Players Excited For Inaugural Chengdu Open In China
Players Excited For Inaugural Chengdu Open In China
Sep262016
It’s not all tennis for players this week in Chengdu
Russian #NextGen star Karen Khachanov and 17-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud, in China for the Chengdu Open, visited one of Chengdu’s unique attractions, Kuanzhai Alley, which translates as Wide and Narrow Alley, on Monday.
Located in one of the oldest parts of Chengdu, dating back to the Qing Dynasty, Kuanzhai Alley offers a unique glimpse into the architecture at the time. The players tried some of the city’s most popular snacks, while being entertained by a traditionally attired Sichuan opera performer.
“The culture is here is very unusual and it is very interesting to see,” said Khachanov. “I’m very excited to be here. I like it.”
“The architecture here is very nice and very different from anywhere else,” said Ruud. “It’s nice.”
Tea For Two In Chengdu
On Sunday morning, ATP World Tour players Kevin Anderson of South Africa and John Millman of Australia also took time to experience the Chengdu culture. The two visited the historic Wenshu Monastery, located in the centre of Chengdu city.
They received a crash course in the art of “Chang Zui Hu”, the ancient Chengdu practice of pouring tea out through an extremely long spout. Combining martial arts with technical ability, this unique practice was created as a form of entertainment in local tea houses many hundreds of years ago. “It was really cool,” said Anderson. “Just the whole architecture and this whole place is incredible.”
“I enjoyed it. It’s pretty special to be able to experience the cultures of such an old country like China,” said Millman. “It was a lot of fun. It was something different. I’m always up for new, exciting experiences.”
This is the first year of the Chengdu Open, an ATP World Tour 250 level tournament.
Monaco to meet Spaniard next
Former World No. 10 Juan Monaco required 66 minutes to beat qualifier Hiroki Moriya 6-1, 6-2 on Monday at the Chengdu Open. Monaco will next face fourth seed Feliciano Lopez, whom he beat in the Houston semi-finals en route to his ninth ATP World Tour title (d. Sock) in April.
Diego Schwartzman, who lifted his first ATP World Tour trophy in Istanbul (d. Dimitrov) earlier this year, knocked out Rajeev Ram 6-4, 7-5 in 87 minutes. He awaits the winner of eighth seed Paolo Lorenzi or John Millman. “The first match is always tough for the players,” said Schwarztman. “I feel great, so it’s good to win… I try to improve every week.”
In doubles, fourth seeds Pablo Carreno Busta and Mariusz Fyrstenberg defeated wild card Yan Bai and Di Wu 6-2, 6-7(2), 10-6 in 89 minutes, while Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak lost just seven of their first service points in a 6-3, 1-6, 10-4 victory over Federico Delbonis and Paolo Lorenzi in 63 minutes.
Italian makes a winning start
Fabio Fognini recorded his 20th match win of the season on Monday when the seventh seed defeated Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-1 in 78 minutes on his debut at the Shenzhen Open. He’ll next face qualifier Mischa Zverev who struck eight aces and won 96 per cent of his first service points to oust wild card Zhe Li. Zverev leads Fognini 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
Andrew Whittington saved four match points in the second set tie-break to force a third set and beat fellow qualifier Luca Vanni 2-6, 7-6(10), 6-2 in two hours and 20 minutes. The 23-year-old Australian, making his ATP World Tour main draw debut, will next face third seed Richard Gasquet in the second round.
In doubles, Jonathan Erlich and Santiago Gonzalez saved one match point at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break to knock out Lukas Rosol and Jiri Vesely 6-7(5), 6-2, 11-9 in one hour and 46 minutes.
DAY 2 PREVIEW: The No. 1 Chinese player in the Emirates ATP Rankings comes home on Tuesday for his first ATP World Tour match of 2016. Ze Zhang is 4-0 on tour this season, with all four wins coming in Davis Cup Group I. The 26 year old from Nanjing is in a unique position against Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, whom he defeated at a Challenger event in Chengdu last month. For just the second time in 20 ATP and Grand Slam main draw matches, Zhang is ranked higher than his opponent. Tipsarevic, a former World No. 8, is 45 spots below Zhang at No. 224 after missing seven of the past 12 months with foot and knee injuries.
Also in first-round action on Centre Court is No. 6 seed Benoit Paire. The Frenchman enjoyed a breakout season in 2015, winning five titles in eight finals across the ATP World Tour, ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures Circuit. Playing exclusively at tour-level events in 2016, Paire has yet to reach a final and fallen from a career-high No. 18 on 11 January to No. 38 this week. Paire has suffered five losses this season to players ranked outside of the Top 100. His opponent on Tuesday is 103rd-ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Play begins on Centre Court with 2015 Shenzhen Open runner-up Guillermo Garcia-Lopez taking on American qualifier Ryan Harrison. Garcia-Lopez has not reached a singles final since falling to Tomas Berdych here last year, but he did play in back-to-back doubles finals earlier this season. He won the Winston-Salem Open title with Henri Kontinen and fell in the US Open final with fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Among the players competing on the outer courts are Pablo Andujar of Spain and 19 year old Akira Santillan of Japan. Andujar is appearing at his first ATP event since undergoing right elbow surgery on 17 March, while Santillan will be playing the second tour-level match of his career. The wild card fell to Jan-Lennard Struff at Kitzbuhel on 19 July. In doubles, No. 1 seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi continue their quest for qualification at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals against Fognini and Robert Lindstedt.
Heather Watson was forced to pull out of her opening match at the Wuhan Open with illness just days after saying she had fully recovered from the problems which affected her US Open campaign.
The British number two withdrew against American Madison Brengle in China after complaining of dizziness.
British number one Johanna Konta comfortably reached round two after beating German Annika Beck 6-1 6-2.
Ninth seed Konta will play China’s Zhang Shuai in the second round.
Konta needs a strong result in the tournament to pass American Madison Keys and Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro in the race to qualify for the WTA Finals later this month, which features the season’s top-eight players.
Guernsey-born Watson, 24, was suffering from a stomach bug when trailing her opponent 3-6 1-2 in mid-30C temperatures before pulling out on Monday.
“It came on this morning. I woke up in full sweats. I went out there to see how I feel but it wasn’t great,” said Watson, who also named John-Laffnie de Jager as her new coach on Monday. Watson has been without a mentor since splitting with Diego Veronelli earlier this year.
“I was getting goosebumps on the court and that is the worst feeling, especially when it is hot,” she added.
“It is frustrating, especially because I had a couple of matches under my belt and I was starting to feel good on court, so it is a shame this happened but there is nothing I can do.”
Watson called for a medical time out after losing the opening set and a doctor was called onto court to take her blood pressure.
On Saturday, Watson won twice to qualify for the event in her first singles matches since requiring medical treatment following last month’s US Open defeat by Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands.
After qualifying in China, Watson said tests were “all fine” amid fears she had suffered a relapse of glandular fever, which affected her in 2013.
The St. Petersburg Open was honoured Sunday as one the Tournaments of the Year in the 2015 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon. World No. 3 and top seed Stan Wawrinka, who finished runner-up to Alexander Zverev in the St. Petersburg final, presented Tournament Director Alexander Medvedev with the trophy.
“In 2015, the St. Petersburg Open Tournament was revived after a year’s break,” Mikhael Mirilashvili, owner of the St. Petersburg Open, said earlier this year. “That was a landmark event in the sporting life of the city and the country. We are proud that the work of our big renewed team was appreciated on such a high level. I am sure that in the future the level of the tournament will continue to grow and reach new professional heights.”
The Tournament of the Year awards, voted annually by ATP players, recognise the leading standards set across the three tournament categories on the Tour.
The St. Petersburg Open was named a joint-winner in the ATP World Tour 250 category alongside the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, held in the first week of the season. The BNP Paribas Open and Aegon Championships won respectively in the Masters 1000 and 500 categories.