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de Minaur claims Zhuhai title

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Australia’s Alex de Minaur has won the Zhuhai ATP 250 final to claim his third title of 2019 and of his career.

Sydney, Australia – 9 January 2018: Alex de Minaur in his second round match at the Sydney International tennis. (Photo by Rob Keating/robiciatennis.com)

The Australian is now three from three when reaching finals in 2019 having won the Sydney International and the Atlanta titles.

de Minaur defeated France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6(4) 6-4.

“It was a really tough match. I had a lot of chances and I felt like Adrian just played better than I did in those moments. I just told myself I had to try and take control of the point and just try to dictate as much as I could and I hit a great ball and I’m happy it ended there,” de Minaur said.

With the title, de Minaur will again become the top-ranked Australian men’s singles player with a projected ranking of no. 25 just one off his career-high ranking.

“He played great. I don’t think that my level dropped during the match, I think that he just kept pushing all the time, being really offensive and, if you just lose your concentration for, I don’t know, 30 seconds, one minute, then you lose a crucial game and then it goes quick,” Mannarino said. “He played better than me, that’s the only thing I can remember about this match.”

de Minaur did not face a break point throughout the final, Mannarino was broken in the last game but had saved 12 break points before that crucial moment.

Kenin ends Stosur’s dream run in Guangzhou

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Australia’s Sam Stosur has come up short as she played for her first singles title since she won the Strasbourg title in 2017.

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USA’s Sofia Kenin won the tile with a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 win in the final.

Stosur who has seen her ranking fall outside the top 100 will return to around no. 92 when the rankings are updated on Monday.

At 4-4 in the second set Stosur was looking confident and appeared to be heading to another title but Kenin quickly snuffed that out and then powered to victory.

“Sam is such a tough player to play, and the match was not easy,” Kenin said. “I’m just really happy with the way I fought. I knew it was going to be a tough match and I needed to leave everything on the court, and I’m so happy to have won.

“This was my first time being here in Guangzhou, and I loved every minute of it. I really liked it here from the start. I’m so happy about the support that I got from all the fans here, and of course, the title makes it even better.”

“I feel proud of myself. It was a tough match today. She played very, very well for the whole match, and really picked it up in that second and third sets,” Stosur said.

“I still made the final, so there’s lots to be proud of. I think it was pretty close and there wasn’t a whole lot in it, but I didn’t get off to the start in the third that I wanted to, and that’s what made the difference as it went on.”

Wang Qiang ends Barty’s US Open

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China’s Wang Qiang was too solid for Ash Barty in their 4th round match at the US Open.

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Wang was coached by Australia’s Peter McNamara until February this year. McNamara sadly died recently after suffering from prostate cancer.

Barty failed to convert all nine of her break point opportunities and also hit 39 unforced errors to Wang’s 14. The winners were 22 to 11 in favour of the Australian.

Wang converted 3 of 6 break points to help setup her 6-2, 6-4 victory to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Barty and de Minaur take their place in the US Open round of 16

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Recently Ash Barty defeated Maria Sakkari at the Cincinnatti Premier 5 tournament when they met in the quarterfinals. On that occasion, Barty came back from 5-7 in the first set to crush Sakkari 6-2, 6-0 in the next two sets.
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The players met again in the third round at the US Open. Barty was up a break at 4-3 but dropped serve to see the score at 4-4. Sakkari won the next game to have the Australian under pressure.

Barty then went on a three-game streak to claim the first set.

The world no. 2 Barty broke in the fifth game of the second set and then consolidated the break to lead 4-2. Another break came with Sakkari serving to stay in the match at 3-5. Barty broke her Greek opponent to love to take the match 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes.

“Maria is an incredible competitor and great mover around the court,” Barty said. “She really brings her best stuff when she’s on the move, so it was important for me to try and dictate without going into her patterns too much.”

“It’s tricky to play a friend, it always is,” Barty added. “I was really happy to be able to finish off both of those sets today.”

Barty has matched her best performance at a US Open by reaching the fourth round. She next takes on Wang Qiang from China. The winner could face Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

Alex de Minaur claimed his first top-ten scalp at a US Open when he took out Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
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After the match de Minaur said he was playing like a robot, just trying to focus on each point and not let emotions get the better of him.

“The crowd support was amazing,” De Minaur, who claimed his maiden ATP Tour title last month in Atlanta, said after the match. “I had a bit of a thrill last year against Cilic. Was two-sets-to-love up again and I’m glad I could finally get the win.”

de Minaur booked himself a match against former world no. 3 Grigor Dimitrov. Both players will be looking to reach their first US Open quarterfinal.

Rain sends most players packing at the US Open but Barty marches on

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At the US Open today it was the rain that won most of the matches. Thanks to the roof over the two main courts some matches were completed.

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Australia’s Ash Barty fought off a strong challenge from USA’s Lauren Davis winning their match 6-2, 7-6(2).

Davis the world no. 73 saw her serve broken three times in the first set as she managed to break Barty on one occasion.

In the second set, it was a lot tighter. Both players broke on one occasion with the American being first to break. Barty hit back and the match went to a tie breaker.

Barty had seen so many break opportunities come and go as she was 1/9 in the set.

The Australian managed to easily close out the match in the tie break to advance to the third round. Her opponent is yet to be determined. It will be the winner of the Peng Shuai vs Maria Sakkari match.

A good day for the Aussies in New York

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Australia’s John Millman was the odd man out during day two action at the US Open.

Nick Kyrgios, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin and Thanasi Kokkinakis all advanced to the second round. Millman, however, was not able to pull off a huge upset in his round one match against Rafael Nadal.
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Just under a year ago it was Millman that shocked the tennis world when he defeated Roger Federer in the Round of 16. In round one he was no match for Nadal, losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
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Wildcard recipient Kokkinakis took advantage and defeated Belarussian Ilya Ivashka (Q) 6-3, 7-6(10), 6-7(4), 6-2. He now faces Nadal in round 2. Kokkinakis defeated Federer at Miami in 2018, so he can pull off an upset, but maybe not over the best of five sets format against one of the greats of the game.

Popyrin came quickly out of the gates against Argentina’s Federico Delbonis winning the first set 6-1. Things got tighter as the match progressed but Popyrin held his nerve to record a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(5) victory. He next faces Mikhail Kukushkin from Kazakhstan. A winnable match for the Australian.
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Thompson had a comfortable straight-sets win over world no. 44 Joao Sousa from Portugal. He only faced one break point and broke his opponent on four occasions. Thompson next faces Italy’s Matteo Berrettini the no. 24 seed.
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Kyrgios had a late-night match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. His victory came in just over two hours against USA’s Steve Johnson. The final score was 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4.

The Canberran served 24 Aces and had a total for 53 winners to 16 from his American opponent. Unforced errors were 32 from Kyrgios to 23 from Johnson.

Kyrgios next will face France’s wildcard Antoine Hoang.

Ajla Tomljanovic came from losing the opening set 6-1 to defeat Marie Bouzkova 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. Her round two opponent will be no. 21 seed Anett Kontaveit from Estonia.
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Astra Sharma lost her opening round match against Poland’s Magda Linette 6-3, 6-4.
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On day three we will see Ash Barty take on USA’s Lauren Davis in a round two match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. The only other Australian in day three singles action is Alex de Minaur who plays Chile’s Cristian Garin the 31st seed.

Kyrgios is playing doubles with Romania’s Marius Copil.

Barty recovers from a slow start to Open her US Open campaign

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The last time Australia’s Ash Barty was out on Arthur Ashe Stadium she was being crowned US Open champion in doubles.

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Barty and Coco Vandeweghe had claimed the doubles title in 2018.

Playing her first singles match on Arthur Ashe Barty got off to a slow start and found herself down 1-6 after the first set against Zarina Diyas from Kazakhstan.

Barty’s serve was way off in the opening set and she lacked patience during the rallies. The world no. 2 serving at just 25% on first serves in the opening set.

Five winners came from Barty in the first set, but this was overshadowed by 19 unforced errors.

Barty was able to turn things around to avoid an early exit from the 2019 US Open.

The Australian’s serve was still not up to standard with 46% of first serves finding their mark but the winners in set no. 2 were just ahead of the unforced errors at 10 to nine.

In the deciding set Barty finally found her rhythm on serve and was able to get 62% or her first serves into play. Diyas was going the other way serving at 52% after being in the 60s in the first two sets.

Barty hit four Aces and that helped push the winners count up to 12 for the set against eight unforced errors. Diyas hit just five winners to 13 unforced errors.

Two breaks of serve in the final set helped Barty move into a second-round matchup against USA’s Lauren Davis. The final score was 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I probably would have preferred if it was a little bit more straightforward, but I’m happy [with] the way we were able to fight through that and find a way after a pretty awful start,” Barty said after the match. “I think I just didn’t give myself a chance in that first set. I think it was just nice to kind of lockdown a little bit. It took some time, but kind of break her down in the end,” said Barty.

Daria Gavrilova, Sam Stosur and Priscilla Hon all fell at the first hurdle, all losing in straight sets.

Barty loses chance to return to no. 1

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Australia’s Ash Barty has lost to Russian wildcard Svetlana Kuznetsova. The former US and French Open champion winning the match 6-2, 6-4.

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Kuznetsova was down 2-0 and stormed back to win six straight games to claim the first set.
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If Barty reached the final she would have returned to no. 1. As it is Naomi Osaka will hold onto the top spot.

Barty had a poor serving performance, serving at just 51% compared with 73% from her opponent.

Kenin bundles Barty out of the Rogers Cup – Osaka one win from no. 1 ranking but Pliskova also in the hunt

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USA’s Sofia Kenin has defeated world no. 1 Ash Barty in a round two match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. The world no. 29 coming from behind to take the match 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.

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Kenin and simply was too good for Barty.

Kenin said, “I think today I wasn’t able to adapt quickly enough or well enough to play a match of the standard that I expect myself to play and I want myself to play. Sofia served today in the big moments. She served particularly well and got a lot of free points.

“I think these are courts where you need to be aggressive. You need to be confident and trust yourself and really hit through the ball, and today I didn’t have quite enough of that. And against a player like Sofia, who hits the ball so cleanly and so aggressive and takes it so early, that’s something you need.

“It wasn’t there today, but she played an exceptional match when she needed to, and in the big moments she played some really good stuff.”

Following the loss Barty’s world no. 1 ranking is at risk. The most recent world no. 1 Naomi Osaka just needs to defeat German qualifier Tatjana Maria in their round two match to retake the no. 1 ranking.

Depending on results, Karolina Pliskova could also take the no. 1 ranking.

Kyrgios Claims second ATP 500 title as he defeats Medvedev for the title in Washington – to rise to no. 1 ranked Australian

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Nick Kyrgios has defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-6(6), 7-6(4) to cap off one of the best weeks of his life to walk away with the sixth title of his career and the second ATP 500 title in 2019.

Kyrgios will now rise to no. 27 in the rankings and retake the top spot in Aussie tennis.

In the first set he was suffering from back spasms, but despite that, he did not have a single break point against him. Medvedev also did not face a break point.

The match came down to a few key points in the tie breakers with Medvedev making a few unforced errors at key moments.

The Russian looked to be on his way to taking the first set when ahead 5-2 but Kyrgios held his nerve and slowly fought his way back, firstly with help from Medvedev when he sent a backhand well over the baseline at 2-5 with Kyrgios having served.

Kyrgios showed good patience on the next point before Medvedev finally lost his as he went for a down the line winner that he hit wide.

A big backhand from Kyrgios that took Medvedev wide and deep was followed by a dropshot winner for Kyrgios to level the scores at 5-5.

A first serve that Kyrgios barely hit gave Medvedev a set point but that was saved by an Ace from the Australian. A down the line winner from Kyrgios gave him a set point on Medvedev’s serve.

A forehand hit wide by the Russian handed the set to Kyrgios. He then received treatment from the trainer.

As in the first set, the second came down to a breaker.

A backhand sent wide and long off the Medvedev racquet gave Kyrgios a mini-break on the first point. The Russian immediately hit back when hit a well angled backhand to force an error.

A big serve and a big forehand was too much to handle for Medvedev on the next point. A good volley from the Russian got the score level at 2-2.

The Russian attacked the net and forced another error from the Australian as he pushed a rushed passing shot wide for 3-2. Ace no. 16 took Kyrgios to 3-3.

A 225 km rocket serve could not be handled by Medvedev and his return sailed long for his to serve next at 3-4. Another Medvedev unforced error when he hit long had Kyrgios two points from the title.

Medvedev won the next point before Krygios was presented with two serves to claim the title. Championship point was earned with an Ace.

The title was his after an angled Ace to the forehand corner. The Australian fell to the court in celebration. He then thanked a lady in the crowd for her advice on match point.

“This has honestly been one of my favourite weeks of my life. I’ve made massive strides,” Kyrgios said. “I started becoming friends with the smoothie guy, he knew what smoothie I wanted. I was playing ping pong with some kids before I’m playing. You guys were amazing. It was honestly a week to remember.”

There were 32 winners from Kyrgios and 29 for Medvedev and Medvedev had just 14 unforced errors to 19 from Nick, but it was when the errors came that was the difference.

He improved to 5-1 against Top 10 players in 2019, a winning percentage of 83, best on the ATP Tour this year. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has won seven of his nine matches against Top 10 players this season (7/9, 78%).