Ivo Karlovic became the oldest ATP Tour title winner for 37 years with victory in the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Croat, aged 37 and five months, beat Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (14-12) to claim his seventh career title.
Marty Riessen won in Lafayette in 1979, aged 37 years and nine months.
At the French Open this year Karlovic became the oldest man for 25 years to reach the third round of a Grand Slam.
“By the time he’s 22, 23 or 24 I think he will be a top-10 player,” said captain Leon Smith, shortly after Kyle Edmund had helped Britain through to the Davis Cup semi-finals.
Edmund, Britain’s number one player in the tournament, beat Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic in straight sets in Belgrade on Sunday in only his second Davis Cup appearance.
The first had been memorable. The 21-year-old allowed David Goffin only four games in the opening two sets of the first rubber of last year’s final in Ghent. The next three sets went convincingly Belgium’s way as Edmund started cramping, but his forehand left quite an impression on the Belgian.
The Briton also made his mark against world number one Novak Djokovic when the two met in the second round of the Miami Masters in March. The Serb said then that Edmund had the potential to get to the top of the men’s game.
You would expect a diplomat like Djokovic to say nice things about a British player to the British media, but the power and composure with which Edmund played in Belgrade makes you re-assess what might be possible in future.
On the eve of Edmund’s 19th birthday, I remember Smith telling me the statistics suggested he was on track to peak somewhere between 50 and 100 in the rankings – as his junior career had promised he might.
There has unquestionably been a spike in expectations over the past twelve months – but the forehand remains his signature shot.
“In terms of pace and what he can do with it, it is in the top five of the world as an isolated shot,” former Davis Cup player Jamie Baker told BBC Sport.
| Kyle Edmund factfile |
|---|
| Age: 21 |
| Current ATP singles ranking: 67 |
| Turned pro: 2012 |
| Height: 6ft 2in |
| Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand |
| Career prize money: £555,768 ($734,378) |
John Lloyd, who was a Davis Cup finalist as a player and then a captain, was struck by the “total faith” Edmund has in his forehand. He was also impressed by his backhand – which is starting to look very secure.
“I thought he moved very well,” Lloyd said. “When I’ve seen him in the past I thought his movement could be the difference in him getting to the top. But his defensive movement, in particular, has been fabulous for the whole tie.”
Edmund’s serve was not as potent as it can be over the weekend, and yet he did not drop a set. There were signs he was starting to cramp a little in the third set of Sunday’s match against Lajovic, which is something Edmund and his team are trying to address.
He also suffered cramp against Goffin in last November’s final, and then again at the Australian Open – when he was affected as early as the third set of a five-set defeat by Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur in 35C heat in Melbourne. It seems to be caused by tension, which may well be alleviated as he grows in experience.
Edmund has developed a handy knack of halving his ranking every year. From about 400 at the end of 2013, to about 200 twelve months later. He was then ranked 100 at the end of last year and is on track to be a top 50 player by the time the year is out. He currently stands at 67, but that is a number which his Davis Cup captain thinks will soon be past its sell-by date.
“He’s still got a lot of development to do physically and with his tennis,” Smith said.
“That’s the good thing about him, he’s obviously got some unbelievable raw tools – that forehand is just an unbelievable shot – but the rest of his game is getting better.
“He’s still going to get a lot more out of his serve as the years go on. His backhand has improved already a lot; his net game can keep getting better and of course he will get more robust physically.”
He also has a three-time Grand Slam champion as a sounding board and inspiration. Edmund says he did not speak much to Andy Murray over the weekend, but his achievements, standards and attention to detail speak for themselves.
Edmund has also had the opportunity to see it for himself first hand. Twice he has found himself in Miami for pre-season training – as a guest in Murray’s apartment – and carrying out the same hitting, fitness and weight training drills as the world number two.
Edmund’s rise is just one of the reasons Britain will start September’s semi-final with Argentina as favourites. With Inglot’s first Davis Cup win sandwiched in between Edmund’s first two wins for his country, future ties should no longer revolve around whether Andy Murray can play and win three matches in a weekend.
Croat wins seventh career ATP World Tour title
In his third Newport final, Ivo Karlovic won his first title at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Sunday. The 6’11” Croat erased three championship points and came back from a set down against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller to win 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12) in two hours and 56 minutes.
The 37-year-old Karlovic takes home his seventh career ATP World Tour title and also becomes the oldest winner in the tournament’s 40-year history. Fabrice Santoro, 35, won the 2008 title. Karlovic, at 37 years, 4 months, also becomes the oldest ATP World Tour singles champion since Marty Riessen (37 years, 9 months) in 1979 (Lafayette, La.).
“After all these years when I was losing in the final and now I was finally able to do it,” Karlovic said. “And I was down a match point. That makes it even nicer.”
The big-serving Croat, who was playing in his third consecutive Newport final, took the title with titanic serving. He blasted 27 aces and won almost 90 per cent of his first-serve points (71/80).
But both he and Muller began the match battling nerves. Karlovic, who had been broken once in Newport heading into the final (36/37), lost his first service game at 15 to give Muller the early break. The 6’4” left-hander then held to lead 3-0. But Karlovic broke back and like that, the two were headed to a predictable first-set tie-break.
“In the beginning… I didn’t really feel my serve. I was a little bit doubtful,” said Karlovic, who double faulted six times in his first three service games. “But I just tried to hang in there and tried to get to a tie-break any way I could.”
Muller dominated to the first set tie-break, though, and in the second set tie-break, he was a swing away from gaining a match point. At 5/5, Karlovic tossed up a lob and Muller had a play on it but let it sail over him. The ball bounced in, and Karlovic evened the match on the next point.
Neither player saw a break point again in the third set, and the match between two of the best grass-court servers headed into a final set tie-break. Muller saw the first match point at 6/5 but Karlovic erased it. Muller would then erase four match points but at 12/12, he tapped a volley long to give Karlovic his fifth match point and the first on his racquet. The 26-point tie-break was the longest in a decisive set in an ATP World Tour final in the Open Era.
“His serve is unbelievable. I was trying to return anyway I could,” Karlovic said. “It was difficult. I was really happy that I was able to do it.”
The win gives Karlovic his first title of the season. The Zagreb native struggled with a left knee injury earlier in the year. He also improves to 7-8 in ATP World Tour finals. Karlovic will bring home 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $91,630.
“I’m really happy that I was able to do it this year,” he said of his first Newport title.
Muller was going for his first career ATP World Tour title. The 33 year old has reached five finals, including two this season also (‘s-Hertogenbosch, l. to Mahut). Before this year, his last final was in Atlanta in 2012. The Luxembourg native collects 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $48,260.
The 17 year old made his ATP Challenger Tour main draw debut in Winnipeg
Canadian teenagers Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger Aliassime have been making headlines for their results in junior Grand Slams and the ATP Challenger Tour, but another talented young Canadian could soon be doing the same.
Benjamin Sigouin, currently ranked No. 12 in the ITF Junior Rankings, competed in his first ATP Challenger Tour main draw this week at the $75,000 event in Winnipeg, Canada. Although the 17 year old lost in the first round to American Mitchell Krueger, he saw the experience as invaluable.
“You can’t compare it to the juniors. All these guys are at a really high level. There’s no easy match,” said Siguoin. “I’ve hit with a good bunch of them. It’s nice to see some different balls than the juniors.”
Although Siguoin is in the beginning stages of embarking on a pro career, he’s been training like one for years. Based out of the National Training Centre in Montreal, his days consist of twice-daily sessions of tennis and school work, in addition to a fitness session at the end of the day.
The schedule is comparable to what Shapovalov and Auger Aliassime currently undergo. Although the trio all focused on their individual careers, they’ve formed close friendships with each other and motivate one another to succeed on and off the court.
“We’re all really good competitors. We’re really good friends, but we push each other for sure,” said Siguoin. “Every big result they do makes me more motivated and I’m sure vice-versa.”
Although Siguoin said his pro experience will primarily consist of Futures events for now, he’ll also mix them in with ATP Challenger Tour events and the world’s biggest junior tournaments as he aims to be No. 1 in the ITF Junior Rankings by next year. The Canadian has already developed a taste for the big time, as evidenced by winning a match 13-11 in the deciding set during a boys’ singles match this year at Roland Garros, where he reached the quarter-finals.
“There are only three tournaments a year where you can play that long,” said Siguoin. “It was really special being my first main draw at a Grand Slam and to do that in the third-round against a good player was fun.”
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Ramos-Vinolas triumphs in his second final
Albert Ramos-Vinolas played largely nerve-free tennis on Sunday to capture his first ATP World Tour singles title at the SkiStar Swedish Open over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
Third seed Ramos-Vinolas became the fourth first-time ATP World Tour titlist of the year by beating fifth seed Verdasco 6-3, 6-4 in 86 minutes. Verdasco, who had a three-match winning streak against Ramos-Vinolas, also finished runner-up in the 2013 Bastad final (l. to Berlocq).
Ramos-Vinolas earned €82,450 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points after the fourth all-Spanish Bastad final in the Open Era – also 1975 (Orantes d. Higueras), 2007 and 2012 (David Ferrer d. Nicolas Almagro). Former World No. 1 Bjorn Borg, the 1974 and 1978-79 Bastad champion, presented Ramos-Vinolas with the trophy.
Ramos-Vinolas got off to a strong start in his second final (2012 Casablanca), taking a 4-1 lead courtesy of service breaks in the third and fifth games. But the confidence of the World No. 35 was momentarily checked when he was broken to 15 by Verdasco in the sixth game. However, he broke for a third time to seal the 36-minute opener.
Ramos-Vinolas saved three break points in two service games of the second set prior to breaking Verdasco for a 5-3 lead. Ramos-Vinolas came within two points of winning, but blinked and gave Verdasco the opportunity to break to 30. But one game later, he joined Nick Kyrgios (Marseille), Diego Schwartzman (Istanbul) and Steve Johnson (Nottingham) as a first-time titlist in 2016. He improved to a 24-19 record on the season (18-12 on clay).
Verdasco, 32, had been attempting to lift his eighth tour-level crown and his second of 2016, following on from the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy (d. Pouille) in April. He leaves with €43,430 and 150 points.