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    Yesterday’s Finals

    ATP

    Hamburg (500): #4 Basilashvili bt Rublev 2-1 (and defended his title; he now has three ATP crowns)
    Gstaad (250): Ramos Vinolas bt Stebe [PR] 2-0 (first title since 2016 and second of his career)
    Atlanta (250): #3 de Minaur bt #2 Fritz 2-0 (second career title, both this year)
    Atlanta doubles: #2 Inglot/Krajicek bt #1 Bryan/Bryan 2-1 (11-9 in a match breaker; second title together for the British/American pairing)

    WTA

    Palermo (International): #8 Teichmann bt #1 Bertens 2-0 (shot to nothing came off! Second title of both 2019 and career for the Swiss)
    Jurmala (International): #1 Sevastova bt Kawa 2-1 (home win! Kawa led by a set and a break at one point)
    Jurmala doubles: Fichman/Stojanovic bt Ostapenko/Voskoboeva 2-1 (but no home win in the pairs)


    As for this week’s events, the biggest news since yesterday is Coco Gauff has made her way through Washington qualifying. She will play Zarina Diyas in R1.

    Comment


      The update on Monday and Tuesday’s play features a number of players in the midst of terrible runs of form, and a few very much the opposite.

      Two such were Heather Watson and Zheng Saisai, who met in R1 in San Jose. Watson actually had the most recent win, her R1 triumph at Wimbledon, but that was her only full tour main draw match win of 2019 to date! Heather had lost her opening match, either in main draws or qualifying, in 11 of her 17 previous tournaments this season. Zheng’s record was not much better; she had gone out at the first hurdle in 9 or her 15 tournaments this year, including five of the last six. She only had three Tour (singles) level match wins to her name since February, with the last of those in May. Unsurprisingly it was a very tense match, with both players confidence in what they were doing clearly eggshell thin. Sadly for British fans, it was Watson’s that shattered first as she was well beaten, 3&1. Hopefully the doubles will provide some kind of silver lining again (Watson plays this w/ Perez (Aus), with their R1 match yet to happen).
      Heather had never previously lost in the opening round of the Silicon Valley Classic (to give the corporate name that encompasses both it’s present location and previous one at Stanford). She played last year, making R2. Her early lost cost her 54 ranking points and another few ranking places. But that is nothing compared to another struggling player, Mihaela Buzarnescu. The Romanian was 9-21 for the year, which put a lot of pressure on as she was the defending champion of the event. Her opponent was equally out of form, Daria Kasatkina having a 7-13 record in 2019. She improved that though, winning 2&2. The effect on Buzarnescu’s ranking of this is catastrophic – the San Jose 2018 title accounted for nearly half of all her ranking points. A R1 loss sees her plummet from 58 to well outside the top 100! (currently projected at 124)
      Other notable results yesterday included a couple of returns to action. Bethanie Mattek-Sands last played singles at the Aussie Open (she did play doubles in the grass court season). She made her comeback via a wild card against a fellow wild card, Venus Williams, and won in three. The other American wild carded player in the draw was CoCo Vandeweghe, who was playing her first match of 2019 after buckling to the ankle injury she picked up at Wimbledon 2018 and having surgery in the closed season. CoCo also came back with a win, over Marie Bouzkova.

      Switching over to Washington, we have more of the same in extremis with Genie Bouchard; she came into her match against Lauren Davis having not won a match of any stripe (singles or doubles, main draw or qualifying, full tour or lower level) since February. She had gone out of R1 in her previous six tournaments. Many of these were close, three setters where the decider has gone against her 4-6, 5-7 (x2) and 6-8 all form part of that run of futility. This one wasn’t – Davis coming through 1&2 in just under an hour. It’s only seven R1 exits in a row as Bouchard took a break prior to the French to try and reset herself. Hasn’t worked.
      Given that I mention the fate and the ranking hit of the defending champion in San Jose, it’s also worth noting what happened to the 2018 Washington title winner. That was Svetlana Kuznetsova. She didn’t defend her crown as… she couldn't get a visa! This now appears to have been sorted, but it’s a bit too late – like Buzarnescu, Washington accounted for nearly half Kuznetsova’s ranking points and she has taken a massive hit from her enforced absence. Down from #108 to a projected ~196!
      Not at the same level as the tribulations above, but two other players having underwhelming seasons were the top two seeds in the draw, Sloane Stephens and Maidson Keys. Both exited without a set to their names, which rather sums up how it’s been going. Stephens was beaten by Rebecca Peterson, Keys by a 17 year-old American, Hailey Baptiste. Which brings us on to the other side of the coin, a player with a load of positivity around her – Cory Gauff. She came through qualifying as noted above, but was ousted in R1 in straight sets by Zarina Diyas. The qualifying route was probably forced on Gauff by circumstance as a main draw wild card would have been hers for the taking if she had wanted it, but the WTA regulations massively limit the number of these she is allowed this season. Actually, playing a little more under the radar in qualifying is likely a good thing; Gauff was again on a show court and being watched by a capacity crowd once she got to the main draw. Though how much even qualifying counts as under-the-radar for Gauff is arguably; the BBC reported on her results on that. Which, when you step back a second, is rather amazing – they are penning these articles on the qualifying results of a non-British player with fewer than 15 match wins in her life!
      Indeed, such is the hype that Gauff was also on a show court for her R1 doubles match. That was also against Diyas, who played with Zhu Lin whilst Gauff paired up with another young American, Caty McNally (17). Gauff/McNally won that. Coincidentally, McNally and Zhu also played each other in singles! McNally won that.


      There is a Brit in the Washington Women’s doubles, N.Broady is playing that with Fichman. Their R1 match against a Polish pair is today. However the big British noise in the Washington doubles is the Murray brothers. Their opener is also today and has a Stadium Court setting (that is the name of Washington’s equivalent of Centre Court). The opponents are Mahut/Roger-Vasselin as noted above. I’m glad we suddenly have superstars playing doubles so that those matches are not all showed to the back of beyond. There is a deal on the line for Jamie in this tournament as he is the defending champion.
      One other Brit was involved in the Washington Men’s doubles, but Salisbury/Ram lost in R1 to #2 Kubot/Melo, 10-5 in a match breaker. Again as noted above, that is a very high level match for a R1 encounter. It could easily be the QF in New York in six weeks time. On to an overshadowed singles front, mixed results for the Brits here as Dan Evans was beaten comfortably in R1 by Yoshihito Nishioka, but Kyle Edmund beat Lloyd Harris in R2 (Edmund got a R1 bye on account of being the #13 seed). Edmund plays Jo-Willy Tsonga next after the Frenchman ousted #2 Karen Khachanov. Tough draw for Khachanov, that. Edmund-Tsonga won’t happen until Thursday.
      Elsewhere in the draw Nick Kyrgios picked up a win which was more notable for the glorious fusion name of his opponent Thai-Son Kwiatkowski. If he isn’t an individual googlewhack, I’ll be staggered. As for Nick, he played the doubles with Stefanos Tsitsipas, which was a little surprising given that Tsitsipas was one of the others targeted on top of Djokovic and Nadal in the infamous pre-Rome interview. They lost in R1 to the top seeds. Tsitsipas will have to content himself with being the top seed for the single then, won’t he?

      Down to Mexico next, to the event at Los Cabos. Cameron Norrie is the sole Brit here, but he is through to R2 after racing away from Gregoire Barrere in two very different sets (tie-break then bagel!). Norrie now plays #8 Mikhail Kukushkin in R2. That match is today. Also today are R2 matches for Grigor Dimitrov against #2 Guido Pella after Dimitrov edged past Steve Johnson in R1 in a match of two players who have slipped a deal recently, and for Thanasi Kokkinakis versus #4 Lucas Pouille. Kokkinakis is in on a wild card as part of his latest comeback from injury (the guy is utterly cursed). His R1 win over Maxime Janvier was his first at Tour Level in singles since he beat Roger Federer during the 2018 Miami Open. That was nearly 500 days ago! Thanasi has good memories of Los Cabos though – two years ago he made what is still his only ATP Tour level singles final here (l to Querrey) and last year he got to the doubles final (w/ Fritz).
      Kokkinakis won’t win this year’s doubles (he isn’t playing that) but #1 seeds Inglot/Krajicek might and thus back up their Atlanta triumph. They play Garin/Londero in R1 today. Norrie is singles focus after he and Lopez Villasenor were beaten in R1 by the #2 seeds.

      Kitzb…, ha, no. Enough!
      Last edited by Janik; 01-08-2019, 09:00.

      Comment


        Another day, another dollar…

        The order of this is determined by the levels of the various tournaments, so Women’s first all week this week as then I can deal with San Jose (Premier) and then Washington (International) before swapping over to the Men’s side in DC (ATP500) and then moving on to the ATP250s.

        So… San Jose yesterday. Half the R2 matches were played. As yet, no seed has lost. No.s 5-8 all made it through R1 for which No.s 1-4 had byes. Yesterday produced wins for #1 Elina Svitolina vs Daria Kasatkina (WC), #7 Maria Sakkari (last year’s runner-up) vs Mayo Hibi (Q), #6 Carla Suarez Navarro vs Bethanie Mattek-Sands (WC) and #2 Aryna Sabalenka vs Coco Vandeweghe (WC). Of those, the last is maybe the most notable as Sabalenka has not been having a particularly great season and she could really do with a tournament win to get her confidence going again.
        Match of the day today in California looks to be #5 Donna Vekic vs Victoria Azarenka. Also on the schedule is Watson/Perez’s doubles QF after they won in R1 yesterday, 10-8 in a match breaker.

        Contrasting fate of the seeds in Washington, where just two survive, both of whom (#4 Hsieh Su-wei and #5 Lesia Tusernko) are in the top half of the draw and so yet to play their R2 matches. The bottom half QFs are Jessica Pegula vs Lauren Davis and Anna Kalinskaya (Q) vs Kiki Mladenovic.
        In the doubles, N.Broady/Fichman won their R1 match yesterday. If they can win their QF today against #3 seeds Kalinskaya/Kato, it will set up a SF against Gauff/McNally.


        Switching across to the Men in Washington, Kyle Edmund plays Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the first match on today at 2pm local time. The match of the day is the second one on the Stadium Court, #6 Marin Cilic vs #9 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
        On the Men’s Doubles front, A./J.Murray won their opener yesterday against Mahut/Roger-Vasselin, 10-5 in a match breaker. Andy Murray was the only man on the court without a Slam doubles title to his name (he’s got some singles ones, though!).

        Over in Los Cabos, Cameron Norrie was beaten in R2 by #8 Mikhail Kukushkin. There was better news in the doubles though as #1 Inglot/Krajicek won their opening match against an alternate local pairing.

        Finally, Kitzbuehel. Nothing majorly dramatic has happened as yet, though the defending champion Martin Klizan did go out in R1, losing a three breaker match 2-1. Seeing as I’ve noted the progress or otherwise of three of the title holdersse, I should mention that Sascha Zverev, the champion in Washington in 2017 and 18, chose not to play this year. That is a bit of a nose-thumbing to the TD. The only defending champion to survive their opening match was Fabio Fognini in Los Cabos, who came from a set down to beat Marcel Granollers.

        Comment


          Another two and a bit days worth of action to skip lightly over

          San Jose – the perfect record of the seeds was ended in R2 by Zheng Saisai and Kirstie Ahn, who beat #8 Danielle Collins and #3 Elise Mertens respectively. Zheng has gone on to make the Semis by beating #4 Amanda Anisimova in the QFs; she will meet #7 Maria Sakkari there after Sakkari came from behind to topple #1 Elina Svitolina in the last eight. Sakkari is looking for a return to the final, having been the runner-up last year. Ahn went out to #4 Donna Vekic though (Vekic beat Vika Azarenka 4&3 in their R2 match). Vekic plays #2 Aryna Sabalenka in the other Semi.
          Zheng is also into the doubles Semi with partner Liang, which means Watson/Perez are out as they played the China/Taiwan pair in the QFs.

          Across the continent in Washington, the last seed in the Women’s singles went out when #4 Hsieh Su-wei lost her QF to Caty McNally, as if to prove that whilst one American teenager might be making the biggest waves, she is very far from alone. McNally plays Camila Giorgi, who would be looking to reach her first final sicne October but only her second since April 2016. McNally has never been in a WTA Final previously, and only two ITF ones (she is only 17). The other Semi has just been won by Jessica Pegula against Anna Kalinskaya (Q). That makes a second WTA Final of her career for Pegula, after she also reached that stage in Quebec City last summer; Kalinskaya (20) remains yet to feature in one. In singles.
          Kalinskaya has been in a couple in doubles, which is why she and Kato were #3 seeds. However today was a rather bad day for the Russian as she and Kate won’t feature in the title match of this evemt. Not because N.Broady/Fichman beat them in the QFs, the seeds won that 10-4 in a match breaker, but because in the early match Gauff/McNally won their SF. The Women’s Doubles final is where the hype is concentrated then... The ones to try and stand up to it will be more experienced American/Hungarian pairing, Sanchez/Stollar.


          On the Men’s side, the big noise team of A./J.Murray went out in the QFs after two normal and a match tie-break against #3 Klaasen/Venus. On the singles court , #13 Kyle Edmund beat Jo-Willy Tsonga in R3, but then lost a lucky loser, Peter Gojowczyk (Ger) in the QFs. Something of a missed opportunity, though Gojokczyk’s lucky loser status was a bit misleading given he had already beaten Rublev, de Minaur and #8 Raonic in the main draw! The other Semi is #1 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Nick Kyrgios. Which sounds fun (their doubles tandem only lasted one match).

          Things are further along in Los Cabos, with the Final line-up decided. That will be #5 Taylor Fritz (for the second consecutive week) vs #3 Diego Scwartzman, which is an assuming large and little combination. Fritz beat #7 Radu Albot in one semi, Schwartzman topped countryman #2 Guido Pella in the other. Defending champion #1 Fabio Fognini fell to Fritz in the QFs.
          Fritz is not the only Atlanta finalist repeating his run in Mexico - #1 Inglot/Krajicek are into the doubles decider. Their opponents in that will be Arneodo/Nys of, er, Monaco. Both naturalised Frenchman. It’s a good job Monaco doesn’t naturalise all the Tennis players who live there, or the Davis and Fed Cups would be very, very boring!

          Not just further along, but already concluded in Kitzbuehel, seeing as players need to decamp to Canada for the big event there next week. And a great event for the locals, as Austrians either won or shared the singles and doubles crowns. The singles was won by #1 Dominic Thiem, who beat Albert Ramos Vinolas in the Final (their defeated semi final foes were #7 Lorenzo Sonego and Casper Ruud respectively). And the Doubles went to Austrian/Slovak pair Oswald/Polasek who beat Belgians Gille/Vliegen for the crown.

          Comment


            As for the Canadian Open, the split this year is the Men in Montreal and the Women in Toronto.
            On the Men’s side Cameron Norrie and Kyle Edmund got straight into the main draw, but both unseeded. Norrie will play Marton Fucsovics in R1 for the right to take on #3 Sascha Zverev whilst Edmund faces a fascinating challenge against Nick Kyrgios. #8 Daniil Medvedev awaits the winner of that.
            Dan Evans will hope to join his compatriots. He is effectively the top seed in qualifying, #2 but no-one is higher ranked after Hubert Hurkacz was upgraded to the main draw as an alternate (covering for the injured Kevin Anderson). Evans has won through his first qualifier against Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and will face Marcel Granollers.
            The Men’s Doubles draw is also out, and is replete with Brits. Jamie Murray reunites with expected Slam partner Neal Skupski. They play Ram/Salisbury in R1 which ensure at least one Brit into the next round. Andy Murray in turn has revived his Queens winning partnership with Feliciano Lopez. They have drawn #2 Kubot/Melo in R1! One other pair is in action, Edmund playing with Fritz.

            Over in Ontario, Jo Konta is the only Brit directly into the event. She is seeded 13, but it’s only the top 8 seeds who get byes as the draws for both Men and Women are 56-player. Konta will play Dayana Yastremska in R1. And she has got rather unlucky with her draw. R2 is Azarenka/Giorgi, R3 #1 Barty/Kenin/Hsieh!
            Just one Brit is attempting to work her way through qualifying, and that is Heather Watson. Her first match is against Hiroko Kuwata. Watson is the higher ranked player. Fingers and toes crossed.
            The Women’s Doubles draw is not out yet.

            One final thing – the draw has not been kind to the organisers. They have handed a couple of dubious wild cards to the previous batch of Canadian players, Vasek Pospisil and Eugenie Bouchard. And then saw both these wild cards draw the biggest new star in the respective Canadian Tennis firmaments in R1, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Bianca Andreescu respectively! It makes for good R1 viewing I guess, but also a quick exit for some players they would have been hoping to stick around for a bit. To compound matters, the winner of Pospisil/Auger-Aliassime potentially plays #8 Raonic in R2! D’Oh.

            Comment


              This week:-

              WTA

              San Jose
              Semi-Final results were a win for Zheng Saisai over #7 Maria Sakkari and #2 Aryna Sabalenka over #5 Donna Vekic. Both straight sets. Taking the later first, this is an important week for Sabalenka as she has been rather off form and looked lost for a number of months. It’s her first (singles) final since Shenzhen in the opening week of the season. She and coach Dmitry Tursunov seem to have been working on her emotional stability on court, as Sabalenka blows very hot and very cold. It hasn’t been working, as eliminating the negativity from the cold streaks also did for the adrenaline that produced the hot ones. Maybe this is a sign she is coming out of the other side of that. If she becomes a consistent player the sky really is the limit as her game when it’s on is exceptional. As shown by the Doubles form this campaign (she did the sunshine double of Miami/Indian Wells, Semis in Paris, Quarters at Wimbledon, all w/ Mertens).
              As for Zheng, this is just a big deal in its own right. It will be only her second career singles final, and at a Premier event. She will be hoping for better luck than in her first one in Nanchang last year, where she retired during the second set. No obvious injury, just general wear-and-tear. Which is a bit worrying seeing as she also made the Semis of the Doubles here, and that went the distance before #1 Melichar/Peschke triumphed.

              Washington
              Jessica Pegula’s progress to her second ever WTA final was noted in the last update. In that she will play Camila Giorgi, who beat young American wild card Caty McNally in two in the other Semi. Giorgi has two previous tour titles to her name, and remains a nightmare to play against with her tendency to try and hit literally everything for winners, including second serve which, in her world, is just a second attempt at a first first. Pegula will need high patience to cope with that. But seeing as she is something of a late bloomer (she is now 25) she probably has that, along with a work ethic that isn’t always present in the children of the ultra-rich (her Daddy owns the Buffalo Bills).
              Meanwhile the doubles provided a first career title for both McNally and Cori Gauff as they have beaten #4 Sanchez/Stollar easily, 2&2. I’ll bet the crowd was raucous about that. And again, the BBC reported on it due to their fascination with Fanny Stol Cori Gauff.


              ATP

              Washington
              Well, #1 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Nick Kyrgios was indeed fun; when Kyrgios is in the right mood, he is a magnificent entertainer both as a player and as a general on-court personality and he has clearly been in one of his better frames this week. For example, the larking around about Tsitsipas’ shoes with Kyrgios delivering them personally with a bow and a scrape. If he had been in a less positive frame of mind, the unnecessary delayed caused by this could have set him right off. But no. The match also went all the way, Kyrgios winning 9-7 in a deciding set breaker.
              Kyrgios’ opponent in the title match will be #3 Daniil Medvedev after he comprehensively ended Peter Gojowczyk’s run (watch how it’s done Kyle. And Milos. And etc.). For both players as an ATP500 this would equal the biggest title of their careers to date (indeed both have won the same event, the Japan Open, previously). Medvedev is 4-3 in his career in finals overall, and 1-1 in ATP500 title matches. Kyrgios is 5-3, and 2-1 in these events. In both Men’s case their last crown was early this year, March in Mexico for Nick (b A.Zverev), February in Bulgaria for Daniil (b Fucsovics). However this is Medvedev’s seventh final since January 2018, but only Kyrgios’ third.
              One man is more consistent, and also something of a wind-up merchant. I don’t imagine Medvedev is at all Kyrgios’ cup of tea. Which might make things lively. I hope not, for the Aussie’s sake and for Tennis in general.
              Attention on the doubles has waned since the Murarys went out, but for the record the final is Rojer/Tecau vs #3 Klaasen/Venus.

              Los Cabos
              Taylor Fritz lost in two sets, one of them a breaker, to a smaller man in Alex de Minaur in Atlanta last week. He then repeated that nearly exactly in the Los Cabos final vs Diego Schwartman. D’Oh! Fritz will definitely be taking the positives, but two defeats in a row has to hurt. At least he won the one before that in Eastbourne in the week before Wimbledon, and getting to three finals in basically six weeks of playing is a very good sign.
              The Doubles final was very, very tight. It was, essentially, a draw at 7-5, 5-7, [16-14]. Sadly for #1 Inglot/Krajicek Tennis does not allow for such things and it was the Monegasque pair Arneodo/Nys waving trophies and smiling for phoots at the end.

              Kithbuehel
              Already done, see above.


              And next week:-

              ATP
              Dan Evans will join Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie in the main draw after he won his final qualifying match against M.Granollers in straight sets. Who he faces is yet to be determined.

              WTA
              Heather Watson won a match! Big news. She recovered from a set down to beat Hiroko Kuwata in three. Final Q is a step up in challenge though – Heather faces Iga Swiatek. That match is currently underway, in the early stages of the first set.

              Comment


                Watson lost to Swiatek, 4&2. She will also have a good few players in front of her in the Lucky Loser pool as seven higher ranked players than Heather fell in the final round of qualifying. And as she isn't in the doubles* as things stand, she won't be playing this week.

                * - one intriguing wild card pairing in that, Simona Halep playing alongside 16 year-old Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez. Fernandez won the Girls Singles title at Roland Garros a couple of months back, and has been on a tear in the Canadian ITF events over the last two weeks, winning the singles and doubles in a $25k in Gatineau two weeks ago and backing that up with a run to the singles final and doubles semi of the $60k event in Granby last week. This winning burst has been rewarded hot just with the doubles wild card and also one for the singles; she will play a qualifier, Marie Bouzkova, in R1.

                Evans has not been lucky with his singles draw. R1 vs Alex de Minaur, for the right to face defending champion Rafa Nadal!
                Last edited by Janik; 04-08-2019, 22:34.

                Comment


                  Yesterday's final results:

                  San Jose: Saisai Zheng bt #2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 7-63
                  First Tour (singles) title for the Chinese player. She jumps 17 places in the rankings as a result to a new career high of #38. Sabalenka moved back up to #9 after the event which is her joint career high, and also climbed a number of spots to #17 in the YTD rankings (the discrepancy showing that 2019 has to date been below what Aryna was achieving at the back end of 2018)

                  Washington (womens): Jessica Pegula bt Camila Giorgi 6-2 6-2
                  Likewise a first career title for Pegula, and a large jump to a new career high. Up 24 places to #55 in her case. Giorgi also gained places to move up to #52.

                  Washington (mens): Nick Kyrgios bt #3 Daniil Medvedev 7-66 7-64
                  Another exuberant performance from Kyrgios, with the usual mix of aces, power and underarm serves. He said afterwards that he's still got it. What the 500 points gained does is add nearly 50% to his ranking total, jumping up to 1475 points. That has shot him 25 places up the rankings to #27 and therefore very likely to be seeded in New York. So no R2 matches with Nadal or Djokovic this time. There was very little in the match, no break points at all in fact, which makes the outcome galling for Medvedev. He will have to content himself with returning to his highest ever ranking of #9 (first reached two weeks ago) and climbing to #7 on the race standings

                  Los Cabos: #3 Diego Schwartzman bt #5 Taylor Fritz 7-66 6-3
                  Title no.3 of Schwartman's career was his first on a hard court (previous best two runner-up finishes). It lifted him four places to #23 in the rolling rankings and up to #15 in the race standings. Fritz's second runner-up finish in quick succession also moved him forward, up three spots to #25 in the main standings and up to #21 in the YTD

                  Kitzbuehel: #1 Dominic Thiem bt Albert Ramos Vinolas 7-66 6-1
                  Thiem was the first home winner of this tournament, which is the Austrian Open, since Thomas Muster in 1993 and just the third since WW2 (it's a venerable event, dating back to the 1890s). And also, as such, the first time that Thiem has won on home soil (he was runner-up in 2014). His 14th career title, 10 of which have been on clay. Given Thiem was already well established as #4 on both the rolling and YTD rankigns, and an ATP250 is effectively chump change for anyone at that stratospheric level, victory hasn't changed his position in any significant way; he is still ~4000 points behind Federer and Nadal. Being runner-up had much more of an effect on Ramos Vinolas' standing - he climbs 17 places to #52 overall and is at 32 in the race.


                  That is all now in the record books. What is coming up today?

                  Well, the only Brit in action in Montreal is Cameron Norrie, who plays his R1 match against Marton Fucsovics first up on an outside court. Start time is 12:00pm local. The line-up for the Court Central is Canada vs France, x4. Lucas Pouille vs #17 Milos Raonic, Auger-Aliassime/Pospisil [WC] vs Chardy/Martin, Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs Dennis Shapovalov, Peter Polansky [WC] vs #16 Gael Monfils. The other eye-catching match of the day (in addition to Pouille-Raonic) is on the secondary court - Stan Wawrinka vs Grigor Dimitrov.

                  Over in Toronto, #13 Jo Konta opens proceedings on the Centre Court against Dayana Yastremska, match starts at 11:00am local time. The evening session has name recognition. The matches are Maria Sharapova [WC] vs #16 Anett Kontaveit and Angelique Kerber [12] vs Daria Kasatkina. Young Canadian wild card Leylah Fernandez also gets the big stage for her R1 match against Marie Bouzkova - they follow Konta and Yastremska on to court.

                  Comment


                    Results from yesterday:-
                    Good win for Cameron Norrie in Montreal, recovering from a set down to win the next two 6-2 6-3 and beat Marton Fucsovics. He now faces Sascha Zverev in R2.
                    Bad loss for Jo Konta in Toronto, going down 6-3 6-2 to Dayana Yastremska. The second set got away from her in a rush. Yastremska played well, but Jo was not at her best by any means. She now moves on to Cincy, looking for form prior to New York. The early exit will highly likely also see her drop from the #8 spot in the race rankings that she has occupied since Wimbledon.

                    In non-British news, Angie Kerber fell to Dasha Kasatkina despite winning the opening set 6-0 (never bagel a good player!), but Anett Kontaveit survived dropping the opener against Maria Sharapova. Oh dear, what a pity, never mind. Young Canadian wild card Leylah Fernandez struggled badly, being blown away by Marie Bouzkova. Her time will come, though.
                    Over in Montreal, the Canada-France series on the Court Central was split 2-2; wins for Milos Raonic over Lucas Pouille and Denis Shapovalov over Pierre-Hugues Herbert for the hosts, revenge for France coming from Gael Monfils against Peter Polansky from a set down and Chardy/Martin topping Auger-Aliassime/Pospisil in the doubles.

                    As for today, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil go from being partners to opponents as they play their R1 singles match in what is arguably the match of the day in Quebec. That is the second match on Central. The winner plays Raonic as Canadian Tennis eats itself thanks to a frustrating draw. The other tie to contend with it is the R1 meeting between Kyle Edmund and Washington champion Nick Kyrgios, which opens the evening session at 6:30pm local. Kyrgios is on an upturn at the moment if his comments after Washington are anything to go by – really talking the talk, saying he felt his professionalism off the court during the week was better (and consistently), that he had been disrespectful to the event in the past, that he felt like a traditional Tennis player and it was good. Maintaining it is always the issue, but we do get these occasional bursts of clarity of honest self-analysis from him. He is trying, despite himself (very trying at times).
                    The guy is fascinating. So. Edmund is not the only Brit in action. In fact, the other night session match on the main court also has British interest as Norrie takes on Zverev. That is one of the first R2 matches due to be played, before that Dan Evans has his R1 encounter with Alex de Minaur first match of the day (12:00pm local) on an outside court. A.Murray/Lopez end affairs on the same patch of concrete, whilst J.Murray/N.Skupski vs Salisbury/Ram takes place at the same time as Evans on another of the fringe theatres.
                    The biggest ticket in Toronto is the all-Canadian encounter between Eugenie Bouchard and Bianca Andreescu, which is the main match in the evening session at that locale (7:00pm start). A pretty symbolic match in many ways. Bouchard had just about clung on to her spot as the Queen of Canadian Tennis despite being very wobbly for the last few years, up until the rise of Andreescu this spring utterly dethroned her. Well, it was an easy crown to grab. Now Bouchard arrives in nightmareish form, having lost her last eight singles matches (and two doubles as well); her last win of any sort was in Dubai in February. However Andreescu also has questions to answer – the injury she picked up in Miami just after winning Indian Wells has really put the brakes one. She has only played one match since, which she did win (bt Bouzkova in R1 of the French) but then withdrew before her next. Overall fitness, match fitness and match sharpness are all open questions at the moment. The two have met once before this year, in the QFs of the super challenger event in Newport Beach, CA back in January. Andreescu (already higher ranked by that point) won 2&0 and went on to lift the title. That was when the guard changed.
                    Nothing else really stands out from the crowd. Maybe Madison Keys vs Donna Vekic, which is third on the secondary court (Grandstand). Not that there are bad matches, lots of good ones in fact. But the real popcorn encounters are a bit absent today.
                    Last edited by Janik; 06-08-2019, 09:44.

                    Comment


                      I can't imagine Evans having too much joy against Nadal. He loves to use the slice and Nadal will just eat that up.

                      Good win for Edmund against Kyrgios. It looks like the Brit is finding some decent form. I watched a good portion of it and he was out serving Kyrgios and dominating from the baseline.

                      Comment


                        Did Kyrgios really get a point deducted for swearing because his towel was the wrong colour?

                        Comment


                          Reports only mention one code violation. If that is right, it's just a warning. A penalty point is only after the second violation.
                          His good headspace didn't last very long.

                          Comment


                            ATP (Montreal)

                            Having obliquely covered two of yesterday’s (quite action packed) results, let’s do more detail. Dan Evans picked up a very handy win over Atlanta champion Alex de Minaur, 6-5 7-6(6). That sets up a R2 meeting with #1 Rafa Nadal, as multipleman notes. He also referenced Kyle Edmund’s R1 win over Nick Kyrgios. This was 6-3 6-4, Edmund getting one break per set and not facing a break point on his own serve. The ‘towel’ incident presaged Kyrgios losing his serve in set one, and a rain break at 4-4 did it in set two. One player concentrated better than the other, it seems. Edmund now plays #8 Daniil Medvedev in R2, and may want to shove Medvedev’s (seemingly jokey, given the circumstances after a loss) words down the Russian’s throat; he commented after being beaten by Kyrgios in the Washington Final, which was played after the Montreal draw was made that he was hoping for an Edmund win to avoid playing the Aussie again! Not totally diplomatic. And its not as if Medvedev’s record against Edmund is too wonderous seeing as it stands the same as his h2h against Kyrgios, 0-2!
                            Both of the British Men will be hoping for more from their R2 encounters than Cameron Norrie got out #3 Sascha Zverev, the German winning 7-6(4) 6-4. Norrie did have a set point at 6-5 on the first set, but on Zverev’s serve. And that was the high point of the match for him.
                            Other general interest results to report were the all-Canadian match going to the younger man, Felix Auger-Aliassime winning it via a deciding set tie-break, 7-3. He now plays #17 Milos Raonic in another all-local affair. Oh, and I never mentioned that Stan Wawrinka won his R1 match against Grigor Dimitrov on Monday did I? Well, now I have!
                            Also British action on the doubles court yesterday, with three of the four players with a Union flag against their name in the Salisbury/Ram vs J.Murray/N.Skupski encounter. That went to the half-British pair, 7-5 7-5. If they can win another match, there is a chance their QF would be against A.Murray/Lopez as the wild carded Queens champions picked up an impressive win over #2 Kubot/Melo 11-9 in a match breaker. Lopez saved a match point at 8-9 in the decider with an ace.

                            Due up today are a bunch of good matches. The first on Centre is Evans vs Nadal (12:00pm local time). That really does look like a battle between Evo’s backhand slice and Nadal’s top-spin forehand. Now, if one is going to play a one-handed backhand against Nadal, then slicing the climbing ball is probably not an entirely terrible idea; it’s rather easier to cut a ball rapidly rising over your head than it is to try and come over it with top-spin. And the trajectory from ear height is good – that shot can be really knifed. However, the problem arises once it clears the net. It doesn’t matter so much to Nadal if a ball keeps low, as to play his topspin forehand he only has to brush across the top of the ball. That will bring it up and down. So the low bounce Evo relies upon won’t cause significant problems on the forehand. It might to Nadal’s backhand, but directing the ball down the line over the high part of the net at speed on the slice is definitely not a percentage shot. I think Evo will have to try it though as the patterns if he slices cross look horrible.
                            Also on the card in terms of Brits are Edmund vs Medvedev, second up on the second court (Banque Nationale), A.Murray/Lopez vs Chardy/Martin, second of the evening session/last of the day on the same rectangle of concrete and, after suitable rest, Edmund/Fritz vs Basilashvili/Struff in the doubles R1. And in terms of non-Brits? The standouts are the all Canadian match, Auger-Aliassime vs Raonic which takes the headline spot leading off the evening session and Denis Shapovalov vs #2 Dominic Thiem, which follows Nadal-Evans on to court.


                            WTA (Toronto)

                            Jo Konta’s R1 loss ended British interest here, so it’s just the general stuff. The big news from yesterday was an unexpected defeat for world no.1 Ash Barty, beaten from a set up by Sofia Kenin (who is a good and rising player, to be fair). Barty will lose her top ranking if Naomi Osaka wins her opener against Tatjana Maria (Q) today. Which she really should… That match is nb4 5:00pm local time on the venue’s second court, the Grandstand.
                            It wasn’t a great day for seeds generally yesterday as three others also lost, #7 Sloane Stephens being beaten by Marie Bouzkova in R2 and #9 Aryna Sabalenka and #14 Madison Keys losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Donna Vekic respectively. So much for the improved form Sabalenka had apparently found in San Jose, and Stephens and Keys continue to underwhelm. #10 Anastasija Sevastova also went out to a lucky loser, Zhang Shuai.
                            The main drama of the day was in the all-Canadian match. Just like on the Men’s side, this went to the teenager in three, Bianca Andreescu recovering from losing the opening set to beat Genie Bouchard 4-6 6-1 6-4. Bouchard reportedly played better than recently, but it’s another loss, her ninth in a row in singles. She also lost in the doubles w/Fichman, to continue her bad run.
                            Talking of the doubles, the intriguing wild card pairing of Halep/Fernandez were just beaten by #7 Melichar/Peschke (the San Jose champions), 10-5 in a match breaker. Barty will be getting court time despite her singles exit as she is playing in the team event with her slam partner, Vika Azarenka. They are seeded #6, and crushed their R1 opponents. Azarenka is into R2 of the singles as well after beating Washington runner-up Camila Giorgi less comfortably than the 2&2 scoreline says (playing Giorgi is hardly ever comfortable!).

                            Matches that catch the eye today are #3 Karolina Pliskova vs Alison Riske (Q), which openings proceedings on Centre Court at 11:00am, Daria Kasatkina vs Bianca Andreescu (3rd on centre) and #8 Serena Williams vs Elise Mertens, which opens the evening session at 7:00pm.
                            The first of those is because Pliskova can also climb to the top of the rankings, depending on how Osaka goes in the tournament. A run to the Semis puts Karolina above Barty, for certain. The second noted match gives a further chance to assess Andreescu’s fitness, and also how Kasatkina, who is another having a poor season, is going. And the final one is a blockbuster match. Serena would ideally have liked a rather more straightforward first game of this hard-court swing than a player only just outside the seeds like Elise Mertens (WR 20). If Williams is looking for a slow build up towards New York, this may well provide a win for the Belgian.

                            Comment


                              ATP (Montreal)

                              Not a good day yesterday for the remaining British players. Dan Evans was far from disgraced against #1 Rafa Nadal, he even had a pair of set points at 6-4 in the opening set tie-break, but he eventually lost 7-6(6) 6-4. Far fewer positives to draw from defeat for Kyle Edmund, who was beaten 6-3 6-0 by #8 Daniil Medvedev. Edmund was the last Brit standing in the singles at that point.
                              The news in the doubles was not quite as one-note. Yes, A.Murray/Lopez did lose to Chardy/Martin 10-8 in a match breaker, but Edmund/Fritz sort of made up for that being winning their R1 match against Basilashvili/Struff.
                              On a general note, the big story of the day was Milos Raonic retiring hurt with a reoccurrence of his back injury when standing at a set-all against Felix Auger-Aliassime. Oddly, Raonic had just won the second set. Big disappointment for the crowd, but necessary for Milos I’m sure. Auger-Aliassime is the only Canadian man through to R3 of the singles, as Denis Shapovalov was beaten in three sets by #2 Dominic Thiem. Shapovalov is having second season issues at the moment. The shock of the day was suffered by #4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was downed in three by Hubert Hurcakz.

                              The pick of today’s R3 matches looks to be Hurcakz vs #16 Gael Monfils (second match of the evening session on the Court Central) and #6 Karen Khachanov vs Auger-Aliassime (second in the day on the same, nb4 2:30pm). Brits in action are Salisbury/Ram vs #5 Rojer/Tecau (nb4 2:00pm) and Edmund/Fritz vs Bopanna/Shapovalov (second on on a court starting at 2:00pm). Both are on outside courts.


                              WTA (Toronto)

                              With all Brits long gone, it’s just the general interest in the Women’s event. One notable thing happened in that yesterday – we are getting a change of World No.1. Naomi Osaka only needed a single set to beat Tatjana Maria, as the German retired hurt at the conclusion of the first. Osaka now needs to keep ahead of Karolina Pliskova to return to the top of the rankings; Pliskova would need two more wins to do it, even if Osaka went out in R3 to Iga Swiatek (Q).
                              The other notable results from yesterday were Bianca Andreescu keeping the home flag flying as she survived Daria Kasatkina serving for the match at 5-4 in the third to come back and win the decider 7-5. Elsewhere, #4 Simona Halep, cheered on by seemingly every Romanian in the Greater Toronto area, scraped past Jennifer Brady (Q) in a deciding set breaker having been a set down and #8 Serena Williams swatted aside Elise Mertens 3&3.

                              Play is underway for today, with one of the best matches, #3 Pliskova vs #16 Anett Kontaveit, leading things off on the Centre Court. That is followed by Andreescu vs #5 Kiki Bertens. The other eye-catching match is the last of the day on the main court, #2 Osaka vs Swiatek (Q).

                              Comment


                                WTA (Toronto)

                                Notable results yesterday were wins for #1 Naomi Osaka and #3 Karolina Pliskova over #16 Anett Kontaveit and Iga Swiatek (Q) respectively, which keep both in the hunt to be World No.1 next week and Bianca Andreescu ‘shocking’ #5 Kiki Bertens in three (really not that much of a shock, seeing as when Andreescu has played she has mostly won!).
                                We have the following QF line-up:-
                                Sofia Kenin vs #6 Elina Svitolina
                                #3 Karolina Pliskova vs Bianca Andreescu
                                Marie Bouzkova (Q) vs #4 Simona Halep
                                #8 Serena Williams vs #2 Naomi Osaka
                                Various, Kenin has done very well to back up her big win over Ash Barty in R2 with a QF run. And Svitolina, though her form is clearly picking up again, is beatable – Kenin could go further yet. Andreescu presents a very major obstacle to Pliskova returning to the top of the tree. This match will be a fascinating contrast of styles, raw power vs power mixed with genuine guile. Halep is the defending champion, and also won in 2016. However both those titles were in Montreal. Her best in Toronto is runner-up in 2015. Canada suits her well! Bouzkova has a big task on here. And finally, the match of the round, which is the first meeting of Serena and Osaka since their controversial US Open final last year. In fact, Serena has never got more than 4 games in a set against Osaka (their only other meeting in R1 of Miami last year was 3&2 to the Japanese). Expect that to change.


                                ATP (Montreal)

                                Quite a dull day yesterday, as the higher ranked player won in all eight matches, six of them in straight sets. The only ones that went the distance were #3 Sascha Zverev edging out Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5 5-7 7-6(5), which could barely be tighter and #6 Karen Khachanov disappointing the home crowd by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7(7) 7-5 6-3, which is nearly as close as Zverev’s win.
                                The QFs have the following look:-
                                #1 Nadal vs #7 Fognini
                                #16 Monfils vs #10 Bautista Agut
                                #6 Khachanov vs #3 Zverev
                                #8 Medvedev vs #2 Thiem
                                That looks like a clay court last eight line up, doesn’t it?!? Regarding the games, Fognini has had a few significant wins over Nadal down the years. He is one of the few players who won’t be intimidated pre-match by the thought of facing Rafa. Bautista Agut is going well on his first outing since Wimbledon. Gael remains Gael. I wouldn’t predict many breaks of serve between Khachanov and Zverev, though once rallies get beyond three shots they could telescope if neither player is willing to pull the trigger. Medvedev vs Thiem looks like a grind.

                                On the Men’s Doubles side, the last Brit involved in the event is Joe Salisbury after he and Rajeev Ram made the QFs with a very good win over #5 Rojer/Tecau. They play Chardy/Martin in the last eight. Edmund/Fritz went out in R2 though, beaten by Bopanna/Shapovalov.

                                Comment


                                  Murray has accepted a wild card to play next week in the singles. I do hope it goes well.

                                  Comment


                                    ATP (Montreal)

                                    #7 Fabio Fognini showed once again that #1 Rafa Nadal doesn’t intimidate him as he took the opening set of their QF 6-2. Maybe he should, as Rafa only lost three more games in the match! Rafa’s Semi-Final opponent is not known as the heavens opened prior to #16 Gael Monfils vs #10 Roberto Bautista Agut starting. Which means today is going to be busy. Also playing a second match in the day against a fresh opponent is never great. Taking on Rafa in that situation sounds a nightmare.
                                    The other Semi is an all-Russian affair after Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev upset higher seeds in Sascha Zverev and Dominic Thiem respectively. Numbers were #6 and #8 for the winners, #2 and #3 for the losers respectively.
                                    Shocks have abounded in the doubles, where the Semi line-up doesn’t include a single seeded pair! It does feature a Brit though, Salisbury/Ram beating Chardy/Martin to set up a match with M.Granollers/Zeballos. It also has a home player as Bopanna/Shapovalov are through to the last four, to play Dutch pair Haase/ Koolhof.

                                    WTA (Toronto)
                                    The reverse situation holds on the Women’s side, where three of the four singles semi-finalists are non-seeds and the doubles is all close to as predicted.
                                    Starting with the singles, Sofia Kenin toppled #6 Elina Svitolina in straight sets despite being 0-4 down in the opening one. Kenin, 20, will play Bianca Andreescu, 19, in the last four after the Canadian ended Karolina Pliskova’s hopes of returning to world no.1. This was an equally bizarre match, with the score after ~45 minutes reading 6-0 0-5 to Andreescu!
                                    On the other side of the draw, #4 Simona Halep withdrew injured after losing he opening set to Marie Bouzkova, to send the 21 year-old Czech qualifier through. It was the first time Bouzkova had even played a tour level QF. The reported reason for Halep’s withdrawal was an achilles injury, but it sounded like a precautionary thing (as things stand she is still in the draw for Cincinnati next week). Bouzkova’s Semi debut will be a memorable affair both for the occasion, and the opponent – she will play Serena Williams! That is after Serena got her first win over #2 Naomi Osaka, 3&4. By the time they went on court, Osaka would have known she was returning to the top of the rankings for next week.
                                    As for Serena, with three players 21 or under left with her in the draw, she is a massive favourite to win her first tournament since the birth of her daughter (her last title is still the 2017 Aussie Open, when she was pregnant). If she beats Bouzkova (as, baring injury, she surely will) it will also get her to her first non-Slam final since May 2016! The final will be interesting, though; both Kenin or Andreescu would have a punchers chance in that.
                                    As mentioned the doubles Semi line-up was almost as seeded, with the #1, #2, #3 and #6 ranked pairs to contest it. The only buckers of the seedings were a pretty strong outfit, Azarenka/Barty. They had to beat #4 Flipkens/Hsieh to be at that stage.


                                    And next week? Well, the two draws go to a single venue this time for the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. The big news from there is that the Men’s Big Four are all playing, what with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer not opting to skip this one (Djoker is the defending champion) and Andy Murray taking a singles wild card. Murray’s return is currently meant to be against Richard Gasquet, with the winner taking on #4 Dominic Thiem in R2. The other Brit directly into the main draw is Kyle Edmund, who has drawn #9 Daniil Medvedev for the second straight week, and will be looking for a rather better result this time around.
                                    Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie will attempt to join Edmund and Murray in R1 as they play qualifying. Evans has a tough draw to do it, playing Kohlschreiber in q1 and if he gets through either Karlovic or #14 Sandgren in final q (Evans is #4). Norrie’s path is equally trick, but features less veteran-like opponents – Kudla, then #5 Fucsovics or Popyrin.
                                    Despite playing singles, Andy Murray is also going to stick with his doubles partnership with F.Lopez for another week. They have been drawn against #4 Rojer/Tecau in R1. J.Murray/N.Skupski play Monroe/Sandgren and Salisbury/Ram face Dimitrov/Fognini.
                                    On the Women’s side Jo Konta is the #14 seed for the second successive week. She will face a qualifier in R1. That won’t be Heather Watson though as the qualifying cut was going to come to high for her so she is off to the W100 ITF event in Vancouver instead.

                                    Comment


                                      First set of Marie Bouzkova vs Serena Williams done in 29 minutes, 6-1 to, err, Bouzkova.
                                      The British TV commentators raise an interesting point - who would Bianca Andreescu, who awaits the winner in the final after a a straight sets win over Sofia Kenin earlier, prefer to play? Serena for the glamour and the underdog status, or Bouzkova for the greater chance of victory but enormous weight of expectation?
                                      Last edited by Janik; 10-08-2019, 22:46.

                                      Comment


                                        It got to 3-2 to Bouzkova on serve in the second set. However after that hold Bouzkova exchanged looks with her box and gave an incredulous laugh, and with that she came out of her bubble. At that point Serena hadn't had a break point on the Bouzkova serve and was getting desperate, suddenly going for loads of drop shots. Four games later, Serena has broken Bouzkova twice in a row to win the second set 6-3 and normal service is very much resumed. Or so it would appear.

                                        Comment


                                          Serena won, of course. Bouzkova can draw a huge amount of positives from her run though, not least that she didn't wilt in the final set but made her very illustrious opponent fight for it all the way to the death. The Czech has won quite a lot of matches this year at various lower levels. Based on this week, she is completely ready to step it up to being in elite company.

                                          Meanwhile, over in Montreal, Gael Monfils battled past Roberto Bautista Agut in the delayed QF, eventually taking it in a deciding set breaker. The organisers must now wish it had been the Spaniard who won, as Monfils has been forced to withdraw from the Semi against Nadal due to an ankle injury! The other Semi, which was the all-Russian affair between Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev, was won by the latter. Tomorrow's match against Nadal will be Medvedev's debut Masters Series final.
                                          Last edited by Janik; 11-08-2019, 00:18.

                                          Comment


                                            Well, the Women's Final of the Canada Open was a very damp squib, Serena Williams retiring hurt with what appeared to be a shoulder injury just four games in. She was very tearful afterwards, so this may be serious. Her body does seem to keep breaking down these days, which with age and her game style may be an endemic issue... After the walkover in the Men's Semis, it's not been a good few hours for the organisers. Let's hope the Men's final later is a good one!

                                            No consolation for the TDs from the doubles either, with half-Canadian pairs beaten in the Semis of each event, Shapovalov/Bopanna going down in Montreal and Dabrowski/Xu losing in Toronto. The Men's Semi also had disappointment for British fans as Salisbury/Ram were beaten by M.Granollers/Zeballos.

                                            The bad news for the Brits also applied to next week, with both Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie losing their opening qualifying match in Cincinnati. That leaves Jo Konta, Kyle Edmund and Andy Murray as the only ones playing the singles of this.

                                            Comment


                                              Originally posted by Janik View Post
                                              Well, the Women's Final of the Canada Open was a very damp squib, Serena Williams retiring hurt with what appeared to be a shoulder injury just four games in. She was very tearful afterwards, so this may be serious. Her body does seem to keep breaking down these days, which with age and her game style may be an endemic issue... After the walkover in the Men's Semis, it's not been a good few hours for the organisers. Let's hope the Men's final later is a good one!
                                              6-3 6-0 to Rafa. Ho hum. It's a good job Tennis in Canada has enormous positives at the moment, because the last 36 hours have been very underwhelming for the sport.
                                              [its not Rafa winning that was a problem, you understand. It was the very large margin]

                                              Comment


                                                What have we got coming up today? The headline act is obviously the singles return of Andy Murray. He plays Richard Gasquet third up on Cincinnati’s Center Court, following the matches of Caty McNally and Venus Williams. Play starts at 11:00am local time. The headline match of the evening session on the same court (7:00pm start) is Alison Riske against Maria Sharapova. Go Ali!
                                                Jo Konta starts her campaign against Rebecca Peterson fourth match on on an outside court. Murray-Gasquet and Venus vs Lauren Davis aside, the matches of the day for my money are on the second court of the venue, the Grandstand. These are Miomir Kecmanovic vs Felix Auger-Aliassime and Aryna Sabalenka vs Petra Martic during the day session and Nick Kyrgios vs Lorenzo Sonego and Dayana Yastremska vs Caroline Wozniacki in the evening.
                                                One Doubles match with British interested today, J.Murray/N.Skupski taking on Monroe/Sandgren in the first match of the day out in the sticks.

                                                Comment


                                                  4&4 to Richard Gasquet over Andy Murray. Realistically no more than could have been expected.

                                                  Jo Konta is into a deciding set against Rebecca Peterson. She looks very rusty.

                                                  Comment


                                                    And nervy. And beaten 7-5. She needs a win or two in the last warm up event next week just to rebuild confidence that is currently shaky.

                                                    Comment

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