Tennis - Playmate

ATPTour.com’s annual season-in-review series looks back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more. Today we reflect on five of the most memorable Grand Slam battles of the year, featuring World No. 1 and US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz, and Australian Open and Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal. 5. Roland Garros, QF, Cilic d. Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10-2) As two of the most fearsome forehands on Tour clashed at the beginning of June on the Roland Garros clay, an extraordinary sequence of clean hitting from Marin Cilic in the deciding-set tie-break clinched a thrilling quarter-final against Andrey Rublev. Cilic came into the match in a confident mood — he had described his fourth-round triumph in Paris against World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev as “one of the best matches of my career from start to finish” — an...

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Swiss Leandro Riedi and Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki are making a late season surge on the ATP Challenger Tour. Riedi and Watanuki, who are among four Challenger champions this week, have each claimed two Challenger titles in as many weeks and are at a career-high mark in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Riedi, 20, was crowned champion this week at the Andria Challenger. The #NextGenATP youngster, who defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(4), 6-3 in the final, didn’t drop a set all week en route to winning the Castel Del Monte Open - Andria. The Frauenfeld native joins Marc-Andrea Huesler and Dominic Stricker as two-time Challenger titlists this season from Switzerland. After winning 12 straight matches, including advancing through qualifying to win the Helsinki Challenger, Riedi rises to a career-high 161 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “I feel unbelievable,” Riedi said. &...

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This week, ATPTour.com begins its annual season-in-review series, looking back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more. We start by looking back at the best matches on the ATP Tour this season (excluding the Grand Slams), featuring World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. On Tuesday we will focus on the best Grand Slam matches of the year. 5) Miami Open presented by Itau, QF, Alcaraz d. Kecmanovic 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5) In a standout season, Carlos Alcaraz frequently lit up the ATP Tour with his all-court, expansive game. One of his best performances of the year came en route to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami, where he clawed past Miomir Kecmanovic in a thrilling quarter-final clash. The 19-year-old Alcaraz was two points from defeat at 4-5, 15/30 in the third set and again at 3/5 in the third-set tie-break, whe...

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This week on the ATP Tennis Podcast... GORAN IVANISEVIC ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC – “He’s practising even harder than when he was at the age of 22 and that’s why he’s still so good and that’s why he’s going to be even better. The will to practice, the will to improve, the will to be better is amazing you know and he’s taking care of his body. Novak is a genius and he’s a guy who always wants to improve.” VEDRAN MARTIC SPEAKS ABOUT ON-COURT COACHING – “It’s ok if you need to say something to a player, but still I believe a lot in concentration in the match, so for a player it’s better to concentrate and not look too much to the coach and expect some unbelievable advice.” UMBERTO RIANNA ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITALIAN TENNIS – “It all started a few years ago when the board of the feder...

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Felix Auger-Aliassime fired Canada to its first Davis Cup Finals title on Sunday when he defeated Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to give his nation an unassailable 2-0 lead against Australia in Malaga. The World No. 6 won his singles and doubles match to secure Canada a place in the final and he backed that up with a dominant display against de Minaur. Auger-Aliassime fired 22 winners and held his nerve at crucial moments, saving all eight break points he faced to triumph after one hour and 42 minutes. “The emotions are tough to describe,” Auger-Aliassime said according to daviscup.com . “Denis [Shapovalov] and I grew up together, dreaming of these types of stage, dreaming of winning the Davis Cup. It’s a great moment for myself and for the country.” [ATP APP] It is the first time Canada has won the Davis Cup Finals after it reached the championship match...

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Could 2022 be the year that Canada goes all the way at the Davis Cup Finals Led by World No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime, the North American country is now just one tie away from a historic maiden triumph in the team event after it secured a semi-final comeback victory against Italy on Saturday in Malaga. Auger-Aliassime was the key to the Canadian’s 2-1 victory in the tie. Although Lorenzo Sonego moved Italy ahead with an epic 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-4 triumph against Denis Shapovalov in the opening singles rubber, the 22-year-old Auger-Aliassime downed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4 to level proceedings in Spain. Canada captain Frank Dancevic then made a late change to his doubles line-up for the decider, calling up Auger-Aliassime to partner Vasek Pospisil against Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini. The plan worked, as the Canadians broke their opponents’ serve three times en ...

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Alex de Minaur raced past Marin Cilic on Friday at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga to spark an inspired semi-final comeback victory for Australia against 2021 finalists Croatia. De Minaur dominated his singles rubber against Cilic, breaking the World No. 17’s serve four times for a 6-2, 6-2 win that levelled the tie at 1-1 after Borna Coric had earlier defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis. Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson then delivered a stunning serving display against Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the doubles to secure their nation a 2-1 victory in the tie and its first appearance in a Davis Cup final since 2003. “It’s been a long time,” said Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt after his team’s victory. “Obviously we are a very proud Davis Cup nation. I’m just thrilled for these boys, they deserve to go out there and get the opportunity to play in...

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