Darderi joins Italian young guns in top 100
ITALIAN 21-year-old Luciano Darderi broke through for his maiden ATP Tour title in Cordoba over the weekend, winning the ATP 250 event to rise up an incredible 60 places on the world rankings. Darderi became the sixth Italian inside the top 100, and fifth aged 22 or under in what shapes as a blossoming future […]
Seeds shine in Adelaide, youth progresses across the ditch
IT was a good day for the top seeds at the Adelaide International yesterday, with six progressing as the tournament begins to heat up. Some had a harder time than others though, such as second seed Nicolas Jarry. After losing the first set in a tiebreaker to Italian Matteo Arnaldi, he hit back to win […]
Rublev ends giant-killer Shang’s run
RUSSIAN top 10 talent Andrey Rublev put an end to giant-killing Chinese teenager Juncheng Shang‘s run in Hong Kong, defeating him in a come-from-behind victory to get up in three sets and reach the final. The world number five had to grind hard against the wildcard, eventually winning 4-6 6-2 6-3 in two hours and […]
Thompson stuns Nadal in massive Brisbane upset
IT had to be seen to be believed, but Australian Jordan Thompson caused a huge boilover against former number one and 22-time Grand Slam winner, Rafael Nadal in Brisbane. In what left the crowd a little lost for words, Thompson fought back from a tough first set loss to post an unbelievable win, 5-7 7-6 […]
Rafa rockets into Brisbane quarters
A DISPLAY of sheer power and smarts saw former world number one and 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal make light work of Australian Jason Kubler at the Brisbane International last night. After getting past former major winner Dominic Thiem in the opening round, Nadal crushed the world number 102 to book a spot in […]
Red-hot Rinky tames Thanasi
NO MATTER the result, an Australian was going to be the winner as wildcard Rinky Hijikata took on Thanasi Kokkinakis on Show Court 1 at the Brisbane International. In a match that lasted an hour and 37 minutes, it was Hijikata who emerged victorious, shaking off an early Kokkinakis challenge to win 7-6 6-2. Hijikata […]