Meet The Gallic Stars In Montpellier
Meet The Gallic Stars In Montpellier
Feb212017
Nicolas Mahut rode a wave of home-crowd support to upset fifth-seeded #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev at the Open 13 Marseille on Tuesday. The 35-year-old Frenchman posted a 7-6(5), 7-6(5) result over the German in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.
Zverev, nearly 16 years his opponent’s junior, had claimed his second ATP World Tour title two weeks ago at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier. He fell short despite hitting six aces more and winning half of the 144 points played.
Mahut’s victory sets up a second-round meeting with Norbert Gombos. The Slovak posted a 6-1, 6-1 result over fellow-qualifier Evgeny Donskoy.
Richard Gasquet continued a good night session for the home contingent when he knocked out Robin Haase 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2. The No. 6 seed, coming off a runner-up showing at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier two weeks ago, withstood 14 aces to extend his FedEx Head2Head series with the Dutchman to 4-1. It sets up a second-round showdown with Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Other French players experienced mixed fortunes at the Open 13 Marseille on Tuesday. Julien Benneteau, the 2010 finalist, prevailed 7-5, 6-4 despite being aced 16 times by fellow wild card, 17-year-old Denis Shapovalov.
But his countrymen Jeremy Chardy and Paul-Henri Mathieu made early exits. Jan-Lennard Struff knocked out Chardy 6-3, 7-5, while Aljaz Bedene fired down 20 aces in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over 2008 semi-finalist Mathieu.
It was a good day for Ukrainians Sergiy Stakhovsky and Illya Marchenko. Qualifier Stakhovsky posted a 6-2, 6-4 result over Czech Jiri Vesely, while Marchenko saw off Russian Andrey Rublev 6-1, 7-6(6). Stakhovsky claimed 79 per cent of his first-serve points and broke three times to advance, while Marchenko broke four times on his way past the #NextGenATP player.
Top seed Milos Raonic marked his Delray Beach Open debut in emphatic style with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tim Smyczek on Tuesday.
The World No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, back in action after a quarter-final showing at the Australian Open, needed just 24 minutes to clinch the opening set against the American qualifier. Smyczek reached the quarter-finals at Delray Beach in 2016, but his challenge looked to be fading when Raonic saved four break points at the start of set two.
The Canadian struck 10 aces and won 90 per cent of points off first serves. He secured the decisive break in the ninth game to book a second-round encounter with #NextGenATP player Borna Coric. The Croatian defeated Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-3.
“Overall I have to be happy. I haven’t played much tennis over the last few weeks, and I really put in as much work as I could over the last week to get into my best shape here, and now I’m here. I’ve won my first match and I hope I can continue,” Raonic said. “I feel good.”
In the first match on Stadium Court, top-ranked American Jack Sock prevailed 6-4, 7-6(2) against Moldavian Radu Albot to improve his 2017 match record to 8-1. World No. 21 Sock, who captured his second ATP World Tour singles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland last month, will next face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
“It’s probably my eighth time playing here if you count the juniors. I have a lot of experience in Delray. I’ve played the junior clays here numerous times. So I have great memories here,” reflected Sock. “I feel a lot more confident this year, a lot stronger, excited to be back and hopefully for many more years.”
Roger Federer has signed a three-year deal to play at his hometown event in Basel until the age of 38.
The 35-year-old, who missed the second half of last season with a knee injury, has committed to Swiss Indoors until 2019.
Federer, who returned to action in January, won his first Grand Slam title since 2012 and his 18th in total with victory in the Australian Open.
“Playing in Basle is always a highlight of the year,” he said.
He has won Swiss Indoors seven times since making his debut in the tournament in 1998.
He is scheduled to return to action next week at the Dubai Duty Free Championships.
“If I am spared again by the injuries, I am convinced that I am still capable of beating the best players in the world in the big tournaments,” he said in January.
Tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
Federer’s first appearance in his home tournament was in 1998, where as a 17-year-old he was beaten in straight sets by Andre Agassi.
There is, of course, no guarantee Federer will be on the Order of Play in 2019, but this is another reminder of his long-term thinking.
He missed the last six months of 2016, not just to allow his knee to recover, but also with preservation of his body in mind. At one stage, the conversation revolved around whether Federer would make it to the Rio Olympics. It is time to start the debate about Tokyo.
To hear Tommy Haas say it, the actual tennis – the winning of matches, the hoisting of trophies – is secondary during his latest and final comeback, which continues this week at the Delray Beach Open.
The 38 year old, who’s coming back after his ninth surgery last April, remains more focused on saying farewell to the places he loves the most and having his oldest daughter watch it all.
“I want to finish on my own terms. That’s really what it’s all about,” Haas told ATP World Tour Uncovered. “I’d like to go back to some of these events that I’ve had a great time playing at and just say goodbye in my own way and see if I can still play some good tennis and mainly also have my oldest daughter Valentina still somewhere on the sidelines cheering me on.”
Before January, when Haas had to retire during his first-round match at the Australian Open, it had been months since 6-year-old Valentina and Haas’ fans had been able to root for him on the court. The German had been out of action since October 2015, when he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round at the Erste Bank Open 500.
Last April, Haas underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament and a ligament-like structure on his right foot, the latest part of his body to go under the knife. Haas had previously endured surgeries on his shoulders, rotator cuffs, elbows, hips and ankles.
Read More: Haas, 38, Planning Another Comeback After Ninth Surgery
But the former World No. 2 has learned to see the positive side of things, and he’s appreciating this extra time during the final stage of his 21-year career.
“I just think that sometimes there’s always a lot of reasons for everything. If I didn’t have maybe the last shoulder surgery again or the foot surgery, maybe Valentina wouldn’t have gotten to see her Dad play,” said Haas, who plans to bring her to events in a few months.
Coming back at least the 11th time from surgeries has been hard on the 6’2” right-hander. After his foot surgery in April, he couldn’t do much of anything for about four months.
“You lose pretty much all your muscles in your body, and it takes a lot of time to try to get back in some kind of shape,” Haas said.
Before Monday night, when he and Canadian Vasek Pospisil won their first-round doubles match at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, Haas hadn’t won a tour-level contest since 2015 Wimbledon. (Haas makes his Delray Beach singles debut on Tuesday against Memphis Open finalist Nikoloz Basilashvili).
The veteran has also struggled to balance his different roles. In addition to his comeback, he’s working a more than full-time job as the BNP Paribas Open tournament director in Indian Wells. He also has two young daughters at home whom he hates to leave, although Valentina is starting to understand what Daddy has been doing all these years.
“Every time I’m away she always asks me if I’m winning a trophy. Usually the answer is I’m just trying to win a match here,” said Haas, who’s won 15 ATP World Tour titles, including the 2011 Delray Beach Open. “Like I said, it’s going to be great to have her somewhere in the stands, sometime in the next few weeks or months, watching me play and cheering me on – the memories I want to make.”
She will have thousands of people like her in the stands, smiling and cheering for Haas one last time.
Belgian qualifier Arthur De Greef claimed his “biggest win” on Monday at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The 24-year-old prevailed against defending champion and No. 3 seed Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, claiming the only break of the 65-minute third set in a memorable final game.
“It was unbelievable,” said De Greef following his third tour-level match win. “I played from the start till the end a very good match. It was unbelievable with the crowd who was going crazy. We did a few unbelievable points. I enjoyed a lot.”
De Greef, who reached a career-high No. 129 Emirates ATP Rankings in January, goes on to play Argentine Nicolas Kicker, a 7-5, 6-0 winner over fellow qualifier Marco Cecchinato. Cuevas had upset Rafael Nadal last year en route to the ATP World Tour 500 clay-court title.
Watch Full Match Replays
Norway’s Casper Ruud made good use of his wild card, beating Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 6-4 for his first ATP World Tour match win. The #NextGenATP player, currently ranked No. 208 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, did not face a break point in the 85-minute match to advance to the second round, where he will face Roberto Carballes Baena. The Spanish qualifier needed just over an hour to oust No. 8 seed Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-1.
Dusan Lajovic defeated Argentine Facundo Bagnis, claiming a 6-4, 6-4 victory in 88 minutes. The Serbian will face either second seed Dominic Thiem or countryman Janko Tipsarevic in the second round. Meanwhile, Diego Schwartzman topped fellow Argentine Renzo Olivo 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in his opening match. He awaits the winner of the match between seventh seed Paolo Lorenzi and Federico Delbonis.
The tournament’s top seed, Kei Nishikori, who finished as runner-up to Alexandr Dolgopolov in the Argentina Open final on Sunday, will play his opening match against home hope Thomaz Bellucci on Tuesday.