Chennai 2017
Chennai 2017
Jan022017
The content of this article took place at Shiram Capital P.L. Reddy Memorial ATP Challenger
At just 17 years of age, Alex de Minaur defied nerves and overcame the pressure of making his ATP World Tour qualifying debut, successfully booking his spot in the main draw at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp on Sunday.
In front of the home fans, the Sydney native was not rattled, even after dropping the first set against #NextGen star Frances Tiafoe, rallying for a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 victory in two hours and 19 minutes. It was the latest of a slew of impressive victories for the rising talent, having won three straight meetings with players ranked inside the Top 150 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. He opened his qualifying campaign in Brisbane with a straight-set win over World No. 89 Mikhail Kukushkin.
De Minaur was left speechless.
“I’m playing really good tennis, and at the moment I couldn’t feel any better,” the teen exclaimed. “It’s unbelievable. Such a tough match, especially how hot it is outside. I’m really happy to get off the court with a win. At the end of the day, the first set was tough, so I knew hopefully I was going to get some chances in the second. I just made a big effort to stay in that match at all points and ended up getting my opportunity and I took it.”
De Minaur will hope his junior success, having ascended to No. 2 in the world, translates to a fruitful career on the ATP World Tour. The World No. 348 has already begun plotting his assault on the Emirates ATP Rankings, soaring nearly 200 spots with a run to the final at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Eckental, Germany in November. It was just his third Challenger main draw.
The Aussie teen has the attention of his peers and even former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, who was in attendance for his Brisbane qualifying win on Sunday.
“It’s been good,” said Hewitt. “I’ve done a lot of work over the summer with Alex. He’s a great young kid. A 17-year-old playing a young 18-year-old American, it was pretty good tennis out there. Three extremely tough sets in really tough conditions.
“I’m happy for Alex. He gets an opportunity now to play in a main draw of an ATP World Tour event. What a way to start the new year. He has a lot of ability, he wants to work hard and puts in a lot of hard hours. The training that he’s done in November and December, coming in here, that’s the main reason he was able to win today and he was able to back it up from yesterday.”
De Minaur’s roots extend throughout the world. The 17 year old was born in Sydney, has a Spanish mother and a Uruguayan father, and speaks English, French and Spanish. Having lived in Alicante, Spain, until he was five, his family moved to Australia for his father’s restaurant business. There, with the support of Tennis Australia, he began looking towards a career in pro tennis.
Now, into his first ATP World Tour main draw, he is relishing the opportunity and is excited to have the support of Hewitt. The two worked together during the teenager’s offseason training block in Australia.
“So many times he’s come back from tough matches,” De Minuar added. “I’m happy I could do that today in the heat, especially having him out there. It means a lot.”
De Minaur opens his Brisbane main draw campaign against 29-year-old Mischa Zverev, with a potential second round clash against fifth seed Rafael Nadal looming large.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic officially launched the 2017 ATP World Tour season on Sunday ahead of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.
Murray and Djokovic played a game of mini-tennis and posed for photos on a specially-constructed elevated court in front of the Museum of Islamic Art, with the backdrop of the Doha skyline.
“It was amazing with an amazing view,” said Murray. “We are very lucky to go to some of the nicest places in the world and it’s a good way to start the year. Novak and I have played many big matches over the years, competing for the sport’s biggest prizes and hopefully it will be the same this year.”
“It is great to start off the season in Doha, returning with memories from 2016 when I started the year in the best possible fashion,” said Djokovic, the defending champion at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. “I’m looking forward to starting well and continue the good tempo of preparation that I’ve had in the past few weeks. Andy had an incredible 2016, especially the second part of the year, and deserved to be crowned year-end No. 1 [in the Emirates ATP Rankings]. It’s great to have him at the tournament, which has always attracted the top players in the world.”
The top two tennis players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are set to resume their battle for the No. 1 spot in the very first week of the season. They brought the curtain down on the 2016 season at The O2 in London by contesting the ATP Finals championship match, which saw Murray prevail to clinch the year-end No. 1 mantle for the first time.
Nine Top 10 players are in action across three ATP World Tour 250 tournaments in the first week of the season. No. 10 Tomas Berdych joins Murray and Djokovic in Doha; No. 3 Milos Raonic, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 8 Dominic Thiem and No. 9 Rafael Nadal feature in a star-studded field at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp; while No. 6 Marin Cilic headlines the Aircel Chennai Open.
The 2017 ATP World Tour season spans 64 events in 31 countries, offering players a record prize money of close to $120 million. New events will see the Tour travel to Budapest for the Hungarian Open, Antalya in Turkey for the Antalya Open and Milan for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals. The ATP World Tour is also set to return to Lyon for the first time since 2009 with a new event, the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon, the week of 21 May.
Home favourite Jordan Thompson kicked off the 2017 ATP World Tour season with his first win at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp.
The 22-year-old Thompson, who’s playing at a career-high ranking of No. 79, beat #NextGen player Elias Ymer of Sweden 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday in a battle of wild cards. The Sydney native won 93 per cent of his first-serve points and saved one of two break points faced. He’ll face countryman Bernard Tomic or eighth seed David Ferrer in round two.
“It’s always good to start off a new year with a win, especially here in Brisbane,” Thompson said. “I didn’t make too many errors. I returned pretty well, and movement was good.”
Aussie wild cards also advanced in doubles as Sam Groth/Chris Guccione beat Serbian Viktor Troicki and German Mischa Zverev 6-1, 3-6, 10-8. American Steve Johnson and Argentine Diego Schwartzman made quick work of the French team Stephane Robert/Gilles Simon, winning 6-2, 6-1 in 54 minutes.
Action on the ATP Challenger Tour is set to take off as the 2017 season gets underway this week with a trio of tournaments. NextGen stars begin their quests in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, with Noumea, Happy Valley and Bangkok playing host to the opening-week events.
For the 14th consecutive year, the French territory of New Caledonia kicks off the season. The island paradise, located off the eastern coast of Australia, welcomes players to the Ligue de Tennis du Ouen-Toro in the capital city of Noumea. Defending champion Adrian Mannarino is the top seed and bidding for a third title in five years, while Next Gen ATP Finals contenders Duckhee Lee, Quentin Halys and Noah Rubin feature in a stacked draw.
Why would anyone want to come Noumea?….?? pic.twitter.com/TjiI57kFmR
— Noah Rubin (@Noahrubin33) December 30, 2016
Lee, seeded third, reached his first Challenger final in Kaohsiung in September, while Halys, seeded fourth, is seeking a second title (Tallahassee ’16).
View Draws: Noumea | Happy Valley | Bangkok
Meanwhile, Michael Mmoh kicks off his campaign in Happy Valley, Australia, where countryman Donald Young is the top seed. The 18-year-old Mmoh is surging with confidence after clinching his maiden Challenger title in Knoxville in November, climbing inside the year-end Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 198. An American has won the title in Happy Valley in both its previous editions – Ryan Harrison (2015) and Taylor Fritz (2016).
The season-long Emirates ATP Race to Milan will see the world’s best up-and-coming talents battle to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals, taking place from 7-11 November, 2017. The Top 7 players born in 1996 or later will qualify automatically, while the eighth spot will be reserved for a wild card.
Watch Free Challenger Live Streaming
Finally, the KPN Bangkok Open is back for a ninth year, with former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic seeded fifth. Three past champions have returned, as 2015 winner Yuichi Sugita is the top seed and 2013 titlist Blaz Kavcic and 2011 champ Cedrik-Marcel Stebe also present.
Roger Federer can return from six months out and win another Grand Slam, says his former coach Paul Annacone.
The 35-year-old, who has won 17 majors, is due to make his comeback from a knee injury against Britain’s Dan Evans in the Hopman Cup in Perth on Monday.
Annacone, who coached the Swiss from 2010 to 2013, told BBC Sport: “Last year was a very tough year for him and he still got to the semis of Wimbledon.
“There is no reason why he can’t play at that level again.”
Annacone believes Federer’s best chance of another major title will come at SW19, where he has triumphed seven times.
The American added: “When you look at his track record, particularly on grass, if he’s healthy, it’s going to be very difficult not to put him in the sentence as one of the favourites.
“Again, it’s about staying healthy, but I absolutely think he can contend for a major title.”
Federer has not played since hurting his left knee as he lost in the Wimbledon semi-finals to Milos Raonic in July.
Federer said he took six months off “so I would be playing for hopefully another two to three years, not just another six months or so”.
Having had knee surgery in February 2016, he missed the French Open with a back problem and played only 28 matches in the year.
He last won a tournament in November 2015 – the Swiss Indoors – and has not won a Slam since Wimbledon 2012.
Annacone, who also coached 14-time major winner Pete Sampras and Britain’s Tim Henman, believes Federer’s extended absence “could be a positive”.
He added: “It’s given him time to refresh and really get his body healthy.
“Six months isn’t critical – it’s not what I would call lethal. I know how hard Roger’s worked and how professional and meticulous he is about his preparations.
“It is a challenge, but great players love challenges. I expect great things because he’s a great player.”
Federer, who has spent 302 weeks as world number one, has fallen to 16th in the rankings, his lowest position since May 2001.
That means he could face Britain’s world number one Sir Andy Murray or defending champion Novak Djokovic as early as the fourth round of the Australian Open, which starts on 16 January.
Having reached the semi-finals in Melbourne last year, an early exit would further impact on his ranking.
Annacone feels that will not matter to Federer at this stage of his career, citing the example of Sampras, who won the US Open in 2002 as the 17th seed.
“It’s not ideal but I’m a glass half-full guy,” said the 53-year-old. “I would imagine if you talked to Andy or Novak they’re not going to want to be playing Roger in the round of 16 or third round either.
“I was with Pete Sampras when he won his 2002 US Open. He hadn’t won an event for 26 months. With these great players, you just don’t know what they’re capable of. The rules don’t apply – they’re merely suggestions.
“I remember it with Pete. He said: ‘I really don’t care what my ranking is, it doesn’t matter any more. It’s about can I put myself in position to win tournaments, and in particular major tournaments.’ I’m sure Roger’s approaching it the same way.”
As if to underline that, Federer said on Friday: “Winning titles is a beautiful feeling; rankings at the moment… completely secondary. As long as I’m healthy, I think I can really do some damage.”
Federer, who has won more Grand Slams than any other male player, will be 36 in August, and Annacone says he does not need to chase history for motivation.
“I just think the sheer joy of competing and the challenge of testing himself against the others will be enough for Roger,” he said. “He’s so at peace with what he’s done and where he is that he’ll do it organically by himself.
“If he stays healthy and is able to train and compete as often as he’s planning to then I would consider that a success.
“If he does that, his average level, for how talented he is, is going to be somewhere in the top 10 anyway. If that’s the case, that average level will create opportunities where he is playing at the end of events.”
Annacone, who keeps in touch with Federer “via texts and instant messaging”, says the Swiss has been “in good spirits”.
“A couple of weeks ago he was doing great, he was really happy in his training in Dubai,” he said. “His body felt good and he was really excited about 2017.”
But Annacone, who will be commentating on the Australian Open for Tennis Channel, says Federer must “stay patient” in the early stages of his comeback.
“He is so meticulous in his preparation that I expect him to play pretty terrific tennis pretty quickly,” he added.
“Now can he do it second event in, the Australian Open, for seven matches? That’s a big challenge but he’s done it so many times in the past.”
There will be fireworks on and off the court this week in Doha, as the calendar flips to the New Year at the star-studded Qatar ExxonMobil Open. With the 2017 ATP World Tour season set to commence, familiar foes Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are poised to pick up where they left off to conclude 2016.
Djokovic, who was dethroned as year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings by Murray at the ATP Finals, will be seeking revenge in the Qatari capital. The longtime rivals could face off in the final, which would be their first encounter at an ATP World Tour 250 event. With only 630 points separating them atop the Emirates ATP Rankings, the battle for No. 1 will be hotly contested to open the new season.
View Draw
Murray carries an 8-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head edge into his first-round encounter against Jeremy Chardy, with either Gerald Melzer or Paul-Henri Mathieu potentially waiting next. Fellow Top 10 player Tomas Berdych and World No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could loom large in the semi-finals. Murray, who owns a 15-2 mark in four trips to Doha, will be looking to his extend his career-best 24-match win streak.
Djokovic, meanwhile, will face Jan-Lennard Struff for the first time in his opener. The 26-year-old German is eyeing Top 10 wins in back-to-back tournaments, having notched his first at the BNP Paribas Masters in November, defeating Stan Wawrinka in a deciding tie-break. Djokovic could face either Horacio Zeballos or Florian Mayer in the second round, with David Goffin, Marcos Baghdatis and Ivo Karlovic the other seeds in his half of the draw.
Djokovic, Murray and Tsonga are former champions returing to Doha this year. Murray claimed back-to-back titles in 2008-09, while Tsonga prevailed in 2012 with victory over Gael Monfils, and Djokovic is the defending champion after defeating Rafael Nadal last year.
In other action, Karen Khachanov will look to kick off his quest to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals, opening against local wild card Mubarak Shannan Zayid. The 20-year-old Moscow native soared to a year-end position of No. 53 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after clinching his maiden ATP World Tour title at the Chengdu Open in early October. The season-long Emirates ATP Race to Milan will see the world’s best up-and-coming talents battle to qualify for the exclusive tournament in November. Learn More
ATPWorldTour.com pays tribute to the first-time winners on the ATP World Tour in 2016.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas – Bastad [Ramos-Vinolas Spotlight]
Competing in his first clay court event since reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final two months earlier at Roland Garros, Ramos-Violas once again showed off his red-clay prowess by capturing his first ATP World Tour title in July in Bastad. After defeating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer for the first time in seven tries in his semi-final win, Ramos-Vinolas prevailed in another all-Spanish encounter by defeating Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4 in the championship match. The win also enabled him to snap a three-match losing streak against Verdasco.
“I cannot be more happy after a long time waiting. I have been working very hard,” said Ramos-Vinolas. “Everybody wants to win or dreams of winning a title. It was the same for me. It was important for me to win one ATP World Tour title.”
The Spaniard followed up his breakthrough in Bastad by reaching another ATP World Tour final in September in Chengdu (l. Khachanov). Ramos-Vinolas reached his career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 26 in October.
Paolo Lorenzi – Kitzbuhel [Lorenzi Spotlight]
The feisty Italian broke ground in July in Kitzbuhel by becoming the oldest first-time winner on the ATP World Tour at 34 years, 7 months. With his 6-3, 6-4 victory in the final over Nikoloz Basilashvili, Lorenzi also finished 2016 as the third-oldest winner in 2016 on the ATP World Tour. only behind Ivo Karlovic (Newport; 37 years, four months) and Estrella Burgos (Quito; 35 years, six months).The Italian also became the first player that season to win both an ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour title, having previously prevailed at Challengers in Canberra, Australia and Caltanissetta, Italy.
“I think it’s great to win an ATP trophy. I don’t look at the age. I can say that I’m really happy and I don’t mind if it’s happening at 34,” said Lorenzi. “When I was younger, I think the dream is to become No. 1 and win a Grand Slam, but of course it’s not so easy and only a few players can do this. But a goal of this year was to win one trophy, so this is great for me.”
Lorenzi would go on to reach the third round of the US Open, marking his best appearance at a Grand Slam. He also recorded a quarter-final showing in September in St. Petersburg, and achieved a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking that same month of No. 35. The year was also a success off the court for Lorenzi as he married Elisa Braccini in December.
Pablo Carreno Busta – Winston-Salem [Carreno Busta Spotlight]
Having finished runner-up earlier in the year in Sao Paulo and Estoril, the third time proved to be the charm for Carreno Busta in August in Winston-Salem. Facing fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the final, the Barcelona resident rallied from down a set and a break to prevail 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 6-4.
“This is amazing. This is an incredible feeling. To win my first ATP World Tour title and then playing against Bautista [Agut], a top player, is really tough,” said Carreno Busta. “When you continue working and you continue fighting all the time and finally the result arrives, for me, it’s really, really good.”
His top form carried over into the US Open, where he reached the doubles final with another Spaniard in Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (l. Murray/Soares). Carreno Busta went on to win his second ATP World Tour title in October in Moscow (d. Fognini) and currently sits at a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 30.