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Who has the upper hand on hard courts in 2022?

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of hard court tournaments leading into the US Open identifies Carlos Alcaraz as the peak performer, winning a tour-leading 54.12 per cent of points played on the surface. The data set includes players who have competed in a minimum of five hard-court matches so far this year.

The leading five players in the category are:

2022 Hard Courts Percentage Points Won
1. Carlos Alcaraz = 54.12% (1583/2925)
2. Daniil Medvedev = 54.04% (2685/4969)
3. Rafael Nadal = 53.85% (2042/3792)
4. Novak Djokovic = 53.40% (204/382)
5. Alexander Zverev = 53.36% (1301/2438)

Alcaraz is 14-4 on hard courts in 2022, including winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami. Alcaraz impressively defeated three Top 10 players (No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 8 Casper Ruud, No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz) to take the title while only dropping one set for the entire tournament (to Miomir Kecmanovic)

Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie and Daniel Evans have been standouts for Great Britain for years. They each have thrilled fans with different game styles and personalities.

One thing they all share is a belief that the future of #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper is bright.

Draper, who is fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Turin, has proven a favourite to earn a spot at this year’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals. Murray, Norrie and Evans are not surprised.

“He’s always had lots of potential,” Murray told ATPTour.com. “A lot of ability.”

This time last year, Draper’s Pepperstone ATP Ranking was not high enough to enter US Open qualifying. Now the 20-year-old lefty is on the verge of the Top 50 and a dark horse at Flushing Meadows.

Dominic Thiem calls the US Open one of his favourite tournaments and New York one of his favourite cities. This year, the Austrian is as excited as ever to arrive at Flushing Meadows.

After missing the 2021 edition due to a wrist injury, Thiem will return to the venue as US Open champion for the first time.

“It doesn’t get old and I think it will never get old [saying that]. It will always be special and it will always be there, which makes me very happy,” Thiem told ATPTour.com. “But at the same time, sports is a very fast business and everybody is hungry every day. I have zero advantage because of being a champion.”

Two years ago, Thiem was soaring higher than ever. In his fourth major final, the Austrian battled past Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) to lift the trophy in New York. He had also defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the semi-finals and was the No. 3 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Later that season, Thiem defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal en route to the championship match of the Nitto ATP Finals.

Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
But the past 14 months have been difficult for the 17-time tour-level titlist. Last June, Thiem suffered a wrist injury while competing in Mallorca that kept him away from competition for nine months.

Adrian Mannarino's started his week by saving four match points in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open. After surviving three tie-breaks in his opening match, the Frenchman did not drop another set on his way to his second tour-level title.

With a 7-6(1), 6-4 victory against Laslo Djere in Saturday's final, the 34-year-old became the oldest champion in the tournament's history, as well as its first French champion.

"I'm just happy I won the tournament, no matter who won before or who's going to win after," Mannarino said post-match. "It's just something that I've [accomplished] for now and I'm really happy with that."

[ATP APP]

Mannarino saved two break points to avoid going down a double break in the opening set before converting on his first break chance to level at 4-4. He then sprinted into the lead by winning the final six points of the tie-break.

"I had some trouble today to see the ball," the Frenchman said of his slow start. "The conditions last night, playing at night with the cold weather was so different than playing today with hot weather and clear blue skies.

New partner, similar success for Matthew Ebden and Jamie Murray. Teaming for the first time this week in Winston-Salem, the pair claimed the title with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski on Saturday.

The third seeds saved all five break points against them in the final as they finished the week with just one set lost. The title is Ebden's seventh and Murray's 27th at tour-level.

"When we spoke last week about playing here, I thought immediately it works perfectly," Ebden said post-match. "Jamie plays on the deuce court, I've been playing on the ad [side]. We've known each other a long time. First time [playing] together but we've known each other, we've seen each other around many times.

"You never really know how its going to go, but I like to think we both know what we're doing out there and we're lucky we executed a lot of good points and played a lot of big points well. That was the key to the week."

[ATP APP]

Alex Molcan enters the 2022 US Open as a Top 40 player, a vast improvement from this time last year, when he advanced through the qualifying as the World No. 138 before reaching the third round at Flushing Meadows (l. Schwartzman). He has not forgotten his roots.

In 2021, the Slovakian spent much of his time on the ATP Challenger Tour and attempting to qualify for Tour-level events. This season, Molcan has made it onto the ATP Tour and has found success that he eagerly awaited.

“I’m not surprised that I’m there (Top 40). I always knew if I can play well and stay healthy, I can be Top 50.” Molcan said. “I wasn’t surprised but I don’t think it came crazy fast. I was trying for many, many years to be Top 100 but I didn’t do it. Last year, it was surprising when I went from 300 to 90 at the end of season.”

The 24-year-old holds two Challenger Tour titles, Liberec and Helsinki, which he won in 2021. After spending several years on the Challenger Tour, Molcan has many fond memories of the annual progress he achieved.

“When I won my first Challenger, that was great. Before that, I was happy when I played some semi-finals, I was like ‘Woah, 30 points!’ and I was so happy. Three years ago, it was a great memory when I played quarter-finals. There are a lot of good memories, every year is some other memory.”

Sebastian Baez met his longtime coach, Sebastian Gutierrez, for the first time when he was 15. He was in Brazil for an ITF event, where Gutierrez was coaching the Argentine players.

It did not take long for them to make a connection, but not on the court. Gutierrez wasted no time commenting on something that some coaches would not do for weeks, if not months.

“I drank Coca-Cola every day, every time. I ate all foods,” Baez recalled. “He looked at me and said, ‘Why do you drink Coca-Cola every time?’”

Baez was already one of the best juniors in Argentina. But being a good junior and a top professional are worlds apart. That first meeting with Gutierrez set Baez on a path to where he is now, the No. 37 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“I said, ‘I really like Coca-Cola! It’s the best thing!’ He said, ‘No, you have to drink water.’ I said, ‘Okay’. It was a difficult change in that moment, but I think that was the first thing he told me,” Baez said. “The other coaches from my country just told me how I have to hit the ball and everything. He was focussed outside the court and that is what makes all the difference.”

After two rain delays, Brandon Holt finally won his final-round qualifying match on Friday at the US Open against Dimitar Kuzmanov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the main draw at a Grand Slam for the first time. The American finished it off by rushing into the net to put away a ball that seemingly floated forever.

In the crowd, Holt’s mother put her hands on her head in disbelief, quickly stood up in celebration, sat down again and looked in complete shock. Moments later she shared a special embrace with Brandon. It was one of the most emotional moments of qualifying week at Flushing Meadows.

It just so happens that Holt’s mother knows a thing or two about winning at the US Open. His mom is Tracy Austin, the two-time tournament winner who remains the youngest champion in US Open history, having lifted the trophy aged 16 in 1979.

“It’s over!” Austin told ATPTour.com of her immediate reaction. “It’s over!”

Photo Credit: Pete Staples/USTA
The former World No. 1 was not the only one who felt that way. Holt led 4-2 in the third set with an opportunity to go up 5-2 when the players were forced inside due to the first rain delay. When play resumed, he earned three match points — two on Kuzmanov’s serve at 5-2 and another at 5-3, 40/15. The Bulgarian played them perfectly to avoid elimination.

The ability to watch world-class tennis in a smaller, more intimate setting is one of the core pillars of tennis on the ATP Challenger Tour. That is, witnessing a player's journey as he fights to establish a career away from the big cities and the bright lights.

It is precisely what makes the Challenger circuit so special to these communities and regions in all corners of the globe. And when that tournament is the lone professional tennis event in the entire country, it provides an additional unique layer to its charm that is unmatched. This is where the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina, has carved its own identity on the ATP Challenger Tour for the last two decades.

This week, the Srpska Open was honoured for 20 years on the ATP Challenger Tour. Not only is it the longest-running men's professional tennis tournament in all of Bosnia & Herzegovina, but also the entire Balkan region in southeast Europe. With a population centre of just 138,000, Banja Luka is also one of the smallest cities to host a Challenger tournament for 20 or more years.

It was in 2002 that Milan Radakovic had a vision for the future of tennis in his native Banja Luka. Never before did his city or his country host a tournament of this caliber on the ATP Challenger Tour. But this was Milan's dream. To bring elite tennis to Bosnia & Herzegovina. Not only did he achieve that very goal, but here we are more than two decades later, and his dream is still being realized.

In 2017, Radakovic passed away at the age of 61, and while he is no longer with us, the light behind his vision burns brighter than ever. He would be proud to witness this moment, as the very tournament he founded celebrates its 20th anniversary on the ATP Challenger Tour. The Srpska Open was honoured on Thursday, with a special ceremony in front of the Bosnian faithful on Center Court at the National Tennis Center.

Adrian Mannarino has done it the hard way this week. After saving four match points in his opening-round victory at the Winston-Salem Open, he has defeated four seeded players to advance to his first tour-level final since 2020.

The 34-year-old Frenchman raced past second seed Botic van de Zandschulp on Friday night, earning a 6-0, 6-4 win in one hour, 15 minutes. With victory in Saturday's final against Laslo Djere, Mannarino would become the oldest champion in the ATP 250 event's history.

"I'm old!" he joked in his on-court interview. "My body is not responding as well as when I was 20, but obviously I'm still up and running well."

[ATP APP]

Taking full advantage of 29 unforced errors from van de Zandschulp, including four as he broke in the ninth game of set two, Mannarino was in control from the start but had to fight off a strong charge from the Dutchman in set two.

Five players — Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud — have an opportunity to finish the US Open as the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

With the release of the draw Thursday, the scenarios have become clearer. There are four situations in which both US Open finalists would be competing for both the season’s final major trophy and World No. 1.

If Nadal plays Medvedev in the championship match or Medvedev, Tsitsipas or Ruud face Alcaraz for the title, the winner will leave New York as World No. 1. Medvedev currently holds top spot, while Nadal is trying to regain it for the first time since February 2020 and Alcaraz is attempting to reach the pinnacle for the first time. With Medvedev defending 2000 points, Nadal will hold a healthy lead over the 26-year-old in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings Monday.

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings Points (as of 29 August)

There are also several potential matches that could happen earlier in the tournament that would have major implications on the battle for No. 1.

Entering this US Open, no Chinese man had competed in the main draw in the Open Era. This year, there will be two.

Wu Yibing and Zhang Zhizhen battled through qualifying, both earning their way into the main draw on Friday with victories on a rainy day at Flushing Meadows.

Wu, the 2017 US Open boys’ singles champion, was the first to advance when he defeated Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-6(5), 6-2. This was the 22-year-old’s first attempt to qualify for a major.

“Of course I’m happy. I’m happy to be back here playing here in a major event since 2017, when I won here. It’s pretty special for me, but I’m just trying to play my tennis, show the people or myself that I still can play,” Wu said. “It’s been a tough few years for me. I really suffered from injuries and Covid in China. It seems like I can still play a little bit of tennis.

“I’m happy about what I did here. I love the people here, the crowd. Many Chinese people came to support, I love it.”

Daniil Medvedev has had a love-hate relationship with the US Open crowds — but not in that order. The World No. 1 drew the ire of the New York fans at the start of his 2019 title run, but won them over with his tennis and his wit by the time he pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets in an epic final.

As he returns to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as the defending champion, Medvedev was asked to describe what endears him to fans. The honesty of his reply provided an answer in itself.

"It's going to be a little bit harsh on myself, but I'm going to say [it]," he began, speaking at Friday's US Open Media Day. "I do think if you look at Daniil Medvedev only on the tennis court, only as a tennis player, maybe it's not that easy to like him or me as much because, I mean, my technique is a little bit odd.

"My game style is probably not the most flashiest, but that's because I want to win. When I was young, when I was 18, I was hitting the ball as hard as I can. Maybe people would love it more, but I probably would not win a Grand Slam."

[ATP APP]

Mackenzie McDonald is not afraid of taking big decisions. On or off the court.

The 27-year-old American has established himself as a consistent performer on the ATP Tour since turning pro in 2016. A skilful and resourceful all-around talent, the World No. 77 has become adept at countering physically bigger, more powerful opponents with his adaptable counter-punching game.

Now a TopCourt ambassador, McDonald takes tennis fans back to where it all began, honing his rock-solid net game with his first coach, and explains how hard work on the practice court helped breed confidence in his ability when moving forward. The 2016 NCAA singles and doubles champion also reveals how his difficult decision to delay going pro and instead play college tennis at UCLA ultimately paid off, giving him perfect preparation for the rigours of life on the ATP Tour.

Technique: McDonald’s aggressive forehand is particularly effective at capitalising on attacking positions during a rally. The American demonstrates how he adapts his regular forehand technique for this unique shot, which is the perfect weapon to punish short balls from opponents and seal points from dominant situations.

Drills: Shot selection is a key skill for players of all levels, and McDonald’s “Full Court Movement” drill focusses on how to recognise your opponent’s ball as early as possible. A top-class mover around the court himself, McDonald then showcases how to move efficiently towards the ball once you have identified the most appropriate shot to play.

So much has changed for Carlos Alcaraz since he arrived at the US Open last year. Then outside the Top 50, he is now the No. 4 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with two ATP Masters 1000 titles to his name.

The Spaniard does not see himself any differently as he enters the season’s final major, though.

“I [do not] feel at all the difference between last year, for example, and now,” Alcaraz said. “I’m just trying to be the same kid as always.”

Last year, the teen was chasing his dreams and still relatively unknown to casual fans. Now, Alcaraz is one of the most beloved tennis players in the world. But his attitude towards the spotlight has remained the same.

“It's difficult, but that's how I am. The same kid as always,” Alcaraz said. “[It is important] to be humble, and I always will be the same.”

Treading lightly in Cincinnati as he returned from an abdominal tear, Rafael Nadal played just two practice sets before his appearance at the ATP Masters 1000, where he lost a three-setter to eventual champion Borna Coric in his opening match.

Ahead of the US Open, where he's set to compete for the first time since he won the 2019 title, the Spaniard is ramping up the intensity on the practice court in preparation for his bid for a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam singles title.

"I took it very easy in Cincinnati, in the practices," he said on Friday's US Open Media Day. "The match, I tried my best without putting all the effort there on the serve."

[ATP APP]

In New York, practising in front of crowds during US Open Fan Week, Nadal has been hitting at full tilt.

Spain's Fernando Verdasco is one win away from a return to the US Open main draw. The 38-year-old, a quarter-finalist in New York in 2009 and 2010, earned a Thursday qualifying victory as he seeks his 18th main-draw appearance at the year's final Grand Slam and his first since 2019.

Verdasco was a 7-6(4), 6-3 winner against Mikhail Kukushkin as he produced a near-identical scoreline to his 7-6(5), 6-3 opening-round win against Italy's Gianluca Mager.

He will face 12th seed Pavel Kotov on Friday for a place in the main draw. Kotov has also won all four of his qualifying sets, including a 6-3, 6-4 win against Sebastian Ofner on Thursday. He is seeking to qualify for a major for the second time in as many tries after he earned his place in the Roland Garros main draw in May.

.@FerVerdasco is fired up! ? pic.twitter.com/8sM2IXbVRI

American Christopher Eubanks also advanced to the final qualifying round with a dramatic three-set win in New York.

After entering the Winston-Salem Open at a career-high of No. 23 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Botic van de Zandschulp is knocking on the door of the Top 20 behind his third tour-level semi-final run of the season.

The second-seeded Dutchman defeated France's Benjamin Bonzi 7-6(6), 7-6(1) to extend his strong debut at the North Carolina ATP 250 event, improving to 6-0 in sets on the week. Already up to No. 22 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, he will rise to No. 19 if he can win his first ATP Tour title on Saturday.

"It's been a rollercoaster of a season, making such a jump in the rankings, playing different tournaments, playing all the big tournaments," said the 26-year-old, who broke into the Top 100 for the first time following his run to the US Open quarter-finals last year. "It's every time a first time, and it's also my first time here in Winston-Salem and for now I'm still loving it," he added with a smile.

[ATP APP]

Van de Zandschulp battled back from 1/4 down to win the opening tie-break but dominated the second tie-break as he raised his level in the crucial moments. Bonzi did little wrong but could not cope with the varied attack from the Dutchman, who finished a 15-ace performance with an unreturned serve on match point.

The US Open revealed Thursday that Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios will play their first-round matches on Monday, while Rafael Nadal will begin his chase for a fifth title at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.

The top half of the men’s singles draw will compete on Monday and the bottom half will play on Tuesday.

Along with Medvedev and Kyrgios, other stars taking the court Monday will include fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, fifth seed Casper Ruud, sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, former World No. 1 Andy Murray and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem.

On Tuesday, joining Nadal in action will be third seed Carlos Alcaraz, seventh seed Cameron Norrie, eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz and 2019 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner.

[ATP APP]