Looking for Tennis and Racket Sports International News?

Joel Schwaerzler and Gabriel Debru headlined a handful of young stars to enjoy a standout second quarter on the ATP Challenger Tour. The #NextGenATP teens lifted their maiden ATP Challenger Tour titles and became the youngest champions of 2024 at that level.

ATPTour.com looks at some of the key moments on the ATP Challenger Tour from Q2:

#NextGenATP Champions:
The Austrian Schwaerzler entered the record books at the Skopje Challenger, where he became just the fourth player to win an ATP Challenger Tour title while holding the Junior No. 1 ranking. Nick Kyrgios, Taylor Fritz and Wu Yibing previously accomplished the feat. “I was kind of surprised. I knew I could win matches there, but to actually win the tournament is something different,” said the 18-year-old Schwaerzler, the youngest Challenger champion this season.

Debru, 18, became the youngest French Challenger champion since 2017 by winning in Troyes. The only Frenchmen to win a Challenger title at a younger age than Debru are Richard Gasquet, Fabrice Santoro, Gael Monfils and Corentin Moutet.

Youngest ATP Challenger Tour champions in 2024

One year ago, American Ethan Quinn earned his first tour-level victory at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport. On Tuesday, he scored his second ATP Tour win at the same event with a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-1 result against Aussie Marc Polmans.

The win lifted Quinn five places to 10th place in the PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah. With another victory against fourth seed Christopher Eubanks, the former NCAA singles champion would move into the top eight, further boosting his chances to to qualify for the NextGen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

Quinn was a constant threat on return in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Polmans, converting on seven of 14 break chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"Just make sure to put the pressure on him," the 20-year-old said of the key to the third set. "Second set he was serving very well. I just wanted to to make sure I put in a lot of returns, a lot of first balls on my own serve and put a lot of pressure."

Another former college standout, Eliot Spizzirri, also advanced to the second round Tuesday with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win over Australian qualifier Li Tu. The former University of Texas star, who saved four of five break points, next faces another Australian, World No. 65 Aleksandar Vukic.

Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas survived three match points to pull off an opening-round doubles upset on Tuesday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad. The Greek brothers edged fourth seeds Nicolas Barrientos and Luke Johnson 4-6, 6-4, 14-12, capping off the victory by winning the final three points of the Match Tie-break.

The pair won two of three break points and dominated on first serve with a 72 percent win rate, according to Infosys ATP Stats. After being broken three times in the opening set, they saved all four break points against them in set two.

One of the match point saves came on return at 11/12 in the Match Tie-break, sparking that run of three points to close out the win.

Seeds advance in Hamburg
Both main-draw doubles matches at the Hamburg Open were won by seeded teams on Tuesday. Third-seeded Frenchmen Fabien Reboul and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Dustin Brown and Daniel Masur 6-4, 6-3 to open their campaign at the ATP 250 breaking four times on seven chances.

Between a change of surface and a change atop the PIF ATP Rankings, the second quarter of the ATP Tour season was filled with exciting action.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were the two standout players while three ATP Masters 1000 events featured as many different titlists: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev. ATPTour.com looks back on the champions of the second quarter, when the game's leading players continued their bid to earn enough PIF ATP Rankings points to qualify for November's Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Carlos Alcaraz: Roland Garros, Wimbledon
Dealing with an arm injury across April and May, the Spaniard recovered to perform at his best level during the second quarter’s pair of majors. Alcaraz captured his first Roland Garros title and second Wimbledon crown. He needed a marathon effort in the closing stages of the clay-court major, winning his semi-final and final match in five sets.

Alcaraz then became just the sixth man in the Open Era to complete the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double, joining Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, whom the World No. 3 has defeated in back-to-back Wimbledon finals. “In an interview when I was 11 or 12 years old I said my dream was to win Wimbledon, so I am replaying my dream,” Alcaraz said after triumphing at the All England Club.

Jannik Sinner: Rise to World No. 1 & Halle crown
The 22-year-old star became the first Italian and 29th player to reach World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Sinner, who boasts a 42-4 season record, rose to the top spot after a semi-final run at Roland Garros and the Australian Open champion showed no signs of slowing down.

Rafael Nadal showed a few signs of rust in his first match since Roland Garros on Tuesday, but one break of serve in each set was enough for the 38-year-old to advance at the Nordea Open. The Spaniard earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Leo Borg, the 21-year-old son of former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Bjorn Borg.

Nadal committed uncharacteristic errors in the opening stages, perhaps a sign of having not played an ATP Tour match since falling to Alexander Zverev in the first round of the Paris major on 27 May. The lefty raised his level as the match wore on, finding success in wet, heavy conditions by pinning Borg in his backhand corner and forcing the Swede to hit above his shoulder.

“For me, it has been a huge honour to play against the son of one of the biggest legends in the history of our sport,” Nadal said of Borg. “I think he played quite well, he has a great future in front. I wish him all the very best.”

Competing in Bastad for the first time since his 2005 triumph at the clay ATP 250, the 92-time tour-level titlist showed no signs of hindered movement, even after tumbling behind the baseline just 12 minutes into the match. Nadal seemed cautious in going for big first serves, yet did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats, throughout the one-hour, 25-minute match.

“Playing in front of a full crowd means a lot to me. It gives me energy to keep practising every day," said Nadal, who joked he was defending his 2005 title 19 years later. "Even in the tougher moments, I have been able to keep going with the help of the team, but of course the fans have a huge impact on that. They give me amazing energy.”

Matteo Berrettini prevailed in a battle of former champions on Tuesday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.

The Italian overcame 2023 titlist Pedro Cachin 6-4, 7-6(2) in the first round at the clay-court ATP 250. Berrettini withstood blustery conditions in the Swiss Alps to register a one-hour, 41-minute victory in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Argentina’s Cachin.

“I’m really happy, first of all to be back,” said Berrettini, who himself won the title in Gstaad in 2018. “I have nice memories here, so it’s nice to be back. I didn’t expect this wind, it was really tough. Also, Pedro obviously loves to play in these conditions, he won last year, and he was really solid.

“The first match is never easy. You can practise a lot but it’s important to play the first match to know how you feel. I’m happy to be through and hopefully I’ll be at my best for the next round.”

Deal: SEALED ?@MattBerrettini takes out the defending champion in Gstaad, Cachin, 6-4 7-6!@SwissOpenGstaad | #SwissOpenGstaad pic.twitter.com/sw3OK817JL

Arthur Fils took his time to find his best level on Tuesday at the Hamburg Open. It was worth the wait.

The #NextGenATP Frenchman overcame Jaume Munar 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 after delivering a classy third-set performance. Fils, who reached his first ATP 500 semi-final in Hamburg a year ago, struck a series of scintillating winners off both wings in the closing stages of his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Munar.

“The first set was very tough. I think that I was playing quite good, but the level he was playing was unbelievable, actually,” said Fils, who will play 2023 finalist Laslo Djere next. “I tried my best to stay composed, to stay focused in the second set, because maybe if I got an early break his level could drop.

“I think I did a great job in the second set and put my foot on the accelerator. I played my best level in the third set.”

"It doesn't get better" ?

Fils completes a compelling 5-7 6-3 6-1 comeback over Munar@hamburgopenatp | #HamburgOpenATP500 pic.twitter.com/mHaxpVPBPQ

ATP, Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) and Sportradar have teamed up to launch Safe Sport, a new service to address online abuse targeting professional tennis players. The collaboration breaks new ground by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) moderation, education and investigation into a single service to protect athletes.

The new service will be made available to the Top 250 ATP singles players and the Top 50-ranked doubles players, on a free and opt-in basis, starting this month. It combines AI technologies from Sportradar and its partner, Arwen AI, to scan players’ social media channels for toxic and abusive comments, spam and bots across 29 languages. Flagged comments are automatically hidden in real time, protecting players and their followers from being exposed to offensive content. Arwen currently processes 600,000 comments a day, protecting over 750 million followers globally across Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube and TikTok.

In parallel, Sportradar's dedicated team of intelligence analysts will actively investigate threats and potential criminal comments to unmask those responsible, linking online activity to real-world consequences. Players will also be offered an educational programme covering topics such as handling abuse, mitigating online risks and maintaining integrity on social media platforms.

Safe Sport is ATP’s most comprehensive initiative to date to combat online abuse, a long-standing and prevalent issue in sport, and a key part of protecting player wellbeing.

Andrew Azzopardi, ATP Director of Safeguarding, stated: “The ATP is committed to safeguarding players and their wellbeing. This includes taking a proactive stance against online abuse, which has become a very important issue in the lives of modern athletes. This collaboration will ensure that tennis is playing its part in tackling this issue, and shining a light on the effects that harmful online discourse can have on our communities. We’re grateful for the support of TDI and the expertise of Sportradar in making this happen.”

Reilly Opelka last played a tour-level match nearly two years ago, in August 2022, in Washington. The American picked up where he left off on Monday in Newport.

Wild card Opelka defeated Frenchman Constant Lestienne 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(2) in two hours and five minutes to reach the second round of the Infosys Hall of Fame Open.

“It was super nice. It took me a while to find certain things. My return was there in the beginning, which was weird, and my serve wasn't. Then the return went away and the serve came back and it kind of ended right where I left off,” said Opelka, whose only match during the past 23 months came at an ATP Challenger Tour event last October. “It was nice to be back. It felt like longer than two years. So yeah, it was just nice to find my level again. I'm still just getting my sea legs and trying to figure everything out. But yeah, it's great to be back.”

First match of the year ✅ ⁰First win of the year ✅⁰⁰Reilly Opelka takes the win over Lestienne 6-1 2-6 7-6(2)⁰⁰@TennisHalloFame | #InfosysHallOfFameOpen pic.twitter.com/rCjMKuWqtK

Opelka underwent surgery on his hip and later his wrist, which kept him out for this prolonged period. In 2022 he had reached his career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 17.

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz won his fourth major title on Sunday at Wimbledon and one day later, countryman Rafael Nadal gave the 21-year-old a ringing endorsement.

“My impression is we are talking about a player that is going to be one of the best [in] history. That's my feeling,” Nadal said after partnering Casper Ruud to a first-round doubles victory at the Nordea Open in Bastad. “[He is] a player with huge potential. Life can change quick, that's the truth. You never know what can happen in the future. But today if we have to predict what's going on in his career, we predict amazing things.”

This is not the first time Nadal, a 22-time major champion, has praised Alcaraz. The Spaniards are set to compete together in doubles at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Ruudal ?

Can you come up with a better team name? ⬇️@NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen | @CasperRuud98 | @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/7iL6FK9evJ

But on Monday in Sweden Nadal dove deeper into why he believes so strongly in the two-time Wimbledon champion, who swept this year’s Roland Garros-Wimbledon double.

Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas handed Dominic Thiem a heartbreaking final appearance at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad after denying the 2020 US Open champion in a third-set tie-break Monday.

A two-time quarter-finalist at the clay-court ATP 250, Varillas came into the tournament with just one tour-level match win on the season. Making his final appearance in the picturesque Swiss town, Thiem rallied from a set down to lead 4-2 in the third but was ultimately denied in a deciding-set tie-break as Varillas powered home to a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4) win.

Playing his final season, the former World No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings was looking for just his third match win on the season and first since Estoril in late April.

Varillas next faces a first-time Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Italian veteran Fabio Fognini, who defeated French qualifier Titouan Droguet 6-4, 6-3.

German Jan-Lennard Struff fired 11 aces and won 86 per cent of first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats in a 7-6(6), 7-6(4) win over Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinaolas in a match that featured just two breaks of serve.

Flavio Cobolli overcame second-set disappointment to notch a first-round win Monday at the Hamburg Open.

The Italian defeated home hope Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 on his debut at the ATP 500. Cobolli let slip a match point at 6/5 in the second-set tie-break, but held his nerve in the decider to set a second-round meeting with eighth seed Zhang Zhizhen or Thiago Seyboth Wild.

“I’m so happy for the win. I think it’s never easy to play with Daniel, in his country,” said Cobolli after prevailing in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Altmaier. “I don’t think I played a really good match, but it is never easy to come back [to clay] after a month on grass courts. It is a pleasure to play here in Hamburg, on my favourite surface, so I’m really happy for this win and ready for the next round.”

C?BOLLI ??@cobollifla edges Altmaier 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 with tennis like this!@hamburgopenatp | #HamburgOpenATP500 pic.twitter.com/HNMzOCKhiJ

Cobolli is now 6-1 in opening rounds at tour-level clay events this year, with his only first-round defeat coming against Rafael Nadal in Barcelona. The 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF competitor is 20-17 for the year overall.

Carlos Alcaraz clinched his second major title of the season on Sunday by defeating Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. The Spaniard remains the World No. 3, but his fellow Top 10 star Alex de Minaur is among those who have made a big jump after also impressing at the grass-court major.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers in the PIF ATP Rankings as of Monday, 15 July.

No. 6 Alex de Minaur, +3 (Career High)
De Minaur continued his stellar 2024 season by reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time. The 25-year-old defeated James Duckworth, Jaume Munar and Arthur Fils to improve to 36-12 for the year. He was forced to withdraw prior to his last-eight clash with Novak Djokovic due to a hip injury, but the Australian has nonetheless risen three spots to a career-high No. 6.

No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti, +9
The 22-year-old Musetti enjoyed a dream run to his maiden major semi-final at Wimbledon. The Italian star battled through two five-set matches during his run, including in his quarter-final triumph against Taylor Fritz. Although Djokovic proved too strong in the last four, Musetti has moved up nine spots to No. 16, one shy of his career high.

No. 28 Arthur Fils, +6 (Career High)
Fils boosted his lead in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah by moving past Dominic Stricker, Hubert Hurkacz and Roman Safiullin before falling to De Minaur at the All England Club. It was the 20-year-old’s maiden fourth-round appearance at a Grand Slam, and he has risen six spots to a career-high No. 28 in the PIF ATP Rankings as a result.

After 19 years, Rafael Nadal is back to winning ways in Bastad.

The Spaniard teamed with Casper Ruud to notch a 6-1, 6-4 against second seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes-Varela on Monday afternoon at the Nordea Open. Competing at the ATP 250 for the first time since he lifted the singles title as a 19-year-old in 2005, Nadal immediately looked at home on the Swedish clay.

“It’s a pleasure playing with a good friend and an amazing player like Casper here in Bastad,” said Nadal in the pair’s on-court interview. “Personally, I am happy and I think it was a good match. We played quite well in the first time we played together and I’m happy to be back here after almost 20 years.

“I have great memories from this place from 2003, 2004 and 2005, so I am enjoying this week and hopefully can keep going.”

Rafa ™️ ?@RafaelNadal and @CasperRuud98 race 6-1 up on Andreozzi/Reyes-Varela@NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/c4WWMIS4VJ

Benjamin Bonzi is bouncing back.

The Frenchman returned to the winners' circle Sunday for the first time since May 2022 at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger presented by MBuilds. The 28-year-old, seeded third, rallied past Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 to lift his ninth ATP Challenger Tour title.

A former No. 42 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Bonzi is in a much different place than 12 months ago, when he was recovering from a wrist injury that forced him to miss an extended period of time.

“After a big wrist injury last year, it’s tough to get the rhythm again and play good tennis. I kind of fell down in the rankings and you have to regain confidence,” Bonzi said Sunday. “I was struggling a lot these past months. The game is building again. It’s a pretty solid week with the title. It means a lot.

“I think the mindset [was the key], I was fighting all the matches. You have to fight. That was my best performance for this year.”

Stringing a tennis racket can seem complex at first, but with practice, it becomes a manageable task. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to string a tennis racket: Materials NeededStringing Machine: Either a manual or electronic stringing machine.String: Choose the type and gauge of string that suits your playing style.Awl: For adjusting strings.St...

There is no doubt that Carlos Alcaraz is a historic talent. His 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) dismantling of 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final Sunday was just the latest proof of that.

The bad news for the rest of the ATP Tour is that the Spaniard is hungry for more.

“Obviously it's a really great start of my career, but I have to keep going. I have to keep building my path,” Alcaraz said. “At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table as the big guys. That's my main goal. That's my dream right now. It doesn't matter if I already won four Grand Slams at the age of 21. If I don’t keep going, all these tournaments for me, it doesn't matter.

“I really want to keep going. I will try to keep winning and end my career with a lot of them.”

UNDEFEATED ?

4 Grand Slam Finals
4 Grand Slam Titles
1 Incredible Player ?@wimbledon | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/keYGV992Xg

Hsieh Su-Wei and Jan Zielinski brought the 2024 edition of The Championships to a close Sunday evening when they defeated Santiago Gonzalez and Giuliana Olmos 6-4, 6-2 to win the Wimbledon mixed doubles title.

The seventh seeds lost just one set in five matches to claim the trophy in their first appearance in the tournament as a team.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling playing a Wimbledon final in only my third attempt.,” Zielinski said. “I can’t even put it into words. I was dreaming about this moment for so long and it’s a privilege to be on the court, to step on the court. I remember it like it was yesterday watching 10 years ago Nadal and Kyrgios and this match, dreaming to even step foot on the court and today we’re Wimbledon champions. So it’s an unbelievable feeling and a great privilege.”

Hsieh and Zielinski were dominant in the championship match. They did not face a break point and earned 15 chances of their own, converting three of those opportunities to triumph after 76 minutes.

“Thank you Jan for bringing me back to the wonderful court here to enjoy the court,” Hsieh said. “Centre Court at Wimbledon is always amazing and my family, my coach… my friends, my sister is here, it’s amazing. Thank you so much!”

It was baseline carnage.

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) in the Wimbledon singles final on Sunday by completely dominating the Serbian from the back of the court for the second year in a row.

Djokovic came into Sunday’s final winning a respectable 50% (242/484) of his baseline points. That number got crushed down to 41 per cent (33/81) against Alcaraz. In the opening two sets, Djokovic only won 39 per cent (17/44) from the back of the court. On the other side of the net, Alcaraz was flying with his groundstrokes, winning a staggering 58 per cent (33/57).

Alcaraz Baseline Points Won

Alexander Zverev is set to compete on home soil at the Hamburg Open, where he is the defending champion and top seed. Here are five reasons why the 27-year-old is the man to beat at the ATP 500 clay-court event in Germany.

1. He Snapped Germany’s 30-year Hamburg Duck
Twelve months ago, Zverev did not drop a set en route to the title in Hamburg, where he beat Laslo Djere in straight sets in the final. By triumphing, he became the first German to win in Hamburg since Michael Stich in 1993.

"At the end of the day, this is my home, this is where I grew up, and this where I started playing tennis,” said Zverev at the time. “It was incredible for me, incredibly emotional. I can’t describe it in words, I’m just super happy right now.”

2. Happy At Home
The German has an impressive record on home soil. Zverev, who has also reached two other semi-finals in Hamburg aside from his title run, won in Munich in 2017 and 2018 and triumphed twice in Cologne in 2020.

After his triumph last year, the 22-time tour-level titlist is 12-5 in Hamburg. He will begin trying to improve that record this year in a first-round clash against Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong.