Looking for Tennis and Racket Sports International News?

Andrey Rublev may have fallen one match short of winning his third ATP Masters 1000 title on Monday night at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers, but the 26-year-old is proud of how he controlled his emotions throughout his run in Montreal.

“It's a very positive and a really good week. A really big step forward I think. I feel proud of myself that I was able to be really good all week mentally,” Rublev said. “If we took me back a couple of months ago or even one month ago or even compare my match against [Popyrin] at Monte-Carlo when I was losing, I was behaving ten times more and it was the first round.

“Here it was a final. Much more pressure. I still showed a bit of emotion today, but compared to the matches when I was losing the same way, I think I did a much better job. That's why I had a little chance in the second set.”

Rublev has struggled to control his emotions at times in the past, with fans becoming accustomed to seeing the 26-year-old show a full range of feelings when on court.

However, the No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings was calm throughout his run in Montreal, where he upset World No. 1 Jannik Sinner en route to the final. The 16-time tour-level titlist is keen to build on his emotional progress in the weeks ahead.

Alexei Popyrin delivered for Australia at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers in Montreal on Monday when he became the first Aussie ATP Masters 1000 winner since Lleyton Hewitt triumphed in Indian Wells 21 years ago in 2003.

Popyrin defeated Andrey Rublev in the final to claim the biggest title of his career and revealed that former World No. 1 Hewitt offered him important advice ahead of the hard-court event that gave him a boost in Canada.

“Lleyton was actually with me at the Olympics last week and he helped me so much in the Olympics and has helped me so much throughout my career. He gave me some good advice after my match against Zverev at the Olympics,” said Popyrin, who lost to the German in Paris. “He said, ‘You took one of the best players in the world, one of the more informed players in the world, to kind of play some unbelievable tennis to beat you’. I was a break up in that match, so serving for the [first] set and kind of choked it.

“He kind of flipped the switch on it and kind of told me a positive overlook on that match and then gave me the confidence coming into this week.”

Popyrin played with a renewed sense of believe all week in Montreal and thundered 18 forehand winners in the final. The 25-year-old believes his attacking display against Rublev was one of the best performances of his life.

The North American hard-court swing continued at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers , where Alexei Popyrin powered to the title. ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the PIF ATP Rankings as of Tuesday, 13 August.

No. 23 Alexei Popyrin, +39 (Career High)
The Australian has soared to a career-high No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings after he won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal. Popyrin earned five Top 20 wins en route to the title, including a final win against Andrey Rublev.

"It means the world, for all the hard work I've put in over the years, all the sacrifices I have made," said Popyrin, who is the first Australian Masters 1000 winner since Lleyton Hewitt won Indian Wells 21 years ago in 2003.

No. 6 Andrey Rublev, +2
Rublev has jumped two spots after he reached his sixth Masters 1000 final and second of the season. The 26-year-old, who won in Madrid earlier this season, upset World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals but could not overcome Popyrin, who saved match points in his third-round win against Grigor Dimitrov.

No. 15 Sebastian Korda, +3 (Career High)
The 24-year-old continued his recent rise with a semi-final showing in Montreal. The American, who captured his maiden ATP 500 title in Washington earlier this month, upset World No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the quarters for his second Top 5 win.

The pain was sudden. There was a pounding in his head. Hugo Dellien was awake in the middle of the night. To make matters more frustrating, the Bolivian was competing that week in qualifying for Roland Garros, the clay-court major where in 2022 he beat two-time finalist Dominic Thiem in the opening round.

But this year’s trip to the Parisian clay for Dellien was the beginning of a difficult period for the 31-year-old, who has since turned around his misfortune for three ATP Challenger Tour titles in the past month. Dellien fell in the first round of Roland Garros qualifying and quickly returned home to South America to address the immense pain in his mouth that pain pills could not subside.

“It was a tough time because I had a lot of things with my wisdom teeth. I took out three wisdom teeth,” Dellien told ATPTour.com. “So much pain in my head. I couldn’t eat anything, just ice cream. If you take out just one wisdom tooth, you can eat. But not with three.

“I chose to get the three out because it’s one time and then no more. It was a hard moment.”

Two days after competing in France, Dellien underwent wisdom tooth extraction. And in his first tournament back, the Santa Fe Challenger, adversity hit once again in a freak accident.

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson have won three titles together this season. Will they claim a fourth at the Cincinnati Open?

The eighth-seeded Australians ousted American wild cards Robert Cash and JJ Tracy 7-6(5), 6-3 on Monday evening to reach the second round in Ohio. They will next play Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas or Mackenzie McDonald and Alex Michelsen.

Purcell and Thompson, champions this year in Dallas, Los Cabos and Houston, saved all four break points they faced according to Infosys ATP Stats. They are pursuing their first ATP Masters 1000 title as a team.

Singles stars Arthur Fils and Nicolas Jarry ousted Belgian doubles standouts Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-2, 7-5. The French-Chilean duo will next take on second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.

In other action, sixth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Lloyd Glasspool and Ugo Humbert 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 and Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic defeated Sadio Doumbia and Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-2.

Australian Alexei Popyrin completed one of the most unlikely ATP Masters 1000 title runs in recent memory Monday night when he stunned World No. 6 Andrey Rublev in the Montreal final on the back of 18 forehand winners.

Coming into the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers as the World No. 62 and after playing the Paris Olympics on clay, the 25-year-old Australian claimed three Top 10 wins and snapped the eight-match winning streak of Washington champion Sebastian Korda en route to the title. He also took down World No. 14 Ben Shelton in the second round.

"It means the world, for all the hard work I've put in over the years, all the sacrifices I have made," said Popyrin, who is the first Australian Masters 1000 winner since Lleyton Hewitt won Indian Wells 21 years ago in 2003.

"Not just me, but my family, my girlfriend, my team, everybody around me. They have sacrificed their whole lives for me and for me to win this for them is just amazing."

Fully buying into a Big-Man Tennis approach behind his booming serve, aggressive assault of Rublev’s second serve and massive forehand blows, Popyrin broke Rublev to love in the opening game of the match and never looked back as he charged to a 6-2, 6-4 win.

Horacio Zeballos produced a serving masterclass in partnering Marcel Granollers to their second ATP Masters 1000 title of the year in Montreal on Monday.

The Argentine dropped just one point on his serve throughout the match, winning his 21st straight service point on championship point to hand Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury their second consecutive runner-up finish in the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers following the 6-2, 7-6(4) victory.

“This was our first tournament together five years ago, so it’s a very special tournament for us and it means a lot to win this title,” Zeballos said. “It was a pleasure to play in front of this beautiful crowd.”

Granollers said, “Rajeev and Joe are one of the greatest teams on tour and it’s very tough to play against them. But we’re very happy with how we played today.  We’re very happy with the year with two Masters 1000s.”

Granollers and Zeballos won the Montreal title five years ago (beating Ram and Salisbury en route in the semi-finals) in their first tournament as a team.

Flavio Cobolli battled back from the brink to notch a milestone win on Monday afternoon at the Cincinnati Open.

The 22-year-old Italian saved three match points en route to a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 upset of home favourite Tommy Paul at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Ohio. Cobolli held firm under severe pressure from Paul in the 10th game of the deciding set, when he recovered from 15/40 to hold serve and avoid defeat. He then crucially broke Paul’s serve in the next game, before serving out for a two-hour, six-minute triumph.

His first-round victory against World No. 13 Paul was Cobolli’s biggest by PIF ATP Ranking, although the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF competitor arrived in Cincinnati with some good recent pedigree against Top 20 opponents. He defeated 14th-ranked Ben Shelton en route to his maiden ATP Tour final in Washington two weeks ago, before defeating 19th-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime in Montreal last week.

Cobolli ? Cinci ?

He takes down home hope Paul with a 6-2 4-6 7-5 win ?@CincyTennis | #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/pygjnT8Kjb

Cobolli made a rapid start to his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Paul but was later forced to rally from 1-3 in the decider and then save the three match points in the 10th game of the third set. The Italian completed his win having struck 25 winners to his opponent’s 15, and he converted six of 12 break points he earned in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Carlos Alcaraz returns to the Cincinnati Open one year on from a memorable championship match here against Novak Djokovic, which he lost in a gruelling three hours and 49 minutes. This time, he has more experience in his back pocket.

The Spaniard brings with him to Mason priceless experience from the Paris Olympics, where he partnered Rafael Nadal in the men’s doubles. The pair lost in the quarter-finals to eventual silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States.

“It was a great experience, talking with Rafa off the court, knowing each other much better off the court. It was a great experience, obviously, playing doubles together. It was great,” Alcaraz said during his press conference Sunday in Cincinnati. “It was something that I will never forget, for sure. I learned a lot talking to him on court, off the court as well. I think we played a great tennis in doubles, even if we are not used to playing doubles very often.

“A little bit disappointing at the end, because we thought that we could do it better, but in general, we were happy. And obviously talking about myself, I reached my dream, my dream came true, playing doubles alongside Rafa.”

Nadal has earned countless accolades in his career. The 38-year-old has spent 209 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, won 22 major titles and 36 ATP Masters 1000 trophies. Alcaraz was able to pick his countryman’s brain in Paris to learn from all of his experiences. What advice from Nadal helped him the most?

Jannik Sinner struggled physically during his quarter-final loss in Montreal. But on Monday, the Italian quelled any fears fans had during his press conference ahead of the Cincinnati Open, where he is the top seed.

“I feel quite good. Obviously I made nearly one week without practising before and then after playing for two, three days in a row, a bit more than usual, [that] could [have had] a potential impact to the hip,” Sinner said. “But I'm not afraid. I feel good with the hip, and I'm just looking forward to go back on court here.”

Sinner was the standout performer of the first half of the season, winning his first major title at the Australian Open before climbing to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time in June. One of the Italian’s main goals for the season was succeeding at the Paris Olympics, which he was unable to play in after being diagnosed with tonsillitis.

“This year I felt like because I was playing well, also in Paris, in Roland Garros, and knowing that Olympics are there that I can play good on that court or quite well, trying to give myself a chance for medals,” Sinner said. “But sometimes you have to accept it. Obviously it goes also in your mind after now that you missed this because you wanted to prepare it. But it's all part of the sport, and I also have to be happy with what I have, not always looking on the negatives.

“I believe that my season is going in a very, very positive way, and we just keep building on that.”

#NextGenATP Vilius Gaubas tossed his racquet in relief and threw his hat down on the Italian red clay. Covering his face with his hands, the 19-year-old had just clinched a milestone moment in his young career. Gaubas on Sunday won the Serena Wines 1881 - Acqua Maniva Tennis Cup, his first ATP Challenger Tour title.

Gaubas, the youngest of three Lithuanian champions in Challenger history (since 1978), rallied past Spaniard Carlos Taberner 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a three-hour, two-minute title match amidst humid conditions. The teen failed to serve the match out at 5-3 in the decider, but quickly rebounded to triumph in his third Challenger final.

“Amazing sensations,” Gaubas said in his on-court interview. “I lost the first set, it was very difficult. Carlos was playing very good. It was very hot, humid. Then in the end, I just tried to enjoy it and play my best. Winning it was an amazing feeling.”

Seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Gaubas is aiming for his maiden trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December.

“For the end of the year, I think one of my goals is to enter the Next Gen tournament and hopefully I can get into US Open qualifying,” said Gaubas, who is at a career-high World No. 186 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Alexei Popyrin became just the third active Australian to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final when he defeated Sebastia Korda to advance to the championship match of the Omnium Banque National presente par Rogers.

Popyrin is the lowest-ranked finalist at the tournament since World No. 144 Harel Levy finished runner-up in 2000 to Marat Safin. The 25-year-old is up to No. 30 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and would climb to No. 23 with a title Monday.

Earlier in the week, ATPTour.com caught up with Popyrin to get to know him better off the court.

If you could have dinner with any three people, who would they be and why?
I’d go with Tim Cahill, he’s a footballer who I looked up to when I was a kid, probably one of the few sportsmen that I’m actually a huge fan of. I’d go to dinner with Ed Sheeran, he’s my favourite artist by far. I love his music, I’ve loved it for a long time, so him. His is the only concert I’ve ever been to. I’d go with my family and girlfriend.

What’s your favourite Ed Sheeran song?
It’s an old one. It’s called You Need Me, I Don’t Need You. It’s an old one, of the first songs he ever released.

Antonio M. Cascales has spent practically a whole lifetime in the world of tennis. After over a decade coaching children in Villena, a small Spanish city near Alicante, a young Juan Carlos Ferrero crossed his path, at just 10 years of age. The rest is a success story that is alive to this day through Carlos Alcaraz, who trains with Ferrero and is joined by Cascales for a few weeks every year.

The Spanish coach, recognised as July’s ATP Spotlight of the Month, spoke to ATPTour.com about his outstanding career, in which he has worked closely with two superstars who have reached No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings: Ferrero and Alcaraz.

“I’m surprised and very grateful because I still consider myself a coach, even though I spend few weeks on the ATP Tour now,” explains Cascales of his coach of the month accolade. “I used to be on the front line, and now my role is to support both of them, not just the player. Now I have much more experience and I have a better understanding of the relationship between a player and a coach that have been together since Carlos was young. Now I’m more understanding of the way a 21-year-old behaves.”

In 1994, Cascales opened a small academy in Villena with two clay courts and a clubhouse, which he established as a base together with his first pupils. That centre, which was also conceived to support Ferrero’s growth as a player, has changed location and expanded its facilities to become the Ferrero Tennis Academy, one of the most important academies in the world.

Martínez Cascales guided Ferrero, and was by the Valencian’s side for the biggest triumphs of his career, including the French Open (2003) and his climb to the pinnacle of the world rankings later that year, after reaching the final at the US Open.

A tennis tiebreak is a special game played to determine the winner of a set when the score reaches 6-6. The tiebreak is designed to be a faster way to decide the set, avoiding an extended series of games that could prolong the match. Here's how a tennis tiebreak works: How a Tiebreak WorksScoring in a Tiebreak:The tiebreak is played to 7 points, bu...

LeBron James is one of the most recognisable people on the planet. If you looked closely at the basketball legend on television during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics, there were nearby faces familiar to tennis fans, including Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

With WTA star Coco Gauff a co-flagbearer for the United States alongside James, the rest of the tennis team was invited to the front of the American boat, giving them time with James and the rest of the basketball team.

“It was really cool. It was awesome that Coco was a flagbearer, and it was awesome for all of us as well, because of the fact that we did kind of get to experience the opening ceremonies a little bit differently than all the other Americans, because we were up front with the basketball players,” Fritz told ATPTour.com at the Cincinnati Open, where he is the 11th seed. “We were just right in the front, on the boat in the opening ceremonies. It was one of the coolest experiences.”

James, who helped lead the United States to a gold medal in men’s basketball, took a photo with the entire American tennis contingent.

“It was cool. We were just riding the Coco Gauff train. We were only up there because of her, so it was cool seeing her have her moment,” Paul said. “Obviously unreal to be a flagbearer at the Olympics, so that was really cool.”

Alexei Popyrin turned near disaster into unexpected triumph to snap Sebastian Korda's eight-match winning streak and charge into his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Montreal Sunday night.

After coming within two points of defeat earlier in the day during a tense three-set quarter-final win over Hubert Hurkacz, the Australian survived a roller-coaster opening set against Korda before rolling over the American to claim a 7-6(0), 6-3 win.

"It means the world... it's an amazing achievement for myself to be honest, and sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back," said Popyrin, who has followed in the footsteps of countryman Alex de Minaur, who reached the final in Toronto last year. "I'll do that tonight but tomorrow it's all hands on deck and back to work."

"It was a topsy-turvy first set with some breaks here and there. I had some points at 5-4 but played some sloppy points and didn't convert. I just stayed mentally strong and I knew exactly what I was going to do on my next break point if I got an opportunity. “

An extended rain break couldn’t extinguish Andrey Rublev’s explosive run to the final of the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers, as the World No. 8 dismissed Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2 to charge into Monday’s ATP Masters 1000 final in Montreal.

After a one hour, 40 minute suspension in play at 6-4, 1-1 Sunday night, Rublev returned to court crushing winners at will to win five of the final six games of the match.

"The wait has been worth it. I'm happy to be in my first Canadian final." Rublev said. "I just want to recover, rest well and be ready for tomorrow. The idea [of not going to the Olympics] was to be more ready for Canada, so if I'm in the final it means we did really well."

Rublev advanced to his sixth ATP Masters 1000 final one day after upsetting World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals. The former World No. 5 has had a rollercoaster run at the Masters 1000 level this season. He claimed just one match win across Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo before charging to the Madrid title, but then lost his second match in Rome.

Most hard-court match wins in 2024

Carlos Alcaraz has enjoyed a hot stretch of form, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and capturing the singles silver medal at the Paris Olympics. Now the Spaniard has his sights set on one thing: ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours.

The 21-year-old enters the Cincinnati Open just 450 points behind first-placed Sinner in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, which serves as a barometer for year-end No. 1.

“Obviously being No. 1 is a goal every time that I am [behind] and the race is an important ranking for me. At the end of the year, if you end the race No. 1, in the rankings [it is] quite similar, so you're going to end the No. 1,” Alcaraz said. “So I'm really focused on that. I'm focused on going to every tournament, thinking about playing great tennis, doing a good result just to get better in the race, and this year, ending the year as No. 1 is one of my main goals right now. So I'm looking forward to doing it and let's see.”

For nearly the entire first half of the season, it seemed Sinner was in prime position to become the first Italian year-end No. 1 in history. But after earning back-to-back major titles, Alcaraz is hot on the 22-year-old’s heels.

“I’m fighting for being No. 1 in the race, that's something that I really want to to do as soon as possible, if I could do it in the future,” Alcaraz said. “This one is a really important tournament, really good tournament for me. So I'm going to try to play good tennis, try to play same level as I was playing, and let's see.”

Sebastian Korda’s summer surge continued on Sunday at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers, where the in-form American upset second seed Alexander Zverev to reach his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

Korda prevailed 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4 against World No. 4 Zverev for his eighth straight tour-level match win and just his second in 14 encounters with Top 5 opponents in the PIF ATP Rankings. The American dealt with the blustery conditions in Montreal better than his opponent, whose victory bid was undermined by 11 double faults, including one to give up a decisive break in the ninth game of the deciding set.

“It means a lot. It’s been a tough year before the US hard-court swing,” said Korda in his post-match interview. “I‘ve just put in a lot of work, and I’m so happy with the results right now. I’m just really enjoying my time on court. Having fun, trying to play aggressive, keep doing my thing, and hope for the best.”

The 24-year-old Korda, who last week won his second Tour title and first at ATP 500 level in Washington, D.C, will now prepare for a quick turnaround before his semi-final. The American faces Alexei Popyrin, who upset Hubert Hurkacz in another rain-delayed clash, in a match scheduled for not before 8 p.m. local time on Sunday evening.

CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP... WINNING ?@SebiKorda reaches his fourth consecutive semi-final in as many events and his first at Masters 1000 level!! @OBNmontreal | #OBN24 pic.twitter.com/TKs0uQjKra

The North American hard-court swing continues at the Cincinnati Open, where Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev lead the field at the seventh ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul lead American hopes, while former champions Daniil Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov also return to the Lindner Family Tennis Center. ATPTour.com looks at 10 storylines to watch over the coming week.

1) Sinner leads the field: Sinner struggled with a right-hip injury during his quarter-final loss to Andrey Rublev in Montreal but will lead the field as the top seed in Cincinnati. The Italian has won four tour-level titles this year, including on hard courts at the Australian Open and in Miami and Rotterdam.

2) Alcaraz returns to hard courts: Alcaraz will compete on hard courts for the first time since he reached the quarter-finals in Miami in March. The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has won majors at Roland Garros and Wimbledon since and begins in Cincinnati against Alexei Popyrin or Gael Monfils.

3) Former champions Medvedev & Zverev: Medvedev and Zverev have fond memories in Cincinnati. Fourth seed Medvedev won the title in 2019 and arrives holding an 18-5 hard-court record this year. Zverev, who advanced to the quarters in Montreal, triumphed in 2021 in Cincinnati.