2021 ATP Cup preview: Japan
ELIGIBLE to participate in the 2021 ATP Cup courtesy of Kei Nishikori‘s protected ranking, Japan enters the tournament as clear underdogs alongside Greece. The Asian nation might not have the elite talent Greece has in Stefanos Tsitsipas, but the overall team is better rounded and might yield more consistent results. TEAM: Kei Nishikori Yoshihito Nishioka […]
ATP Antalya & Delray Beach wraps: Italians falls as Goffin and de Minaur set up blockbuster semi
IT is getting to the pointy end of the opening ATP Tour tournaments for 2021, with the semi-finalists decided in both Antalya and Delray Beach. The higher-profile Antalya Open in Turkey saw three seeds reach the final four, two of which are Top 30 players. In the Delray Beach Open, it was less predictable with […]
ATP Antalya & Delray Beach wraps: Polarising days at two men’s tournaments
ANOTHER big day at the Antalya Open saw mostly a clean sweep from the top players, bar an excellent win from Frenchman Jeremy Chardy who downed third seed Fabio Fognini in the lone three-setter of the day. Three tiebreak sets told the tale of the almost-three hour 7-6 6-7 7-6 matchup, with Chardy reigning supreme in the tight […]
ATP Antalya & Delray Beach wraps: Top talents advance largely unchallenged
SEVEN of the eight seeds at the Antalya Open moved through to the second round, with only two of them needing to fight it out in three sets. The only losing seed to conclude the Round of 32 in Turkey was Miomir Kecmanovic, who, after winning the first set 6-1, fell away in a disappointing […]
2021 ATP Antalya and Delray Beach previews: Top 30 talents hit the hard courts in New Year
AFTER a long 2020, the 2021 ATP Tour is underway, with the main draw matches to take place today in Antalya, Turkey and Delray Beach, United States. Both hard court events are ATP 250 ones to give players a taste of the action before heading Down Under for an extended period in Australia where multiple […]
Defensive seeds advance as offensive ones all out by Sofia quarter finals
IT has been a strange tournament at the Sofia Open this week, with Felix Auger-Aliassime joining the likes of Denis Shapovalov, Jan-Lennard Struff, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Marin Cilic in losing their first match of the final ATP Tour tournament. All five seeds are traditional offensive players – though the likes of Struff and Cilic are […]
Albot takes out top seed Shapovalov in one-sided day of action
RADU Albot caused the biggest upset of the day, taking out number one seed Denis Shapovalov, one of five straight-set matches on day two of main draw matches at the Sofia Open. The Moldovan’s 6-2 6-4 win over the world number 12 was the first of the Round of 16 clashes at the event, with […]
Czech teenager stuns Cilic on debut in Sofia Open upset
IN the last match of the day at the Sofia Open, Czech teenager Jonas Forejtek has caused a boilover win, defeating Croatian top 50 player Marin Cilic. The eighth seed hardly knew what hit him as the 32-year-old was belted in just 66 minutes by the 19-year-old who won 6-3 6-2. Remarkably, Forejtek is ranked […]
Canadian, Australian duo lead field into Sofia Open
IN what will be the final event of the ATP Tour year – barring the invite-only ATP Finals – a young Canadian duo and Australia’s top two ranked men’s players are among the seeds at the Sofia Open. Held in Bulgaria, there is enough top-end talent and some tough competitors at the event to make […]
2020 ATP Astana Open preview: Paire and Kecmanovic lead field in Kazakhstan
WHILST the world’s top ATP Tour players are battling it out in Austria, a number of mid-tier talents will hope to win the penultimate ATP 250 event in Kazakhstan starting today. The 28-player hard court event is another new event on the calendar, taking place in Nur-Sultan and named the Astana Open. The top ranked […]
