Category: Tennis

No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

The Italian was the only seeded player to move out of the Round of 16 on Wednesday, and he did so in just 85 minutes. Sinner, No. 9 in the world, won 84 percent (27 of 32) of the points on his first serve compared to 64 percent for his opponent, didn’t drop a game on serve and won five games in a row to eliminate Bublik.

Croatia’s Borna Coric, the No. 3 seed, lost to American Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-4, and Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, defeated No. 7 seed Ugo Humbert of France, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-4.

Rinky Hijikata of Australia ousted Marc-Andrea Huesler of Switzerland 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the day’s only other action.

Boss Open

Fourth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland was pushed to the limits by Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki but emerged a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) winner in Stuttgart, Germany.

The entertaining two-hour, 21-minute match featured 48 aces, with 27 of them coming from Watanuki, fueling his 51 winners against 14 unforced errors. Still, Hurkacz was able to escape two tiebreaks to move to the quarterfinals.

There, he’ll face Christopher O’Connell of Australia, who defeated Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (5), 6-3. Sonego’s fellow Italian, sixth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, had no trouble against Gregoire Barrere of France in a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Musetti next faces No. 3 seed Frances Tiafoe, who saved all three break points in a 7-6 (2), 6-4 defeat of Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic.

–Field Level Media

Yibing Wu put his best foot forward in the Boss Open on Tuesday with a 7-5, 6-3 first-round victory over Nick Kyrgios, who was playing in his first match since undergoing knee surgery in January.

Wu, of China, withstood 15 aces from Kyrgios, who was struggling physically and told his team he was unable to “walk without pain.” Wu advanced to the second round of the tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.

Also, Aslan Karatsev of Russia needed three hours and 12 minutes to dispatch Frenchman Corentin Moutet, 7-6 (0), 6-7 (8), 7-5.

Other first-round winners included Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, Gregoire Barrere of France, Christopher O’Connell of Australia, Marton Fucsovics of Hungary and Tommy Paul.

Libema Open

Sixth-seeded Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands defeated Sweden’s Mikael Ymer 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Aussies Jordan Thompson and Alexei Popyrin also advanced with wins.

Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan’s advanced with a straight-sets win over Belgium’s David Goffin, and Mackenzie McDonald also moved on in straight sets.

Other winners included Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, Adrian Mannarino of France and Laslo Djere of Serbia.

–Field Level Media

Canadian Milos Raonic made a successful return to the court, kicking off the grass-court season Monday with an upset of fifth-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Sidelined since July 2021 with a series of injuries, Raonic fired 15 aces and won 92 percent of the points on his first serve (34 of 37) to defeat the Serbian 6-3, 6-4 in 85 minutes.

No. 8 seed Maxime Cressy also suffered an early exit, falling 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the first round to Marc-Andrea Huesler of Switzerland. No. 7 Ugo Humbert of France was a 6-4, 6-2 winner against Australian Jason Kubler, and lucky loser Rinky Hijikata of Australia rallied to beat Dutchman Gijs Brouwer 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2.

Boss Open

No. 6 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy saved all five break points and defeated Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the opening round in Stuttgart, Germany.

No. 7 seed Matteo Berrettini was not as fortunate, losing to fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-1, 6-2 in 71 minutes.

France’s Richard Gasquet ousted Christopher Eubanks 7-6 (2), 6-4. Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic outlasted Marcos Giron 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki defeated Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-3.

–Field Level Media

Novak Djokovic captured his record-setting 23rd Grand Slam title Sunday with a 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Casper Ruud in the French Open final in Paris.

The third-seeded Serbian broke a tie with Spanish rival Rafael Nadal for the most major singles championships by a men’s player and tied Serena Williams for the most by any player in the Open Era.

“Four biggest tournaments that we have in the history in our sport of tennis,” Djokovic said. “Every single player dreams of being in this stage and winning the trophy at least once in their career. I am beyond fortunate in my life to win 23 times, Grand Slams. It’s an incredible feeling.”

At the age of 36 years and 20 days, Djokovic also eclipsed Nadal as the oldest French Open champion with his third victory at Roland Garros (2016, 2021). He also became the first man to win all four Grand Slam tournaments at least three times.

Nadal, who is out for the season after hip surgery, tipped his cap to Djokovic on social media.

“Many congrats on this amazing achievement,” Nadal tweeted. “23 is a number that just a few years back was impossible to think about, and you made it! Enjoy it with your family and team!”

With the win, Djokovic also reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in the world from Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic overcame 5-4 deficits in both the first and third sets against the fourth-seeded Ruud before eliminating the 24-year-old Norwegian in 3 hours and 13 minutes and celebrating with a backward fall onto the red clay.

Djokovic, who won his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open, improved to 5-0 against Ruud. He struck 11 aces and won 80 percent (59 of 74) of the points behind his first serve and saved three of four break points.

Djokovic rallied from a 4-1 hole in the opening-set tiebreak. In six tiebreaks during the fortnight, he outscored his opponents 42-13 and made zero unforced errors.

Djokovic outhit Ruud with 52 winners and 32 unforced errors. Ruud, still looking for his first Grand Slam title, had 31 winners and the same number of unforced errors. He saved seven of 10 break points while losing in the final at Roland Garros for the second straight year.

“I think we should start with Novak. Another day, another record for you, and another day you rewrite tennis history,” Ruud told Djokovic during his on-court interview.

“It’s tough to explain how incredible it is and how good you are. What an inspiration you are to so many people around the world. Congratulations to you, to your team, and I know this probably tastes the best out of all. So congrats.”

One G.O.A.T. cheered on another Sunday, with NFL legend Tom Brady among those in the crowd at Court Philippe Chatrier.

–Field Level Media

Novak Djokovic moved to within one victory of his record 23rd Grand Slam title on Friday with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win over top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open in Paris.

Djokovic, the tournament’s third seed and a two-time winner of the event, split the first two sets before Alcaraz dealt with an apparent cramp in his right calf at the start of the third. The 20-year-old Spaniard even conceded his service game at 1-1 in order to rush treatment from the on-court physician on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Alcaraz wasn’t the same, however. Djokovic was able to take advantage of a clearly ailing Alcaraz and end the match in 3 hours and 23 minutes. The Serbian will face No. 4 seed Casper Ruud of Norway in the final.

“I feel for him. I feel sorry. … I hope he can recover very soon,” Djokovic said of Alcaraz. “I told him at the net, he knows how young he is. He has plenty of time ahead of him. He’s going to win this tournament, I’m sure, many, many times.”

Alcaraz said tension from the first two sets caused the cramping.

“I would say the first set and the second set was really, really intense and I started to cramp in my arm,” he said. “At the beginning of the third set I started to cramp every part of my body, not only the legs. The arms, as well, every part of the legs.

“The tension. The tension of the match. I started the match really nervous. The tension of the first set, the second set, it was really intense two sets.”

Djokovic, 36, evened his all-time record at 1-1 against Alcaraz. The latter recorded a three-set win in the semifinals in Madrid in May 2022.

Djokovic can regain the No. 1 spot in the world by winning the French Open final Sunday, which will mark his 34th Grand Slam final appearance — tying him with Chris Evert for the most in men’s or women’s tennis in the Open Era.

Djokovic will look to snap a tie in major titles with Rafael Nadal when he battles Ruud.

Ruud, who lost in the finals here to Nadal last year, returned to the championship match with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 victory against No. 24 Alexander Zverev of Germany in 2 hours and 9 minutes.

“I didn’t come into Roland Garros thinking I was a favorite to reach the final,” Ruud said afterward. “Not at all. I was trying to think one match at a time, and let’s see how it goes from there.

“Obviously I (thought then that I) would love to be back in the final like last year, and I (was) always thinking about trying to defend this final spot from last year, but here we are, two weeks later.”

Ruud saved eight of nine break points and converted six of 10. He finished with 25 winners and 19 unforced errors compared to 31 and 37, respectively, for Zverev.

“Today just went really well,” Ruud said. “From the beginning to the last point everything was going my way, luckily, and I’m just very happy to win this match.”

The 24-year-old Ruud, who also reached the 2022 U.S. Open final, is still looking for his first Grand Slam title. He is 0-4 and has yet to win a set against Djokovic.

–Field Level Media