Home favourite Benoit Paire will go for his second ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Moselle Open in Metz. The Frenchman snapped an eight-match semi-final losing streak on Saturday, beating Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 7-6(5).
The seventh seed struck 17 aces and saved all four break points against Basilashvili, who was looking to reach his second indoor ATP World Tour final of the season. The right-hander fell to Ryan Harrison of the U.S. in the Memphis Open final in February.
Before Saturday, Paire had lost all eight semi-finals he had played since October 2015, when he beat Kei Nishikori to reach the Tokyo final. But Paire improved to 3-0 against Basilashvili in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series to reach his fifth ATP World Tour final. Paire's previous title was at 2015 Bastad (d. Robredo).
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The 6'5” Paire will face a first-time finalist in German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who advanced when fifth seed and compatriot Mischa Zverev retired down 6-3, 1-0 because of the flu. Gojowczyk continues his strong second half of the season.
The 28 year old made the semi-finals at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport. He is the sixth qualifier to advance to an ATP World Tour final this season. The last qualifier to win an ATP World Tour title was Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at 2015 's-Hertogenbosch.
Doubles Final Set
Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin denied Paire a chance for two Metz titles. The third seeds beat Paire and Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 to reach Sunday's doubles final. They will meet New Zealand's Artem Sitak and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof.
Fabio Fognini saved two match points as he prevailed in a gripping semi-final clash with Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Open, edging the top-seeded Spaniard 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(5).
Fognini will look to win his sixth ATP World Tour title when he faces Damir Dzumhur in Sunday’s final of this ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tournament. Dzumhur reached his second ATP World Tour final as he defeated eighth seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 7-5.
Fognini, who was a finalist in St. Petersburg five years ago (l. to Klizan), battled past Bautista Agut in a pulsating clash, lasting two hours and 28 minutes. Bautista Agut led the contest 6-2, 3-1 and held two match points at 6/5 and 7/6 in the second set tie-break, but could not close out the win. Neither player could engineer a break of serve in the decider, and from 3/5 down in the tie-break, Fognini won the last four points to prevail.
"It was a really tough match at the beginning," said Fognini. "He was playing really fast and really solid at the same time. I'm really happy that I came back to win."
The 30-year-old Fognini is chasing his second title of the season, following victory on clay in Gstaad in July (d. Hanfmann). This would be his first hard-court title. The right-hander leads Dzumhur 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
The 25-year-old Dzumhur is enjoying a career-best year and has surged to a career-high World No. 55 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final in Los Cabos (l. to Querrey) followed by his first final in Winston-Salem (l. to Bautista Agut).
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In his first ATP meeting with the 6’5’’ Struff, the 5’9’’ Dzumhur withstood seven aces as he converted five of his seven break points to prevail in 80 minutes.
"It was a great day for me," said Dzumhur. "I played from the start until the end at a high level. I think I took my chances. Today was one of the best matches of the past few months for me. I'm really happy to go through to my second final.
"I knew that I had to play better than yesterday (against Liam Broady) and I tried to fix the things that didn't work yesterday, especially my serve and my forehand. Also, my returns were great. I was making him play more, because he likes fast points. I think I won because I didn't give him easy balls that he likes."
Jebavy/Middelkoop Upset Second Seeds
Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop reached their first ATP World Tour doubles final together as they denied second seeds Nicholas Monroe and John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 6-1. The Czech/Dutch duo will face top seeds Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos in the final.
Germany’s Mischa Zverev tells ATPWorldTour.com about his imaginary tennis matches with Andre Agassi and his most emotional moment on court.
First moment I realised I loved tennis?
Subconsciously, maybe when I was like zero years old and my Mom gave birth to me! I was always around tennis courts and I was always enjoying being around tennis courts. My Mom was telling me that when I was very little, when I was less than two years old, I would grab like a brush or something that had the shape of a tennis racquet and clear my room and play imaginary matches against Agassi, like five-set matches. I think that's when I realised that I really liked tennis!
First coach and the most important lesson he/she taught me?
My Dad. The most important stroke he taught me was the volley and the most important lesson was: 'If you make the right decisions on court, you're going to get rewarded.' So, no matter what you feel like doing, or if you're nervous or up and down, just try to do the right thing.
First pinch-me moment on the ATP World Tour?
I don't know... Because I feel like now I enjoy tennis more than I used to. The most recent and most special one was actually beating Isner from two sets to love down (in the 2017 Australian Open second round). That was so emotional because I'd been two sets to love down, match point down, break point down in the fourth. It was the most incredible match and the most emotional moment by far.
First time I was recognised?
I want to say it was a while back in France, because I feel like French people enjoy tennis. I think I was at an airport in Nice or something and the person who was checking my passport I think he recognised me. I want to say that was in 2009, or something like that. A while back. It was really surprising!
First time I travelled to a tournament abroad?
I was 11 or 12 years old. I don't remember where we went, but it wasn't a fun trip! Back then there was no wifi. I'm sure it was not a first class ticket. It was probably by car or by train for like 10 or 11 hours just reading a book.
First thing I bought with my prize money?
A house in Florida. That was the first big purchase. But I'm not giving out the address!
First autograph I got?
This might sound so funny, but I think I was in Hamburg and my club was the training facility for the Rothenbaum tournament. And the first guy whose autograph I got, and I asked 'Who is it?', was Daniel Nestor! He was ranked like 90th in singles back then and that was around 1997, or something like that. I don't still have the autograph!
Benoit Paire won the match of the day at the Moselle Open on Friday, saving one match point to knock out 2014 champion and top-seeded Belgian David Goffin. The Frenchman dented Goffin’s hopes of making up ground in the Emirates ATP Race To London with a 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(7) victory over two hours and 25 minutes in Metz.
Paire recovered from a 2-4 deficit in the first set, prior to being broken by Goffin at 5-5 in the second set. Goffin took a 4-2 lead in the decider, then fought back from 3/5 down in the tie-break only to squander a match point at 6/5. It was Paire’s third win in four meetings over Goffin.
Paire, who is 0-4 in semi-finals this year, next meets World No. 64 Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, who defeated Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 7-5, 6-3 after saving the four break points he faced. The 25-year-old claimed his 24th match win of the year, which is double the number of victories he'd had in his career before this season.
Mischa Zverev will attempt to reach the Moselle Open final for the second time on Saturday when he plays fellow German and qualifier Peter Gojowczyk. No German has ever captured the title at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament – Philipp Kohlschreiber finished runner-up in 2009 (l. to Monfils)
Fifth seed Zverev fought past big-serving lucky loser Kenny de Schepper 7-5, 7-6(4) in one hour and 31 minutes. Seven years ago, Zverev qualified en route to his first ATP World Tour title match (l. to Simon).
Gojowczyk, currently No. 95 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, recorded his second straight win (also 2017 Wimbledon) over Romania’s Marius Copil 6-2, 6-4 in 56 minutes. He won the first four games of the pair’s second meeting for his 10th tour-level match win of 2017.
Mirnyi Denied Milestone Doubles Win
Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak denied Max Mirnyi the 750th match win of his career when ‘The Beast’ partnered Philipp Oswald. Koolhof and Sitak won 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in 74 minutes for a place in their second team final (2017 BB&T Atlanta Open, l. to Bryans).
They will challenge a French pair, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Paire or third seeds Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who will contest their semi-final on Saturday.
Roberto Bautista Agut reached the St. Petersburg Open semi-finals for the third successive year on Friday by sweeping past seventh seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-1, 6-2 in 72 minutes. “The score looks easy, but the match wasn’t,” said Bautista Agut. “Viktor is always tough to beat, a very good fighter and serves well.”
The top-seeded Spaniard raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set, then recovered from a 0-2 deficit in the second set en route to extending his perfect FedEx ATP Head2Head record to 4-0 against Troicki, who is now 20-22 on the year.
Bautista Agut, who has already won two ATP World Tour hard-court titles this year at the Aircel Chennai Open in January (d. Medvedev) and the Winston-Salem Open in August (d. Dzumhur), is currently No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Race To London. He will next play Italian third seed and 2012 finalist Fabio Fognini, who beat Lithuanian lucky loser Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-0. From 3-3 in the first set, Fognini won nine straight games.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur, the player Bautista Agut beat in the Winston-Salem final, continued his fine run of form. The 25 year old recovered from 0-2 in the deciding set to beat first-time ATP World Tour quarter-finalist Liam Broady, a British qualifier, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in one hour and 52 minutes.
“It definitely feels great to be in the semi-finals – another great week for me,” said Dzumhur. “It was a tough match, but at the end I pulled out some good shots and defended well."
When asked what the key to his run of form was, Dzumhur – 25-7 at all levels since 19 June – admitted, “I wasn’t playing badly at all, but I couldn’t find what was missing in my game. When I came to the hard courts of Los Cabos, I felt so much more confident than before. I feel that confidence came from practising a lot and after a few good wins, I am playing my best tennis in the past five weeks.” He is through to his third tour-level semi-final of the season.
Dzumhur will next play eighth seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany on Saturday. Struff denied second-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga his 30th match win of the year after the German recovered from a set and 1-3 deficit to triumph 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 49 minutes. Tsonga, who has recorded 30+ victories from 2008-16, dropped to 29-11 on the season after his first loss in four meetings against Struff.
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St. Petersburg Open – St. Petersburg, Russia
Local hopes Mikhail Youzhny and Evgeny Donskoy joined Serbia’s Viktor Troicki for the draw ceremony at Sibur Arena on Saturday, before Donskoy joined #NextGenATP Croat Borna Coric on Monday for a photo shoot at Peter and Paul Fortress, founded by Peter the Great in 1703. Coric and Donskoy took a guided tour of the cathedral and grounds before setting off the cannon to mark noon in the Russian city.
“It was pretty nice,” said Donskoy. “This is my favourite city and I’m from Moscow! I’ve never been to this place and seen these things. I really enjoyed it. My favourite part was firing the cannon.”
Second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and top seed Roberto Bautista Agut made a trip to St. Petersburg’s Yusopov Palace on Tuesday where they were given a guided tour of the living quarters and palatial theatre. Third seed Fabio Fognini and Troicki took a ride in a horse-drawn carriage through Palace Square on Wednesday, before heading in to tour the world-renowned Hermitage Museum.
#NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev, Brit Liam Broady and German Jan-Lennard Struff joined Donskoy, Tsonga and Youzhny in a series of autograph sessions.
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Moselle Open - Metz, France
Popular home hopes and established doubles duo Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin kicked things off in Metz, helping conduct the draw ceremony on Saturday. Fellow Frenchman Nicolas Mahut led a session hitting with fans at at Decathlon France Fun Park, with doubles players Peter Gojowczyk, Andre Begemann and Jonathan Eysseric also taking part.
Former No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings Gilles Simon and Vincent Millot met home fans in an autograph signing session, while Germans Dustin Brown and Mischa Zverev took part in Q&A sessions at the County Council of Moselle stand.
The hunt for an elusive Emirates ATP Rankings point — a goal shared by every aspiring professional tennis player — can be tough and costly. But once attained, the location and year of the achievement will be indelibly marked. Twenty years ago today, on Monday, 22 September 1997, page nine of the weekly rankings list contained this entry: 803T Federer, Roger.
The entry didn't attract much attention back then, nor did that of another future World No. 1, '808 Hewitt, Lleyton', just a few lines down. But Federer had taken his first step on the ladder following a four-week series of Swiss clay-court satellite tournaments in Bossonnens — culminating in eight victories and two semi-final runs (l. to Daniele Balducci and Agustin Garizzio, respectively) — to earn 12 points. Aged 16 years and 55 days, Federer could also look a little further up the rankings at No. 756, Juan Carlos Ferrero, another future leader of the sport.
“The ATP rankings is where it all starts for every player," Federer said. "It's about getting your foot on the ladder and seeing your name on the computer rankings for the first time. I'll never forget that moment and the excitement I felt after that Satellite. It was the start of a long journey to the top for me. I think that's the great thing about our sport; the rankings provide a really accurate barometer of where you stand compared to your peers. The computer doesn't lie. It's amazing to think that 20 years later I'm still in the game and still with a chance to get to year-end No.1 in 2017. I never imagined having such longevity."
Over the course of the past 20 years in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Federer has accrued a staggering 121,092 points in a glittering career that to-date includes 93 trophies and a 1119-249 match record. Now aged 36, and with two months left of the 2017 season, the Swiss superstar’s focus is attempting to make up ground on Rafael Nadal and add to his record 302 weeks at No. 1.
In September 1997, fellow Swiss Martina Hingis was at the peak of her considerable powers. Federer, 312 days younger, was already technically and tactically stronger than some of his compatriots, Yves Allegro, Michel Kratochvil, Christian Dillschneider and Severin Luthi, who, of a similar age, also competed on the satellite circuit. From the start of 1996, through his exploits at Bossonnens and to the end of 1997, Federer rose from No. 88 nationally into the Swiss Top 10.
YEAR-BY-YEAR RANKINGS RISE TO NO. 1
| No. 396 | |
|
Top 200 - 8 February 1999
|
No. 176 |
| Top 100 - 20 September 1999 | No. 95 |
| Top 50 - 6 March 2000 | No. 48 |
| No. 20 | |
| No. 8 | |
| Top 5 - 27 January 2003 | No. 5 |
| No. 1 |
Danny Schnyder, brother of former WTA pro Patty, who Federer jokes “beat him as a junior as often as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic”, believes that his childhood friend's route to becoming a top professional player opened up when Federer started to develop his on-court temperament.
“He always had a lot of potential, but what he needed to do was convert his anger, his mental attitude — that he sometimes expressed or even felt as a junior — into a strength,” Schnyder told ATPWorldTour.com. “That’s what made the difference. Talent was never an issue, but a concern was only ever how he controlled his temperament. In controlling that, he improved fast. He converted his mental game into such a weapon, to become such a psychologically stable player and able to dominate players in the head.”
Between first working with Peter Carter (from 1993), and then when Peter Lundgren joined the Swiss Tennis Federation in 1997, Federer’s biggest decision — with the backing of his parents — had been to move to train at the Swiss National Tennis Centre in Ecublens in September 1995. While the home-sick Federer never liked to train or practise, favouring matches, by the time he relocated to Biel two years later, when his father, Robert, was mulling over an executive position in Australia, the 16 year old finished nine years of schooling with his sights firmly set on a professional tennis career.
The family never moved to Australia. Federer soared to junior World No. 1 within a year and he also grew in maturity, helped by the fact that he shared a two-bedroom apartment in Biel with 18-year-old Allegro, where the pair watched television and played computer games (sometimes until 2 a.m.), between training with Michael Lammer and Marco Chiudinelli. His ascent up the Emirates ATP Rankings from tied-No. 803 on 22 September 1997 and into the Top 50 — at No. 48 on 6 March 2000 — was fast.
Federer played only seven ATP Challenger Tour events — 23 matches in total (16-7 record) — from his first at Geneva in August 1998 to his last, which reaped his lone title, at Brest, France (d. Max Mirnyi), in October 1999, shortly after breaking into the Top 100 for the first time. By contrast, his main rivals in the professional ranks, Nadal (34-10, 2 titles), Novak Djokovic (28-8, 3) and Andy Murray (22-12, 2) played slightly more matches on the ATP Challenger Tour.
David Goffin opened his quest for his second Moselle Open title on Thursday. The second-seeded Belgian, who captured the 2014 trophy (d. Sousa), knocked out Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 for a place in the quarter-finals against Benoit Paire, who recorded the 150th match win of his career. Earlier in the day, Paire had cruised past Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-1, 6-2 in 55 minutes.
Goffin’s hopes of winning a third ATP World Tour title, and boost his chances of rising up the Emirates ATP Race To London (currently No. 13) for one of the six remaining places at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London, were helped when Romania’s Marius Copil knocked out third seed and defending champion Lucas Pouille. Goffin, incidentally, lost to Pouille in last year’s Metz semi-finals.
Copil kept his nerve mid-afternoon at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament to record his biggest match win in almost five years. The World No. 86 knocked out Pouille, currently No. 22 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 7-6(4), 7-6(6) in one hour and 40 minutes to avenge his loss to the Frenchman at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February.
Copil saved two set points at 4-5 in the first set, then took a 3-0 lead in the second set before Pouille recovered and went on to save three match points from 0/40 at 4-5. Pouille held one set point at 5/6 in the tie-break, but Copil regrouped to complete his best victory since January 2013 when he defeated then No. 19-ranked Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-3 at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. Copil will now challenge German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who had beaten eighth-seeded Frenchman and 2010, 2013 titlist Gilles Simon on Wednesday night.
Elsewhere, Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili knocked out fourth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4, 6-4 for a last-eight clash against Uzbekistani Denis Istomin, a 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(0) victor over German lucky loser Yannick Maden in two hours and 29 minutes.
Fifth-seeded German Mischa Zverev advanced to his fourth quarter-final of 2017 after he beat Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 in one hour. He now plays lucky loser Kenny De Schepper, who overcame fellow Frenchman and wild card Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 7-5.
French Hopes Reach Doubles SFs
Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who have a 2-3 record in tour-level doubles finals – including the 2014 Roland Garros title – edged past Andre Begemann and Jonathan Eysseric 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 for a place in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Max Mirnyi, hoping to capture his 50 tour-level doubles crown, moved to 749 match wins when he partnered Philipp Oswald to a 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final win over Treat Huey and Fabrice Martin.
It’s hard to believe, but just three months ago Damir Dzumhur was fighting just to stay in the Top 100. This week, already at a career-high No. 55 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and set to compete in the St. Petersburg Open quarter-finals Friday, the 25-year-old from Bosnia & Herzegovina is knocking on the door of the Top 50.
On Tuesday, Liam Broady registered his first win in the main draw of an ATP World Tour tournament by defeating former world No. 10 Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-0, in the opening round of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.
Satisfied? Hardly. On the heels of achieving his inaugural win, the 23-year-old British qualifier followed with a three-set, come-from-behind victory over the tournament’s No. 4 seed Adrian Mannarino one day later. A set and a break down, Broady gathered his wits, outdueled the fellow southpaw and overcame the 31st-ranked Frenchman to advance to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final.
“After the first set, my legs were bad,” Broady said. “It was my fourth match in four days, so I was pretty emotional. I was a little bit more aggressive in the second set. Two lefties, it’s quite tricky and that adds an extra dimension. Week in and week out, you don’t see that.”
Currently at No. 242 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, there isn’t a lot that Broady hasn’t seen during his time on the Tour.
When Broady reached the final of the 2011 Wimbledon Boys’ Singles Championship and the the 2012 US Open Boys’ Singles Championship, it seemed that a British star had been born. But the pressure of living up to those expectations initially took its toll on the pride of Stockport, even if he was afforded the full backing of English fans.
“Support is always crazy (at Wimbledon),” Broady said. “Playing in England does bring some added pressure, just having grown up there, but it’s still a thrill.”
Fully focused on the current task at hand in St. Petersburg, Broady has prepared himself for a final-eight showdown against 25-year-old Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, a 6-4, 7-6 (4) winner over Marcos Baghdatis on Tuesday.
"I played Damir in the juniors six or seven years ago, so it's been a while,” Broady said. “I’m friends with Kyle Edmund and he played against Damir at Winston-Salem. I already contacted Kyle's coach, Mark Hilton, my former coach, for tips about [Dzumhur's] game."
With momentum fully on his side, the Brit is eager to close out the 2017 season on a high note. “I’m targeting a place in the Top 150 this year,” Broady said. “I want to be in the Top 100 next year.”
For the third year in a row, the First Lady of Romania, Carmen Iohannis, attended Kids Day at the Sibiu Open, a €43,000 tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour. Also joining the First Lady at the special event were two-time champion Adrian Ungur and former World No. 5 Tommy Robredo.
"I'm here to enjoy this wonderful tournament along with the kids,” Iohannis said. “As far as I know, there are some important players attending Sibiu Open and that means that the quality of the tournament is constantly growing.”
With Sibiu being the only Challenger in Romania and largest men’s tournament in country, it was destined to be a extraordinary day. Over 300 kids showed up and several national television stations were there to broadcast how the day unfolded with the First Lady in attendance.
"It was lovely to have the First Lady here. I invited her to play,” Robredo said. “It's good to have her supporting the tournament and hopefully she liked it. Maybe she will come on the court and play next time."
With a passion for the sport, Iohannis has been an advocate for the game for years as it teaches and encourages kids to live out a healthy and active lifestyle.
“I'm still training in tennis, for fun, it's one of my favourite sports," Iohannis added. "And because I also want to send a signal to everyone that sport is very important, especially for our kids, the future of every country in the world."
Third seed Fabio Fognini ended Russian involvement on Thursday at the St. Petersburg Open when the Italian knocked out 2004 champion Mikhail Youzhny, competing at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament for the 16th year (34-14 match record).
Fognini, the 2012 runner-up, came close to breaking at 4-4 in the second set, but Youzhny regrouped before falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in almost two hours. Fognini now faces Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis, who advanced to the quarter-finals for the second time (also 2012) when his German opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew due to illness before their match. Kohlschreiber must wait another week in his bid to win at least 30 matches (29-17 in 2017) for the 11th straight year.
Top seed Roberto Bautista Agut opened his campaign by beating Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in one hour and 40 minutes. The Spaniard, who lost just four points in the deciding set, also beat Dutra Silva at the Aircel Chennai Open in January. A semi-finalist at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament for the past two years, Bautista Agut now faces seventh-seeded Serbian Viktor Troicki in Friday’s quarter-finals. Troicki edged Argentina’s Guido Pella 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 27 minutes.
Eighth-seeded German Jan-Lennard Struff won seven of the first eight games in a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Brazil’s Thomas Fabbiano. He now plays second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who made his tournament debut by hitting 16 aces to beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-2 during the night session. Tsonga, 32, is playing in Russia for the first time since 2010, when he lost to Troicki in the VTB Kremlin Cup second round.
