Carlos Alcaraz announced on social media on Wednesday that he is fit to play the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals.

“I have good news!” Alcaraz posted. “I am feeling better every day and I will play Paris-Bercy and be in Turin for the ATP Finals! Excited to finish the year on a high!”

I have good news! 🙌🏻 I am feeling better every day and I will play Paris-Bercy and be in Turin for the ATP Finals! 😍 Excited to finish the year on a high! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/RC1pCzr237

— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) October 25, 2023

The Spaniard withdrew ahead of the Swiss Indoors Basel due to a left foot injury and muscle fatigue to his lower back. He most recently competed in Shanghai, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 16.

Alcaraz will hope to find his form immediately in Paris, where he will resume his battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone with Novak Djokovic. The Serbian currently leads the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, a good barometer for the year-end No. 1 battle, by 500 points with a maximum of 2,500 points up for grabs in Paris and Turin.

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s most recent title came in Basel one year ago. Based on his form Wednesday, the Canadian is keen to add another Swiss Indoors Basel trophy to his collection.

The defending champion eliminated Swiss wild card Leandro Riedi 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round. The sixth seed will next play Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, who ousted Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets.

“I thought he was playing well and I think he can be proud of himself because I played a great match. I think I showed up with a good level today,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. “He still showed very good things, so I think he’s got a great future. But on my part I’m happy to get through to the second round here.”

All aboard the Felix Express 🚂🇨🇦

The 2022 champion @felixtennis eases past Riedi 6-3 6-2 🙌#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/KCedaHX1yS

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 25, 2023

The 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime stayed out of trouble on his service games for the most part, relinquishing just one break in the match. He consistently challenged his opponent’s serve, winning 50 per cent of his return points and earning four breaks in the 75-minute match.

Auger-Aliassime has long thrived indoors, winning all four of his titles in such conditions. This is his first indoor appearance outside of Laver Cup since Rotterdam in February.

Now 18-18 this season, the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals qualifier will hope to use the indoor stretch to regain confidence leading into 2024.

In the last match of the day, Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry battled past former World No. 1 Andy Murray 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 after thee hours and eight minutes to reach the quarter-finals.

In the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting this year at Indian Wells, Murray triumphed in three hours and 12 minutes. On this occasion, Etcheverry saved five of the six break points he faced, including all five he confronted in the second set.

Etcheverry will next play top seed Holger Rune or countryman Sebastian Baez for a place in the semi-finals. The 24-year-old is pursuing his first ATP Tour title this week.

Did You Know?
According to Infosys ATP Stats, Auger-Aliassime’s winning percentage indoors is 67.9 per cent (57-27) compared to 56.3 per cent (121-94) outdoors.

Jannik Sinner held firm for victory in a hard-hitting opening-round clash against Ben Shelton on Wednesday at the Erste Bank Open.

The Italian prevailed 7-6(2), 7-5 in Vienna by striking 28 winners and offering just six unforced errors across the one-hour, 44-minute encounter. With his win, Sinner avenged his defeat to Shelton in the Shanghai fourth round two weeks ago.

Although Shelton, who flew straight to Austria after winning his maiden ATP Tour crown on Sunday in Tokyo, understandably showed some signs of fatigue in the second set, he pushed Sinner all the way inside the Wiener Stadthalle. An intense first set was only settled when Sinner raised his level in the tie-break and the Italian was forced to fend off four break points overall during his win.

Sinner produced plenty of razor-sharp returning and particularly capitalised when given a look at his American opponent’s second serve. The Italian won 53 per cent (18/34) of return points against second deliveries, and Shelton’s lack of first serves proved crucial as Sinner clinched the only break of the match at 5-5 in the second set.

The 22-year-old Sinner, who has already secured direct qualification for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, will take on countryman Lorenzo Sonego next in Vienna. He holds a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against Sonego, with all three victories coming earlier this season.

Daniil Medvedev is a 20-time tour-level singles champion, but he has yet to win a single event more than once. If his opening performance at the Erste Bank Open is any indication, Medvedev could put an end to that statistical anomaly this week in Vienna.

The top seed earned a dominant 6-4, 6-2 win against #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils on Wednesday in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. In a masterful performance, Medvedev lost just five points on serve and recorded a clean stat line of 16 winners and eight unforced errors.

“I was a little bit nervous coming into the match,” Medvedev said, explaining that he took a week off from practice following Shanghai, during which time he celebrated his daughter’s birthday. “Arthur wants this top win and he’s going to get it one day. But luckily I managed to serve well, play well, kind of work him out during the match and it worked, so I’m very happy.”

“Mesmerising Medvedev” 😲

Top seed @DaniilMedwed bringing top drawer tennis up a set and break on Fils@ErsteBankOpen | #erstebankopen pic.twitter.com/wNdEpK98MH

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 25, 2023

Medvedev was clinical in all aspects of his game in the 75-minute match, using his forehand to do the most damage with seven winners off that wing. His relentless yet steady game drew 31 unforced errors from Fils, who made the final in Antwerp last week.

Following the victory, Medvedev was full of praise for his opponent, who began the season outside the Top 250 and now sits at a career high of No. 38 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“He’s super young, a big jump in the rankings. Usually when we see guys like this, sooner or later he’s going to get in the Top 10,” Medvedev said after denying Fils his third Top 10 win and what would have been the biggest victory of his career by ranking. “Then the question is, does he stay there for 10 years or he just comes there and drops out? We never know, but he has big potential and hopefully he can realise it.”

After defeating the 19-year-old Fils, Medvedev will next meet 32-year-old Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. The Bulgarian entered Vienna after a run to the Shanghai semi-finals in his last event.

“I don’t expect myself to do well on any tennis trivia when we are taking it back before I played!” Taylor Fritz joked in the latest edition of ATP Uncovered’s Test The Tour series. The American was one of five ATP Tour stars to be quizzed on their Nitto ATP Finals knowledge.

Former champions Andy Murray, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev were also among the panel.

“I know nothing about it!” Medvedev joked. But would the World No. 3 surprise himself as he was asked who the youngest champion in event history is, which country has the most Nitto ATP Finals titlists and more?

“I remember it! I’m kidding, I wasn’t even born then,” Tsitsipas said, while cracking a smile.

Watch the full video below to find out which of Fritz, Medvedev, Murray, Casper Ruud and Tsitsipas answered the most questions correctly.

Since reaching the US Open quarter-finals, Taylor Fritz went 2-2 on the Asian swing before heading to Europe for the Swiss Indoors Basel. On Wednesday, the American survived a stern opening test from Max Purcell to continue his chase for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals.

Sitting ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Fritz’s bid to leapfrog Holger Rune for the crucial eighth position received a timely boost with his gritty 7-6(6), 7-6(4) win at the ATP 500.

“As far as where I’m at in the Race, I think I’m in a good spot,” Fritz said post-match. “I have a pretty decent chance if I can come up with a big result one of these next two weeks [in Basel or Paris].”

Fritz marches 🔛

The American with a 7-6 (7) 7-6(4) win over Purcell #SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/hS5zLEFigs

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 25, 2023

The American trailed Purcell 1/5 in the opening tie-break and saved two set points before he snatched the set with a three-point surge. He twice surrendered a break lead in set two, including an unsuccessful attempt to serve out the match at 5-4, but recovered to close out the second tie-break on his third set point.

“I was lucky to win the first set. I played some really big points really well in important moments in the tie-break,” Fritz said. “I came up pretty clutch in the first set to take it. The second set I was serving well, I was returning better, and I just kind of got in my own way and made it pretty complicated. But I was lucky to refocus and play a good tie-break.”

Fritz, who turns 27 on Saturday, improved to 22-2 in opening rounds this season with the result, including a perfect 14-0 mark on hard courts. He was out-aced 13 to 12 by Purcell, but the Aussie was made to pay for his six doubles faults, including several at crucial moments late in the second set.

Next up for Fritz is qualifier Alexander Shevchenko.

Casper Ruud also made a successful start in Basel with a 7-6(5), 6-2 win against Alexander Bublik, who lifted the Antwerp title on Sunday. Ruud is in 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and, like Fritz, is in search of a late charge to return to the Nitto ATP Finals. Fritz reached the semi-finals last year at the season finale, while Ruud enjoyed a run to the championship match.

Ruud’s win against Bublik improved him to 6-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head. The Kazakhstani is the first opponent against whom he has recorded six victories (Ruud is 5-1 against Rune and 5-0 against Roberto Carballes Baena.).

In a dramatic opening set, both Ruud and Bublik fought off three break points in their final service game before the tie-break, which the Norwegian clinched on his third set point. Bublik responded by taking a 2-0 lead in set two — despite a brilliant tweener lob from his opponent to start the set — but Ruud raced through the finish by winning six straight games.

Not everything has gone the way Cameron Norrie might like in terms of results during the 2023 ATP Tour season. Yet all players, even the very best in the world, go through tough stretches, and the Briton is not one to let a few lean months stop him believing in his own ability.

“I started the year winning [lots of] close matches, and that’s kind of how tennis goes,” Norrie, who is 36-23 for the year, told ATP Tennis Radio on Saturday at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. “You win or lose close ones all at once, and I think it just becomes automatic. I’ve had a couple of tough losses recently, but I think that’s tennis and that’s just how you can learn from it and respond from it.”

Even if things don’t always go to plan on the court, the lifestyle and friendships Norrie enjoys on the tennis merry-go-round are more than enough to keep him positive day-to-day. The World No. 18 believes that those constants are the foundation for him to rediscover his best form.

“Luckily I have a really good team around me to push,” said Norrie, who arrived in Vienna having gone 1-6 since the US Open. “For me, I’m really still really enjoying the Tour, enjoying the travel, and going to new places still. It’s definitely been an interesting year, but I need to stay patient.”

Norrie applies his calm approach to practice as much as he does matches. The five-time ATP Tour champion believes it helps him stay positive even when he is struggling to close out wins.

“The big question is to build confidence and I think there are two ways, either on the match court or on the practice court,” said Norrie. “If you’re working as hard as you can on the practice court, trying to bring as much quality as you can, not really being too tough on yourself in the practice and really trying to stay fresh for the matches, I think that’s one way.

“Then obviously going out in the matches and the tough moments and going out and playing to win. I think a couple of times recently I was playing for the other guy to miss in the bigger moments. That was the difference, especially playing with some of the best guys in the world. The margins are so small, and I think the smallest difference can sometimes be a big difference.”

Norrie made a red-hot start to the season, and in mid-March was the owner of a 21-3 record. His highlights in those early months included beating Alex de Minaur, Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz at the United Cup, championship-match runs in Auckland and Buenos Aires, and defeating Carlos Alcaraz to claim his maiden ATP 500 crown in Rio de Janeiro.

Although he has struggled to match those highs since then, the 28-year-old Norrie fought hard on Monday to hold off home wild card Filip Misolic in Vienna and now faces a second-round test against the fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev. The German is the sort of top-quality player that Norrie relishes facing.

“I know I have the level,” said Norrie, who will be chasing his 11th victory against a Top 10 opponent, and his fifth of this year, on Wednesday night against Zverev. “I know I’ve got it in me to play with some of the best guys in the world and [I’ve had] some big results already.

“I think it’s how I can implement my game and play my tennis in the bigger moments. I think recently I haven’t done that. I think there’s obviously a lot of new younger players coming up. They’re playing well, they’re playing fearlessly, and that’s something to learn from those boys… I know how to play, and I just need to compete as hard as I can. I think I’m one of the best competitors in the world when I’m at my highest, so knowing I’ve got that in my back pocket is always nice.”

The schedule for the 2024 United Cup in Perth and Sydney has been released.

PERTH GROUP PLAY – RAC ARENA

PERTH QUARTER-FINALS

SYDNEY GROUP PLAY – KEN ROSEWALL ARENA

SYDNEY QUARTER-FINALS

SYDNEY SEMI-FINALS

SYDNEY FINAL

Note: Order of ATP/WTA matches will vary. Mixed doubles will always be the third match. Players subject to change.

View Groups At Official Website

Sporting Rivals To Clash On Day 1 Of United Cup

Australia will play Great Britain on the opening day of the 2024 United Cup, the innovative mixed team event beginning 29 December at RAC Arena in Perth.

World No.13 Alex de Minaur will line up alongside Ajla Tomljanovic, John Millman, Storm Hunter, Matt Ebden and Ellen Perez when they face the British team led by Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter.

The group stage will begin in Sydney on Saturday 30 December.

Each tie will comprise one men’s singles and one women’s singles match followed by one mixed doubles match.

Singles matches are best of three tiebreak sets. Mixed doubles matches are two tiebreak sets with a deciding match tiebreak (10 point) at one set-all.

In Perth, the day session will start at 10.00am and 5.00pm local time for the night session.

In Sydney, the day session will begin at 10.30am and 5.30pm for the second session.

Tickets to the group stage and quarterfinals go on sale 5.00pm local time today, Wednesday 25 October via UnitedCup.com/tickets.

Adult prices start from $40 and from $20 for children 3-12 years of age. Family passes (two adults and two children) start from $100.

Perth
Top seeds Poland featuring world No.2 Iga Swiatek and [11] Hubert Hurkacz will make their debut in Perth against a yet-to-be confirmed team on Saturday 30 December.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic and Team Serbia will take to the court on New Year’s Eve against China’s [18] Qinwen Zheng and Zhizhen Zhang.

Sydney
At Ken Rosewall Arena, [8] Casper Ruud’s Team Norway will face the Netherlands on Saturday 30 December followed by Team Germany – led by Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev – against Italy at night.

Canada, featuring Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez, will make their United Cup debut on Sunday 31 December.

No.2 seeds Greece with [7] Stefanos Tsitsipas and [9] Maria Sakkari will play their first tie in Sydney on Tuesday 2 January.

Showcasing equality at the highest level of the sport, the United Cup will feature 18 countries competing across Perth and Sydney from Friday 29 December to Sunday 7 January 2024.

An ATP-WTA event presented in partnership with Tennis Australia, the United Cup offers a minimum AUD $15 million in prize money and 500 Pepperstone ATP and 500 WTA Tour rankings points.

Each city will host three groups of three countries, competing in a round-robin format.

Group winners in each city advance to the quarterfinals, with one quarterfinal spot in each city awarded to the best runner-up in that city.

In Perth, the quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday 3 January and in Sydney, the quarterfinals will be played across Thursday 4 and Friday 5 January.

Winners will progress to the semifinals and finals at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 January.

Teams travelling from Perth to Sydney will have a travel day and rest day before their semifinal.

The final two remaining countries (one WTA and one ATP) will be admitted to the competition on Monday 20 November, based on the rankings published on this date.

One year ago, Ben Shelton was No. 158 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and competing in a stretch of ATP Challenger Tour events. At the time, the American had earned just three tour-level wins and was embarking on his life as a professional tennis player.

Little did the lefty know that one year later, he would be No. 15 in the world and competing with the biggest stars on the ATP Tour every week.

“I think that’s the craziest thing to think about, how far I’ve come,” Shelton told ATPTour.com. “But it’s interesting that a lot of guys who where in a similar position to me last year, like Chris Eubanks or Aleks Vukic, have kind of had the same trajectory.

“They’re Top 50 now, so to be playing Challengers with all those guys last year and now we are at the point where we are playing a full ATP schedule, it’s something really cool that we share.” 

Shelton is 26-22 this season and has consistently risen to the occasion on the biggest stages. He reached the semi-finals of the US Open, the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and last week at the ATP 500 in Tokyo claimed his first tour-level title.

Two years ago Shelton was outside the world’s Top 700, a year ago he had not yet cracked the Top 150, and now he is charging towards the Top 10.

“It’s definitely not sunk in yet,” Shelton told ATPTour.com. “I think that when my season is over, I’ll have some time to think about everything that’s happened this year and kind of reflect on it. I’m just really enjoying the moment right now.” 

Entering the end of the season, there was potential pressure for Shelton with the 240 points he earned in a three-week span last year, when he triumphed at Challengers in Charlottesville, Knoxville and Champaign. But by claiming 500 points in a single week in Tokyo, Shelton has put those worries behind him.

The American has made the biggest climb over the past 12 months of any player in the Top 20, ascending 143 spots. The only player who is close to him is World No. 20 Nicolas Jarry, who was No. 116 one year ago this week.

Shelton will try to continue his rise this week at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, where he will play second seed Jannik Sinner in the first round.

Stefanos Tsitsipas spoiled the party for the local fans Tuesday at the Erste Bank Open by delivering a rock-solid opening-round display to down home favourite Dominic Thiem.

The fourth-seeded Greek prevailed 7-6(5), 6-4 after saving all three break points he faced at the ATP 500 in Vienna. Tsitsipas clinched a first set of narrow margins by rallying from 2/4 in the tie-break before a decisive break in the third game of the second set proved enough for him to book a second-round clash with Tomas Machac.

“He made it difficult, as always. Every single match that we have played this year has been on the edge, and it wouldn’t be any different this time,” said Tsitsipas. “I really had to come up with some good shots towards the end and there were some extraordinary rallies that were being played during the course of the match.

“It was very physical and I had to stay very composed. Especially in the second set, he really stepped up his game, but I didn’t give him that break that he was looking for.”

With his one-hour, 59-minute win, Tsitsipas strengthened his bid to secure a spot at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. The 25-year-old is currently sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, having amassed a 46-20 record in 2023.

Tsitsipas and Thiem’s two previous Lexus Head2Head meetings this season had both been settled in deciding-set tie-breaks. Tuesday’s clash in Vienna initially looked like being an equally tight affair, as the two players lit up the Wiener Stadthalle with a series of blistering baseline exchanges. Tsitsipas’ ability to find big serves when he needed ultimately proved crucial, however, especially when he fended off three break points to hold for 1-1 in the second set.

Now 6-5 ahead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry with Thiem, Tsitsipas has not lost in the opening round of an indoor event dating back to the 2021 Rolex Paris Masters. The Greek has struggled for his best level of late but could identify Tuesday’s win as a turning point as he chases his second tour-level title of the season in the Austrian capital.

Qualifier Machac earlier overcame Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-1 to improve to 7-7 at tour-level for the season. The Czech is now up 11 spots to No. 63 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, setting him up for a new career-high in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings next Monday.

In the final match of the day in Vienna, Grigor Dimitrov improved to 20-2 for opening rounds this season by defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4. Dimitrov, a semi-finalist in the Austrian capital a year ago, won 80 per cent (33/41) of points behind his first serve en route to an impressive 94-minute win.

The Bulgarian is now 36-19 for 2023, a year in which he has consistently forged deep runs at ATP Tour events, including a championship-match run in Geneva. His next test this week will be a clash against Daniil Medvedev or #NextGenATP Arthur Fils. It was Medvedev who downed Dimitrov in the last four in Vienna a year ago.