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The world’s best player defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, tying him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and putting him one victory closer to a Golden Slam.Novak Djokovic won the Wimbledon men’s singles championship on Sunday, defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy. More
Djokovic, the world’s top player, has a chance to reach 20 Grand Slam titles to tie Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. His Italian opponent has the opportunity to play spoiler.WIMBLEDON, England — Denis Shapovalov was serving for the first set in the semifinals of Wimbledon on Friday, and Novak Djokovic was sliding to his right, bent forward with his left hand on the Centre Court dirt. More
As a teenager, he and his coach emphasized playing an aggressive style with big serves. Berrettini, in the semifinals with that same coach, is confident he can win the tournament.WIMBLEDON, England — Matteo Berrettini has surged into the spotlight this summer.A 24-3 run that started with a title in Belgrade, Serbia, has carried through to the Wimbledon semifinals, where the seventh-seeded Berrettini will face 14th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland on Friday for a spot in the men’s singles final. More
Rafael Nadal, the 13-time champion at Roland Garros, is set for yet another showdown with Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1 and his longtime rival. But the title won’t be on the line.PARIS — Roland Garros came alive Wednesday in so many ways.As the French government eased coronavirus-related restrictions, allowing some 5,000 fans to fill Philippe Chatrier Court with rousing chants and sharp Panama hats, it seemed fitting that this would be the day that set up a match that has been anticipated for nearly two weeks.Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will meet in a French Open semifinal on Friday. Both won gutty matches on Wednesday that were filled with tension, noise and surges of momentum in every direction.Their semifinal match will be the latest showdown in an epic rivalry and the second time in less than a month that they will face each other on red clay, Nadal’s favorite surface. Djokovic, however, gave him all he could manage in their recent three-set clay-court match in the final of Italian Open, which Nadal won for the 10th time.“It is going to be a special match with a lot of crowd, just like it was today,” said Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, who battled valiantly against Nadal on Wednesday only to fall in four sets. “Everyone wants to see that.”They also wanted to see the end of Djokovic’s quarterfinal match with Matteo Berrettini of Italy. But an 11 p.m. curfew intervened. On a changeover at 10:54 local time, with Djokovic leading by a set and up by 3-2 in the fourth, the players headed for the locker room as security workers cleared the crowd, which was about five times larger than on any previous day and had spent the better part of an hour helping to lift Berrettini from a two-set hole.Virtually the same series of events had unfolded during a Djokovic match at the Australian Open in February. Just as then, there was howling and plenty of dawdling to the exits on Wednesday. But after about 15 minutes, the players returned to an empty stadium to complete the business of the night.Djokovic then finished off the ninth-seeded Berrettini, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(5) 7-5, like a man desperate to save every ounce of energy for his next match.“Very difficult conditions,” a spent Djokovic said when it was over.Now comes the hardest part. Djokovic holds the edge against Nadal, 29-28, though Nadal is far superior on clay, with a 19-7 record that currently looks even more imposing. It’s heating up in Paris, baking the clay and making the ball fly just the way Nadal likes.“We know each other well,” Nadal said after beating the 10th-seeded Schwartzman, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. “Everybody knows that in these kind of matches anything can happen.”Djokovic holds a slight edge in match victories, 29-28, over his semifinal opponent, Nadal.Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDjokovic said playing Nadal at the French Open was unlike anything else in the sport.“It’s the biggest challenge you can have playing against Nadal on this court,” he said. “Each time we face each other, there is that extra tension and expectation. The vibes are different walking on the court with him.”And yet, because of how players are seeded at Grand Slam tournaments, strictly by the current ranking, the matchup comes in the semifinal, one round before pretty much anyone with knowledge of the sport believed that Nadal, the reigning champion, the No. 3 seed and a 13-time winner of this event, should play Djokovic, the world No. 1.But Nadal skipped the 2020 United States Open because of concerns about the pandemic, lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and played a limited schedule after that tournament, allowing Daniil Medvedev to grab the second spot in the world rankings.“That’s a big difference,” Nadal said Wednesday of meeting Djokovic in a semifinal instead of the final. “The winner of that match needs to keep going, and there remains a lot of work to do to try to achieve the final goal here.”Nadal had to put in plenty of work Wednesday to secure his semifinal spot. For a little while, with an intense, late afternoon sun making the conditions deceptively taxing, Schwartzman had Nadal on the ropes.A beguiling player who has gotten the most out of a body that is just barely over five-and-a-half feet tall, Schwartzman is a defender of the first order. What he lacks in leverage and power, he makes up for by having more tricks and spins in his strings than nearly any other player on the tour. His topspin lob, which somehow always seems to land within inches of the baseline, is as good as it gets.He has done one of the hardest things in the sport. He beat Nadal on red clay at the Italian Open last year. He is an extremely popular player in the locker room, a figure of fascination among peers who are generally at least a half-foot taller than he is and who know firsthand how difficult he can be to play, especially on clay. Schwartzman is fearless, and he came to fight Wednesday.The crowd watching Nadal and Diego Schwartzman during their quarterfinal match on Wednesday.Thibault Camus/Associated PressDown a set, he battled to stay in the match, and had a Roland Garros crowd — which treats Nadal as a beloved adopted son — chanting his name. He didn’t disappoint, unleashing his powerful forehand, breaking Nadal three times in the first two sets and shaking his confidence. By the end of the second set, Nadal was sending weak backhands to the middle of the court for Schwartzman to tee off on and repeatedly failing to put away overheads that he usually bounces off the court.Ultimately, though, no part of Schwartzman’s game is better than Nadal’s, with the possible exception of that topspin lob.Down by 3-4 in the third set, Nadal suddenly seemed to remember where he was and what he has accomplished here. He reeled off wins in the next nine games, finishing the match in a manageable 2 hours 45 minutes. In the final set, he won 25 of 30 points.“At the end, he’s Rafa and he’s always finding the way,” Schwartzman said.After Nadal was done, it was Djokovic’s turn to hold up his end of the deal.At first, Djokovic was far more clinical than he had been in his fourth-round match against another Italian, Lorenzo Musetti, who took the first two sets off Djokovic. With arguably the best return the game has ever seen, Djokovic broke Berrettini’s usually troublesome serve early in the first two sets and gave Berrettini few chances to break his.Djokovic has lost after being up two sets to none just once in his career. But with no room for error, Berrettini found the groove on his serve and had Djokovic lunging just to get the rim of his racket on the ball. Under pressure, Djokovic fumbled away a chance to serve out the third-set tiebreaker. Then, with the stadium empty and his anger boiling over, Djokovic outfought Berrettini to barely prevail in the fourth, screaming like a cave man when Berrettini’s final shot hit the middle of the net.Nadal was down by 3-4 in the third set, then found his form and reeled off wins in the next nine games.Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDjokovic has seen versions of this movie before. In October, he entered the French Open final against Nadal with as good a chance as ever against a player who had never lost the ultimate match at Roland Garros. He appeared in form, and the shift of the tournament to the fall because of the pandemic meant cool playing conditions that deadened the balls, preventing them from jumping into Nadal’s preferred strike zone.Yet Nadal blitzed Djokovic, 6-0, 6-2, 7-5.Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion and Djokovic’s coach, said that loss had staggered Djokovic, especially after his disqualification from the United States Open in September, when he inadvertently swatted a ball into a line judge’s throat.The win gave Nadal his 20th Grand Slam title, tying him with Roger Federer for the most in the history of the men’s game. Djokovic pulled to within two of them in February, when he won his ninth Australian Open championship.Now he and Nadal are meeting with only a berth in Sunday’s final on the line, even if it may not really feel that way. Neither of the two other semifinalists, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, has won a Grand Slam title.At least, the great matchup should be completed with plenty of time before curfew. The Panama hats will be out in force.Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, left, will face Alexander Zverev of Germany in the other men’s semifinal on Friday.Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images More
Italy has 10 players in the top 100, the most ever, and two 19-year-olds who look like major stars in the making. Just don’t ask them what’s going on.PARIS — The Grand Slam event currently underway may be called the French Open. The overwhelming favorite in men’s singles is from Spain. But this tournament, and perhaps even the future of men’s tennis, suddenly feels very Italian.That may sound strange, especially to the Italians, who have never produced a world No. 1. But on Thursday, a pair of 19-year-olds, Jannik Sinner, the surprise quarterfinalist at Roland Garros last year, and Lorenzo Musetti, who is playing in his first Grand Slam tournament, stormed into the final 32. So did Matteo Berrettini, 25, who is seeded ninth. They joined the 34-year-old veteran Fabio Fognini, the No. 27 seed, who has crushed his first two opponents and serves as the spiritual leader for the younger set driving this unprecedented Italian charge.“It’s something we are not used to,” Berrettini said after pummeling Federico Coria of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, Thursday. “Nobody is used to it.”Tennis may be the ultimate individual sport, but countries sometimes produce waves of top players. Germans (Boris Becker, Steffi Graf) had their day in the late 1980s. Americans (Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Michael Chang) were mainstays of the top 10 in the 1990s. A decade ago, Spain was tennis royalty, winning the Davis Cup, the sport’s leading national competition, four times in eight years, with Rafael Nadal leading the way.If a country produces a generational star, it stands to reason more will follow. But as many times as not, countries produce a champion, and then the tennis cupboard is largely empty. There are no hot young Swiss players in the top 100 ready to fill Roger Federer’s shoes. Spain’s youngest player in the top 40, Pablo Carreño Busta, is 29.“You think the more good players you have from a nation they can groom the next generation, but then the chain breaks,” said Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, a top 20 player in the 1990s who now leads the ATP Tour.Jannik Sinner made the quarterfinals of last year’s French Open and beat a fellow Italian, Gianluca Mager, to advance to the third round this year.Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSo what has made Italy so good at this moment in men’s tennis history? Asking that is a bit like asking for directions in Rome — plenty of possible answers, none seemingly any better than the rest.Even the smartest tennis minds do not really know how to develop a phenomenal tennis player, much less several of them simultaneously. At its highest level, the game requires the mettle of boxing, the athleticism of basketball and the touch of billiards. Try manufacturing that.Italy began holding significantly more lower-level tournaments during the past decade. That allowed Sinner and Musetti easier access to pro tournaments to cut their teeth. And yet, there are other countries that have plentiful schedules of low-level pro tournaments but do not have a group similar to Italy’s. For instance, the United States, which is more than five times as large as Italy and has lots of low level tournaments, does not have a man in the top 30.Andreas Seppi, the 37-year-old Italian journeyman who notched a first-round upset at Roland Garros, credited the proliferation of top players to Italian coaches, who are more seasoned than they were when he was early in his career. Seppi said his coach, Massimo Sartori, essentially learned the trade with him.“I was my coach’s first player,” Seppi said. “Now all these coaches know what they have to do and how the tour works.”The 37-year-old veteran Andrea Seppi said Italian coaches were more seasoned now than they were as he rose up the ranks..Martin Bureau/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIndeed, Sinner’s coach, Riccardo Piatti, previously worked with a young Novak Djokovic, and top pros like Richard Gasquet of France and Milos Raonic of Canada.Then again, Musetti’s coach, Simone Tartarini, who has been working with him since he was 7 years old, has coached largely national junior players in the past. The two sometimes share hotel rooms on the road.Sinner and Musetti’s disparate upbringings also offer no clues to success.Sinner, the son of a chef and a restaurant hostess, was a junior skiing champion and did not specialize in tennis until he began training at an academy in his early teens. At first, he struggled emotionally and physically with the daily grind of so many hours on the court, he said earlier this year.Musetti began playing tennis at the age of 4. Other than kicking a soccer ball occasionally with his friends, he never pursued another sport. By age 12, he was among Italy’s standout juniors.So if this golden generation of Italian players proves anything about tennis, it might be the random nature of development and how many different ways there are to play the game.“Some people might say we complain a lot inside the court,” Musetti joked the other day. “I used to, but now I have grown up a little bit.”Blame Fognini for that rap. Fognini, who played doubles with Musetti this spring, regularly offers tips about opponents and tactical advice to his young countrymen. He won’t hesitate to question a line call or hold an umpire, or even an opponent, accountable for the management of a match.He was easily handling Marton Fucsovics of Hungary on Wednesday when a fan in the rowdy crowd screamed after one of his serves, interrupting play. He made sure the chair umpire knew he was not pleased. Up two sets and two breaks, he was still taking long stares at ball marks. However in the third round on Friday, Fognini ran out of steam, losing 6-4, 6-1, 6-3, to Federico Delbonis of Argentina.On the other hand, Musetti, Sinner, Berrettini, and the 26-year-old Lorenzo Sonego — who was seeded 26th here but lost in straight sets in the first round — are mostly all-business on the court.They do not play much like Fognini either. Fognini is a classic counterpuncher. He saunters around the court, taking his time before serving, or returning. He will slice, bash and flick his forehand all during the same point, wait for the slightest opening and then pounce.On Thursday, Sinner played as he always does. All afternoon he attacked another Italian, the 87th-ranked Gianluca Mager, from the back half of the court with darts to the sidelines.Berrettini, who is 6-foot-5, leads with his booming serve, which has been clocked at 146 miles per hour. He powers his way into the court and finishes plenty of points at the net. He also has a highly effective backhand drop shot.Musetti is strong nearly everywhere on the court, with a museum quality one-hand backhand, a beautiful, low-to-high stroke that sends the ball flying off his racket. Opponents have seemingly won a point after pinning him deep on his backhand side, then end up watching a laser dive into the corner.“He’s got a lot of shots,” Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, the world’s fifth-ranked player, said of Musetti after beating him in Mexico in March. “He just has to work a bit on his serve.”Musetti said he spent much of the spring doing that, trying to make it less predictable.The work appears to be paying off. Musetti has yet to lose a set here. By the third set Thursday, his opponent, Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, older by six years, was kicking his racket across the clay and tossing his cap.“I’m not trying to explain this,” Musetti said after the win. He faces, who else, another Italian, the 83rd-ranked Marco Cecchinato, in the third round.Musetti now has a 20-11 record on the ATP Tour, as good a start as any current player who has finished a season ranked in the top 10, according to Greg Sharko, the tour’s statistics whiz.The teenager from Tuscany is trying to treat these Grand Slam matches like any other, even though he knows that is impossible.“You think ‘racket, ball, opponent,’” Musetti said the other day. “But every tournament is different, especially in the Grand Slam.” More
AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Friday NightRafael Nadal and Ashleigh Barty are in the spotlight after easing through the first two rounds of the Australian Open.Rafael Nadal will face Cameron Norrie, a 25-year-old British player, in the fourth round.Credit…Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesFeb. 12, 2021, 9:31 a.m. ETHow to watch: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern on the Tennis Channel and 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN2 in the United States; streaming on the ESPN+ and ESPN3 apps.Rafael Nadal cruised past Michael Mmoh, a 23-year-old American, in his second-round match, dropping only seven games across three sets. Although there was plenty of flash on the court, an aggrieved fan had the most memorable moment, heckling Nadal and making an obscene gesture at him before being removed by security. During a post-match news conference, Nadal laughed away the stunt and was visibly puzzled, but not angered, by the fan’s outburst.Tonight’s matches won’t have any hecklers as fans won’t be allowed at the tournament for the next several days because of a coronavirus lockdown in the Australian state of Victoria, but they are sure to provide plenty of entertainment as the third round of the Australian Open concludes.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are at best estimates and certain to fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Rod Laver Arena | 7 p.m. FridayKarolina Muchova vs. Karolina PliskovaKarolina Pliskova, the sixth seed from the Czech Republic, is one of the best players on the women’s tour without a Grand Slam title. Her only appearance in a final was at the 2016 U.S. Open, and although she has reached two semifinals since, she has not been able to push past more nimble opposition.Karolina Muchova during her second-round match. Muchova and Karolina Pliskova have split their two matches.Credit…Andy Brownbill/Associated PressPliskova and Karolina Muchova, her countrywoman, have played each other only in Grand Slams, with Pliskova winning in the first round of the 2019 Australian Open and Muchova prevailing in a three-set match in the round of 16 at Wimbledon later that year.Muchova can adapt her game and tends to push her opponents around the court with a variety of shots that rely more on finesse than power. Pliskova will need to grab control of points early with her powerful baseline shots if she’s going to avert an upset.Margaret Court Arena | 11 p.m. FridayAndrey Rublev vs. Feliciano LopezFeliciano Lopez upset the 31st seed, Lorenzo Sonego, in a tight five-set match in the second round. Lopez, a 39 year-old Spaniard, is playing in his 75th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, continuing a streak that started at the 2002 French Open. Having exited in the first round in the last four Australian Opens, Lopez is enjoying being deeper into the tournament.Feliciano Lopez, 39, has played in 75 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. He has never reached a final.Credit…Andy Brownbill/Associated PressAndrey Rublev, the seventh seed, has been bulldozing his opposition over the last couple of weeks. Rublev, 23, dropped only one set in singles as he helped Russia win the ATP Cup, and he has won his first two rounds at the Australian Open in straight sets. His explosive forehand shots are thriving on the fast courts of Melbourne Park, helping him move opponents around the court even when he is under pressure. While Lopez certainly has more experience than Rublev, it will be hard for him to keep up with the pure ferocity of Rublev’s game.Rod Laver Arena | Midnight SATURDAYBelinda Bencic vs. Elise MertensIn her return to a Grand Slam after skipping the United States and French Opens in 2020, Belinda Bencic has not been particularly satisfied with her play going into the third round. Bencic, the 11th seed from Switzerland, needed three sets to beat each of her unseeded opponents in the first two rounds. She is an incredibly intelligent player, but sometimes struggles to keep pace with some of her peers, who can overpower her. Bencic, 23, will need to improve if she’s to reach the round of 16.Elise Mertens has not lost before the third round in a major tournament since the 2018 Australian Open.Credit…Paul Crock/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesElise Mertens, the 18th seed from Belgium, is on a good run: She won the Gippsland Trophy last week while beating the fifth-ranked Elina Svitolina in the process. Mertens, 25, has a particularly consistent game, which is reflected in her Grand Slam results. She was a semifinalist at the 2018 Australian Open, and has not lost before the third round in a Grand Slam since. Considering Bencic’s middling play going into the match, Mertens should be a clear favorite.John Cain Arena | 3 a.m. SaturdayMatteo Berrettini vs. Karen KhachanovKaren Khachanov, the 19th seed, and Matteo Berrettini, the ninth seed, have styles so similar that one might think they were coached together from a young age. Both are 24 years old, and they are built in the same vein, models of strength sticking out among a generation of players who aimed to be lithe and flexible.Matteo Berrettini lost only one set in his first two matches.Credit…Rick Rycroft/Associated PressBerrettini had a breakout year in 2019, when he reached the U.S. Open semifinal, but he struggled last year, not making the final of any ATP event. Now, he’s looking to return to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal since that U.S. Open run. Khachanov hasn’t made a quarterfinal at a major since the 2019 French Open.When these two bruisers meet, especially on a faster court, expect plenty of points to end with either a stunning winner, or an unforced error when a player chooses the wrong moment to strike.Here are a few more matches to keep an eye on.Elina Svitolina vs. Yulia Putintseva — 7 p.m.Mackenzie McDonald vs. Lloyd Harris — 9 p.m.Ashleigh Barty vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova — 3 a.m.Rafael Nadal vs. Cameron Norrie — 5 a.m.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More
AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Monday NightOne of the several young Americans taking the court, Sofia Kenin will begin her defense of her 2020 Australian Open title.Sofia Kenin won the 2020 Australian Open.Credit…Graham Denholm/Getty ImagesFeb. 8, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETHow to watch: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN2 in the United States; streaming on the ESPN+ app.The first round of the Australian Open is set to finish on Monday, with a few previous champions on the schedule. Rafael Nadal and Ashleigh Barty will both be featured on the court at Rod Laver Arena in the early hours of the morning for fans on the Eastern Seaboard. For those who don’t want to stay up too late on a school night, there are plenty of exciting matches planned for the evening.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are guesses at best and certain to fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Rod Laver Arena | 7 p.m. MondaySofia Kenin vs. Maddison InglisSofia Kenin, the defending women’s singles champion in Melbourne, had a breakthrough year in 2020. In addition to her first Grand Slam victory, she reached the final at the French Open and the round of 16 at the United States Open, finishing the year at No. 4 in the world. Kenin, 22, is one of four women who have won their first Grand Slam titles in the past two years, creating a cluttered field of players with heightened expectations. Inevitably, some won’t live up to them. Kenin’s aggressive baseline play and well-concealed drop shots are potent weapons on the fast hard courts of Melbourne Park. Kenin, who had a leg injury going into the tournament, will hope to have an easy time against Maddison Inglis in her first round matchup.Maddison Inglis received a wild card into the main draw. She has never advanced past the first round of a Grand Slam main draw.Credit…Mike Owen/Getty ImagesInglis, an Australian who received a wild card into the main draw, has never progressed past the first round at a Grand Slam. Her counterattacking style has trouble holding up against some of the harder hitters on the WTA Tour, although she certainly shows moments of brilliance. Getting her first main draw victory will be a tall order, especially against Kenin. But this match should help illuminate whether Inglis was able to improve on her previous performances and make the improvements necessary to succeed on the tour in the future.Margaret Court Arena | 9 p.m. MondayVictoria Azarenka vs. Jessica PegulaVictoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion and former world No. 1, struggled with her return to the tour after injuries and a mentally draining custody battle. Last year, she reached her first Grand Slam final since 2013 and proved that she was still capable of challenging for titles, winning the Western and Southern Open before the U.S. Open. Azarenka is one of the tour’s veterans, but her game does not look out of place among the young power hitters seeking to supplant former champions.Jessica Pegula pushed Sofia Kenin to three sets in a tournament leading up to the Australian Open.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesJessica Pegula, the world No. 61, has had some recent success on hard courts. She reached the third round of the 2020 U.S. Open, and pushed Kenin to three sets at the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne last week. Pegula’s focus on deep, consistent shotmaking is an asset, but it can be undercut if she doesn’t move her opponents on the court well enough to unsettle them. If she can take control of points, there’s a possibility of an early upset.John Cain Arena | 10 p.m. MondayCoco Gauff vs. Jil TeichmannCoco Gauff, a 16-year-old American, and Jil Teichmann, a 23-year-old Swiss player, played each other just last week in the first round of the Gippsland Trophy, with Gauff winning in three sets. Both players represent the brightest hope for the future of women’s tennis in their countries.Teichmann has found the most success on clay, having won WTA titles in 2019 at the Prague Open and Palermo International. Gauff won her first title at the Linz Open in 2019 but has raised her profile most on the Grand Slam stage. She has reached the round of 16 twice, including last year at the Australian Open.Like their last match, this one is bound to be close. Gauff’s tenacity and mental strength have been on display recently, although Teichmann has shown a little more inventiveness in her play, continually searching for her opponent’s weaknesses.Rod Laver Arena | 5 a.m. TuesdayStefanos Tsitsipas vs. Gilles SimonStefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, the fifth seed in the men’s singles draw, was in good form during the ATP Cup this month, defeating Alex de Minaur and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets. But inconsistency has been an issue throughout his career. His shotmaking is on par with many of the other top players, but he has struggled with securing victories on the biggest stages. A 2019 ATP Finals championship has been the highlight of his career, but aside from that he has won only ATP 250 events, the lowest rung of events on the ATP Tour.Stefanos Tsitsipas is the fifth seed in the men’s singles draw. Aside from his 2019 ATP Finals championship, Tsitsipas has won only ATP 250 events, the lowest rung on the tour.Credit…/EPA, via ShutterstockGilles Simon, of France, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in 2009, emphasizes mental toughness as the most important aspect of tennis. A lack of focus on that part of the game, he suggests in his recent autobiography, is the main problem with the development of young tennis players in France. Although his best days are behind him, he can still provide a formidable challenge to Tsitsipas if he can create opportunities for winners through clever shot placement and prevent Tsitsipas from unloading his favored one-handed backhand.Matches for the Night Owls:Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. Tommy Paul — midnightKevin Anderson vs. Matteo Berrettini — 3 a.m.Karolina Muchova vs. Jelena Ostapenko — 3 a.m.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More
