T8: Rio de Janeiro, Marsylia, Delray Beach 2018

[DUN I LOVE]

Podobno DelPo to idol z dzieciństwa Fracesa.

[Damian]

#NextGenATP Rule The Day In Delray

Spoiler:

Canadian will face #NextGenATP Fritz in QF

#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov doesn't want to leave the Delray Beach Open and its hundreds of Canadian tennis fans just yet.

The 18-year-old left-hander advanced to his first quarter-final of the season on Thursday, beating 21-year-old Jared Donaldson 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes.

Shapovalov, the youngest player in the draw, has toughed his way through two tricky matches in Delray Beach. The Canadian prevailed past the big-serving Ivo Karlovic in his opener.

“I definitely picked up my serve in the second and third set... It was a really even match. We were both playing extremely well,” Shapovalov said. “I've been in this position before. Last year I was coming up with a lot of 'W's in late third sets but it's definitely a big confidence booster for me. I'm starting to get a little bit of momentum, getting a lot of matches under my belt, so I'm happy.”

Shapovalov, who was named the 2017 Star Of Tomorrow presented by Emirates for being the youngest player in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings, and Donaldson both competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, but they didn't meet there. Thursday was their first tour-level meeting.

“I just think Denis is a better player than me right now. He serves really well and the games that he put a lot of pressure on my serve I wasn't able to get out of those games. I think it just comes down to a few points and he won them,” said Donaldson, who was broken at 4-4 in the third set.

Shapovalov will next meet #NextGenATP Taylor Fritz of the U.S., who prevailed over Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Fritz hit 13 aces and won 77 per cent of his first-serve points.

“There were a lot of times in the match where I was down and he had break points, and it could have really gone either way, and I came up in those moments in the match and that really made the difference,” said Fritz, who saved six of eight break points.

The Fritz-Shapovalov #NextGenATP quarter-final will be their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Fritz won their only previous encounter when they were juniors. Both players are eligible to compete at the 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals and have been prominently featured in the ATP World Tour's #NextGenATP campaign.

With Reilly Opelka and Frances Tiafoe also advancing, it becomes just the second time four #NextGenATP players have reached the last eight of an ATP World Tour event. The only prior time it occurred was at last year's BB&T Atlanta Open where Opelka, Yoshihito Nishioka, Nick Kyrgios and Fritz made the quarter-finals.

“I think it's good because we're all doing well,” Fritz said of the #NextGenATP campaign. “We're matching up in a lot of ATP events now. It's obviously showing that we are coming up and that we are hopefully going to be seen more often.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/sha ... 8-thursday

[DUN I LOVE]

Chung wydaje się być sporym faworytem do ogarnięcia DB.

[Barty]

Monfils Barely Raises A Sweat In Four-Point Cliffhanger

Spoiler:

Frenchman survives set point to complete rain-interrupted win over top seed
A little frustration from Gael Monfils would be no surprise after rain postponed overnight the completion of his second-round victory over top seed Marin Cilic at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The unseeded Frenchman had already let a match point slip the day before against the Croat and faced a set point after the resumption of play on Thursday.

Fortunately for Monfils, however, the pair returned to court for just four more points, as he completed the upset on his second match point, 6-3, 7-6(8). The win extends Monfils’ FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Australian Open finalist to 3-0. He had beaten Cilic once before in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Olympic Games.

You May Also Like: 'Hyper' Jarry Rolls Fourth Seed In Rainy Rio

Next up, he faces Argentine sixth seed Diego Schwartzman for a semi-final berth. Monfils won the pair’s only prior clash at Roland Garros three years ago.

“I don't think I feel very good, it's not about numbers,” Monfils said. “I think I'm not in my best shape yet, I'm fighting for every point. Tomorrow will be a great match, Schwartzman is a very fast player. I will have to play more aggressive.”

Second seed and defending champion Dominic Thiem was earlier handed a comfortable passage through to the quarter-finals when his opponent, Spain’s Pablo Andujar, retired trailing 2-4 with a right shoulder injury. The Austrian will take on another Spaniard in the quarter-finals after Fernando Verdasco rebounded strongly for a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-0 win over Argentine Nicolas Kicker.

“Never played him on clay, only on grass and fast hard court last year at Bercy [Paris],” Thiem said. “It’s going to be very tough. He’s fit and he’s fresh as we saw today. He played a long match... I have to watch out that I am the one dictating the game because once you let him dictate with his forehand, the point is almost over.”

Watch Live On TennisTV

Watch Full Match Replays

The 2015 runner-up and No. 5 seed Fabio Fognini prevailed in a three-set thriller against American Tennys Sandgren 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). The Italian will next meet Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene, a player he owns a perfect 7-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against.

Watch Hot Shot: Fognini Scrambles For Winning Lob


Bedene continued his impressive form of late with an upset of No. 3 seed Pablo Carreno-Busta, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. The World No. 43 reached his third ATP World Tour final last week in Buenos Aires where he fell to Thiem.

“Never easy to face someone that defeated you in all seven matches,” Bedene said of facing Fognini. “But this time I'm playing better. I have been playing some really good tennis and now I have my best ranking on ATP … so, yes, I consider this the best moment of my career.”

Seventh seed and 2016 champion Pablo Cuevas booked an all-South American quarter-final against Chilean Nicolas Jarry. The Uruguayan saw off lucky loser Gastao Elias of Portugal 7-5, 6-1.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/mon ... 8-thursday

[Robertinho]

Powiedzcie mi, które to już taka końcówka zimy? Kiedy wydaje się, że wszystko idzie ku dobremu?

[Mario]

Trzecia na pewno, ale może już więcej było.

[arti]

[Emu]

Chung wydaje się być sporym faworytem do ogarnięcia DB.

Podobno gra beznadziejnie.

[Barty]

No właśnie nie wiem, skąd nasz kochany admin wziął tego sporego faworyta. Jak dla mnie, może przegrać z każdym, kto mu się napatoczy.

[Emu]

Oczywiście team Denis, ale tutaj każda konfiguracja jest możliwa łącznie z wygraną Gojowczyka czy innego Donskoja.

[no-handed backhand]

Widział ktoś może, jak gra ten cały Iwaszka, igraszka, zabawka blaszana?

[Del Fed]

Gacie widzę mają ochotę coś pograc znowu od środkowo-poźnego lata. Szalaput w DB i niezłe pary w Rio, chyba coś pooglądam.

[DUN I LOVE]

Brawo, Panie Jarry.

[Mario]

Monfils jest jednak upośledzony umysłowo (z serii: odkrywamy Amerykę), daje się ganiać po korcie facetowi o dwie głowy niższemu i oczywiście strzelił jeszcze 3 df z niczego; a Mahut od początku gra z rozwalonymi plecami i raczej nie podniesie darmowych punktów.

Miło, że wszystko wraca do normy.

[DUN I LOVE]

Sporo clownfilsa dzisiaj.

[Mario]

Jedna z bardziej upokarzających wtop Monfilsa. No i kolejny dowód (jeśli komuś wciąż mało), że facet jest już absolutnie skończony jako w miarę poważny tenisista.

Mahut jeszcze się zerwał w swoim stylu, żeby wtopić kilkanaście minut później, ale to w dużej mierze zasługa jego rywala, który nie potrafił przełamać gościa serwującego po 150 km/h pierwszym.

[DUN I LOVE]

Przy kilku świetnych wynikach na hard, wyraźnie brakuje Schwartzmanowi jakiegoś dobrego turnieju na cegle - finał w zasięgu, chociaż jutro jestem za Jarrym.

[Mario]

Cofnął czas Verdasco.

[DUN I LOVE]

Godzinami można oglądać. Dawno tak długo nie siedziałem przy ATP500.

Dawać Foga jeszcze.

[Mario]

Już kilka razy chyba wspominałem, nie żadne Monfilsy, Gulbisy, czy inne Gasquety ( ), ale Verdasco to jest najbardziej zmarnowany talent w ostatniej ~dekadzie. Kosmita w takim wydaniu.

Szkoda tylko, że jutro pewnie zejdzie na ziemię i zjedzie 57 26 z Bedene (jeśli ten ogra Foga), bo z dzisiejszym tenisem to nie powinien stracić więcej niż siedmiu gemów do końca turnieju.