The atmosphere at the Coupe Rogers is always special, but there’s even more excitement in the air of Montreal this year with three of the top 32 players in the world hailing from Canada. For every practice and appearance, crowds gather en masse to catch even a peek of #NextGenATP stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov as well as former World No. 3 Milos Raonic.

“It’s great. The sport is doing really well at all levels. Participation is very high. It’s just very popular. It has a lot to do with our pros playing really well,” former doubles World No. 1 Daniel Nestor told ATPTour.com. “There are so many great results and so much to look forward to. There’s high expectations, too, which is pretty unique for Canadian tennis.”

Nestor, who competed at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 tournament 30 times before retiring last year, was long an icon for tennis in this country, capturing 91 tour-level doubles titles. But he is excited about what is to come, with Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov in particular not only taking Canadian tennis by storm, but the ATP Tour as well.

Two years ago, Shapovalov went on a magical run in Montreal, where he advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final thanks to victories over Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro. Felix, on the other hand, has reached his first three ATP Tour finals this season and advanced to his first Masters 1000 semi-final in Miami, where Shapovalov also made the last four. That has only increased the expectations from the public.

“I think it will be tough for both of them, because obviously Denis, it’s going to be hard for him to duplicate what he did. I don’t think he’s playing his best. So it’d be nice to see him just come out here and perform well, keep his head up and play the level he’s capable of,” said Nestor of Shapovalov, who is on a five-match losing streak. “For Felix, it’s his first time really with a little more expectations on his shoulders now. He’s Top 25 and he’s playing at home, so people obviously have big hopes for him. But it’s important just to go out there and play, put all that aside when you’re out there and really focus on your goals and what you have to do. It’s easier said than done, but if they’re capable of doing that, then I think everyone will be happy.”

It’s easy to group these #NextGenATP stars together, especially considering they are close friends and just more than one year apart. But they bring different assets to the court, presenting different challenges to opponents.

“Felix is playing more of a defensive-minded game style, but with the ability to attack, too,” Nestor said. “Denis is more of the aggressive type and the shot-maker. He’s going big and hopefully he gets hot and when he gets hot, he’s a Top 5 player. Hopefully, it’ll be this week and this summer for him.”

Nestor didn’t know Auger-Aliassime too well when he was younger, but he did know Shapovalov, having first met him in 2015. The doubles legend was hitting with his fellow lefty and afterwards, when speaking to Martin Laurendeau, who was then Shapovalov’s coach, he asked if he was 18, when he was actually 15.

“I was very impressed,” Nestor said. “That was a pretty big game for a 15-year-old. I remember practising with him later that year indoors. We were playing in December in Toronto and I still, at that time, was playing pretty well. If I’m playing well indoors on fast courts I still consider myself a pretty good player, whether it’s singles or doubles. He was just playing so well and I was like, ‘I can’t believe how good this kid is.’ I was very impressed with him right away. And obviously hearing about how good Felix was from a young age, nobody was surprised to see him do well.”

This year’s Miami Open presented by Itau was the first time two Canadians reached the semi-finals of the same Masters 1000 tournament since 2013 Montreal, when Raonic and Vasek Pospisil did it. It’s giving Nestor and other Canadians reason to believe an even bigger breakthrough could come sooner rather than later.

“The ultimate goal is to have an all-Canadian Grand Slam final, so that’ll be what everyone wants to see. Obviously, we’d like to have a Grand Slam singles champion. That’s the ultimate goal,” Nestor said. “I foresee in the near future perhaps an all-Canadian Grand Slam quarter-final, semi-final, maybe even a final.”

With the #NextGenATP stars shining bright, it’s easy to forget that Raonic is still doing well, too, remaining the Canadian No. 1. The 28-year-old has remained in the Top 50 since entering in February 2011, and much of that time has come inside the Top 20.

“I think he’s doing really well. I think we’re all amazed at how well he does considering how little he plays… every time he plays he seems to be in the semi-finals or doing fairly well,” Nestor said. “I think he’s obviously got goals of winning a Grand Slam and he’s going to be very careful about his body in some of the tournaments that may not be as important to him. So I think if people have taken him for granted, that’s too bad because I think he still has the best chance of all of them to win a Grand Slam for now.”

Nestor, who won 1,062 tour-level doubles matches in his career, says he had a lot of success with a sports psychologist who helped him stay in the present. The 46-year-old knows that’s not something that can be done all the time, but that’s part of the advice he’d give these #NextGenATP stars.

“For sure to be patient, especially when you’ve had that much success. If you’ve had that much success early on, they probably expect a lot from themselves and maybe put too much pressure on themselves,” Nestor said. “Just do the right things every day, make the right decisions and try and get better every day. Then, when you go into matches, you’re prepared for everything and you just go out there, try to put the emotions aside and just play tennis and play their game style and know what their game style is, and just go for it.”

No. 27 Nick Kyrgios, +25
The Australian returned to the Top 30 in the ATP Rankings for the first time since 1 October 2018 as a result of capturing his third ATP Tour 500-level trophy on Sunday with a 7-6(6), 7-6(4) victory over World No. 10 Daniil Medvedev in the Citi Open final. The 24-year-old also beat No. 6-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) in the semi-finals. Kyrgios won the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC title in Acapulco in March (d. Zverev) and has now won six ATP Tour titles. He attained career-high No. 13 on 24 October 2016. Read More & Watch Washington, D.C. Final Highlights

No. 52 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, +17
The Spaniard saw his nine-match winning streak end at the hands of No. 4-ranked Dominic Thiem in the Generali Open final, but the 31-year-old rose 17 places to No. 52 in the ATP Rankings (his highest position since No. 50 on 8 August 2018). He had arrived in Kitzbühel on the back of lifting his second ATP Tour crown at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad (d. Stebe). On 10 June, Ramos-Vinolas was ranked No. 101. Read More & Watch Kitzbühel Final Highlights

No. 79 Stefano Travaglia, +16
The Italian rose to a career-high No. 79 in the ATP Rankings by winning his fourth ATP Challenger Tour title at the BNP Paribas Sopot Open (d. Horansky). The 27-year-old, who fell as low as No. 155 on 8 April 2019, fell to Nikoloz Basilashvili in five sets in the Australian Open second round in January.

No. 85 Peter Gojowczyk, +37
Starting the week at No. 122, the German qualified for the Citi Open and held his nerve to beat Alex de Minaur, Milos Raonic and Kyle Edmund before losing to No. 10-ranked Medvedev 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals. Gojowcyzk is back at his highest position in the ATP Rankings since 22 April 2019 (at No. 85).

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 5 (Career High) Stefanos Tsitsipas, +1
No. 9 (Career High) Daniil Medvedev, +1
No. 23 Diego Schwartzman, +4
No. 39 (Career High) Radu Albot, +2
No. 47 Lorenzo Sonego, +9
No. 56 (Career High) Casper Ruud, +9
No. 60 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, +10
No. 97 (Career High) Soonwoo Kwon, +15

Canadians headline Day 1 of the Coupe Rogers, with Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov opening their singles campaigns at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal. Raonic, the 2013 finalist, kicks off the action against Lucas Pouille — the first of four Canadian-French match-ups on Court Central. Denis Shapovalov, returning to the site of his big breakthrough in 2017, features in the evening session against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil, who are set to face off in first round singles action, team up in doubles against Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin. Wild card Peter Polansky completes play on Court Central against No. 16 seed Gael Monfils. 

Also on Monday, 2014 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga plays Jan-Lennard Struff, and a pair of former World No. 3’s — Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov — clash for the 10th time. Wawrinka leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-4.

More from #CoupeRogers
* Draw Preview
* Kyrgios/Edmund Among Five Key First-Round Battles
* Felix On Budding Canadian Rivalries: ‘We’re Not At War Here’
* Test Your Montreal Knowledge

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019

COURT CENTRAL start 12:00 noon
L. Pouille (FRA) vs [17] M. Raonic (CAN) 
Not Before 3:00 pm
[WC] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) / V. Pospisil (CAN) vs J. Chardy (FRA) / F. Martin (FRA) 
Not Before 6:30 pm
P. Herbert (FRA) vs D. Shapovalov (CAN) 
[WC] P. Polansky (CAN) vs [16] G. Monfils (FRA) 

BANQUE NATIONALE start 12:00 noon
J. Struff (GER) vs [WC] J. Tsonga (FRA) 
[Q] T. Paul (USA) vs [WC] B. Schnur (CAN) 
S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs G. Dimitrov (BUL) 
Not Before 6:30 pm
B. Paire (FRA) vs R. Gasquet (FRA) 
A. Rublev (RUS) / A. Zverev (GER) vs [3] M. Pavic (CRO) / B. Soares (BRA) 

The @CoupeRogers is back ?

Here’s some of the key matches to look out for on day 1⃣ pic.twitter.com/awPKq1wLK3

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) August 5, 2019

COURT 9 start 12:00 noon
M. Fucsovics (HUN) vs C. Norrie (GBR) 
[13] N. Basilashvili (GEO) vs D. Lajovic (SRB) 
[10] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) vs [Q] B. Tomic (AUS) 
[Q] I. Ivashka (BLR) vs [Q] S. Kwon (KOR) 
[1] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) vs R. Haase (NED) / W. Koolhof (NED) 

COURT 5 start 12:00 noon
L. Djere (SRB) vs C. Garin (CHI) 
A. de Minaur (AUS) / J. Thompson (AUS) vs H. Hurkacz (POL) / J. Isner (USA) 
M. Kukushkin (KAZ) vs A. Mannarino (FRA) 
K. Krawietz (GER) / A. Mies (GER) vs [8] N. Mektic (CRO) / F. Skugor (CRO) 

A LOOK BACK
International Challenger Chengdu (Chengdu, China): Hyeon Chung claimed his first title since the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, prevailing on the hard courts of Chengdu. It was the Korean star’s first tournament back, following a five-month absence due to a back injury.

Chung made quite the statement to kick off his comeback, rediscovering his rhythm in a hurry, en route to his ninth ATP Challenger Tour title overall. The former World No. 19 is well on his way to a Top 100 return, rising to No. 141 with the victory.

Watch Chung Highlights

“I’m really happy because I missed the competition and I’m looking forward to playing even more,” Chung told ATPChallengerTour.com. “The weather here was really hot and humid and I played three long matches in a row. I was trying to stay calm all the time and fight for every point. It feels great to be back on court and without pain. I practised really hard to get here.”

In Sunday’s final, Chung defeated Yuichi Sugita, who was coming off a title in Binghamton, New York, the week prior and traveled 7,000 miles to compete in Chengdu.

The Professor Is Back: Chung Returns At Chengdu Challenger

That did not take long.

In his first tournament in five months, @HyeonChung is the CHAMPION in Chengdu. Stunning week for the ?? to take the ?. pic.twitter.com/tXfxSG4Ekk

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 4, 2019

Open Castilla Y Leon Villa De El Espinar (Segovia, Spain): Some things are worth the wait. After two years, Nicola Kuhn is a Challenger champion once again. The #NextGenATP star rose 50 spots to a career-high No. 188 in the ATP Rankings after prevailing on home soil in Segovia.

Kuhn did not drop a set all week, culminating in a 6-2, 7-6(4) victory over Pavel Kotov on Sunday. It was the second title of the 19-year-old’s fledgling career and first since he lifted the trophy in Braunschweig, Germany, in 2017.

“After every match I was feeling better about my game and with more confidence,” said Kuhn. “I thought I played at a very high level, especially today. I am very happy for this great achievement and I know that I’ll continue getting better every day. I hope to return to this tournament one day, but not to play. It would be a good sign.”

Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships (Lexington, Kentucky, USA): For the first time in more than a year, multiples teenagers lifted trophies in the same week. Sinner joined Kuhn in the winners’ circle on Sunday, also claiming his second Challenger crown. He survived Alex Bolt 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the Lexington final, needing four match points to triumph.

The 17-year-old is making his presence known in 2019 and etching his name in the history books in the process. He became the 11th player aged 17 & under to win multiple titles on the circuit. The Italian teen is also the third do to so in the last five years, joining Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

BNP Paribas Sopot Open (Sopot, Poland): It has been quite the summer for Stefano Travaglia. In June, the 27-year-old cracked the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings, and he would storm to his first ATP Tour quarter-final in Umag a month later.

Now, Travaglia has a piece of silverware to add to his growing trophy case. The Italian stalwart claimed the second edition of the Sopot Open in front of a packed crowd at the Polish resort town. The top seed defeated Filip Horansky 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in Sunday’s championship.

It was his fourth Challenger title in total and second of the year for Travaglia, in addition to his victory on home soil in Francavilla al Mare. He is up to a career-high No. 79 in the ATP Rankings.

Svijany Open (Liberec, Czech Republic): Nikola Milojevic won his second Challenger crown and first of the year, prevailing on the clay of Liberec. He defeated Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the final, marking his fourth deciding-set victory of the week. The Serbian rose 32 spots to No. 148 in the ATP Rankings.

A LOOK AHEAD
Four tournaments on three continents highlight the first week of August. A stacked field in Aptos, California, includes Top 100 players Damir Dzumhur and Steve Johnson, along with #NextGenATP stars Michael Mmoh, Jannik Sinner, Duckhee Lee and Yosuke Watanuki. Reigning champion Thanasi Kokkinakis is back to defend his title.

At the inaugural Schwaben Open in Augsburg, Germany, Henri Laaksonen leads the field, while Paolo Lorenzi is the top seed in Manerbio, Italy. And in Asia, the Japanese city of Yokkaichi will host a Challenger for the first time. Seeded fourth, Hyeon Chung looks to go back-to-back.

The youth movement in Italy is well underway. Last month, we profiled 17-year-olds Giulio Zeppieri and Lorenzo Musetti. Today, it’s Jannik Sinner’s turn to step into the spotlight.

The 17-year-old is quietly climbing the ATP Race To Milan standings this year, rising to 12th with his latest breakthrough on Sunday. Sinner added a second Challenger title with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Alex Bolt at the Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships. His triumph in Lexington marked his first since February, when he lifted his maiden trophy on home soil in Bergamo.

The teen is making his presence known in 2019 and etching his name in the history books in the process. He became the 11th player aged 17 & under to win multiple titles on the circuit. He is also the third do to so in the last five years, joining Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Sinner is the youngest player in the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings, rising 59 spots to a career-high No. 135. With his 18th birthday less than two weeks away, he is already making a serious push to crack the Top 100.

Most Titles Aged 17 & Under

Sunday’s final was a rematch of a classic encounter at Wimbledon qualifying last month, which saw Bolt advance 2-6, 7-5, 12-10 after a marathon third set. There was plenty of drama once again, as the Aussie denied a pair of match points at 5-3 in the third set, before Sinner found the finish line two games later.

The #NextGenATP star spoke with broadcaster Mike Cation following Sunday’s final…

You’ve had two marathon matches against Alex. The first at Wimbledon had a different outcome. How did you change the result today?
For me, it was not easy to play him again. I thought I played very well at Wimbledon and I lost. I also played quite good here today and I won, so maybe I was mentally stronger this time. That’s the reason I won today. At the end, I was serving 5-3 up and had two match points. It was not easy to get it done, but I think I did a very good job.

There aren’t too many 17-year-olds with two Challenger titles. Rafa, Novak, Delpo. Some of the best in the world. What does it mean to get your second already before your 18th birthday?
I’m not thinking too much about these kinds of things. We are just trying improve my game every week. That’s the first goal. Of course, if you win it’s better. If you’re winning two Challengers, that means you’re playing very good tennis. I think I’ve done a great job with that.

Photo: Charlie Baglan

This is great preparation for US Open qualifying. How are you going to make sure your body is ready and in the best shape for the Open?
I am going to play Aptos and then take one week off. Maybe I will go to Cincinnati, but just to practise. If not, we’ll go directly to New York to rest for a few days before practising again.

Is your foot ok? You were limping a bit yesterday.
It is better and we’ve done a good recovery. The match against Duckhee Lee in the quarter-finals was very tough physically. But in the end, I’m feeling fine.

Your serve percentage was up and down all week long. At around 50 per cent for the tournament. Have you been working on that? It’s something that you seem to be doing in practice the last two weeks.
Yes, we are focusing on the serve mostly. That’s the point I have to improve more than anything. Of course, young players have to improve everything, including the forehand and backhand, but in my case it’s the serve. I’m tall so I think I can serve better. There are matches that are better and some that are worse, but this is tennis.

You have to play again in two days. A first round against Maverick Banes in Aptos. Are you going to be able to celebrate at all while heading out to California?
Maybe tomorrow I’ll take the day off. A nice dinner and some mini golf tonight [laughs]. I enjoy these kinds of things. I’ll just try to switch off now and I hope I can play good in Aptos.

Rafael Nadal will look to win back-to-back Canadian ATP Masters 1000 titles this week in Montreal as the all-time Masters 1000 titles leader (34) headlines the field in Canada. Here are 10 things to watch in Montreal:

1. Sixth Of 2019: The Coupe Rogers in Montreal is the sixth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season, and for the first time since 2003 there have been five different Masters 1000 champions going into the Canadian Masters 1000 event.

2. Former Champions: Four-time champion Rafael Nadal (2005, 2008, 2013, 2018), Alexander Zverev (2017), and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2014) are the former winners in the draw.

3. 40th Anniversary: This is the 40th edition of a professional tournament being held at the renovated former home of the Montreal Expos, Jarry Park Stadium. In 1980, Martina Navratilova defeated Greer Stevens in the final of the first Montreal tournament. This was a different event from the Canadian Open. There have been 13 different men’s winners in Montreal (since 1981) with Lendl leading the way with five titles, followed by Novak Djokovic (2), Andy Murray (2) and Nadal (2).

4. Reigning Champion: Nadal is the No. 1 seed for the third consecutive year and fifth time overall at the Coupe Rogers. He has a 34-8 overall record and his four titles are the most in an Masters 1000 hard-court tournament. As the top seed in the draw, Nadal has a 15-2 record (2005 – Won, 2010 – SF, 2017 – 3R, 2018 – Won).

5. Thiem Looks For First Win: No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem is looking for his first Coupe Rogers win (0-5). Thiem won his third ATP Tour title of the season and his first career on home soil on Saturday in Kitzbuhel.

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Nadal Weighs In On Felix’s Rise

6. Felix Makes Home Debut: Canadian No. 2 Felix Auger-Aliassime is making his main draw debut in his hometown tournament. A year ago, the #NextGenATP star was ranked No. 133 when he won his main draw debut in Toronto. The youngest player in the Top 100 ATP Rankings turns 19 on Thursday.

7. Canadian Top 100 Milestone: This is the first time in tournament history four Canadians are in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings, led by No. 19 Milos Raonic, who reached the final in 2013.

8. Masters 1000 Wins Leaderboard: Roger Federer has the most Masters 1000 wins (378) and Nadal is in second place with 377. Nadal has the most Masters 1000 titles (34), one better than Djokovic.

9. Monfils Eyes 100th Win: No. 16 seed Gael Monfils has a 99-76 career record in Masters 1000 tournaments. He is trying to become the 18th active player to win 100 Masters 1000 matches.

10. Strong Doubles Draw: Eight of the Top 10 teams in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings are in Montreal, led by the No. 1 duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, the seventh seeds, are four-time champions.

Three-time singles winner Andy Murray is playing doubles at the Coupe Rogers for the first time since 2015. He is teaming with Feliciano Lopez for the second time (Queen’s Club champions). Murray was a doubles finalist in Montreal in 2013 (w/Colin Fleming).

It was October 2013 at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Geneva, Switzerland. World No. 114 Jan-Lennard Struff dismissed a 17-year-old Russian named Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals 6-2, 6-4 in exactly one hour.

On paper, there was nothing special about the match, as the German eased past the then-World No. 511 by breaking serve four times. But Struff could sense then that the Russian was on his way to doing great things in the sport.

“I had a feeling [in 2013] he was already a pretty decent player,” Struff told ATPTour.com. “He was striking the ball very hard and going for his shots. He beat a lot of good guys.”

Nearly six years later, on 10 June, 23-year-old Khachanov cracked the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time. 

As recently as 12 months ago, the Russian was still World No. 38. But for the past two months he has been among the elite of the elite on the ATP Tour. Khachanov, who is the sixth seed at this week’s Coupe Rogers, says his rapid rise can be traced back to last year’s Canadian ATP Masters 1000 tournament held in Toronto, where he made his first semi-final at this level, beating two Top 15 players before losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in two tight sets.

“I would say that was the first step to show myself that I am capable of playing in the further stages of the bigger events,” Khachanov told ATPTour.com. “I lost to Rafa here, [but] I also had chances. It was a good match.”

Khachanov, who qualified for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017, has long been lauded as one of the biggest ball-strikers on the ATP Tour since he broke onto the scene.

But it took a series of losses to send him to the next level. Following his Toronto loss against Nadal, Khachanov played the legendary lefty about a month later in the third round of the US Open, where the Spaniard needed four hours and 23 minutes to outlast the Russian in a bruising four-set battle.

“The physical [game] is important of course, but I think physically I’m quite good and ready to play against him. We played four sets in four and a half hours, so if we went to a decider it would’ve been more than five hours and I was okay. I was not super fresh, but still,” Khachanov said. “I was managing to control this intensity with him. When you play against Rafa, the intensity is always 150 per cent. So it was more mental of course to really believe that you can beat one of the top guys.

“Coming into the US Open, I was feeling much more confident and there the match had everything. I had chances [there] as well. I think after that I was on one side really disappointed, but from the other side, I really had decided I could play at that level more consistently and that’s what happened, especially at the end of the year.”

Just more than a month later, Khachanov captured his third ATP Tour trophy in Moscow, setting the stage for his biggest breakthrough yet at the Rolex Paris Masters, the final Masters 1000 tournament of the season. Then-World No. 18 Khachanov beat four Top 10 opponents in a row to earn his first triumph at that level, stunning red-hot Novak Djokovic in a straight-sets final to become the lowest-ranked player to claim a Masters trophy since No. 26 Ivan Ljubicic in Indian Wells in 2010.

Khachanov did not start 2019 the way he finished 2018, though, failing to reach a quarter-final until the BNP Paribas Open in March. That’s why the year-end No. 11 needed until June to make his breakthrough into the Top 10.

“The beginning of the year was not as great as I was expecting… but still, it’s a new milestone that I achieved,” Khachanov said. “I just want to get better and maybe have more consistent results this year and to try to aim for higher goals. But [I’m taking it] one step at a time, and first you need to try to be more competitive in more matches and then hopefully my ‘A’ game will work better.”

Khachanov admits he’s in search for one thing in particular: consistency. The Russian advanced to his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros, but he is trying to learn how to win when he doesn’t bring his best tennis to the court.

“When you don’t feel perfectly, when you don’t feel as good maybe as you wish and something is not working, you still try to win those kinds of matches. That’s what I think our trio [of the Big Three] is doing all the time,” Khachanov said. “From outside you don’t see it, maybe you think they’re still playing great, but… they are still not happy with their game.

“But they are winning.”

Even if Khachanov hasn’t found another Paris-like result yet this season, he has impressed his peers nonetheless. His countryman Evgeny Donskoy has won both of their FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings in three sets, but the veteran is not surprised by Khachanov’s ascent.

“He’s grown so much, I think. The [ATP] Rankings speak for themselves. He’s grown in his level of performance and grown in his head with mental strength,” Donskoy told ATPTour.com. “Even when he wasn’t in the Top 100, everybody was saying [he could make it], and I was also. If somebody would have told me that this guy will be in the Top 10, I would say, ‘Why not’?”

Donskoy and Struff had those thoughts then, and now Khachanov is turning the entire ATP Tour, and its fans, into believers of his game. Slowly but surely, he’s working to make the Khachanov who triumphed indoors in Paris appear weekly. And for the rest of the players, that’s a scary thought.

“His groundstrokes are so fast and he’s going for his shots,” Struff said. “He’s a good player. A very, very good player.”

Nick Kyrgios was 19 ½ hours away from one of the biggest moments of his career, playing in the Citi Open final in Washington, D.C.

But after his semi-final win on Saturday night, Kyrgios realised he had a slight problem. He had only one racquet.

The Aussie arrived in the U.S. weeks ago with five. But he donated one to an Atlanta charity, broke two during on-court tirades in Washington and the other racquet wasn’t fit for match use.

Some players walk on court with a dozen racquets before any match, let alone a final. But Kyrgios had only one.

Earlier, he had asked his dad to send five more from Canberra, Australia. But, on Saturday night, the handful of sticks were stuck in customs at FedEx’s Washington Dulles International Airport distribution centre and scheduled for a Monday delivery, too late for Kyrgios to use them for the 5 p.m. Sunday final. The centre was closed on Sunday.

At 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Kyrgios’ team texted Tournament Manager Mark Ein, explaining the situation and asking for help. Is there anything you can do?

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Match Point Teamwork: Kyrgios Asks Fans, Where Should I Serve?
Kyrgios Beats Medvedev For Washington Title

Ein, a longtime entrepreneur and investor in D.C., knew just who to contact. FedEx has been a longtime supporter of the ATP 500 event, and for years, Ein has been friends with Gina Adams, FedEx’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. He called Adams to see what she could do.

But she didn’t answer. Ein texted, nothing. He e-mailed. Still no response.

Kyrgios and his team went to bed the night before the final thinking there was a chance he would have to take the court with only one racquet.

Of course, you don’t play with two or five racquets. Having only one for the final, in theory, wouldn’t be a problem, so long as everything went perfectly: Kyrgios behaved himself, no strings popped and he didn’t have a freak slip on the court or a funny landing that caused the racquet to break.

“Obviously playing a final you want to go out there with more than one,” Kyrgios told ATPTour.com.

But by 6:30 a.m. Sunday, they had reason for hope. Adams, who had been traveling and was in Copenhagen, got back to Ein.

“We’re on it,” she said. She asked him for updates to track the FedEx delivery.

Two hours later, by 8:30 a.m., the racquets were released from the centre and sent to the tournament site. By 9:30 a.m., they had arrived at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Centre, and the racquets had been strung and were ready for Kyrgios to use for his second ATP 500 final of the season by 10:30 a.m., six and a half hours to spare.

“I was so happy we could get that done for Nick, and I think they were really appreciative of it,” Ein told ATPTour.com. “It’s our philosophy to do whatever it takes to help the players perform at their best, really whatever it takes.”

Ultimately, Kyrgios didn’t need a bundle of racquets to beat World No. 10 Daniil Medvedev and win his second ATP 500 title of the season and the sixth ATP Tour title of his career. But when Kyrgios takes the court, it’s always best to be prepared.

“[Ein] was able to pull some strings for me, and that was massive honestly for FedEx to make an exception and get me some racquets for the final, which was awesome. I’m super thankful to Mark and to FedEx,” Kyrgios said. “Everything happens for a reason. I got the racquets and got the W.”

There are few tennis fans without a strong opinion on Nick Kyrgios, tennis’ No. 1 showman and temperamental genius. Here are a few reasons why…

This week alone during his title run at the Citi Open, Kyrgios electrified crowds. He fist-bumped courtside fans and three times asked front-row patrons where to serve on match point. He hand-delivered shoes mid-match to his semi-final opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas, served underarm and threw in a ‘drop shot’ serve. He also served at more than 140mph and, of course, entertained with the obligatory tweeners, drop shots and scorching forehands. Before matches he played ping pong with kids in the players’ lounge.

“Are you not entertained,” he asked the crowd during his first-round win over Thai-Son Kwiatkowski.

But he also threw a drink bottle into the side of the umpire’s chair, scolded members of his players’ box, seemed to lose interest during the second set against Tsitsipas, tossed his racquet as frequently as a chef tosses a salad and sprinkled F-bombs into his on-court commentary as liberally as a fan throws salt on french fries.

Speaking to ATP Tour.com early in the week – before witnessing any of that – Kyrgios’ friend and two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was asked to opine about the Australian’s place in the game.

“When he’s mentally engaged in the matches he’s brilliant for tennis because he has an exciting game, a big personality and he’s different,” Murray said. “People enjoy watching that. I enjoy watching that. His match with Rafa at Wimbledon was one of the best matches of the tournament. That’s really good for tennis.

“As someone who knows him well, I like him. I just want to see him do that all of the time. I don’t like it when he doesn’t try as hard as… I have behaved badly myself, so it would be hypocritical of me to say that I am an angel.”

Before Sunday’s final at the Citi Open – in which Kyrgios defeated Russian Daniil Medvedev 7-6(6), 7-6(4) – he was left with just one match racquet after a miscalculation. He started the week with just three match racquets after giving one to charity in Atlanta, and he smashed two in D.C. (His father FedExed him another five from Canberra, with the racquets arriving on site at 10 a.m. on Sunday after some help from tournament owner Mark Ein to have them extricated from Dulles airport.)

“Everyone matures at different ages,” Murray said. “Some people are ready when they are 18, 19 to deal with what comes with being a top athlete and some people aren’t ready and it takes them a bit of time. I’m hoping that with time Nick will learn and be better for it.

“When he’s engaged in tennis and wants to play he’s brilliant for the game. And when he isn’t giving his best effort and misbehaving, that’s not what people want to see. He needs to find that balance.”

Kyrgios has now won six ATP titles, including three at the 500 level (also Tokyo 2016, Acapulco 2019).

He now heads to Montreal for the Coupe Rogers, where he faces a tough opener against Brit Kyle Edmund in the first round. If he wins, he’ll face a re-match with Medvedev.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 9.20 pm EDT Sunday after the Kyrgios camp clarified that Nick began his US tour with four match racquets in Atlanta but arrived in Washington with three match racquets and one other racquet that differed from his match racquets.