France’s Ugo Humbert has won his second ATP title of the year and for his career with a 6-1, 7-6(4) over Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
The world no. 38 broke his opponent twice in the opening set to comfortably take the opener.
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Humbert had won his first title in Auckland at the start of the year.
“It is one of my biggest wins,” said Humbert. “I am super happy to win my second title this year against a really great player. I was aggressive like the previous matches and I am super happy to do it.”
Humbert escaped defeat in his semifinal match against Britain’s Dan Evans after saving four match points.
Despite losing de Minaur was happy with his performance this week. “This was a very important week for me,” said De Minaur during the trophy ceremony. “I have managed to get back to the level I wanted to play at and play another final, which is great for me. I am very happy with where I am. This is a huge step in the right direction.”
Humbert earned 250 FedEx ATP Rankings points and €30,160. De Minaur collected 150 points and €24,000.
Next week in Vienna de Minaur faces a round one match against world no. 6 Daniil Medvedev from Russia. They are competing in an ATP 500 event with one of the strongest field ever assembled for that level of tournament.
de Minaur to take on Umbert for European Open title
After a disappointing first round exit at the French Open Australia’s Alex de Minaur has bounced back in Antwerp to reach the final of the European Open where he will face France’s Ugo Humbert.
de Minaur despatched Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-4 in two hours and 48 minutes to reach his first tour level final since the 2019 Swiss Indoors a year ago. On that occasion he lost 6-2, 6-2 to Roger Federer.
World no. 29 de Minaur is aiming for a fourth ATP title after collecting three trophies in 2019 including his home tournament in Sydney.
France’s world no. 38 Umbert has one title to his name after claiming the Auckland title at the start of the year.
The final is the first head-to-head meeting for this pair.
Nadal crushes Djokovic to equal Federer with 20 Grand Slam singles titles
Rafael Nadal has collected an amazing 13th Roland-Garros title. That along with one Australian Open title, two Wimbledon titles and four US Open titles sees him sit alongside Roger Federer for the men’s all-time lead in Grand Slam titles on 20.
What is remarkable about Nadal’s record in Paris is that once he reaches the final he has never lost.
This time he faced one of his toughest rivals in the form of world no. 1 Novak Djokovic.
He made Djokovic look second rate after the first set demolition, taking the set 6-0 in 48 minutes.
It was more of the same in the second set although Djokovic held his first game to open the set, only to be broken in his next two service games.
In the third set Nadal broke in the fifth game to lead 3-2 only to concede the next game for 3-3.
It was in the 11th game that Nadal got a crucial break thanks to a double fault.
Nadal would then step up to serve for his 13th title. The world no. two did it in style serving to love.
What can you say about Rafa? He continues to dominate all before him on the clay in Paris.
Just how long will he continue?
Now it remains to be seen if he or Federer can claim another Grand Slam singles title to hold the all-time lead on their own. You would have to expect Nadal can again win in Paris.
Swiatek becomes first Pole to win a singles grand slam
Unseeded Polish teen Iga Swiatek has come from nowhere to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.
She faced the 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin from the USA. This win was even more surprising than that of Ash Barty in 2019.
Swiatek was ranked at no. 54 going into the tournament and as was Jelena Ostapenko in 2017 she was unseeded.
Swiatek is the second Polish woman ever to reach the final in Paris, following in the footsteps of 1939 runner-up Jadwiga Jedrzejowska.
Agnieszka Radwanska nearly became Poland’s first Grand Slam singles winner in 2012, when she took a set off of Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final.
“I still think that Radwanska, she achieved a lot because she played on the top level of WTA for, I don’t know, 12 years,” Swiatek said when talking about Radwanska. “I know there’s going to be a lot of people who are going to compare us. But I think I have to be really consistent for the next couple years for everybody to name me the best player in Poland, because I still have a lot to do. Still, I think that’s kind of her place.”
In the final Swiatek raced to a 3-0 lead after getting an early break. Kenin was able to fight back to get level at 3-3 before Swiatek held then broke after a marathon game eight.
Kenin was able to stay in the first set after breaking back for 4-5, only to be broken again in the next game to concede the opening set after 53 minutes.
Kenin lifted briefly and was hitting with great power and placement but this still was not enough despite breaking in the first game.
Swiatek quickly marched through the second set, only to be held up for a while as Kenin left the court to have her thigh wrapped.
In the end it was Swiatek that didn’t let nerves get the better of her as she claimed a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
With her current ranking of 54, Swiatek is the lowest-ranked women’s singles champion in Roland-Garros history (since the rankings were introduced in 1975).
“On one hand it’s pretty inspiring,” Swiatek said of her improbable run to the title. “Sometimes I caught myself visualising that I’m also winning a Grand Slam. But on the other hand it was also really far away. Right now when I’m here and I’m a Grand Slam champion, it’s crazy. You believe in things, but in the back of your head you know that there’s going to be, like, huge amount of work that you have to do to win that. Then after two weeks of great playing, you already have it. It’s just – I don’t know – overwhelming.”
Australian lucky losers and protected ranking player advance
Australia’s Astra Sharma and Marc Polmans had lost their round three qualifying matches only to get a lifeline into the the French Open as lucky losers.
Daria Gavrilova was playing in the main draw thanks to a protected ranking.
It was Sharma and Polmans that made the most of their good fortune by racking up first round wins along with Gavrilova.
All of the higher ranked Australians tumbled out of the first round, many in straight set losses.
Defending champion Ash Barty had decided to sit out the tournament on health grounds and due to the fact that her coach had not been allowed into Queensland to work on her preparation.
Sharma was the first to get a win when she defeated Russia’s world no. 58 Anna Blinkova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to advance to the second round at Roland Garros for the time.
Gavrilova made a return to Grand Slam action after an injury layoff. She defeated Ukraine’s world no. 28 Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-3.
Polmans dominated early in his match against France’s world no. 38 Ugo Humbert taking the first two sets 6-2, 6-2.
Humbert had gone into this match with good form in Rome and Hamburg where at both tournaments he reached the third round.
The Frenchman fought back to take the third set. Polmans now might have been thinking about two previous painful five-set losses at Grand Slams after holding a two sets to nil lead.
The Australian didn’t that that get to him as he fought hard to get ahead in the fourth set. He would find himself serving for the match at 5-3.
After two match points were lost, Polmans finally closed out the match when he forced an error from Humbert. The final score was 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Mother of all comebacks falls short as Osaka claims title
Victoria Azarenka reached her first Grand Slam final in seven years after defeating Serena Williams for the first time at a grand slam.
Since her last final which was the 2013 US Open, Azarenka has become a mother and faced a custody battle. Both of which kept her out of tennis for an extended period.
Azarenka had looked impressive during her run to the final and looked in control after taking the first set 6-1.
Osaka the 2018 champion was not going to give in. She slowly worked her way back into the match and fought off a game point in the third game on Azareka’s serve. That was the key moment when momentum shifted.
Instead of Azarenka holding a 6-1, 3-0 lead the match tightened and Osako had broken back. She held to consolidate the break.
The Belarusian held for 3-2 before Osaka ran off the next four games to take the set, including an epic game to win the set.
Osaka broke in the fourth game of the deciding set to lead 3-1 and then fought off three break back points before holding for a 4-1 lead.
Azarenka again faced a long drawn out game before this time holding. In the next game Osaka was broken and Azarenka looked to be coming back into the set after breaking for 3-4 on serve.
Osaka would break again before serving out the match to complete a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory in 1 hour 53 minutes.
Azarenka played almost perfect tennis in the first set, serving at 94% and winning 75% of first serve points. The winner were 7-5 to Azarenka while unforced errors were 13-3 to Osaka.
In the third set Azarenka served at 62% and won 62% of first serve points.
It was not to be for Azarenka but it had been a great return to form.
Osaka claimed her third Grand Slam singles title and her second US Open title.
Thiem tramples de Minaur to advance to semifinals
Three time Grand Slam runner-up Dominic Thiem has defeated Australia’s Alex de Minaur to advance to back-to-back Grand Slam semifinals.
The final score was 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
The scoreline looks one sided however Thiem was pushed hard by de Minaur.
Thiem opened the serving and held serve before breaking his opponent in the next game. de Minaur immediately hit back with a break however that would be the only game he won in the first set.
In the second set de Minaur was 2-1 on serve before stumbling again to lose the set 6-2.
The third set was a lot closer and de Minaur was looking likely to take that set before Thiem again lifted to close out the match.
de Minaur into his first grand slam quarterfinal
Australia’s Alex de Minaur has surged past big serving Canadian Vasek Pospisil, the world no. 94. The final score was 7-6(6) 6-3 6-2.
de Minaur ranked at no. 28 faced four set points in the opening set tiebreak coming from 2-6 behind.
In the second set de Minaur broke for the first time in the match to move ahead 3-1, he held then broke again for 5-1. Pospisil managed to get one break back before the Australian closed out the set.
de Minaur broke to love in the third game of the third set to take control and he broke again for 5-2 after a long game with four deuces.
The Australian then served out the match.
“I’m obviously very happy,” De Minaur said. “This is where I want to be, and this is where I truly believe I belong – second weeks of Slams and going deep. I’m happy I’m finally at this stage.”
“He’s very quick and what’s most impressive is he never breathes. He runs side to side and he’s never out of breath. He defies the laws of biology,” Pospisil said before the match. “It’s pretty impressive. He’s definitely a freak of nature and he’s extremely fit, never gets tired, runs side to side incredibly fast.”
Next for de Minaur is a quarterfinal match against the second seed Dominic Thiem. The Austrian leads the head-to-head 2-0. The pair met in the first round of the 2017 US Open with Thiem comfortably claiming a three set victory.
Coric defeats Thompson to advance to the quarterfinals
In a sensational day that saw world no. 1 and the hottest of hot favourites Novak Djokovic defaulted, Australia’s Jordan Thompson has lost to Croatia’s Borna Coric 7-5 6-1 6-3.
Coric had come through a tough third round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas and it was interesting to see how he would bounce back.
As it turned out Coric was not adversely affected by that match. He was too strong for Thompson who was playing his first Grand Slam fourth round match.
Coric served for the first set at 5-4, but as he admitted after the match he choked and let Thompson back into the set before taking it 7-5.
The Croatian world no. 32 raced through the second set, dropping only five points on serve. He hit just three unforced errors, while a frustrated Thompson had 12.
“He knuckled down and played really solid,” Thompson said. “He didn’t give me any errors, made a lot of first serves, made a lot of returns.”
Thompson refused to give in and stuck with Coric early in the third set. But the Croatian broke to love again in the sixth game and moved ahead 5-2.
“It wasn’t my best serving display,” admitted a disappointed Thompson, who landed only 55 per cent of first serves throughout the match.
Coric served out victory after two hours and eight minutes on court. He finished the match with 30 winners and won 75 per cent of points on his first serve.
Thompson fired 17 winners, but 36 unforced errors proved costly.
“All credit to him,” Thompson conceded. “He’s playing good tennis, too good.”
After securing a quarterfinal spot Coric said “There’s going to be new Grand Slam champion, for sure. Yeah, that could potentially can happen that some of us can do something more in the future. But again, it doesn’t mean anything. I’m really looking forward to see who it’s going to be. I think we all have a very good chance. Yeah, it’s going to be very interesting.”
Coric faces Germany’s Alexander Zverev for a place in the semifinals.
Jordan Thompson advances to a grand slam fourth round for the first time
Australia’s Jordan Thompson the world no. 63 faced world no. 90 Mikhail Kukushkin from Kazakstan for a spot in the US Open fourth round. Kukushkin was 1-0 in the head-to-head.
The 26-year-old Sydneysider was looking to reach a fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time. Thompson had previously reached the third round at Roland Garros in 2019.
In the opening set it was Kukushkin that got the first break to lead 3-2 however Thompson broke back immediately.
After games went with serve until Thompson was ahead 6-5, it was the Australian that took advantage of a break point to take the first set 7-5.
A wild Kukushkin forehand at 4-5, 15-15 gave Thompson a sniff at the second set.
A forehand into the net brought up two set points. Just one was required. Thompson played a patient point with my slice backhands and eventually it was Kukushkin that pushed a backhand wide.
At this stage of the match Thompson had hit 20 winner to 19. The unforced error count had Kukushkin at 30-19. Thompson had converted 4 from 7 break point opportunites, his opponent was 2 from 5.
After the second set Kukushkin grabbed his bag and left the court for treatment or to change. On his return Thompson held serve and then broke to move to a 2-0 lead.
Despite a double fault Thompson consolidated the break to move to within three games of the fourth round.
Kukushkin was looking down and out at this stage hitting three consecutive unforced errors and a forced error to fall behind 0-4.
In the second round the player from Kazakstan upset No.13 seed Cristian Garin in a five-set battle that lasted almost four hours.
Another service hold and Thompson was at 5-0. He hit three aces in that game, along with another unforced error from Kukushkin.
A forehand that clipped the net and sailed wide gave Thompson his first match point. Kukushkin held on with some good ball striking that had Thompson scrambling to stay in the point.
Back-to-back forehands into the net saw Kukushkin avoid a 6-0 scoreline.
Another ace on match point saw Thompson into the fourth round after a 7-5, 6-4, 6-1 victory. He ended with 26 winners.
Next up is the winner of the Stefanos Tsitsipas v Borna Coric match.
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