Looking for Tennis and Racket Sports International News?

Netflix’s Break Point told the story of the biggest victory of Taylor Fritz’s career, when he won his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Open in his native Southern California. 

But there was no camera crew following the American when he was grinding his way through the junior ranks and the ATP Challenger Tour — periods filled with difficult moments, hard work and sacrifice with no guarantee of success.

[BREAK POINT]

“I’ve given my whole life to the sport,” he reflected in a recent interview with the ATP Tour. “Parties, high school, none of that… college, didn’t happen. I definitely traded a normal life. I knew what I wanted, I knew I wanted to be a professional athlete.

“I’ve had so many days where you just question why you’re even doing it. That’s how hard you need to be pushing yourself all the time. You need to be working so hard that it’s not fun.”

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev have set a blockbuster quarter-final showdown at the ABN AMRO Open after comfortable second-round victories Thursday.

Third-seeded Auger-Aliassime served nine aces in a 6-4, 6-3 win over French qualifier Gregoire Barrere. But the Canadian will look to improve his lackluster 50 per cent first-serve percentage before coming up against Medvedev.

[ATP APP]

Medvedev saved all six break points faced in his 6-2, 6-2 win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Felix, but three have gone the distance, including a 2022 Australian Open quarter-final meeting, in which Medvedev rallied from two sets down to win. The World No. 11 is expecting another close battle.

Michael Mmoh is feeling right at home at the Delray Beach Open after his second straight three-set win earned him a place in the quarter-finals of the Florida ATP 250. The 25-year-old, who was born in Saudi Arabia and holds both American and Australian citizenship, upset third seed Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday night.

Mmoh stormed back from 1-4 down in the opening set, then escaped 0/40 at 2-2 in the third before claiming his third break late in the set and serving out the victory.

"It's amazing," Mmoh said after winning in front of the supportive Delray Beach crowd. "I've been in Florida for the past 10 years. I call this my home state. To have a packed-out crowd like I did tonight, there was lot more people on Wednesday night than there was on Monday. Thank all you guys for coming out."

[ATP APP]

After riding a hot start in his first-round win against fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Mmoh overcame a slow opening against Shapovalov, who suffered his third straight tour-level defeat.

Playing his first ATP Tour match in more than three months, Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to competition on Wednesday night at the Argentina Open. The first former World No. 1 to compete in Buenos Aires since Gustavo Kuerten in 2004, the Spaniard lived up to lofty expectations with a powerful performance at the ATP 250.

Returning from recent abdominal and hamstring injuries, Alcaraz earned a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victory in two hours against Laslo Djere. He was at his best early and late as he moved through the gears, treating the expectant crowd to the full range of magic that helped him claim the 2022 year-end No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

"It's a great feeling to win again," Alcaraz said post-match. "It's been a long time for me with no competition, with no matches, just recovering. Finally I got my first win of 2023."

A fast start quelled any early nerves, as the 19-year-old raced to a 3-1 lead. But he could not win a wild second set that included 15 combined break points, none of which were converted until Djere made the breakthrough on his second set point. Any disappointment was short-lived with an immediate break putting Alcaraz back in command. Like in the opening set, he did not face a break point in the decider. 

While he did most of his damage with heavy baseline blows, Alcaraz mixed in a few drop shots and net approaches as he eased back into competition in a welcoming atmosphere. He was serenaded with an "Ole Carlos" chant in between sets, with Argentine legend Gabriela Sabatini among those in the stands to see the the Spaniard's tournament debut.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz caused an upset at the ABN AMRO Open on Wednesday when they defeated top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Germans won 86 per cent of their first-serve points and saved all three break points they faced to advance at the Rotterdam ATP 500 event.

Krawietz and Puetz are finding their rhythm in their second tournament of the year together after reaching the semi-finals last week in Montpellier.

In other action, Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin ousted home favourites Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6(6), 6-4. They will next play third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

[ATP APP]

Cameron Norrie was two points from defeat on three occasions on Wednesday at the Argentina Open, but the Briton found his best tennis at the crucial moments to deny Argentine wild card Facundo Diaz Acosta an upset win in his native Buenos Aires.

In a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) victory, Norrie never truly hit top gear, but the second seed showed his champion mentality to get over the line at the ATP 250. 

"I thought Facu played great and it was a battle out there. It was my first [ATP Tour] match on clay in a while," said Norrie, who earned two Davis Cup wins on the clay of Colombia earlier this month. "I have a lot of things to work on but it was a great atmosphere and I had a lot of people supporting me as well, so I really enjoyed. But I need to improve a lot."

[ATP APP]

In the closing stages, Norrie was able to redirect the pacy groundstrokes from his opponent to great effect, attacking without taking big risks as the pressure mounted. Diaz Acosta was two points from victory on return at 5-4, 30/30 and twice in the tie-break at 5/5 and 6/6 after leading 4/1. But each time, Norrie had the answer.

Dominic Thiem announced on Wednesday that he has been awarded a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open, the ATP Masters 1000 event held at Indian Wells. The last time the Austrian competed in the tournament, four years ago, he captured the title.

“Hello Indian Wells! Today I received the great message that I will get a wild card for the 2023 BNP Paribas Open,” Thiem said. “It’s unbelievable news for me as it’s a tournament I love and it’s going to be the first time I played there since I won the tournament in 2019. So looking forward to seeing you all there. Thank you!”

Testing, testing ?

2019 champion @domithiem has an important announcement to make ?? pic.twitter.com/84NwqlIyMU

The 29-year-old owns a 13-5 record at Indian Wells, where he debuted in 2014. During his dream run in 2019, Thiem upset Roger Federer in the final to secure his maiden Masters 1000 trophy. This year's BNP Paribas Open will be played from 8-19 March.

Thiem, who is still battling back to top form following a 2021 wrist injury, is No. 99 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Austrian is competing this week in the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

Alex de Minaur earned his third Top 5 win in four months on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO Open, producing a dominant display to defeat second seed Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-4.

De Minaur did not face a break point in the one-hour, 21-minute matchup, winning 88 per cent (28/32) of his first-serve points. He put pressure on Rublev early in both sets and secured a break in the third game of each.

"It was a hell of a mach," De Minaur said after advancing to the last 16 at the Rotterdam ATP 500. "I think I had the right mindset. I knew I had to be aggressive and take it to him, and really believe in myself. I've been practising great. I've been doing exactly what I did today on the practice court. So it was great to see it all come alive."

The 23-year-old did his damage from all parts of the court, hitting 19 winners to seven unforced errors and winning 11 of 14 net points.

Flying into the next round @alexdeminaur @abnamroopen #ConversionScore calculates the percentage of points won when the player has been #InAttack#StealScore calculates how often a player has won the point when they are in defence during the point#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/F79YeBc2In

When tennis fans talk about Hubert Hurkacz's delivery, they're usually discussing the Pole's booming serve, one of the best on the ATP Tour. But the 26-year-old can also deliver a good punch line.

His comedic timing was on full display in the latest edition of our 'Travel With A Pro' series, in which the Pole gives an interview from his Vienna hotel room. Our Q&A got off to a rough start, with Hurkacz pointing out the "Privacy Please" sign on his door: "That wasn't respect!" he joked.

[ATP APP]

He later shared the importance of his physiotherapist during his time on the road. A big Formula 1 fan, Hurkacz enjoys watching the weekend races with his physio and was travelling with a book on the history of the sport.

"I actually watch every single race," he said. "Very rarely I miss one."

Casper Ruud has been a competitor all his life, having fun playing many sports throughout his childhood in Norway. After being exposed to a variety of athletic options, he made the “natural choice” to pursue tennis as a career, with his father Christian Ruud a former pro himself.

Now that the game of tennis has become his job, the Netflix Break Point star is all business.

“I would say that I’m quite professional about things in my career,” he said in a recent interview with the ATP Tour. “I don’t mess around too much. Any time I step on court, whether it’s a practice or a match, I’m all business. Of course I always have fun with it.”

Ruud’s dedication paid off in a big way in 2022, when he rose to a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 2 by winning three titles and reaching finals at Miami, Roland Garros, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals.

Anytime there’s an ATP Challenger Tour event in France, the local fans flock to watch world-class tennis. The Cherbourg Challenger, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week, is a case in point.

The longest-running French Challenger has been a staple of professional tennis for three decades. Year after year, spectators have enjoyed seeing some of the sport’s stars before they became household names.

The Challenger Cherbourg La Manche is also the longest-running indoor Challenger and has featured past champions such as former World No. 4 Sebastien Grosjean [1999 champion] and 2017 Nitto ATP Finals winner Grigor Dimitrov [2011]. In 2003, Rafael Nadal was a finalist (l. Sergio Roitman) just two years prior to winning his first Grand Slam title just three hours east in Paris.

That’s what the Challenger Tour has taken pride in its 45-year history: Providing tournaments for young stars to gain pro experience and develop their skills all while competing for points and prize money.

Matija Pecotic is living his Hollywood Moment.

The 33-year-old is the Director of Capital Markets for a real estate investment company who signed in as an alternate for qualifying at the Delray Beach Open. The lefty not only received a spot, but reached his first ATP Tour main draw. On Tuesday evening, he upset former Top 10 star Jack Sock to reach the second round.

Not bad for someone who worked his office job on Monday after qualifying.

But to fully understand Pecotic’s road to this point takes revisiting his roots. The Croatian was born in 1989 and in 1993, his family was still in Belgrade, which was entrenched in war. Matija’s father, orthopedic surgeon Goran, received a call from a friend who had just travelled to Malta. Recruitment was underway for an orthopedic surgeon.

“If he got there within a few days he might have had a shot to get the position. So he flew there by himself and found a base [and] rented a house. It’s not easy,” Pecotic told ATPTour.com. “People say there’s so much pressure playing this match. But if you really think about what he did, he was 40 years old, [had] two kids, hyperinflation [was] going on in the country. All your life’s possessions became worthless and you had to move to a country where you didn’t speak the local language and figure it out.

Jannik Sinner was tested on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO Open, but last week’s Montpellier champion battled on to set a second-round showdown with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Italian overcame a second-set hiccup to defeat Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 after two hours and four minutes in Rotterdam.

“For sure it’s tough when you come quite late to the other tournament, so I’m very happy about my performance today,” Sinner said. “It was not easy for me. We made a lot of unforced errors today. But still I tried to stay focussed [on] my game.”

[ATP APP]

Sinner saved two of the three break points he faced and won 46 per cent of his return points to improve to 9-2 on the season. He will next try to double his win total against Tsitsipas (1-5).

Dominic Thiem got off the mark for the 2023 ATP Tour season with a quality win on Tuesday night at the Argentina Open. The former World No. 3 defeated seventh seed Alex Molcan 7-6(4), 6-3 in Buenos Aires, breaking through in his fifth match of the year.

"It was a good match," said Thiem, who won the Buenos Aires title in 2016 and 2018. "I like it a lot here in Buenos Aires. Already the last days in practice I was feeling well.

"I won my first match of the season against a very good opponent. I stayed focussed throughout the whole match, as well in the difficult moments. So I'm happy and I'm trying to focus fully on the second round now."

Thiem and Molcan traded breaks from 5-5 in the opening set, with Thiem racing to a 5/1 lead in the tie-break after failing to serve out the set. The 29-year-old Austrian did not face a break point in set two as he improved to 12-1 in Buenos Aires with the victory.

Next up for Thiem is Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas, a 6-2, 7-5 winner against Joao Sousa earlier on Tuesday. Third seed Lorenzo Musetti is a potential third-round opponent at the ATP 250.

Matija Pecotic became one of the stories of the young season on the ATP Tour by qualifying for his tour-level debut at the age of 33. But the Croatian, who holds a full-time job in finance, was not content just to make the main draw at the Delray Beach Open.

On Tuesday, Pecotic extended his dream run in Florida with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win against former Top 10 player Jack Sock. After falling behind 0-4 in the opening set and fighting off a break point early in the second, the Princeton and Harvard graduate dominated the second half of the match. He won the final four games of sets two and three, and did not face a break point beyond the third game of the second set. 

"I certainly didn't expect to win, but certainly didn't come into the match thinking that I'm definitely going to lose," said Pecotic, who represented Croatia at the inaugural United Cup last month. "You've got to be realistic. This is a former Top 10 guy with an incredible amount of tennis experience, with a huge serve. He came out serving 134 [mph] on the first serve. It would be arrogant to think that I'm going to come out and expect to win.

"But I certainly figured if I could sink my teeth into the match and work on the two or three patterns that I prepared before, that I'm going to have a chance. And then let's see... if I was going to fall under pressure or not be able to serve it out at some point. But I didn't and I got the win."

Pecotic hit 10 aces and 30 winners in the two-hour, 10-minute match, saving six of eight break points. He attacked the net 31 times, winning 21 of those points.

Carlos Alcaraz has missed four months due to injury. In doing so, the Spaniard also lost his place atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Starting this week in Buenos Aires at the Argentina Open, the 19-year-old sensation is determined to climb back towards the top of men’s tennis’ mountain.

“It has been a long time [I spent] at No. 1,” said Alcaraz, who held top spot for 20 weeks. “Now it’s a goal for me to recover No. 1 and try to do my best in these tournaments to be back on that number. I’m looking for that.”

The teen knows the road to accomplishing that feat will not be an easy one to travel. The current World No. 1 is Novak Djokovic, the 22-time Grand Slam champion and 38-time ATP Masters 1000 titlist, who has been at the top of the sport longer than any other man in history.

Alcaraz looks forward to embracing the challenge of chasing the Serbian, for whom he has great respect.

A day after Stan Wawrinka edged Alexander Bublik in an entertaining ABN AMRO Open first-round singles clash, the pair combined to cause an upset in the doubles draw at the indoor ATP 500 event.

Bublik and Wawrinka defeated second seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 3-6, 7-6(3), 10-7 in Rotterdam. Although the Kazakh-Swiss pair did not carve out a break point in the 78-minute encounter, they took ultimately unassailable early leads in both the second-set tie-break and the Match Tie-break to notch a notable victory against the Croatian stars.

Next up for Bublik and Wawrinka in Rotterdam are Belgian qualifiers Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen. In the same half of the draw, Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek also needed a Match Tie-break to see off Fabrice Martin and Andrey Rublev. The Croatian-American pair, which qualified for the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals in their first year as a team, prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 10-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Also on Tuesday, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden downed Australian Open finalists Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 7-6(6), 4-6, 10-5, while Grigor Dimitrov and four-time Rotterdam doubles winner Nicolas Mahut beat Andreas Mies and John Peers 6-3, 6-3.

[ATP APP]

In his first competitive action since the Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev battled back from a set down to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Tuesday night at the ABN AMRO Open. The sixth seed earned a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory, turning the match around by winning nine of 10 games after falling behind 0-1 in the second set.

"I just managed to play a little bit better," Medvedev said of the turnaround. "I don't want to say that I played much better, but a little bit better, managed to use the crucial opportunities a little bit better and I feel like he was missing a bit more than in the first set.

"All together, I feel like I changed just a few millimetres of tactics, if we can say like this," he added, later explaining that he varied his position on return, including moving closer to the baseline on second serves. "All of this happened to work, so I'm really happy about it."

Medvedev converted on eight of 16 break chances, with Davidovich Fokina breaking six times from 11 opportunities in a topsy-turvy match. Four straight breaks closed the opening set, with Davidovich Fokina claiming his sixth set point in a marathon Medvedev service game to edge in front.

After finding his best tennis in the second set, hitting 14 winners to just three unforced errors, Medvedev stayed steady in the deciding set in the face of his opponent's aggressive tactics. While Davidovich Fokina earned two breaks with his big ground game, unforced errors prevented him from holding serve in the set as Medvedev locked in on return.

In danger of a second early exit in as many weeks in his home nation, Francisco Cerundolo used a late surge to escape an opening-round challenge from qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Tuesday at the Argentina Open. The fifth seed won the final four games in a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory, denying his opponent's attempt to serve out the match at 5-4 in the final set.

After retiring with a leg injury last week in the Cordoba quarter-finals, Cerundolo started well at the ATP 250, cruising through the first set and opening up a 3-0 lead in the second without a break point faced. But Germany's Hanfmann flipped the match on its head, winning nine of 11 games to claim the second set and build a 3-1 lead in the third.

With the backing of the home crowd, Cerundolo re-established himself in the match and began to step up his aggression in the late stages. He missed out on three break chances as Hanfmann held for 5-3, but that would be the last game the German won on the day as Cerundolo closed out the match with consecutive breaks.

[ATP APP]

The 24-year-old will next face Jaume Munar, who beat Argentine wild card Guido Pella 6-4, 7-5 on Monday night.

Stefanos Tsitsipas shook off some early struggles to make an ultimately confident start to his 2023 ABN AMRO Open campaign on Tuesday, when the top-seeded Greek defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 6-1 in Rotterdam.

Tsitsipas was greeted with an early barrage of clean hitting from the World No. 52 Ruusuvuori at the indoor ATP 500 event. The Greek trailed 3-5 in the opening set but, as he has done so often already in the 2023 season, he dialled in behind his serve and forehand to grind his way back into the match. Tsitsipas won 10 of the next 11 games to accelerate away from the Finn for a one-hour, 33-minute victory.

“My footwork got better over time," said Tsitsipas post-match. "I think I wasn’t very well adjusted in those first few games, and it took a little bit of time to find the right footwork, [get used to] the speed of the court, [acclimatise] to the new conditions.

“I had an opportunity in the last game [when Ruusuvuori led 5-3] to come back. I revived from that, I regenerated some awesome tennis and I recaptured that first set, which was crucial. I think from that point onwards it was flawless tennis. I was able to produce some really good shots.”

Ruusuvuori won just four games in his only previous ATP Head2Head meeting with Tsitsipas in Stockholm last October. The Finn appeared keen to emphasise early that there would be no repeat in Rotterdam as he hit his flat groundstrokes with aggression from the start and that strategy, along with some uncharacteristically wayward Tsitsipas serving, earned the Finn the first break of the match in the fifth game.