Tennis News

Giron saves championship point against Michelsen to win first ATP Tour title in Newport

Marcos Giron is proving age is just a number.

The 30-year-old is playing the best tennis of his career in 2024 and on Sunday the American won his first ATP Tour title, defeating #NextGenATP countryman Alex Michelsen 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 to claim the trophy in at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport. The champion saved match point with an ace at 4-5, 30/40 in the deciding set and clinched victory with his 13th ace of the match.

“Better late than never. We’ll take it!” Giron said with a laugh. “There are so many people I can thank and couldn’t be more lucky to have them in my life. Family, coaches, friends. For this, it’s really special for me but also for all their help and support though the years.”

The former college tennis star at UCLA, who underwent right hip surgery in December 2015 and left hip surgery in February 2016, reached his first two ATP Tour finals two years ago in San Diego and earlier this season in Dallas. After a gritty two-hour, 37-minute victory against 19-year-old Michelsen, the veteran Giron can now call himself a tour-level champion.

A critical moment for Giron came when he served at 2-3 in the deciding set. Facing break point, the new No. 38 player in the PIF ATP Live Rankings crushed a courageous forehand winner to escape trouble.

Michelsen was then a shot away from the championship with Giron serving at 4-5, but the older of the two Americans did not allow him to touch the ball with an ace down the T.

The second-seeded Giron saved eight of the nine break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He won 82 per cent of his first-serve points and hit 41 total winners.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/21/21/43/giron-newport-2024-trophy.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Marcos Giron celebrates his first ATP Tour title.” />

Marcos Giron celebrates his first ATP Tour title. Photo: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour

“Honestly, Alex, unbelievable tournament, unbelievable match,” Giron told his countryman. “It’s unreal, 19 [years old]. We’ve been practising together. On court, he’s so mature, he’s so good. He’s got such a bright future. I’m happy to get the win now while I can!”

Michelsen did not lose serve en route to the final, his second consecutive championship match appearance in Newport. One year ago, aged 18, the American advanced to the final of the ATP 250 event when he had never previously won a tour-level match.

The teen was trying to become the youngest American ATP Tour champion (and first teenager) since Andy Roddick in Houston in 2002.

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Scouting Report: Shelton, Rublev & Baez lead Atlanta, Umag & Kitzbuhel fields

The worldwide action continues this week on the ATP Tour with a three-tournament slate in Atlanta, Umag and Kitzbuhel. Ben Shelton is the top seed at the Atlanta Open, while Andrey Rublev leads the field at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag and Sebastian Baez takes top billing at the Generali Open in Austria.

ATPTour.com breaks down some of the top storylines at each ATP 250 event.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ATLANTA
1) Hometown Shelton: Competing in the city of his birth for the third straight year, Shelton enters as the top seed as he looks to improve on his 1-2 record at the event. Atlanta will be Shelton’s first hard-court event since Miami, on the heels of a fourth-round run at Wimbledon, where he was beaten by Jannik Sinner.

2) Americans In Action: Since 2010, 10 Americans have won the Atlanta title. Third seed Frances Tiafoe, seventh seed Brandon Nakashima, Mackenzie McDonald, Aleksandar Kovacevic, Reilly Opelka and wild card Andres Martin will join Shelton in hoping to add to that tally, in addition to any qualifiers. Nakashima will face McDonald in the first round, while Kovacevic and Opelka will also square off. Martin could meet Shelton in the second round.

3) Mannarino Aims To Stop Skid: Adrian Mannarino remains in the Top 35 of the PIF ATP Rankings despite an 8-17 record this season. After notching just one singles win in five grass tournaments, could a switch to the hard courts spark a turnaround for the talented Frenchman?

4) Thompson Leads Five Aussies: Making his first appearance since Wimbledon, fourth seed Jordan Thompson leads a strong Australian contingent that also includes eighth seed Max Purcell, Christopher O’Connell, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic. Purcell and O’Connell will meet in the first round, while Kokkinakis takes on Croatia’s Borna Coric in one of the standout matches of the opening round.

5) Loaded Doubles Draw: Purcell and Thompson are the top seeds in the doubles draw, with singles stars Kokkinakis and Tiafoe also teaming up. Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow are seeded second, while Newport champions Andre Goransson and Sem Verbeek bid to make it two titles in as many weeks on American soil.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN UMAG
1) Rublev Ready For Turnaround?: After an opening loss to Thiago Agustin Tirante as the top seed last week in Bastad, Rublev is still in search of his first win since Roland Garros. The 26-year-old remains inside the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings at No. 9 but as of Monday will be less than 200 points clear of challengers Grigor Dimitrov, Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

2) Musetti Looks To Build On Wimbledon Run: After reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals for his best Grand Slam result, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti returns to action this week as the second seed in Umag. The 22-year-old reached a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 15 behind his London success and will play in Umag as the World No. 17. He will face an Argentine qualifier in the second round, either Marco Trungelliti or Guido Andreozzi.

3) Rune To Compete Before Olympic Debut: Despite retiring last week in the Hamburg quarter-finals with a knee injury and also dealing with a wrist issue, Holger Rune is set to play as the third seed in Umag. If the Dane makes a deep run at the ATP 250, he will have a quick turnaround for his Olympic debut, with the Paris tennis event set to begin on Saturday. Rune will face #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche or Fabio Fognini in the second round.

4) Olympian Cerundolo Seeded Fourth: Francisco Cerundolo, who will represent Argentina at the Paris Olympics, followed a first-round Wimbledon exit with a quarter-final showing in Hamburg. If he can win his first title of 2024 in Umag, he will extend his streak of trophy-winning seasons to three after titles in 2022 (Bastad) and 2023 (Eastbourne). 

5) Van Assche Aims To Improve Jeddah Odds: Entering Umag at fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Van Assche could strengthen his bid to return to the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF with a deep run this week. A semi-finalist last year in Jeddah, the 20-year-old earned his most recent tour-level win in Madrid.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN KITZBUHEL
1) Defending Champ Baez: After reaching the last four last week in Hamburg, losing to eventual champ Arthur Fils, Sebastian Baez will hope for another deep clay-court run in Kitzbuhel. The top seed will open his title defence against home favourite Dominic Thiem or countryman Tirante. Baez vs. Thiem would be a rematch of the 2023 Kitzbuhel final, which the Argentine won in straight sets to improve to 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

2) Berrettini To Back Up Gstaad Title?: After he found “the right energy” to win his ninth ATP Tour title on Sunday in Gstaad, Matteo Berrettini set himself up to return to the Top 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He will put his five-match (and 10-set) winning streak on the line against Pavel Kotov in the first round, with second seed Alejandro Tabilo waiting beyond that in the second round.

3) No Rest For Borges After Maiden Title: Nuno Borges beat Rafael Nadal to win his first tour-level title on Sunday in Bastad. He will be back in action quickly this week with an opening match against Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan.

4) Home Hope Thiem: Set to compete in Kitzbuhel for the final time in his farewell season, Thiem will meet Tirante in the first round for the right to take on Baez. The Austrian is bidding for his first tour-level match win since Estoril in April.

5) Murray/Pavalsek Lead Doubles Field: Top seeds Jamie Murray and Adam Pavlasek are the top seeds in the doubles draw, where Thiem and Germany’s Daniel Altmaier will compete as wild cards. Those two pairs could meet in the second round.

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Nadal not happy with Bastad level, but 'no damage' to body in marathon final run

Rafael Nadal has always analysed his performances with great perspective. After a disappointing 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Nuno Borges on Sunday in the Nordea Open final, the Spanish legend saw both sides of the coin when looking back on his week in Bastad.

While the 38-year-old was not happy with his tennis overall, despite grinding his way to his first final since Roland Garros in 2022, Nadal was boosted by the way his body handled the heavy load of match play on the ATP 250’s clay courts.

“The level was so far from what it should be,” he said of his display on Sunday. “Probably the energy too. It has been a long week with long matches. Even if my body, I don’t have damage, that’s important — but mentally and physically, I am not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.”

What a week @RafaelNadal 👏@NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/cToTp6oC9z

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 21, 2024

After beating fifth seed Cameron Norrie in straight sets on Thursday, Nadal won three-set marathons against fourth seed Mariano Navone and Duje Ajdukovic over the next two days. Those battles appeared to take their toll on Sunday, when Nadal was flat against Borges.

“I need to analyse well and find the reason why I played that way, even if the energy was not right,” he said. “A lot of things that can’t happen on court if you want to play at the level that I want to play. Things like this can happen today, and that’s the situation. I don’t have to lie or hide anything.”

Despite his disappointment, Nadal gave full credit to Borges, who won his first ATP Tour title: “I have to give the credit to him,” Nadal said. “He did a lot of things well, missed not much, returned well. He converted opportunities, so well done for him, happy for him. He deserved it more than the rest of the players who played in this tournament. I wish him to enjoy this great moment.”

As he looks ahead to the Paris Olympics at Roland Garros, where Nadal will play singles and compete in doubles with Carlos Alcaraz, the Spaniard is hopeful that he can translate his high level in practice to the match court. Even when he was winning in Bastad, he was not fully happy with his tennis.

“I played the final, that’s positive,” he said, looking at the big picture this week. “I was able to play long matches without having an injury, that’s good.

“In some way I felt that I arrived here practising much better than what I played on the tournament during the whole week. That’s something that I am not satisfied with. I arrived here with the feeling that I was playing a good level and I was not able to show that during the whole week. That is something that I am not happy with.

“Anyway it’s a final, so I can’t say it’s a bad result because it’s the first final since a long time ago. But I was not able to feel myself comfortable enough during the whole week to be satisfied with the week of tennis that I played.”

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Brave Fils wins 'dogfight' vs. Zverev, claims biggest title in Hamburg

Playing in the biggest match of his young career, Arthur Fils came through a dramatic final set to defeat home favourite Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1) in Sunday’s Hamburg Open final.

In a three-and-a-half-hour marathon, the #NextGenATP Frenchman saved an incredible 21 of 22 break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, including five in the final set. Fils stayed aggressive in the face of unrelenting pressure from the top seed and defending champion, fighting through deuce as he saved break points at 4-4 and 5-5 in the third set before dominating the decisive tie-break.

“I knew from the start it was not going to be easy,” Fils said before the trophy ceremony. “First set I was taking care of it, I think I had a little but of luck, but playing great. Then second set he managed to play better than me and to raise his level.

“Then we closed the roof and when we closed the roof I knew it was going to be just a fight, like a dogfight. You just have to fight until the last point, until the last ball. I think that I’m practising since a long time for this kind of moment so I’m really happy to win it.”

Winning Fils again for Arthur 🏆🏆

The French prodigy has secured his second ATP Tour title in Hamburg 💫@hamburgopenatp | #HamburgOpen pic.twitter.com/OUR5klmGs9

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 21, 2024

Overcoming cramps late in the match, Fils emerged with the biggest title of his career. His first ATP 500 crown came courtesy of his joint-biggest win by PIF ATP Ranking: He is now 4-6 against Top 10 opponents after beating World No. 4 Zverev.

By earning his first Lexus ATP Head2Head win against Zverev (1-2), Fils avenged defeats to the German last year in Hamburg and this season in Halle. Zverev was bidding to become the fifth player to successfully defend the Hamburg title and the fourth player to retain a tour-level title in 2024.

Already comfortably in first place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Fils will on Monday debut inside the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings behind his second tour-level title (Lyon 2023).

Did You Know?
Fils is just the third Hamburg champion under the age of 21 this century, joining Roger Federer (20, 2002) and Lorenzo Musetti (20, 2022). Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet all finished runner-up in Hamburg before turning 21.

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Borges beats Nadal in Swedish Open final

Nuno Borges says “I know we all wanted Rafa to win” after beating Rafael Nadal in the final of the Swedish Open.

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Home favourites Krawietz/Puetz defend Hamburg crown

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz are happy at home in Hamburg once again.

The German pair on Sunday claimed the title for the second straight year at the Hamburg Open, where they overcame third seeds Fabien Reboul and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(8), 6-2. Krawietz and Puetz saved a set point in the tie-break before clinching the opening set, and they then dominated the second set to seal the title at the clay-court ATP 500.

After prevailing in their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with all-French combo Reboul and Roger-Vasselin, Krawietz and Puetz improved to 27-13 for the season. They did not a drop a set all week in Hamburg, where Puetz also lifted the trophy in 2021 with Michael Venus after beating Krawietz and Horia Tecau in the championship match.

With their first tour-level title of 2024, Krawietz and Puetz have risen one spot to sixth in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. They will hope to continue their good form as they chase a debut appearance together at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Bhambri/Olivetti ‘find a way’ to Gstaad crown
Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti’s fledgling partnership picked up a second ATP Tour title on Sunday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad. The third-seeded duo rallied past Ugo Humbert and Fabrice Martin 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 to clinch the title at the clay ATP 250.

With unpredictable weather forecast for Sunday afternoon in Gstaad, Olivetti was delighted to have finished the job with a 67-minute win in the Swiss Alps. The Frenchman and his Indian partner Bhambri, who first teamed in April and lifted a title together in Munich in their second event together, won 89 per cent (33/37) of points behind first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“We didn’t even know if we would have the chance to play today, but the weather was on our side to play the final,” said Olivetti. “We tried to keep focused since we got up. The match didn’t start very well for us. They had a good start. They played well and somehow we turned it around. We had a really good level in the second and the Match Tie-break, so I think it is a good win for us. Hopefully we can use it to continue like this.”

Bhambri added: “I think they came out strong. They played really well, served really well, so our main focus was to hang in there and wait for an opportunity. We knew if the scores were close, we might get an opportunity, because it’s not the easiest to close out matches here. So that’s what we did. We served better, started returning better in the second set, and found a way in the end.”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

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Predictor Picks: Why a Shelton surge in Atlanta could boost your team

Who will be able to add the most net PIF ATP Rankings points across Atlanta, Kitzbuhel and Umag?

The three ATP 250 events — the Atlanta Open, the Generali Open and the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag — provide plenty of opportunity for the ATP Tour stars in action this week.

Before each tournament week, ATPTour.com looks at three players who might be good selections for fans in the PIF ATP Rankings Predictor.

Make Your Picks Now!

Ben Shelton — replacing 0 points
The American with a booming lefty serve is the top seed in Atlanta and will be keen to leave his mark on the event in its last edition. Ben’s father, Bryan Shelton, was the longtime head coach of the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team. Georgia Tech is the external practice facility for the Atlanta Open, making this a true home event for Shelton.

One year ago, Shang Juncheng upset Shelton in Atlanta and the American will replace zero points this week. After a slow start to the grass-court season, the 21-year-old rebounded with a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, where only Jannik Sinner was able to stop him. He opens his Atlanta campaign against wild card Andres Martin or a qualifier.

Andrey Rublev — replacing 45 points
Although Rublev has lost four consecutive matches, Umag can serve as a launching pad for a return to form. The 26-year-old has happy memories in Umag, where in 2017 he claimed his first ATP Tour title.

The top seed will face Camilo Ugo Carabelli or wild card Luka Mikrut in his opening match as he tries to regain momentum. The last time Rublev lost four consecutive matches earlier this year, he reversed his fortunes by claiming ATP Masters 1000 glory in Madrid.

Alejandro Tabilo — replacing 25 points
The Chilean, Tabilo, has been one of the breakthrough stars of the 2024 season. Now a Top 20 player, the 27-year-old is flying as high as ever.

Tabilo did not compete last week, so he will be well-rested as he returns to clay. A winner of titles this year on hard and grass, the Chilean will try to complete a 2024 surface sweep with a trophy in Kitzbühel, where he is the second seed. Tabilo will play Gstaad champion Matteo Berrettini in the second round if the Italian ousts Pavel Kotov, so the lefty will need to be sharp from the start of the tournament.

Bonus Ball — Ben Shelton
Shelton makes sense as a Bonus Ball selection with the massive upside he presents. If you pick him and he triumphs, your team will net 500 points (double 250) for the pick.

Atlanta has long been a haven for big servers. John Isner won the championship six times, and other champions include Andy Roddick and Nick Kyrgios. Will Shelton add his name to the list?

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Borges denies Nadal in Bastad, wins maiden Tour title

Nuno Borges overcame tennis royalty to notch his maiden ATP Tour title on Sunday at the Nordea Open.

The seventh-seeded Portuguese eased past Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the trophy at the clay-court ATP 250. Borges delivered a rock-solid performance against the 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal, and he broke the Spaniard’s serve five times en route to victory in his maiden tour-level final.

“I don’t know what to say. I think I was wishing for this moment for a while already,” said Borges in his post-match interview. “It’s crazy, in tennis it doesn’t happen when you expect it sometimes. I know we all wanted Rafa to win, a part of me wished that too, but something even bigger inside of me really pushed through today. Through all the emotions, through all the ups and downs.

“it wasn’t about playing my best tennis, it was just coming up in the big moments where I wanted, and I couldn’t have played better. I’m just really happy overall. I really don’t know what to say, I’m very emotional.”

Nu-NO way past ⚔️🏆@nunoborges97 is an ATP champion for the very first time 👏@NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/JsdykVlB4a

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 21, 2024

Borges was the more consistent player throughout his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Nadal, who could not raise his level like he did in battling three-set wins against Mariano Navone and Duje Ajdukovic earlier this week. The 27-year-old Borges showed no sign of nerves as he served out victory against the former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

As he did throughout his run in Bastad, Nadal struggled to regularly hold onto his serve. Borges was particularly clinical against his opponent’s second delivery and finished the match having won 72 per cent (13/18) of second-serve return points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

With his 88-minute triumph, Borges ensured he will on Monday rise nine spots to a career-high No. 42 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He is the ninth first-time title winner on the ATP Tour in the 2024 season so far.

Despite his championship-match defeat, Nadal can reflect on a positive week in Bastad, where he reached his first tour-level title match since 2022 Roland Garros. The 38-year-old Spaniard, who is now 11-6 for the year, will now turn his attention to preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Many congratulations to Nuno,” said Nadal at the trophy ceremony. “You’ve been playing great during the whole week, so you deserve it more than anyone else here. Congratulations and enjoy your moment, it’s always special winning a title. I wish you all the very best for the rest of the season.

“I have been here for the week enjoying this amazing place. I really had fun on court, played some very long matches. Today wasn’t my best day, but all the credit to Nuno. He played very well and it was so difficult for me, so well done.”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

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Berrettini breezes to Gstaad title: 'I found the right energy'

Matteo Berrettini wasted little time charging to his ninth ATP Tour title on Sunday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.

The sixth seed dispatched Quentin Halys 6-3, 6-1 in just 59 minutes in the championship match at the clay-court ATP 250. Berrettini clinched the opening break of the match shortly before the match was suspended for 30 minutes due to rain. When the players returned to court with the Italian leading 5-3, he promptly won seven of the next eight games to claim the trophy in the Swiss Alps for the second time.

“It feels unbelievable. It feels like it was yesterday that I won my first title here six years ago, but a lot of matches and a lot of things happened,” said Berrettini in his post-match interview. “I’m just so glad that I can keep playing and enjoying, and I think I found the energy of six years ago during this week. This place is special for me. I’m just so happy.”

It was Berrettini’s second clay ATP 250 title of the season — he also won in April in Marrakech. The former World No. 6 was outside the Top 150 in the PIF ATP Rankings as recently as March after a difficult 12 months with injuries. Now 16-6 for the 2024 season, he will return to the Top 50 for the first time since August 2023 on Monday.

Matteo’s Swiss bliss 🇨🇭🏆🔨

ATP first-time titlist at Gstaad 2018, @MattBerrettini is back in the winner’s circle!@SwissOpenGstaad | #ATPGstaad pic.twitter.com/QeqEW7AFye

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 21, 2024

The only moment of peril for Berrettini in his third Gstaad championship-match appearance came when he faced three break points at 2-3, 0/40 in the opening set. As he did so often during his run this week, the Italian found some big first serves when he needed them to escape the danger, and his break of Halys’ serve in the next game ultimately turned the match in his favour.

Berrettini finished his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash against Halys having won 90 per cent (26/29) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, as he expertly capitalised on the Frenchman’s drop of level after the rain delay.

“It was his first final, so for sure a lot of thoughts you might think in those moments, especially when you stop and you just got broken,” said Berrettini. “At the beginning, I was trying to figure out how to play, because during the week the conditions were really different.

“Every day was different. It was really windy, then it was a bit wet, and today was really cold and drizzling. It took me a little bit. I was able to not get broken from 0/40 and I think from then on I found the right energy. I think when we stopped, I came back on court and found the perfect [rhythm].”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

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Paes, Amritraj & Evans inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

Leander Paes, Vijay Amritraj and Richard Evans were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday evening in Newport, where family, friends and fans packed into the famous horseshoe court at the venue for a memorable evening.

“It is my greatest honour to be on this stage with not only these legends of the game, [but] people who have inspired me every single day of my life,” Paes said. “Not because you have won Grand Slams, not because you have shaped the world of our sport. But every single one of these people has shaped the world that we live in. I would like to thank you so much for giving this Indian boy hope.”

Paes and Amritraj became the first Indian — and Asian — men to earn induction into the exclusive group as a player and contributor, respectively. The pair have been trailblazers for Indian tennis and were proud to represent their country.

“Playing for 1.4 billion people could either be pressure, or it could be wind within your wings,” Paes said. “I’d like to thank every single one of my countrymen who supported me, who stood by me through all the ups and downs, and we’ve been through a few. But you all were the inspiration, you all were the support. You were even the strength to guide me through when I didn’t believe.

“But as my father always said to me, ‘If you believe in yourself, you work hard, you be passionate, not only to win prize money and not only to win trophies, but you do that to inspire the world’.”

Amritraj was a top player, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals at 19 and won 28 tour-level titles between singles and doubles. He was once a boy struggling with lung problems in India, and now he has cemented his name on the international stage forever.

“My dear friends, I am humbled and honoured to join this incredible and exclusive group, which has brought glory to our sport. Our sport has given me everything in life. It has taken me places I never thought I would go,” Amritraj said. “It has allowed me to meet people I never thought I would meet and it has given me more things than I could have possible imagined. It will always be a part of our lives and always bring families, communities and countries together. More than anything else, I’m happy to say, India Day is back in New England.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/21/01/15/navratilova-evert-agassi-hall-of-fame-2024.jpg?w=100%25&hash=13E4B19D04F264EBB17C9F28C7907F58″ style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Martina Navratilova, Andre Agassi and Chris Evert pose for a selfie ahead of the International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony.” />

Evans has spent more than 60 years chronicling the journeys of many people on the stage in Newport as well as many more tennis icons throughout the world. Saturday evening was his moment to stand on the opposite side of proceedings.

“It has been a long journey. I wish I had time to tell you all the names of all the great tennis writers I’ve written with in press boxes around the world like Rex Bellamy and of course Bud Collins, who is of this parish,” Evans said. “Bud was unbelievable and Allison Danzig and Al Laney as writers of a previous age in America all used their talent to write about tennis, which is a sport [that] needs to be promoted at every level and written about with as much talent and style and enthusiasm and passion as those of us who love the sport could muster, so thank you very much for greeting me here today and I hope to see you down the road.”

There were several other Hall of Famers on stage, including former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Andre Agassi, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Stan Smith and International Tennis Hall of Fame Honourary President Kim Clijsters.

Navratilova stood at the dais to introduce Paes, with whom he won two major titles in mixed doubles.

“He was an artist on the court, an amazing athlete, a virtuoso,” Navratilova said. “He wielded the tennis racquet like an orchestra conductor wield the baton. Leander, it was truly my honour to play against you. I enjoyed it a lot more when I played with you. You have done your family proud, you have done our sport proud and most of all you have done India proud.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/21/01/27/paes-evans-amritraj-hall-of-fame-2024.jpg” style=”width: 100%;” alt=”Leander Paes, Richard Evans and Vijay Amritraj at the International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony.” /> 

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