball.
Another Canadian, sixth seed Milos Raonic, who could have played Nadal in the last eight, lost 6-4 6-4 to unseeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Gael Monfils saved four match points before beating Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 7-6 (8-6), while Germany’s fourth seed Alexander Zverev saved three match points as he overcame Richard Gasquet 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-3).
In the last 16, Zverev will face Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, who brushed aside Victor Troicki 6-1 6-2.
Fourth seeds join Peers/Kontinen in the quarter-finals
Five-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan are through to the quarter-finals but it’s Juan Martin del Potro who walks away with bragging rights for Hot Shot of the day in the men’s doubles at the Coupe Rogers. The Bryan brothers were on their way to a 6-3, 7-5 victory over the Argentine and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov when del Potro brought the Montreal crowd to its feet.
Trailing a set and with Mike Bryan serving to level at 2-2 in the second set, del Potro scrambled back to swat a flick lob on the run. When it narrowly sailed out of Mike’s reach to land in, Dimitrov raised his arms in jubilation as the Court 5 crowd duly responded.
On the run. His back to court.@delpotrojuan pulls off an INCREDIBLE shot…?#CoupeRogers pic.twitter.com/8Tcz7iyxGN
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 9, 2017
The Bryans had the last laugh, however, as their joined top seeds and last week’s Citi Open champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers in the quarter-finals. Kontinen and Peers downed Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-4, 7-5. Seventh seeds Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig also progressed. The Indian-Croatian pairing defeated Karen Khachanov and Dominic Thiem 7-6(3), 6-4.
Battle of touted future No. 1s next as Zverev saves three match points
Montreal is proving a happy hunting ground for match point-saving warriors with fourth seed Alexander Zverev the lastest to battle back from the brink. The #NextGenATP star saved three match points – including one 49-shot rally – to hold off Richard Gasquet at the Coupe Rogers on Wednesday.
His 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) triumph over the Frenchman sets a blockbuster showdown with the player most tipped to rival him as a future World No.1, Nick Kyrgios. The 16th-seeded Australian earlier powered past Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-2 ,6-3.
Gasquet arrived in Montreal having missed the first five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events due to appendicitis surgery and lower back issues. But against Zverev, he produced the type of form that had taken him to two prior Coupe Rogers finals in Toronto (2006 l. to Federer, 2012 l. to Djokovic). Coming into Montreal, Zverev had served out a match a tour-leading 95 per cent (21 of 22) of times in 2017 (Learn More) and looked well on his way to doing so again when he raced to triple match point at 5-4 in the deciding set.
Gasquet, buoyed by strong support from the Quebecois crowd, rolled a winning backhand pass to save the third match point and a forehand winner down the line to bring up break point. He broke when the German sailed a backhand wide and drew huge roars from the Montreal crowd.
It was now the German’s turn to produce a little magic as he saved the second of three match points at 5-6 on an almighty 49-shot rally. It proved pivotal. Zverev closed it out in the tie-break on his fourth match point at the two-hour, 30-minute mark.
A day after agreeing to hit with a Twitter fan at a practice session, Kyrgios was again in a relaxed frame of mind. He had few difficulties beating Lorenzi for the first time.
The Australian thumped down 10 aces and saved his lone break point faced in little more than an hour. He will carry an unbeaten 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his clash with Zverev.
Spaniard sets quarter-final clash with #NextGen ATP Canadian wild card
Rafael Nadal’s bid to regain top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings is off on the right foot with the Spaniard easily accounting for #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric at the Coupe Rogers on Wednesday. Nadal had fallen in two of the pair’s three prior FedExATP Head2Head meetings but was barely troubled in a 6-1, 6-2 result in Montreal.
The first set was brushed aside in just 29 minutes and with Coric spraying forehands wide at 1-3 down in the second set, he began to mutter his frustrations to himself. It was primarily down to one factor – the relentless play from his opponent. A double fault from Coric handed Nadal the double break to provide breathing space for the top seed.
Nadal would not face a break point in the match until the 13th game when Coric rolled a heavy forehand into the corner to draw the error. It went begging with a wayward return long and the Spaniard survived a lengthy battle on serve to close to within a game of the match.
An ace hold kept the Croatian alive but it was merely delaying the inevitable at this stage of the match. Nadal served it out on his second match point when Coric fired long. It sets a showdown with home hopeful Denis Shapovalov for a place in the quarter-finals. The #NextGenATP lefty took down former No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Juan Martin del Potro.
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