Tennis News

All four Winston-Salem Open singles quarter-finals and both doubles semi-finals will be played on Friday, weather permitting, after nearly a complete washout postponed action on Thursday at the ATP 250 event. Among the singles quarter-finals to watch, top seed Benoit Paire will face 11th seed Pablo Carreno Busta. Their match was suspended with Paire leading in the first set 4-3.

Andrey Rublev, Roger Federer's Cincinnati conqueror, is to meet second seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada.

In doubles, Jamie Murray/Neal Skupski will try to reach their first team final against top seeds Marcelo Melo/Lukasz Kubot, and Belgians Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen will meet American wild cards Nicholas Monroe/Tennys Sandgren. View Friday's Complete Schedule

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#NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner, 18, is on the verge of qualifying for his first Grand Slam. The teenager fought past 28-year-old Croatian Viktor Galovic 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 in two hours, 49 minutes to move into the third and final round of US Open qualifying on Thursday.

Sinner, No. 131 in the ATP Rankings, won only one more point than Galovic and will next meet 24-year-old Spaniard Mario Vilella Martinez, No. 202 in the ATP Rankings. Martinez beat Aussie Akira Santillan 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2.

Sinner won his first tour-level match in May at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome, beating American veteran Steve Johnson in three sets. The teenager then won his second ATP Challenger Tour title three weeks ago in Lexington.

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Czech Jiri Vesely, who reached a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 35 in April 2015, beat 23rd seed Jason Jung 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 and will face 15th seed Paolo Lorenzi for a place in the main draw. The 37-year-old Italian beat Frenchman Enzo Couacaud 7-6(3), 6-3.

Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez swept American Noah Rubin 6-1, 7-6(3) and will meet Constant Lestienne of France. The 27-year-old Paris resident beat Italian Alessandro Giannessi 6-3, 6-0.

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/sinner-vesely-rubin-us-open-2019-qualifying-thursday

The US Open draw ceremony was held Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with one of the highlights being third seed Roger Federer getting drawn into defending champion Novak Djokovic's half of the draw. But there are plenty of reasons to watch the action from the first match, and ATPTour.com examines five of the first-round matches to watch.

Draw Preview | View Draw

[18] Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Denis Shapovalov
It was unlikely these two #NextGenATP Canadian phenoms would play each other in the first round of the US Open last year. To happen again in 2019 is insane, right? But the sensations will have to once again put aside their friendship to play for a spot in the second round at Flushing Meadows.

When they met here last season, Auger-Aliassime, No. 117 in the ATP Rankings at the time, had qualified, whereas Shapovalov was the 28th seed. Felix was forced to retire during the third set of that match due to a reoccurring heart problem. Auger-Aliassime evened their FedEx ATP Head2Head series with a straight-sets victory this year at the Mutua Madrid Open.

And this time in New York, Auger-Aliassime is the player who enters the match with the momentum. The 19-year-old cracked the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time this week, and he has won 31 of his 37 tour-level matches this year, making his first three finals in Rio de Janeiro, Lyon and Stuttgart.

“Felix is playing more of a defensive-minded game style, but with the ability to attack, too,” former Canadian great Nestor said about Auger-Aliassime’s game in Montreal. “Denis is more of the aggressive type and the shot-maker. He’s going big and hopefully he gets hot and when he gets hot, he’s a Top 5 player.”

[8] Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Andrey Rublev
The two up-and-comers met at last year's Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, a five-set win for Tsitsipas. But Tsitsipas, Greece's #NextGenATP star, won't be full of confidence ahead of their second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

The No. 8 player in the ATP Rankings is on a three-match losing streak, including opening-round losses at the past two ATP Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati, and Tsitsipas didn't make it past the second round at last year's US Open (l. to Medvedev).

Rublev, meanwhile, could hardly have envisioned a better North-American hard-court swing. The

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/auger-aliassime-shapovalov-five-matches-to-watch-us-open-2019

Defending US Open champion Novak Djokovic attended the tournament’s draw ceremony Thursday afternoon. And while you might expect tennis’ stars to avoid getting wrapped up in the analysis of where players land, Djokovic says that is not the case.

“I think most of the players study the draw, to be honest. Even if they say, ‘Well, I’m just looking at my next match’, but you still look at your section and who is in there and… you scout. You see how they’re playing, you have your team as spies so to say overviewing all the courts and potential opponents,” Djokovic said. “At least in my case, and I think most of the players, look at the draw further than the first round. But of course most of the attention goes to only the next challenge, the next match and how to overcome it.”

The big news from the draw was that third seed and five-time champion Roger Federer was drawn into Djokovic’s half, meaning the two could battle in the semi-finals. But despite saying he plans to study the draw, a light-hearted Djokovic did not want to know where the Swiss was placed during the ceremony.

“Don’t tell me, please,” said Djokovic, cracking a laugh and drawing chuckles from the crowd in front of Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I’m going to study when I go backstage. I need my alone time.”

Djokovic will be the leading favorite regardless of his draw based on form. The World No. 1 has claimed four of the past five major titles, only missing out at Roland Garros this year. Djokovic dropped a set in each of his first two matches at last year’s US Open, but then rounded into his best form, winning his final 16 sets of the tournament. The pressure of being defending champion is not fazing him much, though.

“You have that additional pressure obviously and expectations, but I guess over time you get used to it. The more you win, the more you get used to it,” Djokovic said. “But at the same time it is always a paramount challenge in a way, to defend a Grand Slam title and be one of the top players that are candidates to win a title.”

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Djokovic also triumphed at

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/djokovic-us-open-2019-draw-ceremony

Roger Federer will shortly learn which half of the US Open draw he has been drawn in. Will he be pitted in the same half as top seed Novak Djokovic or second seed Rafael Nadal?

The draw for the 2019 US Open begins at noon ET.

Federer won five consecutive US Opens from 2004-08 and built a 40-match winning streak at the event before his surprise defeat to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2009 final at Flush Meadows.

Djokovic is the defending champion and also won the US Open in 2011 and '15. Nadal is also a three-time US Open champion, taking the title in 2010, '13 and '17.

Come back shortly for a full draw analysis.

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/federer-djokovic-nadal-us-open-tennis-draw

Andy Murray will compete at next week's ATP Challenger Tour event in Manacor, Spain, the tournament announced on Thursday.

In search of more match play in his return from right hip surgery, Murray will return to the Challenger circuit for the first time since 2005. Held at Rafael Nadal's academy on the island of Mallorca, the tournament is set to embark on a second edition.

It will be Murray's third professional tournament since kicking off his singles comeback last week at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. This week, he competed at the Winston-Salem Open, falling to Tennys Sandgren in Monday's night session.

In what will be one of the more highly-anticipated Challenger appearances in history, the Scot is poised to return to the circuit in search of matches and confidence. He's not alone. In 2018, Kei Nishikori did the same in his return from a wrist injury, claiming the title in Dallas en route to qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Murray is 14 years removed from his last visit to the ATP Challenger Tour, when he reached the quarter-finals in Mons, Belgium in 2005. He owns two titles at the level, having lifted a pair of trophies on U.S. soil in Aptos and Binghamton earlier that year.

The 32-year-old is back in familiar territory in Mallorca, returning to the Rafa Nadal Academy for the first time since 2016. That year, he had the opportunity to train at the facilities in preparation for the North American hard-court swing.

The Rafa Nadal Open by Sotheby's will begin on Monday. You can watch free live streaming throughout the week at ATPChallengerTour.com.

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/mallorca-challenger-2019-murray-appearance