World number eight Dominic Thiem completed his preparations for the French Open with victory in the Lyon Open final.
The Austrian, who is the seventh seed at Roland Garros, beat France’s Gilles Simon 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-1.
The win was Thiem’s 200th career victory and gives him his 10th ATP title.
The 24-year-old will face qualifier Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in the opening round in Paris.
Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic won their fourth tour-level title of the season on Saturday, saving one championship point to defeat Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram 3-6, 7-6(3), 11-9 at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open.
“I am very happy to win this tournament here,” said Marach. “I won last year in Gstaad, so I guess I like Switzerland a lot.”
The top seeds won three straight points from 8/9 down in the Match Tie-break to win the title after one hour and 47 minutes. Marach and Pavic, who will move to No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Race to London on Monday, won 83 per cent of first-serve points and saved seven of the nine break points they faced en route to victory. It is Marach’s 21st tour-level doubles crown. Newly-crowned World No. 1 Pavic has now lifted 12 tour-level titles.
Dodig was bidding to lift his 11th tour-level trophy, while Ram was aiming to clinch his 16th crown at tour-level. The BMW Open by FWU champions (d. Mektic/Peya) hold a 13-9 record this season.
A ripped Dodig backhand return on deciding point at 3-2 clinched the only break of the first set for the second seeds, who quickly took a one-set lead on their first set point after confident serving from both men.
Dodig and Ram appeared to strengthen their grip on the championship match in the second set, getting the better of Marach and Pavic on yet another deciding point before moving to a 4-2 lead. But the Austrian-Croatian duo were not to be denied, breaking back to level the scores at 4-4 before missing out on a set point at 6-5 to level the match.
Dodig and Ram opened up an early 2-0 lead in the tie-break, but Marach and Pavic stormed back, winning seven of the following eight points to grab the momentum and take the final into a Match Tie-break.
Both teams held serve until 8/8, with the Croatian-American tandem seizing the first mini-break to earn championship point at 9/8. But Marach and Pavic showed their class from there, serving strongly to avoid their third consecutive final defeat before converting their first championship point at the net to win their fifth team title.
“We were just fighting through the match, they played a good match,” said Pavic. “They are tough opponents and they were serving pretty good.”
Marach and Pavic receive 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points and share €27,170 in prize money for lifting the trophy. Dodig and Ram gain 150 points and will split €14,280.
Did You Know?
Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic hold a 31-6 record this season. The duo began the season with 17 consecutive victories, picking up titles in Doha, Auckland and at the Australian Open. Marach and Pavic also reached championship matches earlier this season in Rotterdam and Monte-Carlo.
It has been nearly four decades since Hungary last celebrated a champion on the ATP World Tour. But that finally changed on Saturday at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open.
Marton Fucsovics secured his maiden ATP World Tour title in front of a packed crowd in Geneva, capping an impressive week on the Swiss clay. The Budapest resident ousted Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and eight minutes to emerge with the biggest trophy of his career.
The 26-year-old is the first Hungarian to claim a tour-level crown since 1982, when Balazs Taroczy won the last of his 13 titles in Hilversum, Netherlands. And Fuscovics is also assured of becoming the first from his country to break into the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings since former World No. 12 Taróczy. He is projected to rise to a career-high No. 45, earning 250 points and €89,435 in prize money.
“I really love Switzerland,” Fucsovics exclaimed. “Last year, I played my first ATP quarter-final in Basel and now I won my first title here, so it’s really special for me. We’ve been working a long time for this. The last two years were very hard for me in my life, but hopefully I will have a very long career after this.”
Fucsovics was a man on a mission on Saturday at the Tennis Club de Geneve. He dominated proceedings from start to finish, never facing a break point and converting on four of his own. An immediate break to open the match set the tone, as the Hungarian dictated play throughout the encounter and forced Gojowczyk out of his comfort zone.
Fucsovics’ serve was an impenetrable force, as he conceded just two points on his first delivery and earning 78 per cent of total service points – to Gojowczyk’s 50 per cent. He would streak to a set and a break lead and celebrated the title on his first championship point. Chair umpire Fergus Murphy overruled a serve initially called wide, giving Fucsovics his sixth ace of the match and the title.
Probably not how he imagined it … but a moment Marton Fucsovics will never forget!
The ?? beats Peter Gojowczyk 6-2 6-2 in the @genevaopen final to claim his first ever #ATP World Tour title.
Bravo Marton ??? pic.twitter.com/JrSs4AcTom
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 26, 2018
It was a well-deserved victory for the 26-year-old, who came through a murderer’s row of opponents to lift the trophy. Straight-set wins over fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, #NextGenATP star Frances Tiafoe and two-time champion Stan Wawrinka moved him into the semi-finals, where he rallied from a set and a break down to stun Steve Johnson.
On Saturday, Fucsovics exacted revenge on Gojowczyk after dropping their lone previous encounter at US Open qualifying in 2015. It is shaping to be a signature season for the Hungarian, who earned his first Top 20 win (d. Querrey) in reaching the Australian Open fourth round and scored his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match victory in Indian Wells.
Meanwhile, Gojowczyk was appearing in his third ATP World Tour final and second of the season. A first-time winner on the indoor hard courts of Metz last year, he finished runner-up to Tiafoe in Delray Beach in February. The German also ascends to a career-high inside the Top 50, rising to a projected No. 43 in the ATP Rankings.
“Marton, congrats on your first title,” said Gojowczyk. “Your coach and your box did a great job this week. For me, I was here without a coach. He was at home, so I came with my family – my sister and my niece. Thanks a lot for supporting me this week.
“It was great to reach the final in Geneva, even if it’s on clay, which is not my best surface. It was also not my best day today. But the good thing in tennis is that every week there’s a new chance and on Monday or Tuesday I will play in Roland Garros. I’m looking forward to that.
Both competitors will shift their focus to the terre battue of Roland Garros, with Fucsovics opening against Vasek Pospisil and Gojowczyk battling Cameron Norrie. Both are making their main draw debuts in Paris.
Did You Know?
Fucsovics is the seventh first-time winner this year, joining Daniil Medvedev, Mirza Basic, Roberto Carballes Baena, Frances Tiafoe, Marco Cecchinato and Taro Daniel.
Dominic Thiem arrived in France for the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon having lost back-to-back matches on clay for the first time since 2016. Then, the Austrian had to play nine sets in the final three days of the tournament.
But nothing was able to stop the top seed — not even a set and a break deficit — from defeating home favourite Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 to lift his 10th ATP World Tour trophy.
“I’m super happy. I fought really, really hard for this title,” Thiem said. “I’m really happy that I won the title. It’s always something very special. It’s my tenth title, which is a great number.”
That wasn’t the only milestone for Thiem, as the Austrian also claimed his 200th tour-level match win on Saturday. The 24-year-old has now won 20 matches on clay this season to lead the ATP World Tour. He has 29 victories in 2018 overall, just one shy of Alexander Zverev’s 30, which is the most on Tour.
This is Thiem’s eighth clay-court title, and it comes just weeks after ending Rafael Nadal’s 50-set winning streak on clay — a record on a single surface — in Rome, before finishing off the Spaniard en route to the final (l. to Zverev). He has also won three of his championships in France.
“I really enjoyed being here,” said Thiem, who has reached back-to-back Roland Garros semi-finals. “France has a very special place in my heart. I’ve always played great tennis here and I hope I will always play great tennis here… it was a great atmosphere even though I played against a home guy. But still, it was really nice, and I really enjoyed it.”
Perhaps surprisingly for the clay-court sensation, the victory came from the brink of defeat. After finishing his quarter-final against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Friday morning, he played a three-set semi-final against Dusan Lajovic. All of the tennis appeared to have taken its toll on the talented Thiem.
But despite trailing by a set and a break, and facing two break points to stare down what appeared would be an insurmountable deficit, Thiem found his best tennis when it mattered most, racing to victory in the third set after two hours, 25 minutes to earn 250 ATP Rankings points and €89,435 in prize money.
For most of the first two sets, the Austrian’s heavy groundstrokes were misfiring, while the Frenchman was comfortably awaiting an error. But Thiem struck two important winners to save the opportunities Simon had for a double-break in the second set. And from there, he dialed back his aggression and consistently used a backhand slice, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. And that paid dividends in the third set, as fatigue began to set in for the Pune titlist and Thiem was able to grab control.
Simon will be disappointed, as he was on the doorstep of claiming multiple titles in a season for the first time since 2011 (Sydney, Hamburg), and winning his 14th trophy overall. It also would have been the Frenchman’s first victory on home soil since Marseille in 2015. He still heads to Roland Garros with 150 points and €47,105 in prize money for reaching his 20th tour-level final (13-7).
“Congratulations for the match, for the tournament and for everything you’ve achieved on clay. Beating Rafa in Madrid, that’s impressive,” Simon said to Thiem during the trophy ceremony. “It’s always tough to beat you and congratulations on all the great results.”
Did You Know?
Dominic Thiem now heads to Roland Garros, where he opens his campaign against Ilya Ivashka. If he advances, the Austrian will face one of two #NextGenATP players: Stefanos Tsitsipas or Carlos Taberner.
| 2018 French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June |
| Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website |
British number one Johanna Konta is aiming to win in the French Open main draw for the first time when Roland Garros starts on Sunday.
Konta, who is seeded 22nd, plays Kazakhstan’s world number 93 Yulia Putintseva from about 14:00 BST on Sunday.
Reigning champion Jelena Ostapenko begins her defence against Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova last on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Men’s second seed Alexander Zverev and fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov also play on the opening day.
Konta, 27, has slipped down the rankings since her memorable run to the Wimbledon semi-finals last summer, having reached just one quarter-final since.
She has lost in the first round on both of her previous appearances in the main draw at Roland Garros, but insists those experiences are not reflective of her ability on clay.
“People assume I don’t have a great relationship with the French Open because of my results in the past two years,” she told the BBC.
“However I have experienced success here having qualified for the tournament – I’ve only qualified for two Slams, at the US Open and the French Open. That is an incredible highlight for me, especially at that point of my career, so I have great feelings of success here.
“I feel I’m playing good on the clay right now and I back myself in every match I play so I consider myself a threat.
“I back myself on every surface.”
Follow Konta’s progress against Putintseva on the BBC Sport website, where you can listen to 5 live commentary from Paris and follow live text updates.
| 2018 French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June |
| Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website |
Are you a king of clay?
As Rafael Nadal seeks a record-extending 11th title at Roland Garros, we wondered how many other multiple French Open singles champions you can name.
Tennis players get a two-minute break between sets and so that is how long you’ve got to fill in your answers.
We’re talking men and women’s singles in the professional era – so 1968 onwards – and any wins before that do not count towards their total.
Players ready? Play!
| Answers |
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| 2018 French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June |
| Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website |
Frances Tiafoe is speaking from a bedroom in a five-star hotel in Geneva.
It is a stark contrast to where the American spent many of his boyhood nights, sleeping on the floor of a spare office in Maryland alongside his father and twin brother.
But a young Tiafoe – now 20, 61st in the world, and preparing for a French Open first-round match against Sam Querrey – felt fortunate bedding down in that three-metre-by-four back room, even before he knew it was the key to his future life.
Tiafoe is a rank outsider for the French Open, but his story – and that of his family – is of greater odds overcome and slim chances seized.
It begins, two years before he was born, with his mother Alphina.
Back in 1996, she was one of the fortunate few from the global millions to enter the United States’ green card lottery.
The scheme – formally known as the diversity visa program – randomly allocates 55,000 visas to applicants from countries with low immigration rates to the United States.
With civil war deepening in her native Sierra Leone, Alphina tried her luck and was handed a route to a new life in the USA.
Three years later and with family finances stretched, Tiafoe’s father Frances Sr joined a construction crew working on the Junior Tennis Champions Centre (JTCC) – an expansive, expensive multi-court facility near Washington DC.
With Tiafoe and twin brother Franklin just a year old, Frances Sr worked furiously to impress and, from the 50 or so builders on the job, was rewarded with a role as the centre’s maintenance man when it was complete.
Even with those two long shots coming in though, the family’s existence was still precarious.
As Alphina lived with relatives in a one-bedroom flat and worked night shifts as a nurse, Frances Sr quietly turned his long hours at the JTCC into 24-hour residence, taking his two sons with him.
Without the proper paperwork in place to use the office as living quarters, the club’s management kept the situation on the down-low.
A strange living arrangement came with a strange fringe benefit though – all-you-can-eat top-quality tennis tuition for the inquisitive.
Toddlers Frances and Franklin would wander the grounds, watching, listening, absorbing and, when there was a spare moment or court, attempting to hit.
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
“My first real memory was my dad taking me and my twin brother to the club and holding our hand while we hit a ball against a backboard,” Tiafoe told BBC Sport.
“As we got older, we would go school and tap the ball against the wall and when there was a court open, we would hop on.”
Tiafoe’s obvious aptitude, and his father’s popularity around the club, gained him and Franklin free places among the JTCC’s gifted youngsters.
As an eight-year-old, it still, at times, felt as if he had been dealt a losing hand.
“I was complaining about being made fun of for the clothes I was wearing,” he said. “I had a lot of Pokemon Pikachu t-shirts on court and hand-me-downs from other kids.
“I was getting hot and said to my pops, ‘why are we always walking around in no-name brand socks with holes in my shoes?'”
That was when Frances Sr rolled back the sliding doors to show what life could have been like.
He told Alphina to take the boys with her when she attended a wedding in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital.
“That definitely put life into a completely different perspective – the poverty was pretty bad,” Tiafoe remembered.
“We realised that we ain’t rich or living the high life, but we are definitely still blessed. We got food on the table every night, parents who love us, a TV, all the accessories we need. It ain’t terrible, you know what I saying?
“I was definitely not running my mouth after that – I was about the happiest kid in the world.
“It humbled me and made me serious. It came into my head pretty quick to use tennis as a way to help, not only myself, but our family because they have sacrificed so much.”
If Tiafoe’s background inspired him, it also had the power to do the same for others. As a 14-year-old, he was the subject of a 1,000-word profile in the New York Times.
When he was 16, the Washington Post followed suit.
As his story spread, sponsors signed up, agents circled and what was a disadvantage, in part at least, paid back as an advantage.
“My academy did a great job of getting my story out there for people to hear about me, get interested and wanted to fund me,” explained Tiafoe.
“I had some sponsors who helped me with travel money because they knew my parents couldn’t.
“I used it to my advantage and now here I am.”
Here, via a prestigious junior wins and Challenger Tour success, is Geneva and final preparations to face compatriot Querrey at Roland Garros.
Here is a run of form that has seen him beat Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych, Pablo Carreno Busta and Kyle Edmund in the past three months and claim his first tour title with a win at Delray Beach.
And here is also a place in the midst of a generation of American players reflective of the political and social divisions back home.
Last month in Estoril, Tiafoe saved three match points to beat Tennys Sandgren, who was asked to defend his social media interest in white nationalist accounts during January’s Australian Open.
American number one John Isner used his post-match interview after beating Tiafoe at the 2016 US Open to describe Colin Kaepernick as “pathetic” for refusing to stand for the national anthem in protest at the treatment of black people in the United States.
Serena Williams, who donated $100,000 to Kaepernick’s charity in January, presumably thinks differently. Former American number one James Blake, wrongly arrested while standing outside a hotel in 2015, certainly does.
Tiafoe is not about to join the conversation, believing actions speak louder than words.
“I am not going to tell you that I know about politics because I don’t,” he said. “There are some guys who do, but that is not me. I try to stay out of it and stay in my lane.
“I try to treat everyone with love and respect. If you do that, you get the same back, if not more. It never got so left that I felt that I shouldn’t be here.”
It is love and belonging that have fuelled Tiafoe’s current streak.
After losing four of his first five Tour matches in 2018, he returned to the JTCC – and credits a week on the College Park courts where he grew up for turning around his year, and possibly career.
“You can’t forget your roots,” he said. “It was just about remembering why I started tennis in the first place and being among people who will love you no matter what, whether you are on top on the bottom.”
Zack Evenden is one of those.
The Londoner, whose promising junior career in the UK turned into coaching stints in the States, now serves as hitting partner, assistant coach and good friend in Tiafoe’s camp.
Together they are ready for Tiafoe’s third appearance in the French Open main draw. His first draw came as a wide-eyed 17-year-old wildcard in 2015.
On that occasion, he came to the net after two sets of his first-round defeat, only to be reminded by opponent Martin Klizan that he had another to suffer in Grand Slam tennis.
Now, full of confidence, rich in experience, grounded by perspective, three from five are the sort of numbers that Tiafoe is ready to crack.
Bernard Tomic has played just one tour-level match this year, falling as low as No. 243 in the ATP Rankings. But that did not stop the Australian in Roland Garros qualifying.
The former World No. 17 defeated Goncalo Oliveira 7-6(5), 7-5 on Friday to advance to the main draw in Paris for the eighth consecutive year. The 25-year-old, a three-time ATP World Tour titlist, did not drop a set throughout qualifying, advancing with the loss of just 3.5 games per set on average. Tomic’s qualification sets the stage for an interesting first-round matchup against compatriot Nick Kyrgios. It will be the first FedEx ATP Head2Head series meeting between the two talented Aussies.
Another former Top 20 player, 2014 Roland Garros semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis, also moved on. The Latvian will compete in the main draw for the 12th straight year after ousting Alessandro Giannessi 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
This will be Gulbis’ 40th appearance in a Grand Slam main draw. The former World No. 10 seeks his first tour-level victory since the 2017 US Open, where he beat Giannessi in the first round before falling against eventual finalist Kevin Anderson. He will face No. 29 seed Gilles Muller in their second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Luxembourg’s star won their first encounter at the 2011 US Open.
Three #NextGenATP stars also advanced on Friday, with Norwegian Casper Ruud joining Spaniards Jaume Munar and Carlos Taberner in what will be the first Roland Garros main draw for all three players.
Rounding out the qualifiers on the terre battue are Guido Andreozzi, Thomaz Bellucci, Rogerio Dutra Silva, Santiago Giraldo, Martin Klizan, Jozef Kovalik and Elias Ymer.
The Grand Slams provide a unique challenge for the ATP World Tour’s stars, as players compete in a best-of-five set format. And judging by historical success, one superstar has risen to that challenge exceedingly well, which may prove important during the Roland Garros fortnight.
Novak Djokovic is second among active players in both fifth-set win-rate (75.7%) and five-set victories (28-9) according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone — the only other player in the Top 5 of both categories is Feliciano Lopez (68.6%, 24-11). Only Roger Federer, 30-20, has won more five-setters than Djokovic.
Most Five-Set Wins Among Active Players
| Player | Five-Set Record |
| Roger Federer | 30-20 |
| Novak Djokovic | 28-9 |
| Marin Cilic | 27-13 |
| Stan Wawrinka | 26-20 |
| Feliciano Lopez | 24-11 |
In recent years, the former World No. 1 has been especially dominant when matches at the majors have gone the distance. Dating back to 2010 Wimbledon, the Serbian has won 19 of 23 five-setters, with 10 of those victories coming against opponents inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. Just one of his previous nine five-set triumphs came against a Top 10 opponent.
So maybe, as Djokovic continues his recovery from a right elbow injury, he will be able to lean on the confidence he has gained from battling through tough matches at Grand Slams to climb back toward the top of the ATP Rankings, in which he currently sits at No. 22. Djokovic’s most recent five-setter was in Paris last year against Diego Schwartzman. Afterward, he explained the key to his victory.
“I was mentally still strong and as calm as I could be, even though I was two sets to one down,” Djokovic said. “I kept believing I could break his resistance.”
Best Fifth-Set Win-Rates Among Active Players
| Player | Win-Rate | Record |
| Tommy Robredo | 77.3% | 17-5 |
| Novak Djokovic | 75.7% | 28-9 |
| Kei Nishikori | 72.7% | 16-6 |
| Tomas Berdych | 72.4% | 21-8 |
| Feliciano Lopez | 68.6% | 24-11 |
Djokovic has not been the only one to say that. Spaniard Tommy Robredo, who leads active players with a 77.3 per cent win-rate (17-5), agrees.
“You need to be very strong physically and I think one of my qualities is that physically I’m very good. Then mentally, you have to believe,” Robredo told ATPWorldTour.com. “I think that’s because I’m strong physically, I can believe that I can do it a little bit better than others. Obviously there’s a bit of good luck, which helps. But when you’re 17-5, I think it’s more about the mental and physical [aspects].”
While Robredo did not qualify for Roland Garros this year, the terre battue is home of perhaps his most impressive streak. In 2013, he won back-to-back-to-back five-set matches from two sets down in the second round, third round and Round of 16 to reach the quarter-finals in Paris for the fifth time. He has won seven matches in his career from two sets down, which left him no room for error.
“To come back from two sets down, it’s important to be mentally strong, to believe that you still can. And then you have to see yourself as strong after winning the third set because you need to win two more,” Robredo said. “When you come back from two sets down to 2-1 down, the other player has to start thinking and then if you’re physically good, you have a chance.”
Besides Robredo and Djokovic, only two other active players have won more than 70 per cent of their five-setters — Kei Nishikori (72.7%, 16-6) and Tomas Berdych (72.4%, 21-8). Rounding out the Top 5 is Feliciano Lopez, who holds a 24-11 record (68.6%).
And if the stats showing Djokovic’s prowess in these categories are not enough, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal shared his thoughts about the longer format at Grand Slams after defeating Alexander Zverev to claim his eighth Internazionali BNL d’Italia title last weekend.
“Tennis is tennis. It doesn’t matter best of three, best of five,” Nadal said. “[But] playing best of five is a big advantage for the best players.”
Could that be a key for Djokovic in the French capital?
Explore the FedEx ATP Performance Zone
