Monte Carlo (AFP)
World number one Novak Djokovic will return to the courts in Monte Carlo next week, where he may meet the promising and rapidly rising Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
But Djokovic, who begins Monday his 365th week at the top of the world rankings of professional players, has played only one round in four months.
After his famous deportation from Melbourne for not being vaccinated once morest the Corona virus, and depriving him of a tenth title in Australia, the Serbian only appeared in Dubai, where he was not forced to receive the vaccine and played only three matches last February.
His refusal to receive the vaccine meant he was absent from the Indian Wells and Miami Masters courses.
While Djokovic was absent from the scene, a new name emerged with a strong rise, as the 18-year-old Alcaraz dazzled the world of yellow football, when he became the third youngest winner in Miami.
As a result of the draw, the 34-year-old Djokovic, who has won twice in Monte Carlo, may meet the Spanish strongman in the quarter-finals.
Unlike Djokovic, Alcaraz rarely missed the game in 2022, playing 20 matches in which he lost only twice.
It rose from 133rd in the world to eleventh in the space of a year.
In addition to his coronation in Miami, Alcaraz embarrassed fellow legend Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells before losing to him in the semi-finals.
Alcaraz said: “I have always looked up to Rafa, I have always watched his highlights and matches and learned a lot from her.”
El Matador was the first to congratulate Alcaraz following his coronation in Miami, referring to a “historic” victory.
Nadal took advantage of Djokovic’s absence in Melbourne, setting the record for the number of grand slam titles “21”, but the 35-year-old will miss Monte Carlo, where he won a record 11 titles, due to a rib injury in Indian Wells during the loss in the final once morest American Taylor Fritz.
The Spaniard is hoping to be fit to compete in Madrid later this month, as part of his aspirations to participate in the Roland Garros tournament on dirt, as he seeks to consolidate his superb record and win the 14th title in his rich career.
And Monte Carlo, ranked second in the world, will also miss Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, who has been absent for up to two months because he underwent surgery to treat a hernia.
The world’s sixth-ranked Italian, Matteo Berrettini, is also absent, following undergoing an operation on his hand that will also exclude him from the Madrid and Rome tournaments.
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas holds 3 titles on dirt out of seven in his career, knowing that the Monte Carlo title is the only Masters in his coffers.
Last year, he reached the Roland Garros final, bowing to Djokovic, squandering his lead by two sets. But the Greek lost in the third round in Indian Wells and the final price once morest Alcaraz in Miami.
The Greek may meet with German Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, if he overtakes Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals and Russia’s Andrey Rublev, the eighth and runner-up of the last edition.
The 37-year-old Swiss veteran, Stanislas Wawrinka, won the 2014 edition when he beat fellow legend Roger Federer.
The former three-time world champion has fallen to 236th in the world following undergoing two operations on his left foot last year. His last match in the professional tournaments returns to the Qatar tournament in March 2021.
He participated in a modest tournament in Marbella last month, but lost in the first round to Sweden’s Elias Emer, ranked 131 in the world.
This tournament marks the beginning of the farewell journey of the French former world number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who will retire following his participation in Roland Garros.
The current Monte Carlo edition will be held in front of a full audience for the first time since 2019, following the 2020 edition was canceled and 2021 was held behind closed doors.
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Paris (AFP)
Russian Daniil Medvedev, ranked second in the world in tennis, will be out of action between one and two months to treat his hernia, according to what was announced Saturday, threatening his participation in the French Grand Prix Roland Garros, which begins on May 22nd.
Medvedev, 26, the reigning champion of Flushing Meadows 2021, tweeted on his official account on Twitter, “In recent months, I have been playing with a small hernia. I decided with my team to do a small (surgical) intervention to fix the problem, I will be out for 1-2 months, and I will work hard to get back on the field soon. Thanks for all the support.”
Medvedev had risen to first place in the world over a period of two weeks in early March, before falling to second place in favor of Serbian Novak Djokovic on the twenty-first of March.
Despite being a candidate to win the Miami Masters Tournament, the last Australian Open runner-up was eliminated from the quarter-finals by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the defending champion, 7-6, 6-3.
He looked exhausted in the match and took a long break in the locker room between the two sets, and asked for the intervention of a physical therapist following leaning several times on his racket.
“I wasn’t at my best during the match,” he told a news conference. After the tough points, I had a hard time catching my breath, I wasn’t recovering (from fatigue) very well, probably because of the heat, but I was dizzy, and I wasn’t able to hit the serve.”
The loss and the chance to reach the semi-finals prevented him from climbing once more to first place in the world.
Prior to that, Medvedev had lost the semi-finals of the Acapulco tournament to veteran Spanish star Rafael Nadal, who defeated him in Melbourne, and unexpectedly exited from the third round of the Indian Wells Masters tournament once morest Frenchman Gael Monfils.
The Russian won his first grand slam title in Flushing Meadows, USA, last September, depriving Djokovic of securing four Grand Slam titles in one year, and crowning his 21st major title, which Nadal later reached in Australia.
The adventure of “injured” Fritz shatters Nadal’s dreams
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
California (Archyde.com)
Taylor Fritz worked his way through the pain to end Rafael Nadal’s 20-game winning streak by defeating the Spaniard 6-3 7-6 in the Indian Wells Championships final, becoming the first American to win the title since Andre Agassi more than 20 years ago.
Fritz gave his country’s fans what they came to watch as a heroic performance and an American winner, depriving Nadal of his fourth title this season and the 37th title in the Masters Championships.
Fritz, who was struggling with an ankle injury, said following winning his second career title that he doubted even getting off the court and had never felt such pain before a match.
But the 24-year-old American decided to take a risk and was rewarded with the biggest title of his career, overtaking his Spanish opponent, who won 21 Grand Slam titles.
“This is just one of those childhood dreams that you think will never come true,” Fritz said. I’ve never felt worse pain before a match.
If I had known it was going to be this bad, I wouldn’t have come here. I took several steps to change direction and screamed and honestly I was trying to look tough because I was in front of the cameras.
“We did a lot of work before the game and I had mixed feelings before the game, thinking there was no way I might play today.
There were concerns regarding the players’ readiness ahead of the final.
While Fritz had difficulties due to an ankle problem, Nadal was suffering from a chest injury he sustained during his three-set victory over compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, “18,” in the semi-finals.
“When I breathe, when I move, it’s like having a needle all the time inside me,” Nadal said. I get a little dizzy because the pain is so intense. It’s a kind of pain that really bothers me. It’s not just regarding the pain, I don’t feel good because it affects my breathing.
Nadal said last week that he would not take part in the Miami Open, which begins immediately following Indian Wells.
The 35-year-old Spaniard was clearly out of his game early in the match, and Fritz broke twice to take a 4-0 lead.
But as he had done so many times before, Nadal refused to raise the white flag and twice kept his serve and broke the American to make the score 5-3, to the excitement of the fans who filled the stadium.
Fritz gathered his forces and stopped Nadal’s lead with the third break of the Spaniard’s serve, to win the first set.
At the end of the opening set, Nadal requested treatment time and returned to the court with renewed enthusiasm.
The second set reached a tiebreak, but in the end the American player with a strong serve proved much stronger than his Spanish opponent.
Indian Wells (AFP)
Spaniard Rafael Nadal continued his perfect career since the beginning of this year, and qualified for the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells International Masters 1000, by defeating American Riley Opelka 7-6, 7-6.
The 35-year-old, who won the Australian Open in a new record for the number of Grand Slam tournaments “21”, raised his consecutive victories to 18 since the beginning of 2022, and also kept his hopes up for a fourth title in California.
Nadal resisted the American “giant” of 2.11 meters, in addition to his missile transmissions, some of which reached 140 km / h.
Opelka saved the only break point in the first set, while Nadal waited for the tiebreak to lead 4-3, before the American committed three consecutive errors to lose the set.
In the second set, Nadal gave his opponent an opportunity to break his serve with a double mistake in the fifth game to pounce on the American, but without being able to take advantage of a break point in the next game, so Nadal saved three balls to break his serve in the seventh game, before he responded in turn by breaking his opponent’s serve. The score equals 4-4.
Nadal advanced in the tiebreak, and following Opelka saved two points once morest him, the Spaniard settled the result by winning the set by winning the match.
Serbian Miomir Kitsmanovic, 61, achieved a resounding surprise by defeating Italian sixth-seeded Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, to qualify for the quarter-finals to meet American Taylor Fritz, who came from a set down in front of Australian Alex de Minaur to win 3-6, 6 -4 and 7-6.
Russian Andrey Rublev, the seventh, defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-6, 6-4, to set up a date with Bulgarian Grigor Dmitrov, who defeated American John Isner 6-3 7-6.
Rublev achieved his 12th consecutive victory, reaching the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells tournament for the first time in his career.
In the women’s event, 2015 champion Simona Halep qualified for the semi-finals with an easy victory over Croatian Petra Martic “79” 6-1, 6-1.
The former world number one, now 26, raised her attacking level to present her best match in California, which she settled in less than 55 minutes once morest an opponent who had never shown herself to be resilient and tired.
Halep, who was crowned champions of Roland Garros (2018) and Wimbledon (2019), met in the semi-finals with Poland’s fourth-ranked Iga Swientek, who defeated American Madison Keys (29), 6-1, 6-0 in 52 minutes.