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LA NACION journalist Sebastian Torok has been recognised with the Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award in the 2022 ATP Awards.

“Receiving this award really honours me and fills me with happiness and enthusiasm to continue telling stories in the future,” Torok said. “I lived intense moments during more than 15 years of coverage of the international tennis circuit and it is a privilege to have known new countries and cultures.”

Torok has been a journalist for the Argentine newspaper LA NACION since 2000. He has covered football, rugby, boxing and handball but specialises in tennis, reporting on Argentina’s Davis Cup Finals title run in 2016.

Torok has been a radio columnist and, since 2018, has been a commentator on ESPN Latin America. He also wrote biographies on Juan Martin del Potro ('El milagro Del Potro' and 'The Gentle Giant') and Gustavo Fernandez, a leading figure in wheelchair tennis ('Hambre de Lobo').

The Argentine received international recognition at the AIPS Sport Media Awards for various investigations and one of his career highlights as a journalist was interviewing Roger Federer in Basel in 2019.

After a breakout season in which they won the Australian Open doubles title and debuted at the Nitto ATP Finals, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have yet another reason to smile at the close of the year. The Australians have been voted as the Fans' Favourite doubles team in the 2022 ATP Awards.

The popular pairing and longtime friends started the season with a bang on home soil, winning a first team title at the year's first Grand Slam. Each of their matches in Melbourne was played in a party atmosphere, and that theme continued as they enjoyed sustained success around the world.

“Wherever we’ve played this year the crowds have been packed with unbelievable energy," Kokkinakis said before the pair's first match in Turin. "It’s pretty fun for us. Hopefully it can be a continuing thing going forward.”

Wow...Brother we did it❤️ ?? pic.twitter.com/R1SOCbGF0G

In addition to their Australian Open title, other standout results included a run to the Miami semis and a title triumph in Atlanta. Their results earned them a place in Turin for the Nitto ATP Finals, where they marked their first appearance with a round-robin win.

Tennis and mathematics may have a few things in common, but for Frenchman Luca Van Assche, they intertwine daily as he makes a rapid rise on the ATP Challenger Tour.

While travelling weekly to tournaments, the 18-year-old remains in school at Paris Dauphine University, where he is a sophomore. The teen is studying math and handles school while away from home.

“I have a lot of homework when I’m on the road, but of course I manage it,” Van Assche told ATPTour.com. “Sometimes it’s difficult to do both. For the moment I’m enjoying doing both so I will continue like this.

“I cannot do online tests, I have to be in Paris. There are like two weeks of exams this year, one week in June and one in January. I study when I’m at home and on Tour, and for the exams I just need to be in Paris.”

Cut through all the specialised training programmes and every ATP Tour player has one ultimate, yet simple goal for their game: make it a little bit better each day they step on the court or hit the gym.

The four men nominated for Most Improved Player of the Year in the 2022 ATP Awards succeeded in that pursuit more than most this season, their climbs up the Pepperstone ATP Rankings proof positive of their breakthrough years.

Up for the award this year are: Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Jack Draper and Maxime Cressy. The winner will be announced later this month.

Carlos Alcaraz, 19
Billed as a budding superstar on the heels of a strong finish to 2021 — one that saw him reach the US Open quarter-finals and later claim the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals title — Alcaraz had a lot to live up to this season. The Spaniard not only met those lofty expectations, he exceeded them in record time.

After winning the first of his five titles on the year at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro to break into the Top 20, Alcaraz showed he could deliver on the game's biggest stages by winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami after a semi-final run in Indian Wells. He then brought the show to his home fans, claiming a Spanish trophy double in Barcelona and Madrid, beating Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in succession in the latter event.

The offseason is an opportunity for the players of the ATP Tour to enjoy time away from their typical routine. For most of the stars, it is an opportunity to sleep in.

Not for 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov.

“[I] wake up at six,” Dimitrov said. “I wake up very early!”

The Bulgarian enjoys taking in the world around him, as often seen on his social media pages. What does it take to snag the perfect offseason photo?

“You’ve just got to have the eye for it,” Dimitrov said. “Sometimes it’s one take, sometimes it doesn’t work. But then all of a sudden you get to the right place at the right time and boom, you have it.”

This week, ATPTour.com continues its annual season-in-review series, looking back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more. In this installment, we look back at Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's rivalry this year. On Monday we will focus on Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas' rivalry.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are poised to compete against each other for the game's biggest prizes for the next decade, with the 19-year-old Spaniard and 21-year-old Italian two of the most exciting and talented young players on the ATP Tour.

The pair opened its ATP Head2Head series at the end 2021, when Alcaraz scored a 7-6(1), 7-5 win at the Rolex Paris Masters. After three meetings in 2022, the matchup is now a bona fide rivalry built on mutual respect — particularly after the five-set US Open quarter-final epic which set a record for latest finish in New York.

ATPTour.com looks back on their three matches this season, which also included meetings in the Wimbledon fourth round and the Umag final.

Wimbledon, R16, Sinner d. Alcaraz 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3
Just hours after Wimbledon looked back to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Centre Court, Sinner and Alcaraz provided a glimpse of the future with their first Grand Slam meeting. It was the youngest match by combined age at SW19 since 1985.

From scrambling to gain entry into tournaments to finishing the season with a record-setting 10 titles, British doubles team Julian Cash and Henry Patten made a stunning impact on the ATP Challenger Tour this year.

“It’s been a bit of a blur but we’ve had a couple days at home and I think it’s set in a little bit,” Patten told ATPTour.com. “A pretty crazy accomplishment, surpassing all of our expectations for sure. It feels like not that long ago we were trying to hustle our way into some Challengers over the summer.”

In May, Cash and Patten were ranked outside the Top 300 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings. After receiving a wild card into the Surbiton Challenger, their season started to change course. Despite never teaming at the Challenger level before, Cash and Patten collected their maiden Challenger title on the grass courts of Surbiton. They didn’t stop there.

The duo won titles on all three surfaces this season, including a surge on the North American hard courts, where they collected six titles: Granby, Columbus, Fairfield, Las Vegas, Charlottesville, and Drummondville.

A full complement of the ATP Tour's best players are set to compete at the first Grand Slam of 2023, as confirmed by the Australian Open entry list released Thursday by Tennis Australia.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal will bid for his third Australian Open crown after his historic 2022 triumph, when he battled from two sets down in the final to defeat Daniil Medvedev and win a record-breaking 21st major singles title. The Spaniard enters the 2023 season with a record 22 Slam trophies, with Novak Djokovic right behind him on 21.

Djokovic will seek to extend his record of nine AO titles and draw level with Nadal in the overall major count as he returns to the competition for the first time since he beat Medvedev in the 2021 final.

[ATP APP]

Carlos Alcaraz will play a Grand Slam as the World No. 1 for the first time as he seeks to win back-to-back majors following his US Open triumph in September. By winning his first Slam trophy in New York, Alcaraz secured his debut atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, becoming the youngest man to achieve that feat since the first edition of the rankings in 1973. The Spaniard maintained that position to earn year-end No. 1 honours and has an opportunity to extend his lead atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings by improving on his third-round result one year ago in Melbourne.

Roger Federer is not just one of the most recognisable tennis players in the world, but a global icon who has resonated far beyond the sport. Getting into Wimbledon should not be a problem for the eight-time champion, right?

Wrong.

Two weeks ago, Federer was in London. The Swiss star had two hours to kill before his flight, so he decided to pay the All England Club a visit.

Little did the 20-time Grand Slam champion know he would struggle to get into the facility. Federer recounted the hilarious story Wednesday evening on The Daily Show with friend and comedian Trevor Noah.

That time Wimbledon security wouldn’t let @rogerfederer in ? pic.twitter.com/mcREy62E13

Agnieszka Radwanska, Tim Henman and Gisela Dulko are among the high-profile names to join an all-star line-up of past and current tennis champions to captain teams at the inaugural United Cup.

The United Cup is a new annual mixed team event, played across three Australian cities - Brisbane, Perth and Sydney, set to launch the global tennis season from Thursday 29 December.

In Brisbane, former World No. 2 Radwanska will captain Team Poland in Group B, led by World No.1 Iga Swiatek and World No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz.

In Perth, former World No. 1 doubles player and Australian Open 2011 doubles champion Dulko will lead Team Argentina, who are drawn against Croatia and France in Group F.

Former World No. 4 and Roland Garros champion Iva Majoli will captain Croatia, with players Borna Coric and Donna Vekic to fly the flag for their country.

Progress is rarely linear, in life or in sport. With the right mindset, a setback can provide an opportunity to come back stronger.

That is exactly what the four nominees for Comeback Player Of The Year in the 2022 ATP Awards have worked so hard to do this season. Borna Coric, Stan Wawrinka, Wu Yibing and Dominic Thiem are all on the shortlist for the award, which goes to a player who has overcome injury to re-establish himself as one of the top players on Tour.

The winner, as selected by the players, will be announced during Awards week, starting 12 December.

This week, ATPTour.com continues its annual season-in-review series, looking back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more. In this installment, we look back at Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas' rivalry in 2022. On Thursday we will focus on Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz's rivalry.

Daniil Medvedev entered the season with a dominant 6-2 lead in his ATP Head2Head series with Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, the Greek made inroads against the 26-year-old in 2022, narrowing Medvedev’s advantage to 7-4.

Tsitsipas lost their first meeting of the year, but responded emphatically to earn crucial victories in Cincinnati and at the Nitto ATP Finals. ATPTour.com looks back at the three matches the rivals played in 2022.

Australian Open, SF, Medvedev d. Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
It took little time for the pair to lock horns in 2022, with Medvedev facing Tsitsipas in the first month of the season at the Australian Open. Having won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September 2021, Medvedev entered the semi-final clash against Tsitsipas chasing history, aiming to become the first player to follow his maiden major trophy with his second at the next Grand Slam event.

Meanwhile, Tsitsipas, who was seeking his first major title, came into the match in strong form, having earned wins against Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner en route to the last four. The Greek was also aiming to break new ground in Melbourne and reach his first Australian Open final, having fallen at the semi-final stage in 2019 and in 2021 against Medvedev.

Frances Tiafoe has long admired NBA legend LeBron James, who has supported 'Big Foe' from afar. That made their meeting on Sunday evening a Slam Dunk.

During warmups for the game between Tiafoe’s hometown Washington Wizards and James’ Los Angeles Lakers, James visited Tiafoe courtside, where they shared a quick embrace.

“Nothing but love OG,” Tiafoe wrote on Instagram.

It was a special moment for Tiafoe, who was thrilled to have the all-time great’s support during the US Open. After the 24-year-old upset Rafael Nadal en route to the semi-finals, James tweeted his congratulations.

A host of stars will open their 2023 ATP Tour seasons in Adelaide and Pune in January, with the Adelaide International 1 and the Tata Open Maharashtra set to begin on 2 January.

Four players who competed at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals will be back in action in Adelaide, including Turin champion Novak Djokovic, who leads the field as World No. 5. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev will also compete at the ATP 250, along with Turin alternate Holger Rune.

Former Nitto ATP Finals champion Andy Murray and 2021 debutant Jannik Sinner (who played in Turin as an alternate) are also among the 25 direct entrants, a list which also includes 2023 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion Brandon Nakashima and fellow Milan competitors Jack Draper and Lorenzo Sonego.

Last year's Adelaide-1 finalist Karen Khachanov will return as he bids to complete unfinished business at the event, while Sebastian Korda and Maxime Cressy lead a group of five Americans in the field.

[ATP APP]

This week, ATPTour.com continues its annual season-in-review series, looking back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more. In this installment, we look back at the best Grand Slam comebacks of the season, featuring Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. On Wednesday we will focus on Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas' rivalry.

5) Roland Garros, R2, Alexander Zverev d. Sebastian Baez 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5
Sebastian Baez first showed fans a glimpse of his potential at the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals when he advanced to the semi-finals in Milan. The Argentine then started the 2022 season impressively, clinching his maiden tour-level title in Estoril. However, few gave him a chance when he stepped onto court against Alexander Zverev in the second round at Roland Garros.

The German arrived in Paris following runs to the final in Madrid and the last four in Rome, where he defeated Baez in straight sets. Sport rarely follows a simple script, though, and this proved the case in a rollercoaster clash at the clay-court major. Baez flew out of the blocks as he troubled Zverev in the blustery conditions, breaking Zverev’s serve in the opening game to set the tone for the first two sets. The 21-year-old dictated play with his huge forehand, also deploying his drop shot to good effect.

After Zverev fended off three break points to hold for 1-4 in the second set, however, the momentum in the match changed. Although it came too late to prevent the Argentine from clinching the second set, renewed purpose from Zverev powered him to the third and fourth sets for the loss of just three games combined as he found some consistency in his groundstrokes.

Baez refused to roll over as the players exchanged breaks in a tense deciding set, though, and the Argentine had an opportunity to seal his upset win with a match point at 4-5, 30/40. However, he was unable to return a big serve down the middle from Zverev, who then held his nerve to break himself and claim victory.

Following the successful launch of LOVE last month, the ATP has announced Tuesday that the limited collection of NFTs is now on sale.

The stunning generative digital artworks created in collaboration with Art Blocks Engine and renowned artist Martin Grasser introduces new ways for fans to celebrate, admire and own 300 impactful moments from the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals.

As a first-of-its kind generative art project in tennis, LOVE generates artwork entirely from official tennis data, provided by Tennis Data Innovations. There are more than 30 colour palettes, 114 camera angles and many zoom levels working in collaboration with the lines on the court and bright yellow ball to create endless possibilities.

Test outputs generated from 2021 Nitto ATP Finals match data.

Collectors are able to order a high-quality physical print of their artwork via Level Frames. Fans are also able to trade their LOVE NFT on the secondary market, with one per cent of secondary sales to be donated directly to the Giving Block’s Mental Health Impact Fund. To learn more about the project, and to purchase your NFT, visit www.art.tennis.

Jimmy Arias was already a 13-year-old tennis prodigy from Buffalo when the fast-talking coach from the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort talked him into moving to Florida in 1978.

“School was over at noon, and I could hit tennis balls the rest of the day,” Arias recently said. “My other choice was moving to Spain — by myself — and working with the Spanish Federation, a bunch of old guys who smoked and didn’t speak English.

“The beach — or Spain? It was a no-brainer for a 13-year-old.”

The high-energy salesman was Nick Bollettieri, a guy who never played competitive tennis past high school. Arias was the first non-local marquee talent to join what would eventually become the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. At the time, it was only three other juniors, two courts in Longboat, Florida, and a room in Bollettieri’s house. After Andre Agassi and Jim Courier arrived, it would become the model for teaching tennis at the elite junior level.

Bollettieri died on Sunday, only a brief bicycle ride from his creation in Bradenton, Florida, surrounded by family and loved ones. He was 91. Everything in the legendary coach’s long and winding journey was larger than life.

French teenager Luca Van Assche had one target for this year: win an ATP Challenger Tour trophy. With time nearly expiring on the Challenger season, the 18-year-old accomplished his goal Sunday at the Maia Open.

Van Assche, who has reached four Challenger finals in the past two months, won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour trophy in Maia, Portugal, where he rallied from a set down to defeat Austrian qualifier Maximilian Neuchrist in the championship match 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

“It was a great week for me, I’m so happy to win,” Van Assche said. “When I lost the first set [in the final], I was thinking about it like, ‘I cannot lose four finals!’ I continued to fight and it worked. It was my goal to win a Challenger this year and I did it at the last tournament of the year.

“This is the biggest day of my career so far and I hope there will be other days like this in the future. This is a little step in my big career.”

This week, ATPTour.com continues its annual season-in-review series, looking back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more. In this installment, we look back at the best comebacks on the ATP Tour this season (excluding the Grand Slams), featuring Nitto ATP Finals competitors Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Rafael Nadal. On Tuesday we will focus on the best Grand Slam comebacks of the year.

5) BNP Paribas Open, R2, Nadal d Korda 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3)
Rafael Nadal's perfect start to the season — a run which included three titles — was on the line in Indian Wells, and the Spaniard stayed hot against Sebastian Korda by winning his 13th set in a row dating back to the Australian Open final.

But the American took command of the match on home soil, outhitting Nadal in a dominant second set and moving within two points of victory at 5-2 in the third. Once again, Nadal showcased his fighting spirit by clawing his way back from that double-break deficit, taking advantage of some late nerves from Korda, who idolised the Spaniard growing up.

Nadal broke easily to close to 3-5, then used two trademark passing shots to level the match at 5-5. After fending off a break point in the ensuing game, he was the steadier player in the tie-break as he won the final five points of the match. 

Watch the full match replay on TennisTV.com.

They are among the brightest young stars on the ATP: Ben Shelton, Chun-Hsin Tseng, Jack Draper, Jiri Lehecka and Holger Rune. And all five are nominees for the Newcomer of the Year in the 2022 ATP Awards, to be announced later this month.

Selected by players, the award goes to the #NextGenATP player who entered the Top 100 for the first time in 2022 and made the biggest impact on the ATP Tour this season. 

Ben Shelton, 20
From NCAA college tennis to the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, Shelton made his mark at every level in 2022.

The American clinched the prestigious NCAA singles title in U.S. college tennis in May, representing the University of Florida. That achievement kick-started a meteoric rise for Shelton, who subsequently earned a 35-8 record in Challenger events either side of upsetting Lorenzo Sonego and Casper Ruud to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open.

That run in Cincinnati prompted Shelton’s decision to turn professional prior to the US Open in August, and the 20-year-old has barely stopped winning since. He made four Challenger finals in six tournaments to round out his year, and in November became the youngest player in Challenger history to lift three trophies in as many weeks. Having started 2022 at No. 573 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Shelton ended it a career-high No. 97.