Friday, 31 May 2019
Rafael Nadal has a warning for Juan Ignacio Londero ahead of last 16 French Open clash
RAFAEL NADAL has a warning for Juan Ignacio Londero ahead of their last 16 clash at the French Open.
from Daily Express :: Tennis Feed http://bit.ly/2QzBrtN
Rafael Nadal makes ‘unbelievable’ claim after beating David Goffin at French Open
Roger Beats Rafa In Race To Roland Garros History
Rafael Nadal may well join him later on Friday, but Roger Federer will always be able to say he was the first man to 14 fourth-round appearances at Roland Garros.
The 2009 champion set a new Roland Garros record with his 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(8) win against Norway's #NextGenATP star Casper Ruud, surpassing Budge Patty's 13 Round of 16 showings from 1946 to 1958.
Federer, returning to Roland Garros for the first time since 2015, outhit and outthought the 20-year-old Norwegian in the intergenerational battle, serving and volleying on second serves with success and avoiding lengthy rallies with the Next Gen ATP Finals hopeful on a picture-perfect day in Paris.
He will face fellow 37-year-old in French wild card Nicolas Mahut or Argentine Leonardo Mayer for a place in the quarter-finals, which would be Federer's first since January 2018 at the Australian Open, where he won his 20th Grand Slam title.
Federer said before his third-round match that he probably knew more about Casper's father and coach, Christian Ruud, who joined Federer in three Roland Garros draws from 1999-2001, than he did about Casper.
The 20-year-old was playing in his first Grand Slam third round and made his best ATP Masters 1000 showing earlier this month by making the Round of 16 in Rome. He hung with Federer to start, but the Swiss broke twice in the first two sets to take the lead.
Ruud rallied in the third, breaking early, and although he was unable to consolidate, he stepped into the court to force a tie-break, where Federer clinched his fourth match point.
Did You Know?
Federer, 37 years 305 days, became the oldest man to make the fourth round in Paris since Italy's Nicola Pietrangeli (38 years 267 days) in 1972.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2MmwIwX
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Thursday, 30 May 2019
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal being watched by Novak Djokovic at French Open
French Open: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal among top six matches on Day 6 at Roland Garros
French Open order of play DAY 6: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in Roland Garros action
5 Things To Know About Ambidextrious Frenchman Hoang
Antoine Hoang wants this week to continue for the rest of his life. The 23-year-old Frenchman is into the third round at Roland Garros, and will next meet one of the flag bearers of French men's tennis for the past decade.
Here are five things to know about the 23-year-old Hoang:
1. He had one tour-level win before this week.
Hoang won his first ATP Challenger Tour title last October in Eckental and in February, he celebrated his maiden tour-level win at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.
Hoang qualified for the ATP 250 event and beat Belgian Steve Darcis before losing to countryman Jeremy Chardy. The French wild card has doubled his career win total this week by making the third round in Paris.
“I could not explain. Good things happen to me this time,” Hoang said. “I'm a bit lucky sometimes. Today Fernando served for the third set. He did 40/0 on his game, and then the things turned to my side. I don't know. I can't explain everything. But I have nothing to lose here, so I try to enjoy every moment, to push every time.”
2. He has a university degree.
Hoang is all in on his tennis career, but he has a backup plan if things don't go exactly to plan. He has a university degree in sports.
“My parents pushed me to study so that I could have a Plan B. I don't know if it's a good idea. But when one has a project, we should actually push it as far as possible at 20, 21, 22,” Hoang said.
“Now I'm giving myself 100 per cent to this project. I'm not thinking about teaching with my sports degree. Maybe I'm arriving on the Tour later than others, but I still have a lot of beautiful years ahead of me. I can evolve and progress. I do not regret what I have done so far.”
3. He is ambidextrious.
The way Hoang explains it, shoulder problems led him to decide to train with his left arm. “I made quite a lot of progress,” he said.
But once he fully recovered from his injury and wanted to again play his best, he switched back to using his right hand.
“I started playing tennis when I was a kid with my right hand, so I was playing forehand and backhand normally, but I already had a good backhand,” Hoang said. “Then when I got hurt, as I said, I learned to play with my left hand, doing the forehand and maybe the left-handed backhand.”
4. He works with a mental coach.
Perhaps Hoang has had the best week of his life because, mentally, what he needs to do on the court is clearer than ever. He worked with a mental coach before Roland Garros.
“The aim was to stay focused on my objectives, to encourage myself from the beginning to the end, even if there are mistakes, even if the match is not perfect,” Hoang said.
“I've been working on this on a daily basis, how to keep a positive mindset. I like to have attacking shots, so sometimes I make mistakes and it's hard to follow this mentally because you may wonder, 'Why are you making such mistakes?' And this is actually what I think about myself, too. I try to be stable and composed, mentally speaking.”
The self-proclaimed introvert has stayed mentally composed despite rarely encouraging himself out loud. Hoang said showing emotions on court isn't easy for him, but he's working on it.
“The mental fight is important and sharing emotions with the crowd is important. I'm making efforts to do so. I'm trying to encourage myself when I tend not to. It's very important,” he said.
Read More: Mahut Describes His Best Victory In Paris
5. He next plays the face of men's tennis in France.
Hoang will want to play as fearless as possible when he meets Gael Monfils, surely at Court Philippe Chatrier, the main show court, or Court Suzanne Lenglen, the second biggest court at Roland Garros.
Monfils made the third round for the 11th time by dismissing countryman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The 32-year-old has yet to drop a set in Paris.
“I know Gael from watching him on TV. I really enjoyed watching him, whether in Davis Cup or in other international tournaments,” Hoang said. “He's a very nice person, so I guess the atmosphere of the match will be good. We're not going to fight each other in that way. But the public will be behind both of us and will support a good game, so I believe we will both get support from the public.”
About playing on a bigger court, Hoang said, “All these things I'm not used to going through. It's a first for me, and I feel that these things I wanted to go through, I didn't want to be afraid.”
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2wvvlRX
Together Again, Bryans Beat Skupskis At Roland Garros
Playing together, the Bryan brothers have a perfect record in first-round action at Roland Garros – “20 for 20,” quipped Bob Bryan following their win Tuesday. But last year in Paris, Mike Bryan bowed out in his opening match when he teamed up with fellow American Sam Querrey in a loss to Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski.
Back alongside his brother this year, Mike avenged that defeat. The seventh-seeded Bryans beat the Skupskis 7-5, 7-6(6) on Thursday to advance to the third round at the clay-court major. They also won the clash of brothers earlier this year in the final of the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, the Americans’ first title since Bob’s return from hip surgery.
Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo came from behind to defeat Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, matching their team’s best run at Roland Garros, a Round of 16 finish last year (l. to Bopanna/Roger-Vasselin). Also in second-round action, Robin Haase and Frederik Nielsen rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Brits Daniel Evans and Cameron Norrie.
Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, who won the title last year with Pierre-Hugues Herbert, joined forces with Austrian Jurgen Melzer for a 6-2, 6-2 win over Italians Marco Cecchinato and Andreas Seppi in the first round. Mahut completed the career Grand Slam earlier this year when he and Herbert claimed the Australian Open title.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2XoZpdy
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Novak Djokovic delivers heartfelt judgement on Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer rivalry
Del Potro Stays Alive After Five
The sight had to make all tennis fans, and especially those of Juan Martin del Potro, cringe: the trainer trotting out to visit the Argentine.
Del Potro had his right knee heavily taped after dropping the opener of his second-round match against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka on Thursday at Roland Garros. But the two-time semi-finalist played with the pain and managed to make his way into the third round for the sixth time in Paris 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2.
Del Potro found his way in the second and third sets, crushing forehand winners and mixing in drop shots as Nishioka sagged behind the baseline.
The 6'6” right-hander is playing in only his fourth tournament of the season after breaking his right kneecap last October at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. He tested the injury in February in Delray Beach, only to realise he needed more time for rehab.
Read & Watch: Del Potro Gets Personal In 'The Road To London'
During the European clay-court swing, Del Potro has made his comeback and shown that he's truly ready. The 30-year-old reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, holding two match points against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Thursday's match, at times, matched its environment – the new Court Simonne-Mathieu, named after the 1938 and 1939 Roland Garros women's champion who, during World War II, signed up as a volunteer for the French Army.
The court is nestled below four greenhouses, each with plants from a different continent – Australia, Africa, South America, Asia – and watching a match there can feel as relaxing as a stroll through exotic gardens.
Del Potro will hope for a more relaxing scoreline when he next faces Aussie Jordan Thompson. Thompson made his first Round of 32 at a Grand Slam by beating Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3. On Tuesday, the 40-year-old Karlovic became the oldest man to win at Roland Garros since 1973. Thompson went 1-11 at tour-level last year but already is 15-10 this season.
Did You Know?
This is the fifth straight year the top eight seeds have reached the third round in Roland Garros. The top 8 seeds have not reached the third round at any of the other 12 Grand Slam events during that time (2015-18 Wimbledon, 2015-18 US Open, 2016-19 Australian Open).
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2MkkN2J
Roger Federer warned of ‘serious threat’ from Casper Ruud at French Open
View Schedule: Federer & Nadal Look For R4 Spots At Roland Garros
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal look to continue their impressive Roland Garros runs in third-round action on Friday. Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas seeks his 32nd tour-level win of the season and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka faces Grigor Dimitrov in a blockbuster clash.
Third seed Federer takes on #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud, who is competing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. Casper’s father, Christian, is a former Top 40 player who reached the third round in Paris in 1995 and 1999. The Swiss star has yet to drop a set this tournament and holds a 16-7 record at the second major of the year. Ruud reached his first ATP Tour final this April in Houston (l. to Garin).
Eleven-time champion and second seed Nadal battles No. 27 seed David Goffin of Belgium. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-1 and hasn’t lost a set in their three meetings on clay. The Spaniard has lost just 13 games in his first two rounds this fortnight and is now on a seven-match winning streak on clay. Goffin dropped even fewer games (11) to reach the third round and is displaying the tennis that brought him to a career-high No. 7 in the ATP Rankings.
Tsitsipas returns to Philippe-Chatrier to face Filip Krajinovic. The Serbian had never won a match on the red clay of Paris prior to this year. Tsitsipas’ results this European clay swing include a stunning win over Nadal en route to a runner-up finish at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. To Djokovic), semi-final showing at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and his third tour-level title at the Millennium Estoril Open (d. Cuevas).
Wawrinka and Dimitrov are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry at 4-4, but the Swiss won their past two meetings in first-round clashes last year at Wimbledon and the US Open. Dimitrov defeated Marin Cilic in five sets on Wednesday for his first Top 15 win since April 2018. Wawrinka seeks his first fourth-round appearance at a major since finishing runner-up here in 2017 (l. to Nadal).
Other notable third-round matches on Friday include seventh seed Kei Nishikori of Japan taking on No. 31 seed Laslo Djere of Serbia and French wild card Nicolas Mahut looking to continue his run against Argentine Leonardo Mayer.
More On #RG19
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ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, 31 MAY 2019
Court Philippe-Chatrier start 11:00
Two WTA matches
[2] Rafael Nadal vs David Goffin
[6] Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Filip Krajinovic
Court Suzanne Lenglen start 11:00
WTA match
[3] Roger Federer vs Casper Ruud
WTA match
[24] Stan Wawrinka vs Grigor Dimitrov
Court Simonne-Mathieu start 11:00
WTA match
Benoit Paire vs Pablo Carreno Busta
Nicolas Mahut vs Leonardo Mayer
WTA match
Court No. 1 start 11:00
Jeremy Chardy / Fabrice Martin vs Matwe Middelkoop / Tim Puetz
[31] Laslo Djere vs [7] Kei Nishikori
[WC] Gregoire Barrere / Quentin Halys vs Alex de Minaur / David Vega Hernandez
Court No. 14 start 11:00
Rajeev Ram / Joe Salisbury vs Enzo Couacaud / Tristan Lamasine
WTA match
[WC] Corentin Moutet vs Juan Ignacio Londero
Court No. 7 start 11:00
[8] Henri Kontinen / John Peers vs Marcelo Demoliner / Divij Sharan
Guido Pella / Diego Schwartzman vs Matteo Berrettini / Lorenzo Sonego
[4] Oliver Marach / Mate Pavic vs Elliot Benchetrit / Geoffrey Blancaneaux
Dominic Inglot / Martin Klizan vs Leander Paes / Benoit Paire
Court No. 6 start 11:00
Dusan Lajovic / Janko Tipsarevic vs Denys Molchanov / Igor Zelenay
WTA match
[WC] Benjamin Bonzi / Antoine Hoang vs Rohan Bopanna / Marius Copil
Federico Delbonis / Guillermo Duran vs Miomir Kecmanovic / Casper Ruud
Court No. 9 start 11:00
Two WTA matches
Ricardas Berankis / Yoshihito Nishioka vs [10] Jean-Julien Rojer / Horia Tecau
Court No. 12 start 11:00
Pablo Cuevas / Feliciano Lopez vs Mikhail Kukushkin / Joran Vliegen
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2Wz9Y0K
Zverev Wins In Straight Sets For Only Second Time At Roland Garros
For only the second time in 11 main draw matches at Roland Garros, Alexander Zverev recorded a straight sets triumph on Wednesday.
The fifth-seeded German will be relieved to have weathered a late comeback by Mikael Ymer of Sweden in a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory in just under two hours for a place in the third round for a third straight year.
Last year, Zverev came through three five-set clashes en route to his first Grand Slam championship quarter-final (l. to Thiem) and then beat Australia’s John Millman 7-6(4), 6-3, 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the 2019 first round on Tuesday. Read More & Watch Highlights
The 22-year-old struck 36 winners — including 12 aces — lost just 10 of his first-service points and won 20 of 27 points at the net. He was in complete control through to 5-3 in the third set against Ymer, was making his major championship debut this week, before the World No. 148 won three straight games. Zverev regrouped to win eight of the next 10 points to a 4/0 advantage in the tie-break.
Zverev will now face Serbian No. 30 seed Dusan Lajovic, who the German beat 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the 2018 Roland Garros second round. Lajovic, who has gone 3-4 since advancing to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (l. to Fognini) on 21 April, knocked out French qualifier Elliot Benchetrit 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.
Zverev is riding a six-match winning streak, which includes saving two match points against Nicolas Jarry in the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open final on Saturday for his 11th ATP Tour title.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2Wwks0B
Novak Djokovic: World No 1 reveals emotional French Open moment after Roland Garros win
Djokovic Sprints Into Roland Garros Third Round
Novak Djokovic improved to 10-0 against lucky losers on Thursday, coasting 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 against Swiss Henri Laaksonen to make the third round at Roland Garros.
The 2016 champion converted six of his 10 break points and spent only 93 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Djokovic is going for the “Nole Slam” again this fortnight, having won the past three Grand Slams, including a record-setting seventh Australian Open in January.
He'll face Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso, No. 147 in the ATP Rankings, for a place in the Round of 16. Caruso, 26, beat Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to make his first third round at a Grand Slam.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/30WDD36