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Paid Time Off: Pecotic Wins Delray Debut With Boss In Stands

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.

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Alcaraz On Djokovic, Whom He Is Chasing For No. 1: 'He Has No Weaknesses'

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.

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Singles Rivals Bublik/Wawrinka Combine To Upset Mektic/Pavic In Rotterdam

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]

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Medvedev Battles Back To Win Rotterdam Opener

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.

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Cerundolo Survives Scare In Buenos Aires

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.

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

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Tsitsipas Steps Up, Eases Past Ruusuvuori In Rotterdam

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.

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Felix Fires Past Sonego In Rotterdam

Felix Auger-Aliassime made a perfect start to his title defence at the ABN AMRO Open on Tuesday.

The Canadian fired past Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 6-3 to reach the second round in Rotterdam. The third seed saved the two break points he faced to advance to a second-round clash with Frenchman Gregoire Barrere after one hour and 22 minutes.

When Auger-Aliassime arrived in Rotterdam last year, he had not yet claimed an ATP Tour title and lost his first set of the tournament against Egor Gerasimov. He had no such difficulty against Sonego, whose spinny groundstrokes allowed the four-time tour-level champion to crush ball after ball from the baseline.

The defending champion also showed good feel around the net throughout the match to take a 2-0 ATP Head2Head lead against the Italian.

[ATP APP]

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Tennis Unites To Support Earthquake Relief

The ATP, WTA, ITF and the four Grand Slams – the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open – have united to launch Tennis Plays for Love, a fundraising campaign to support those impacted by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

More than 17 million people in the affected region are now living in freezing winter conditions and urgently need blankets, emergency shelter, food and clean water.

The campaign, which kicks off with a joint donation by the tennis governing bodies, will benefit Global Giving’s Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund, helping provide emergency relief and fuel long-term recovery efforts. All fans can lend their support by donating via the fund’s official page.

In addition, a one-of-a-kind NFT from the ‘LOVE’ tennis art project is being auctioned in support of the campaign. Head over to OpenSea to place your bid before the auction’s close on Friday 17 February.

Tennis Plays for Love follows on from last year’s Tennis Plays for Peace campaign, which has so far raised more than US$3.5 million for those impacted by the war in Ukraine.

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Dividend Yield: Finance Titan, 33, Earns ATP Tour Debut

When the best stories of the tennis season are collated at the end of 2023, Matija Pecotic’s journey at the Delray Beach Open will certainly be among them.

The 33-year-old has a full-time job as the Director of Capital Markets for a real estate investment company and is No. 784 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. So how did he end up in the main draw of an ATP Tour event for the first time? 

Pecotic never broke into the Top 1,000 in the ITF Junior Rankings, but he became a star at Princeton University, where he competed from 2009-13. The lefty was a three-time Ivy League Player of the Year and climbed as high as No. 2 in the college tennis rankings.

In 2014, the Croatian fully pursued professional tennis and the following year he ascended to a career-high World No. 206. But that was when he hit a roadblock. Just before the 2016 Australian Open he had a small surgery on his stomach.

“[I] ended up getting a serious staph infection and I was basically bed-ridden for eight months,” Pecotic said. “That changed the trajectory of my tennis timeline and my tennis career.”

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Djere Downs Fognini In Buenos Aires, Meets Alcaraz Next

Laslo Djere improved to 4-0 in opening rounds this season with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Fabio Fognini at the Argentina Open on Monday.

In a battling performance, the Serbian saved the first six break points he faced before Fognini denied his first attempt to serve out the match at 5-2. The Italian took a medical timeout after turning his ankle and held serve to put the pressure on his opponent, but Djere held to love to close out the one-hour, 37-minute match.

Djere, who was an efficient three-for-four on break points, will meet Buenos Aires debutant and top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the second round. It will be the pair's first ATP Head2Head matchup.

Fognini fell to 0-3 on the year with defeat in what was the first clay-court match of 2023 for both players.

Argentina's Pedro Cachin also advanced with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win against Thiago Monteiro to set up a second-round meeting with third seed Lorenzo Musetti, while Spain's Bernabe Zapata Miralles scored a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 win against countryman Pedro Martinez to book a matchup against fourth seed and home favourite Diego Schwartzman.

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Kudla Wins Decisive Tie-Break In Delray Beach

American Denis Kudla completed a comeback against Jordan Thompson on Monday at the Delray Beach Open with a dominant performance in a third-set tie-break. The 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) victory avenged a straight-sets loss for Kudla against the Aussie last week in Dallas.

"I thought we both served well, we were both playing pretty physical," Kudla said post-match. "But whoever really got in front of the point stayed in front. Obviously it came down to a few points at the end and I was happy to execute."

[ATP APP]

The 30-year-old was trailing by a set and an early break at the ATP 250, but immediately levelled the second set after losing his opening service game. He saved two break points midway through set two before forcing a final set with his second break of the match.

After a final set without a single break point, the Kiev-born Kudla took control of the tie-break by winning four straight points from 1/1. He survived 19 aces from Thompson in the two-hour, 36-minute match, hitting 22 winners in the victory. 

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Glasspool/Heliovaara Beat Tsitsipas Brothers In Rotterdam

Fourth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara made a fast start at the ABN AMRO Open with a straight-sets win against wild cards Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas on Monday. The British-Finnish pairing converted on three of four break points in the 6-3, 6-4 victory, winning 86 per cent of their first-serve points in a comfortable outing.

Through to the quarter-finals, Glasspool/Heliovaara are seeking their fourth title as a team and their second of 2023 after a triumph at the Adelaide International 1 last month. The duo is 8-1 on the young season.

Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen were also victorious on Day 1 in Rotterdam, earning a 6-3, 5-7, 10-3 win against Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp.

[ATP APP]

Defending Champs Arevalo/Rojer Advance In Delray Beach
Top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arevalo defeated Americans Brandon Holt and Jackson Withrow 6-3, 7-5 on Monday in the opening round of the Delray Beach Open. The Salvadoran-Dutch duo won four titles in 2022, including at Roland Garros and Delray Beach. They have already claimed another this season at the Adelaide International 2.

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Rio Open Presented By Claro 2023: Draws, Dates, History & All You Need To Know

The second ATP 500 event of the 2023 season will see defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Cameron Norrie and Lorenzo Musetti lead the field at the Rio Open presented by Claro.

Here's what you need to know ahead of the tournament in Brazil:

When is the Rio Open presented by Claro?

The 2023 Rio Open presented by Claro will be held from 20-26 February. The clay-court ATP 500 tournament, established in 2014, will take place at the Jockey Club Brasileiro. The tournament director is Luiz Procopio Carvalho.

Who is playing at the 2023 Rio Open presented by Claro?

The Rio Open presented by Claro will feature stars including World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, four-time tour-level titlist Cameron Norrie and World No. 18 Lorenzo Musetti.

When is the draw for the Rio Open presented by Claro.?

The Rio Open presented by Claro draw will be made Saturday, 18 February at 6 p.m.

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Wu Breaks New Ground For China, Mover Of Week

Wu Yibing has become the highest-ranked Chinese player in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history thanks to his title run at the Dallas Open, while Jannik Sinner and Sebastian Baez also made jumps after their triumphs at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier and Cordoba Open, respectively.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after a trio of action-packed ATP 250 events.

View Pepperstone ATP Rankings

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No. 58 Wu Yibing, +39 (Career High)
Wu knocked off a series of milestones during his title run at the Dallas Open. He became the first Chinese player in history to defeat a Top 10 opponent with his semi-final win against Taylor Fritz, and then held off John Isner in a nerve-wracking final to become the first to win an ATP Tour title.

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Dimitrov Races Through Rotterdam Opener

Grigor Dimitrov wasted little time kick-starting his 2023 ABN AMRO Open campaign on Monday, when the World No. 28 eased past Aslan Karatsev 6-1, 6-3 in just 59 minutes in Rotterdam.

The Bulgarian is a former finalist at the ATP 500 tournament, and he delivered a confident performance on the indoor hard courts of the Rotterdam Ahoy. Dimitrov did not face a break point against Karatsev and converted four from five of his own to improve his record in opening rounds at the event to 8-1.

It was a second victory of 2023 for Dimitrov against the three-time tour-level titlist Karatsev. The pair also met in the first round at January’s Australian Open, where the Bulgarian also prevailed as a straight-sets winner. The 31-year-old Dimitrov went on to reach the third round in Melbourne, where he was beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

The eight-time ATP Tour champion’s reward for Monday’s victory is a second-round clash against fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz or Roberto Bautista Agut.

[ATP APP]

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#NextGenATP Gigante: From Lucky Loser To Challenger Champion

Matteo Gigante was down and out in the second round of qualifying at the Tenerife Challenger-3. Following a straight-sets defeat against Giovanni Fonio, it seemed the Italian was off to his next tournament. But little did he know what the rest of the week held for him.

After receiving a lucky loser spot in the Tenerife main draw, Gigante went on a run to collect his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title. In the final, he defeated countryman Stefano Travaglia 6-3, 6-2 in just one hour, 10 minutes.

“I’m so proud, I played amazing tennis this week,” Gigante said. “[The final] was against a good friend, when we are in Rome we practise every day. It’s difficult mentally but I’m so happy.”

 

The 21-year-old is the first lucky loser champion on the Challenger Tour since 2018, when Tommy Paul won in Charlottesville and just the 16th lucky loser champion in Challenger history.

Matteo Gigante claims the Challenger 75 event in Tenerife.
Liam Broady at the 2023 Vilnius Challenger.
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First-Time Winner Spotlight: Wu Yibing

Wu Yibing made history on Sunday when he triumphed in a three tie-break Dallas Open final against John Isner to become the first Chinese ATP Tour titlist.

After Wu earned the biggest victory of his career, the 23-year-old spoke to ATPTour.com about the importance of his win back home, overcoming injuries, why he loves Kevin Durant, cooking and more.

What does it mean to you to win your first ATP Tour title?
I feel happy. It’s not only about winning the title. It’s more about me personally making history, also for the country. It’s huge for the next generation. For me, I need to keep going, keep my body healthy and I’m sure there’s more to come.

It has been a long wait to see this success from Chinese men’s tennis, which could create a lot of pressure, but you seemed so relaxed this week. How have you managed to not allow the pressure to bother you?
I’ve been through a lot of things. I’ve been through injuries, I’ve been through many difficult situations when I was growing up. I think the reason why I’m relaxed now on the tennis court is because I trust myself. If you want to beat me, you have to work hard.

When you were away from professional tennis for about three years because of injuries and the pandemic, did you ever doubt you would reach a moment like this? How does it feel to persevere?
Of course there were a lot of doubts because I did surgery and the rehab wasn’t going well. It took longer than it should [have], but it turned out I’m here. I’d be [lying] if I said 100 per cent I’m going to be here today. But the process is always the most important thing.

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Murray/Venus Rally In Dallas For First Team Title

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus began their partnership this year. On Sunday, they stepped into the winners' circle together for the first time.

The top seeds rallied past second seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 1-6, 7-6(4), 10-7 to win the Dallas Open for their first title as a team.

“Obviously it’s great, we just started the year and as a new partnership you want to spend as much time on the court together [as possible],” Venus said. “So, to be able to do it in matches, I think that’s great, because that’s where you learn the most about each other.

“We had some tough matches here, and just really happy to get the title.” 

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Baez Battles Past Coria To Cordoba Crown

There is nothing quite like victory at home, as Sebastian Baez found out Sunday at the Cordoba Open.

The World No. 47 prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in an all-Argentine championship match against Federico Coria on Sunday at the ATP 250 event. Although it was Baez’s fourth ATP Tour championship match, it was his first on home soil, and his one-hour, 50-minute win was followed by an emotional courtside huddle with his team.

In a hard-fought final, the 30-year-old Coria dug deep in pursuit of his first ATP Tour title, but Baez’s powerful forehand frequently proved decisive in the baseline exchanges. Despite an early exchange of breaks in the deciding set, it was Baez who held firm to add the Cordoba crown to his 2022 victory in Estoril.

[ATP APP]

After competing at the 2021 NextGen ATP Finals, Baez enjoyed a breakout season on the ATP Tour last year, and notably on clay. He defeated Frances Tiafoe for his Estoril title while also reaching finals in Santiago and Bastad and pushing Alexander Zverev to five sets in a Roland Garros thriller.

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Wu Becomes First Chinese ATP Tour Titlist In History

Wu Yibing came back from the brink to make history Sunday at the Dallas Open, where the fast-rising 23-year-old saved four championship points before downing John Isner 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-6(12) to become the first Chinese player to lift an ATP Tour trophy.

After a bright start in his maiden tour-level final, Wu appeared to have faded in the face of a trademark serving barrage from Isner at the indoor ATP 250 event in Texas. The American held championship point on his opponent’s serve at 6-5, 30/40 in the second set, but Wu kept his cool to recover before sealing a historic victory in a nerve-wracking deciding-set tie-break.

Wu forced Isner to push a forehand long to clinch a third-set tie-break in which the first 22 points went with serve. He sealed a remarkable two-hour, 59-minute victory despite Isner firing 44 aces in the match.

Wu, who did not compete on the ATP Tour from March 2019 to January 2022 due to a series of injuries, had notched just six tour-level wins prior to this week. Yet he showed no sign of nerves throughout his run, during which he defeated Michael Mmoh, third seed Denis Shapovalov, Adrian Mannarino, top seed Taylor Fritz and Isner.

On Monday, Wu became just the second Chinese player to crack the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Now he will rise to a career-high World No. 58 just one week later.

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