Daniil Medvedev guaranteed his stay atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings until at least the end of the US Open by reaching the final at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel on Saturday night in Los Cabos.

In his second stint as World No. 1, Medvedev advanced to his fourth final of the season with a 7-6(0), 6-1 win against fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic. He will face defending champion Cameron Norrie in Saturday’s final as he seeks his first title of 2022. 

“Very tough match,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “He started great and all the first set was a great level. So many tough points, so many points where I felt like I was close to getting the edge. The tie-break was great.”

Kecmanovic came out firing and held a 4-1 lead after saving the first break point against him. The Serbian was fully comfortable in his third semi-final of the year, and he showed it with an array of drop shots, including a three-shot combo in which he casually hit a drop shot, a volley lob and a drop volley to frustrate his opponent.

But Medvedev began to find his groove midway though the opening set, settling in with his metronomic baseline brilliance as he began to control the rallies. He was at his scrambling best early in the tie-break, following up strong defense with a flicked backhand pass as he asked for more noise from the Mexican crowd.

“I’m not the kind of guy to ask [for the crowd to cheer] like this,” he said with a laugh. “I made a great point, so I thought, ‘This one was good, let’s try to pump it up a little bit.'”

After racing through the shutout tie-break, he stayed on the attack to build a 3-0 lead in the second set. He secured a second break late in the set as Kecmanovic began to fade, then hit two well-placed volleys on match point to seal the victory.

Medvedev improved to 2-0 in his ATPHead2Head against the Serbian, backing up his Roland Garros third-round win in May. He also prevailed in his only previous tour-level meeting with his final opponent Norrie, a straight-sets win at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in 2019. The Briton moved within one win of defending his Los Cabos crown with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 semi-final victory against second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.

If you’re a ballkid in need, you best hope you’re working a Shang Juncheng match.

Fans at the Lexington ATP Challenger Tour event this week witnessed a wonderful act of sportsmanship by the world No. 344 Chinese player. The 17-year-old and American Stefan Dostanic were locked in a three-set battle in scorching temperatures in the American state of Kentucky when Shang noticed a ballkid, Atharva Dang, in distress.

What an act of sportsmanship 👏

In Lexington, 🇨🇳 Juncheng Shang noticed a ball kid was not feeling well & was there to help him get some rest

🔊 Sound Up 🔊#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/UPxgdw5OoX

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 3, 2022

After asking Atharva if he was okay, Shang exclaimed, “He’s going to faint!” Immediately, Shang set his racquet down and assisted the overheated boy, lifting him into his arms and rushing him behind the umpire’s chair and out of the direct sunlight. After setting him down in the shade, Shang gave a bottle of water to Atharva and placed an ice-pack behind his head.

“I turned around to ask for the ball. When the ballkid gave me the ball, he looked like he was unable to stand,” Shang said. “I asked him, ‘How are you?’ and he said, ‘I don’t feel good.’ He staggered over and I felt like he was going to faint right away. I just did everything I could do with my gut feeling,” the teenager recalled.

Since that moment of sportsmanship, all is well for both Shang and the Atharva. They reunited for a picture the following day and Dang competed in a local tournament on Friday. Shang has advanced to the semi-finals in Lexington, becoming the youngest player to reach a Challenger semi-final since Carlos Alcaraz at Alicante in 2020.

“I remember everything,” Atharva said. “I remember giving him the ball and then he asked me if I was OK. I then remember him dropping his racquet and helping me over to the side where they gave me ice.”

In Saturday’s semi-finals, Shang will play World No. 229 American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who two weeks ago held, but could not convert, six championship points against another Chinese player, Wu Yibing, in the Challenger Tour final in Indianapolis.

The National Bank Open Presented by Rogers singles draw was released on Friday, with a potential second-round showdown between World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios among the surprises.

Kyrgios holds a 2-1 edge in the pair’s ATP Head2Head, though Medvedev was victorious in their Australian Open meeting earlier this year. The Aussie will need to get past Sebastian Baez to set up a rematch, with Medvedev earning a bye as the Montreal top seed. Eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz is a potential quarter-final opponent for either man, while Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime headline the second quarter.

Carlos Alcaraz, seeking his third ATP Masters 1000 title, occupies the draw’s bottom line as the second seed. He could meet fifth seed Andrey Rublev for the first time in the quarter-finals. The 19-year-old is making his Montreal debut after claiming his first two Masters 1000s trophies in Miami and Madrid this year.

“At the moment everything is going well,” he said at the draw ceremony. “I like the weather. I like the court. At the moment I’m feeling great.

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In the draw’s third quarter, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner are in line for a sixth ATP Head2Head meeting, should the seeds hold.

“I see my chances [as] pretty good this year,” the Greek said at the draw ceremony. “I’m going to have to stick to what I do best. I work hard on the court. I’m hoping for good success in Montreal because I like this place. It has a very very good culture. The people here they have a very good sports culture, which I like a lot.”

The third seed is seeking his first win in at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal. In two appearances at the tournament’s Toronto venue, he has reached a final (2018) and a semi-final (2021).

Playing in his first event since Wimbledon, Tsitsipas said the courts felt slower than he expected, which is to his liking. Alcaraz, coming off of two clay-court final runs in Hamburg and Umag, felt the opposite: “I came here and the first feeling that I had was ‘too fast for me,'” he said with a laugh.

The draw also served up a number of first-round highlights, including Taylor Fritz vs. Andy Murray, Denis Shapovalov vs. Alex de Minuar, Gael Monfils vs. Reilly Opelka and Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Matteo Berrettini.

Top seed Andrey Rublev completed part one of a two-step mission to reach the Citi Open semi-finals Friday, defeating American Maxime Cressy 6-4, 7-6(8) in early play.

The match was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed due to heavy rain, forcing Rublev to play and win two matches Friday if he is to reach the last four in Washington, D.C.

In warm and humid conditions, the World No. 8 got off to a hot start against serve-and-volleyer Cressy, who forced the 24-year-old to consistently come up with high-quality passing shots. “To be honest it’s super tough to manage this type of style because you have to be focused 100%; you never know what to expect,” the 2018 D.C. semi-finalist said.

Rublev was dominant in the first set, breaking in the third game and winning all 14 of his first serve points.

The turning point in the second set came with Cressy serving at 5/3 in the tie-break. The 6’6” former UCLA star dashed to the net following a blistering serve and had a routine put-away smash on top of the net to set up three set points. Cressy fired the smash directly at Rublev, who reflexed back another easy overhead, which Cressy hit wide.

Rublev later admitted that he thought the second set was over when Cressy had the mini-break. “In my head, the second set was done and I’ll just do my best to finish the second and I’ll fight for the third,” Rublev recalled.

Having already won three titles this season (Marseille, Dubai, Belgrade), a title this week would draw Rublev level with Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz for most titles on the year. He will continue his quest for the Citi Open when he matches up with J.J. Wolf in the quarter-finals later today. It will be the top seed’s first contest against the 23-year-old.

Wolf, who received a wild card into Washington, D.C., is into his first Tour-level quarter-final after defeating Holger Rune 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Rallying to win the final four games, the former Ohio State standout now climbs up to a career-high 83 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Montreal due to an ongoing abdominal issue.

The Spaniard aggravated the injury during his quarter-final clash against Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon on July 6. Despite battling through the pain to a remarkable five-set victory against the American, Nadal was later forced to withdraw from his semi-final clash against Nick Kyrgios. Nadal requires more time to recover from the problem, prompting his withdrawal from the hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event in Canada.

“I have been practising for a while now without serving and started with serves four days ago,” said Nadal in a statement via Tennis Canada. “Everything has been going well. However yesterday, after my normal practice, I felt a slight bother on my abdominal and today it was still there.

“After speaking with my doctor, we prefer to take things in a conservative way and give a few more days before starting to compete. I would like to thank Eugene, the Tournament Director, and all his team for understanding and supporting me and this decision.

“I am very sad not to finally travel to Montréal. It’s a tournament that I have won 5 times and I love to play there. I seriously hope I can come back there to play in front of the amazing crowds up there.”

The 36-time Masters 1000 champion Nadal is a five-time winner in Canada, with three of those titles coming in Montreal and two in Toronto. Despite missing all of April with a cracked rib and this current abdominal issue, the 36-year-old Spaniard has enjoyed a stellar 2022 season. Nadal holds a match record of 35-3 and lifted his record-extending 21st and 22nd Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

“We are obviously disappointed that Rafael will not be with us this year,” said Eugene Lapierre, director of the Montreal Tournament. “A five-time champion of our tournament and the last men’s champion in Montreal in 2019, fans were obviously eager to see him back in action at the IGA Stadium.

“On the other hand, when we take a broader perspective, we still have a very strong board with the presence of 41 of the 44 best players in the world. With such a strong field, it is a safe bet that the IGA Stadium will once again showcase very exciting tennis!”

World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev is the defending champion at the Canadian Masters 1000 event, which alternates between the host cities of Montreal and Toronto each year. This year’s edition of the third-oldest event on the ATP Tour will run from 7-14 August.

The draw for the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers will made today at 4:00 p.m. local time (EDT).

Miomir Kecmanovic earned a pair of quarter-final victories on Thursday at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel, following up his singles triumph with a doubles victory alonside American William Blumberg.

Blumberg and Kecmanovic battled back from a set down to defeat Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan 1-6, 7-5, 10-4. The American-Serbian pairing also won a Match Tie-break in their opening-round win against Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

A former North Carolina Tar Heel, Blumberg is seeking his second tour-level title in as many months after he teamed with Steve Johnson to win the Newport title in July. He also won the Newport title with Jack Sock in 2021 to claim his first tour-level trophy.

Kecmanovic is one win away from his first tour-level doubles final. The singles World No. 38 is also gearing up to face World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the Los Cabos singles semi-finals on Friday. He and Blumberg will face Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in Friday’s doubles semi-finals.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Chun-Hsin Tseng also advanced on Thursday, earning a 7-6(3), 6-3 upset win against second seeds and reigning Wimbledon champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.

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Match Points Saved In Rainy Washington
In the lone doubles match to finish on Thursday at the Citi Open, Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop saved two match points in a 7-6(10), 4-6, 12-10 victory against Colombians Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal. The Indian-Dutch duo trailed 8/9 and 9/10 in the Match Tie-break but won the final three points to advance.

John Peers and Daniel Evans claimed a 7-5 opening set against fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek before rain suspended play, while Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock saw their matchup with Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin postponed.

Felix Auger-Aliassime lost just one point on first serve Thursday night at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel as he fought off a stern challenge from Steve Johnson to reach the Los Cabos semi-finals. In his 6-4, 7-6(3) victory, the Canadian was all but flawless on his first delivery, winning 33 of 34 points (97 per cent).

“That’s a pretty good stat,” he said with a smile in his on-court interview. “I didn’t know it was that good. I knew it was good, definitely better than yesterday.

“I know my serve can be a really good weapon for me, a really strong one. Today I showed it, not facing a break point. That stat, I don’t know if I’ve done that before.”

After starting the match with an immediate break, the second seed dropped just two points on serve in the opening set. While he threatened with seven break points in the second set, Johnson held firm to force a tie-break, saving one of those break chances with a drop volley that was equal parts devilish and daring.

The tie-break remained on serve until two untimely forehand errors from Johnson brought up match point. Auger-Aliassime’s 17th ace sealed his progress to his 18th tour-level semi-final final and fourth of the season.

“The crowd was really nice today. It’s better not to play a Mexican here, so that was also nicer for me,” he added post-match, referencing his opening-round win over home favourite Alex Hernandez on Wednesday. 

Moving through to the SEMIS! 💪@felixtennis gets past Johnson 6-4, 7-6(3).@AbiertoLosCabos | #ATC2022 pic.twitter.com/NNxMRV81Qv

— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 5, 2022

Making his Los Cabos debut, Auger-Aliassime is seeking his second title of the season after he claimed his first career ATP Tour crown in February in Rotterdam. He will next face third seed Cameron Norrie or Moldova’s Radu Albot, with World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev set to meet Miomir Kecmanovic in the opposite semi-final.

The Canadian has a never lost against either Norrie or Albot, boasting a 4-0 ATP Head2Head record against the Briton and a 1-0 mark against the Moldovan.

Tennis is a 55-45 sport.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of match winners vs. match losers identifies that match winners on average win 55 per cent of points in a match while match losers still accumulate a healthy 45 per cent of total points played. The data set includes 464 players who have competed in 100 matches or more in their career from the 1991 season when official match statistics were first recorded.

When analysing only match winners, Rafael Nadal sits at the top of the tree as the most dominant player in our sport in the past 30+ years. When Nadal wins his matches, he consistently creates a greater margin of victory than any other player. The leading three players with the highest percentage of points won when winning matches are below.

Percentage Of Points Won By Match Winners
1. Rafael Nadal = 56.40%
2. Novak Djokovic = 56.12%
3. Roger Federer = 55.91%

It’s fascinating to see the “Big Three” grouped together at the top of the leaderboard all within one percentage point of each other.

When you look at the other side of the coin at match losers, the player who is essentially the “toughest out” in our sport is Federer. In a losing effort, he has consistently won more points than anyone on Tour.

Percentage Of Points Won By Match Losers
1: Roger Federer = 47.57%
T2: Richard Krajicek = 47.31%
T2: Milos Raonic = 47.31%

Federer leads this list from two big servers in Richard Krajicek and Milos Raonic, who were tied for second place. One assumption that can be made is that being a big server helps you keep matches closer than being a solid returner. That theory gets support when you look at other big servers such as Todd Martin (47.19%), Pete Sampras (47.15%), Ivo Karlovic (47.06%) Andy Roddick (46.91%), Stefanos Tsitsipas (46.88%) and Greg Rusedski (46.85%) in the leading 10 players in this category.

First-Serve Analysis
Match winners won a dominant 76 per cent of first-serve points, while match losers still averaged a respectable 67 per cent of first-serve points won in defeat. Goran Ivanisevic (85.56%) was most dominant in the match winners column, while Karlovic still managed to win 79.97 per cent of his points when defeated.

Second-Serve Analysis
Aussie lefty, Wayne Arthurs, led the Match Winners table, winning a hefty 60.45 per cent, while the rest of the players in the data set averaged winning 55.12 per cent of their second serves. When matches were lost, only John Isner (50.95%) and Arthurs (50.57%) managed to break the 50 per cent threshold for second-serve points won.

Summary
Defeat in tennis can be disappointing and deflating. Quite often players struggle to even pinpoint where things went off the rails or what part of their game broke down to contribute to the loss. But truth and inspiration can be found in the match analytics, which show just how far you really are away from your opponent.

A good way to think about winning and losing in tennis is each player who walks out onto the court is going to win at least 45 per cent of all points.

The real battle is focused on the remaining 10 per cent.