Tennis News

Djokovic: ‘I Can Recover And Win At Least One Medal’

Despite Novak Djokovic’s disappointing semi-final defeat to Alexander Zverev on Friday at the Tokyo Olympics, which ended the Serbian’s hopes of a historic Golden Grand Slam, the 34-year-old is still fully focused on gaining an Olympic bronze medal for his country.

Djokovic was chasing a 23rd straight singles win against the fourth seed, but struggled to find his best form against the German, who overcame the World No. 1 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Djokovic will now face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in Saturday’s bronze medal match.

“I feel terrible right now in every sense but tomorrow hopefully a fresh start I can recover and win at least one medal for my country,” Djokovic said.

Having won the first three major championships of the season, Djokovic was aiming to complete an achievement only WTA legend Stefanie Graf managed in 1988 by winning all four major championships and a singles Olympic gold medal.

The top seed looked on course to reach the gold medal match as he led by a set and a break against the World No. 5. However, Djokovic struggled on serve in the latter stages of the match in the high temperatures in Tokyo.

“Tough day, a really tough day,” Djokovic said. “I feel so terrible right now. I was leading [by] a set then a break and he managed to turn the match around. He served huge, was attacking, and I was not getting any free points on my first serves.

“I [have] got to give him credit for turning (the) match around. He served extremely well. I mean I was not getting too many looks on the second serve. My serve just drastically dropped. I didn’t get any free points from 3-2 up in the second. My game fell apart.

“To play someone of his quality, of his level, it’s just too tough to win a match (like that). It’s just sport. He played better.”

On a challenging day for Djokovic, the Serbian also fell in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles with countrywoman Nina Stojanovic to the ROC’s Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina.

After his bronze medal matches, Djokovic’s attention will turn to the hard-court season as he aims to capture a calendar-year Grand Slam at the US Open, a title he has won three times before. The only player in the Open Era to accomplish this feat was Rod Laver in 1969.

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Rublev's Roaring Forehand: 'Keep Your Arm Loose'

Executing a forehand like Andrey Rublev is not as easy as he makes it look. But with the right ‘coach’, it can be taught.

The Russian star blasts the ball at incredible speeds with deadly accuracy to all areas of the court. But there’s more to it than just “gripping and ripping”. According to Rublev, you need the right mix of serenity and intensity.

“The main thing is that your arm is loose and relaxed,” Rublev said. “If you do everything perfectly with the legs, then you give the easy job to the arm. You just need to do the swing and hit it.”

Learn more from Rublev at TopCourt

The Top 10 stalwart is bringing you plenty more advice as a TopCourt ambassador. Rublev will share with fans technical pointers, step-by-step instruction, tactical lessons and his favourite drills.

The Russian will also take you inside his journey as a professional tennis player. Rublev, the son of a former professional boxer and tennis coach, developed a love for competition at a young age and focused on his fitness and work ethic.

“One evening my mom arrived from her job and she bought some typical toys for the kids,” Rublev recalled. “She put them on the line for me to choose. I crawled to the tennis racquet.”

The eight-time ATP Tour titlist also delves into his daily routine and why it is important to always work to improve and respect every opponent.

To learn tennis from the world’s best, visit TopCourt.com.

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Mektic/Pavic Capture Olympic Gold In Tokyo

Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic’s dream season continued on Friday as they battled past countrymen Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to claim a historic first gold medal in tennis for Croatia at the Tokyo Olympics.

The top seeds, who booked their spot at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals earlier this month, won 75 per cent (27/36) of their first-service points and raised their level in the Match Tie-break to secure victory in one hour and 38 minutes.

“This is just a very happy feeling and we’re super thrilled to win the title and just to be at the Olympics,” Mektic told ITFtennis.com. “To have such a great result is just more than a dream come true and I’m so delighted to share this moment with Mate [Pavic].”

View Order Of Play | View 2020 Olympics Results

Croatian @Olympics Medalists in Men’s Tennis
2020 Doubles Gold – @NMektic / Mate Pavic
2020 Doubles Silver – @Cilic_Marin / @DodigTennis
2004 Doubles Bronze – @AncicMario / @TheLjubicic
1992 Singles Bronze – Goran Ivanisevic
1992 Doubles Bronze – Goran Ivanisevic / Goran Prpic

— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) July 30, 2021

Mektic and Pavic arrived in Tokyo having won eight tour-level titles in their maiden year together as a team. They became the first Croatian players to lift the Wimbledon men’s doubles title in July, and have captured three ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Rome.

The pair dominated in the first set as they closed the net effectively and returned with great depth. Mektic and Pavic broke in the opening game and were strong on serve as they moved ahead. Cilic and Dodig returned with greater power in the second set though as they caused problems for the top seeds to level.

However, Mektic and Pavic used their experience in the Match Tie-break to claim a 53rd win of the season and 15th in a row.

Cilic and Dodig were competing in their second tour-level event of the season as a pair, having enjoyed a run to the semi-finals at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart in June. The Croatians also teamed at the 2012 London Olympics where they advanced to the quarter-finals. They will leave Tokyo with a silver medal.

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Tokyo Olympics: Alexander Zverev beats Novak Djokovic to reach final

Novak Djokovic’s hopes of winning a ‘Golden Slam’ are over after losing to Alexander Zverev in the Olympic tennis semi-finals.

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Tokyo Olympics: Alexander Zverev beats Novak Djokovic to reach tennis final

Watch the best shots and rallies as Germany’s Alexander Zverev defeats top seed and world number one Novak Djokovic at the Tokyo Olympics, ending the Serb’s hopes of a “Golden Slam”.

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Daniell/Venus Capture Bronze Medal In Tokyo

New Zealand duo Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus ended a strong week at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday by defeating Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren 7-6(3), 6-2 to capture the bronze medal.

Daniell and Venus, who also teamed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, saved all three break points they faced. They won 75 per cent (33/44) of their first-service points to claim victory in one hour and 49 minutes.

View Order Of Play | View 2020 Olympics Results

Venus has won two tour-level titles this year at the Hamburg European Open (w/Puetz) and the Gonet Geneva Open (w/Peers), while Daniell enjoyed a run to the final at The Qatar ExxonMobil Open (w/Oswald) in March.

Krajicek and Sandgren were making their Olympic debuts this week and were teaming for the fifth time this year.

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Khachanov To Compete For Gold, Reaches Tokyo Final

The ROC’s Karen Khachanov guaranteed himself at least a silver medal on Friday at the Tokyo Olympics as he produced a dominant display to move past Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final.

The 12th seed, who is making his Olympic debut this week, was strong on serve throughout, hitting 10 aces and winning 93 per cent (26/28) of his first-service points to advance in 80 minutes.

View Order Of Play | View 2020 Olympics Results | View Draw

Khachanov will next face either top-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic or German Alexander Zverev in the gold medal match.

The 25-year-old has enjoyed runs to the semi-finals at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon and the Great Ocean Road Open this year. Khachanov also equalled his best Grand Slam result at Wimbledon earlier this month as he advanced to the quarter-finals (l. to Shapovalov).

Carreno Busta upset World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals but could not match those performance levels against Medvedev’s countryman Khachanov on Friday. The sixth seed, who won his first ATP 500 trophy and sixth tour-level title earlier in July at the Hamburg European Open, had dropped just one set en route to the last four.

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Despite Short-Term Pain, Sinner Stays Focussed On Long-term Gain

#NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner was completely calm Thursday evening despite losing his fourth consecutive match. After his opening defeat at the Truist Atlanta Open, the 19-year-old Italian made clear that a few bad results should not lead to panic.

“How do I stay positive? It’s very easy. I’m 19 years old, turning 20 this year, which I think a lot of people forget,” Sinner said. “For me personally, it doesn’t matter if I win now at 20 or at 23. I think our goal is to become a great player when I am around 23, 24 years old. The process we are doing is [for the] longterm.”

In Sinner’s mind, he has “had a couple of great results. I don’t think I’ve won something big.” That is a humble comment from a player who reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Miami earlier this year. By doing so, he became just the fourth teenager to make the Miami championship match, joining World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and former World No. 1s Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal.

The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion is always thinking of maximising his potential, and whether he is winning or losing, the teen is learning.

“[I am] playing tennis a lot, enjoying playing tennis, working physically and mentally to be in the best possible position when I am around 23 years old. I don’t know if it’s going to be when I am 23 or 22 or maybe already next week, you never know,” Sinner said. “But what I think is very important [is] to think back where I come from. The people who stayed very close to me know how important tennis is for me, which I think [will be] my life for the next hopefully 20 years.

“[I am] just trying to enjoy every journey. It just started, so hopefully I can still show some good tennis in the future.”

Although Sinner lost against Australian Christopher O’Connell in the second round on his Atlanta debut, he found positives in the defeat. The teen had not played a match since losing in the first round at Wimbledon last month, and he has been working hard on his fitness and serve. Sinner won 81 per cent of his first-serve points and only faced one break point against the qualifier.

“Today, I was not serving so bad to be honest,” Sinner said. “In general, I think I was practising well. I didn’t put away one single practice session. I was always focused and obviously the results you cannot see in one or two tournaments. It’s going out in a couple of matches and hopefully I’m going to win some matches here in the U.S. swing, which will give me confidence and then after I’ll start to play my tennis, trying to get 100 per cent out of my potential.”

Sinner is not done in Atlanta. The Italian shook off his singles loss on the doubles court with American Reilly Opelka, as they advanced to the semi-finals with a straight-sets victory against Treat Huey of the Philippines and Benoit Paire of France. No matter what happens the rest of the week, Sinner will continue to try to make the most of it.

“First-round matches are not easy. I’m trying to have a couple of doubles matches as well, which I think can help me,” Sinner said. “Hopefully I can play better in Washington.”

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Norrie Ousts 2016 Champ Kyrgios In Atlanta

Nick Kyrgios was quick to congratulate Briton Cameron Norrie after the lefty lifted his first ATP Tour trophy on Saturday in Los Cabos. The Aussie learned firsthand just how well his friend is playing on Thursday evening.

Norrie eliminated Kyrgios 6-1, 6-4 from the Truist Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 event that Kyrgios won in 2016. The third seed needed just 57 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals, in which he will play Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori.

“It’s very nice to be back here in Atlanta,” Norrie said in his on-court interview. “It’s good to have Nick back… really enjoyed the match and really happy with my level.”

Norrie, who is at a career-high No. 29 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, has made the semi-finals in Atlanta in his two previous appearances. Against Kyrgios, who struggled to find rhythm from the baseline, the British lefty remained solid with few dips in his level and saved the only break point he faced.

“It’s cool to be playing at this level and [I am] happy and satisfied to be getting some wins,” Norrie said. “I’m enjoying my tennis.”

The 25-year-old’s next opponent, Ruusuvuori, led Benoit Paire 4-6, 6-4, 3-0 when the Frenchman retired due to heat illness. The Finnish player is into his first quarter-final of the year.

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O'Connell Stuns Sinner In Atlanta

Australian Christopher O’Connell earned the biggest win of his career on Thursday afternoon, stunning second seed Jannik Sinner 7-6(7), 6-4 at the Truist Atlanta Open to reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final.

“I got here last Wednesday, so I’ve been acclimatising for the past week or so. I felt pretty comfortable out there,” O’Connell said in his on-court interview. “Maybe I was a little off early on, but as I got into the swing of the match I felt pretty comfortable.”

Sinner, the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion who made his first ATP Masters 1000 final this year in Miami, earned three set points in the first-set tie-break. But O’Connell showed no fear of the stage or his opponent, hitting critical passing shots under pressure to rally.

“I struggled a little bit with that when I was a bit younger,” O’Connell said of facing higher-ranked opponents. “But I’m 27 now, so I need to start making some inroads. I feel confident at the moment.”

World No. 132 O’Connell, who qualified at this ATP 250, converted the only break point of the match early in the second set and he never looked back. The Aussie triumphed in one hour and 38 minutes to set a clash against five-time champion John Isner or wild card Jack Sock.

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