Kevin Anderson, ambassador of Tennis for Africa, attended the press conference on the initiative “TENNIS CAMPS” at Salaria Sport Village. The scholarships for youths from Tanzania are developed in the framework of a social developing project for youth through the promotion of sport and in particular or the discipline of tennis.

“It is a pleasure for me to give my support to this important initiative and to be here for Tennis for Africa,” said Anderson.

Four children from Tanzania have been selected to attend one-month tennis camps organised in Italy at the TEAM 2001 Tennis Academy of Gianfranco Barbiero in Padoa and at the BFD Tennis Academy of Fabrizio Di Meo in Rome. The initiative starts in June. The project is totally financed by private donations, receives the support of the two academies and is sponsored by TopSeed and Diadora.

Lorenzo Turchi, chairman of the Tennis for Africa association; Pierluigi Mantini, honorary member of Tennis for Africa association; and Armando Albanesi, team manager of BFD Academy, also attended the press conference.

Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori took time off on Monday to enjoy Geneva’s famous water fountain ‘Jet d’eau’.

World No. 3 Wawrinka, who beat Marin Cilic in the 2016 Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open final, said, “It always feels very special to play in Geneva. This is an amazing tournament and with the beautiful weather the fans will have a great time.”

Nishikori added, “Geneva is a beautiful city. I love the view on the lake and I’m looking forward to a good week.”

Nishikori, currently No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is making his debut at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament. Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters finalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finalist John Isner will also compete in the draw.

Read More: Top Stars Descend On Geneva, Lyon

LOOK BACK

Busan Open (Busan, South Korea): Vasek Pospisil lifted a first ATP Challenger Tour trophy since Vancouver 2013, having swept aside the field in Busan without dropping a set. The 26 year old capped a fine week with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Go Soeda, needing just 55 minutes to land a fifth Challenger title. The former World No. 25 returns to the Top 100 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since July 2016, rising 24 places to No. 82.

BNP Paribas Primrose (Bordeaux, France): Top seed Steve Darcis clinched his 10th Challenger title in the 10th edition of the prestigious clay-court event. On the grounds of the renowned Villa Primrose, Darcis battled past defending champion Rogerio Dutra Silva 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-5 in the longest final of the season at two hours and 39 minutes. The Belgian’s reward is rising to a career-high No. 38. He is just the third player aged 33-and-over to debut in the Top 40 of the Emirates ATP Rankings in the past 40 years, joining Italian duo Gianluca Pozzi (2001) and Paolo Lorenzi (2016).

What a week… #bestranking #38 #passimallevieux #teamdereve #sharkspirit #??? #vamos pic.twitter.com/urlADmHPAW

— steve darcis (@stevedarcishark) May 22, 2017

Learn more about Bordeaux

Also in Bordeaux, #NextGenATP Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis ignited his comeback from a brutal run of injuries by competing in the doubles alongside countryman Alex Bolt. Despite falling in the quarter-finals to third seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan, Kokkinakis was relieved to be back in competitive action. “I just can’t wait to get onto the singles court really,” stated the 21 year old. “The biggest target is to stay healthy. I hope the results will come, but I need to stay on court healthy and build up my work load from there.”

Neckarcup (Heilbronn, Germany): Filip Krajinovic dropped one set in eight matches to be crowned champion on the ATP Challenger Tour for the first time in two years. The Serbian qualified for the event, managed to save three match points in the semi-finals against sixth seed Guido Pella, before securing a fifth Challenger title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Norbert Gombos. A right wrist injury sidelined the 25 year old for a portion of 2016, but his perseverance had paid off, rising 91 places to No. 203.

Learn more about Heilbronn

What a week for ?? Filip #Krajinovic in Heilbronn, dropping just one set in eight matches as a qualifier to claim his 5th #ATPChallenger ?. pic.twitter.com/nXJNxAQdS2

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 21, 2017

Samarkand Challenger (Samarkand, Uzbekistan): Adrian Menendez-Maceiras won his third Challenger title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Aldin Setkic. The 31 year old takes home his second title of 2017, having ended a decade-long wait last month in Leon, Mexico. The 10th player to win multiple titles this year edges up to No. 150, closing in on a career-high of No. 111.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Vasek Pospisil: “It feels great to take the title in Busan, it was a long trip and great way to cap it off,” said the Canadian. “I worked on the right things in the days leading up to the event and I really got into a nice flow. I was serving extremely well so It was tough for my opponents to break. It put pressure on them and that gave me a bit more breathing space. I’m glad to be back in the Top 100 and playing at a high level again.”

Steve Darcis: “I had a tough start to the week, but I managed to fight. My game improved match after match, before a very good performance in the semis (d. De Greef). I was down a lot in the final, so I am very happy to win this final, at my club, it feels great.”

Adrian Menendez-Maceiras: “It feels great, I had a very tough week,” said the Spaniard. “I had three matches going the distance in the earlier rounds, mentally I was exhausted, but my physical condition is great. My recovery was perfect and I felt a lot better from the semi-finals onwards, so it was an unbelievable feeling to take the title.

”I’m in the best form of my career, the title in Leon proved I can win tournaments. Now I’m more relaxed and happy on court, so I need to keep working, to keep enjoying my passion.”

A LOOK AHEAD

A $50,000 clay-court event in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, debuts on the ATP Challenger Tour, with top seed Konstantin Kravchuk targeting a fourth Challenger title. Over to Mestre, Italy, for the €43,000 event and Australian John Millan leads the field. Gianluigi Quinzi will hope to go deep, having qualified for the main draw on home soil.

View Draws & Watch Free Live Streams

ATP CHALLENGER TOUR ON TWITTER: The ATP Challenger Tour has launched a dedicated Twitter account for the latest news and information about players and events. Follow @ATPChallenger at twitter.com/ATPChallenger.

A first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title has launched #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

It was a landmark week for Zverev, who added to his 2017 trophies in Montpellier and Munich, in becoming the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP Masters 1000 trophy. The 20 year old captured the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title with an emphatic victory over Novak Djokovic to earn a seven-place jump to a career-high No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He is today’s ‘Mover of the Week’.

View Latest Emirates ATP Rankings

By virtue of Zverev’s success, he moves up to No. 4 in the year-to-date Emirates ATP Race to London as he seeks to make his first trip to the season-ending ATP Finals. He also extends his lead in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, which determines who qualifies for the 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan from 7-11 November. Zverev has accumulated 2,130 race points, more than triple that of second-placed Borna Coric on 631 points.

Juan Martin del Potro worked his way past Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori in Rome to reach the quarter-finals. Eventual finalist Djokovic halted his progress, but the popular Argentine edged up four places to No. 30.

Steve Darcis rises to a career-high in the Emirates ATP Rankings, courtesy of his title run at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bordeaux, France. The Belgian defeated Rogerio Dutra Silva to break into the Top 40 for the first time, rising 12 positions to No. 38. In doing so, Darcis is just the third player aged 33 and over to debut in the Top 40 in the past 40 years, joining Italians Gianluca Pozzi (2001) and Paolo Lorenzi (2016).

Nicolas Almagro and Jan-Lennard Struff both qualified for the main draw in Rome. Almagro was forced to retire with a knee injury in the second round against Rafael Nadal, but three victories on the Italian clay have sent him up six places to No. 67. Struff, who was toppled by Sam Querrey in the second round, re-enters the Top 50 by climbing five spots to No. 47.

Vasek Pospisil was crowned the champion at the Busan Open Challenger to surge back into the Top 100 for the first time since July 2016. The Canadian picked up the title in South Korea without dropping a set and earns a 24-place rise to No. 82.

One week after World No. 1 Andy Murray turned 30 years old, Novak Djokovic joined his friend and rival at the milestone age. In honour of the Serbian’s 30th birthday, the ATP World Tour is celebrating by reliving the 30 facts, moments or memories that have made his tennis career so spectacular thus far.

30 – The number of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles to his name (tied with Rafael Nadal)
29 – The number of consecutive sets won in 2015, a career high
28 – The number of consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals he reached from 2009-16 (second all-time behind Roger Federer’s 36)
27-9 – His record in fifth sets (3-0 vs. Federer)
26-24 vs. Rafael Nadal, 25-11 vs. Andy Murray and 23-22 vs. Federer
25th player to become World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (4 July 2011)
24-0 at the end of 2013 with titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, the ATP Finals and Davis Cup
23 straight wins from August to November in 2015 after 28 straight wins from March to June 2015
22 consecutive wins from November 2012 to March 2013, including 11 vs. Top 10 players
21 Grand Slam finals reached (tied with Nadal for second all-time behind Federer’s 28)
20 years old when he won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2008
19 years old when he won his first Masters 1000 title in Miami in 2007
18 years old when he first finished in the Top 100 of the year-end Emirates ATP Rankings (No. 83 in 2005)
17 straight wins vs. Top 10 opponents from the 2015 ATP Finals to 2016 Rome, a career high
16 years old when he made his tour-level debut (d. Skroderis in 2004 Davis Cup)
15 consecutive finals reached by the end of 2015 (17 including 2016 Doha and 2016 Australian Open)
14 straight Grand Slam semi-finals reached from 2010-13 (second all-time behind Federer’s 23)
13 sets won 6-0 in 2011 and 14 sets won 6-0 in 2013
12 Grand Slam titles to his name (tied with Roy Emerson for fourth all-time)
11 ATP World Tour titles won in 2015, a career-high
10 times he has qualified for the ATP Finals in the past 10 seasons
9 losses in Grand Slam finals (Nadal 4, Murray 2, Stan Wawrinka 2, Federer 1)
8 of the nine Masters 1000 events he has won a title (0-5 in Cincinnati finals)
7 singles titles and a career-high 43 victories in a row from December 2010 to June 2011
6-time champion at the Australian Open, Miami and Beijing
5-time champion at Indian Wells and ATP Finals
4 year-end finishes and 223 weeks overall as World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings
3-time winner of the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award (2012, 2015, 2016)
2 match points saved to beat Federer in both the 2010 and 2011 US Open semi-finals
1 of 3 men to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once (also Budge and Laver)

Wish Djokovic a happy birthday on MyATP now!

Alexander Zverev’s serve and forehand steal the limelight, but don’t be fooled: It’s his backhand that carries more of the workload, and is relied upon the most to elevate him up the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Twenty-year-old Zverev defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday, shaking up the pecking order in the tennis world and surging into the Top 10 along the way.

Zverev’s serve was impressive in the final. He hit seven aces, winning 84 per cent (27/32) of first serve points and 69 per cent (9/13) of second serve points. He didn’t face a single break point for the match. The German’s forehand was also strong with five winners, including a 161kmh (100mph) inside-out winner with Djokovic serving at 2-4, 15/0, in the first set. It was a scorcher and a clear show of strength from the back of the court. 

And then there was his backhand. For most players, this specific shot is typically a defensive weapon (like Rafael Nadal’s), or a consistent stroke that rarely misses (like Andy Murray).

Consider Zverev’s backhand numbers from the final:

Backhand Winners

• Zverev 3

• Djokovic 1

Backhand Errors

• Zverev 7

• Djokovic 21

Zverev’s backhand was basically three times as good as Djokovic’s when you compare winners and errors. Zverev’s backhand is stunningly simple, loading the racquet head above the wrists early in the backswing, and then rotating quickly into contact with a clean, circular motion that generates extreme power.

In the head-to-head backhand battle, Zverev’s backhand owned the day over Djokovic’s on Campo Centrale. An analysis of what shot forced Djokovic’s 21 backhand errors gives further weight to the dominance of Zverev on this side.

Djokovic’s 21 Backhand Errors

• 14 came from a Zverev backhand

• 7 came from a Zverev forehand

Zverev’s backhand is so good that, certainly from an analytical standpoint, it could easily be mistaken for another forehand in disguise. Leading into the Rome final, Zverev averaged hitting his topspin forehand at 125 kmh (78mph). His backhand was almost identical, at 123 kmh (76mph). Normally there is around a 13kmh (8mph) difference in forehand and backhand speed among the Top 10 players, but not so with Zverev.

Djokovic said post-match that he wasn’t able to get any rhythm on his returns, which was certainly seen in Zverev’s return speeds coming in much faster than his opponent’s.

Average Return Speeds 

1st Serve Return Speed

• Zverev 121kmh (75mph)

• Djokovic 95kmh (59mph)

2nd Serve Return Speed

• Zverev 133kmh (83mph)

• Djokovic 112kmh (70mph)

The power, depth and direction of Zverev’s returns and groundstrokes constantly had Djokovic on defense in the rally. Zverev has been widely discussed as a star of the future, but the future, evidently, is today.