The 21-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian tennis player and 2021 US Open finalist led Canada to a 2-1 victory over Chile in its opening United Cup match on Sunday.
Fernandez defeated Daniela Seguel 6-3, 6-2 before Nicolas Jarry leveled the Group B tie for Chile by beating Steven Diez in straight sets.
Diez had replaced Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was rested with a minor knee issue.
Fernandez and Diez then won the deciding mixed doubles against Seguel and Tomás Barrios Vera 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 to seal the tie for the Canadians.
“I’m extremely happy with the way I played,” world No. 35 Fernandez said after her 73-minute win over Seguel. “It wasn’t the greatest match because it is my first match of the season, the nerves, but I’m extremely happy with the way that I was able to manage it.”
Mixed teams from 18 countries are playing in Perth and Sydney in what doubles as a warmup for the Australian Open.
Marcos Giron continues his impressive run in Japan…
The 30-year-old Spanish American professional tennis player pulled off an upset against eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, defeating the Canadian tennis player 6-1, 6-4 triumph o advance to the semifinals of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.
Giron, currently ranked No. 79 in the world, is a qualifier for the tournament.
Giron rode a lightning-fast start in both sets to an 81-minute win against Auger-Aliassime, who had shown signs of a return to form by reaching his first tour-level quarterfinal since May.
Yet he could not match Giron’s consistency in blustery conditions inside Ariake Coliseum. He led 4-0 in the first set and 3-0 in the second, ultimately converting five of eight break points he earned to charge into his maiden ATP 500 semifinal.
“I’m really happy with today’s performance,” said Giron, who held his nerve after losing four of five games in the middle of the second set. “Felix is obviously a phenomenal player, been Top 10 in the world, won a lot of titles. He’s beaten me down pretty good the last few times we played, so coming in today I knew I had to play well and I had to play aggressive.
“It is windy, but I started off really well. In the second set I went up a break and it cooled off, got even windier, and it got a little tricky. He raised his level, but we are professional tennis players, we do this for a living, and we’ve got to be ready for anything that comes our way.”
Giron has previously upset Norwegian Casper Ruud, the second seed, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to move into the quarterfinals.
He’ll next face fellow American Ben Shelton in the semifinals on Saturday.
The 21-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian tennis player will take part in the new-look United Cup mixed team event in Perth and Sydney from December 29 to January 7 as one of the key warm-up tournaments for the Australian Open.
Fernandez, who will be paired up with compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime, will compete for the first time as she represents her home country.
France, the No. 4 seed, will be led by part-Spanish French tennis player Caroline Garcia and Adrian Mannarino.
Team Poland, led by world No. 2 and four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz, has been named as the top seed for the 2024 edition after the entries from the top 16 countries were released by Tennis Australia.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkariwill lead No.2-seeded Greece, with the defending champion United States, featuring Jessica Pegulaand Taylor Fritz, seeded third. Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova will headline the Czech Republic team alongside Jiri Lehecka while Croatia rounds out the top six, featuring Borna Coricand Donna Vekic.
China’s Qinwen Zheng and Zhizhen Zhang and the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoorand Arantxa Rus will also compete for the first time.
Serbia will be led by Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic.
Other entries include Norway’s Casper Ruud, Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerberand Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Each team will consist of men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed doubles.
The Australian Open is scheduled for Melbourne Park from January 14-28.
Francisco Cerundolo has pulled up an upset at the Miami Open.
The 24-year-old Argentine professional tennis player defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 7-5 in a third-round match at the Florida tournament.
Cerundolo, ranked 25th in Miami, scored a crucial break over fifth-seed Auger-Aliassime to go up 6-5 in the second set before serving out for the match.
He made the most of his opportunities, breaking Auger-Aliassime four times on six chances. He faced only two break points, saving one.
Auger-Aliassime saw his streak of six straight quarterfinals at Masters 1000 events come to an end.
It was the third high-profile third-round meeting between the players, with Auger-Aliassime winning at Indian Wells and the Australian Open.
Cerundolo said he fed off the energy of the crowd.
“Super happy to get another top-10 win, another important win for me,” he said. “I think I played really good from beginning to end. Super nice to play here. A lot of Argentinian, Latin people. … Last year was amazing. So I’m really excited to be in the round of 16 again and try to keep winning.”
Cerundolo advanced to face Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over No. 12 seed Frances Tiafoe in one of the night matches slowed by a nearly two-hour rain delay.
Carlos Alcaraz has another a place in tennis history once again…
The 19-year-old Spanish professional tennis player is the youngest year-end No. 1 in the history of the ATP computerized rankings.
He also joins fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadalas the first players from the same country to claim the top two spots at the close of a season since Americans Pete Sampras and Michael Chang in 1996.
The final men’s tennis rankings for 2022 were published Monday, and Alcaraz’s rise from No. 32 at the end of 2021 is the largest single-season jump to No. 1.
Alcaraz, who turned 19 in May, has remained atop the rankings since he won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September by beating Casper Ruud in the final.
That made Alcaraz the first male teen at No. 1 since the ATP computerized rankings began in 1973.
He’s the first man in 20 years other than Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovicor Andy Murray— since Andy Roddickin 2003 — to finish at No. 1.
Alcaraz ended his season early after tearing an abdominal muscle while competing at the Paris Masters a month ago.
The 36-year-old Nadal, meanwhile, is the oldest man to finish a year ranked first or second. He also extended his own record by placing in the top 10 at the end of a year for the 18th consecutive season. The recently retired Federer is the only other man with that many top-10 finishes over the course of a career.
Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to raise his men’s-record Grand Slam total to 22 trophies, one ahead of Djokovic and two ahead of Federer.
Ruud finishes at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 5 Djokovic, No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 7 Daniil Medvedev, No. 8 Andrey Rublev, No. 9 Taylor Fritzand No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz.
Djokovic couldn’t play at the Australian Open or US Open because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and didn’t earn any rankings boost for his title at Wimbledon because the WTA and ATP stripped that tournament of any points over the All England Club‘s ban on players from Russia and Belarus.
Carlos Alcaraz has earned a place in US Open history…
The 18-year-old Spanish player beat 141st-ranked qualifier Peter Gojowczykof Germany 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 to reach the final eight at Flushing Meadows.
In the process, Alcaraz has become the youngest man to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open since 1963.
Alcaraz will now face No. 12 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 21-year-old from Canada who reached his second straight major quarterfinal by defeating Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-4 with the help of 24 aces.
“At some point, age is just a number,” Auger-Aliassime when asked about Alcaraz. “He already feels like a player that is established.”
Auger-Aliassime had never reached the final eight at any Grand Slam tournament until Wimbledon in July, a month before he turned 21 on August 8. Now the Canadian is the youngest man to reach consecutive major quarterfinals since Juan Martin del Potromade it to three straight in 2008-09.
The 35-year-old Spanish tennis star will return to competition later this month by making his debut at the Citi Open in Washington.
Organizers of the hard-court tournament have announced that the 20-time Grand Slam champion is in the field for the July 31 to August 8 event that serves as a US Open tuneup.
Nadal has not played since his loss to Novak Djokovicin the semifinals of the French Open last month.
He decided to sit out Wimbledon, which ends Sunday, and the Tokyo Olympics, which open July 23, saying his body needed time to rest and recover after the clay-court season.
Other players entered in the Citi Open include Wimbledon semifinalists Denis Shapovalovand Hubert Hurkacz, who beat Roger Federer on Wednesday.
Wimbledon quarterfinalists Felix Auger-Aliassimeand Karen Khachanov also are entered.
The tournament says Rock Creek Park Tennis Center will be allowed to have spectators at 50% of capacity. Last year’s Citi Open was canceled because of the pandemic.
Rafael Nadal’s face has found a special home Down Under…
The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, is one of the players being honored with a special mural in Perth, Australia.
The inaugural ATP Cupis set to take place between January 3-12 in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, bringing together some of the world’s leading players in both singles and doubles from 24 countries.
Weeks before the start of the action, Nodal got his mural in Perth together with Kei Nishikori and other stars, with the organizers welcoming the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
Nadal is among those who’ll fight for the crown together with his teammates, fresh after conquering the first edition of the Davis Cup Finalsin Madrid.
Spain is the favorite to reach the quarters from Group B, battling against Japan, Uruguay and Georgia at RAC Arena in Perth and hoping to continue the competition in Sydney where eight strongest teams continue the quest for the title in the second stage of the event.
Backed by Roberto Bautista Augt, Pablo Carreno Busta, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Feliciano Lopez, Nadal is eager to lead Spain towards another team competition crown, shining in front of the home fans in Madrid with eight victories from as many rubbers and delivering the sixth Davis Cup title for Spain.
In what was a wild race towards the finish line, Nadal and Djokovic fought for the year-end no. 1 spot for almost the entire season, with the Spaniard making the deciding move in Montreal and the US Open and keeping the lead in the ATP Raceuntil the ATP Finalswhere they both lost in the round-robin stage.
Rafa and Novak will continue their rivalry at the ATP Cup, joined by Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori, David Goffin, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov, John Isner, Matteo Berrettini, Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzmanand others.
The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star, ranked No. 1 in the world, risked injury by playing eight matches — five singles, three doubles — in six days at the Davis Cup Finals, the new World Cup of tennis.
Nadal won all of them, leading Spain to its sixth Davis Cup title after a 2-0 win over first-time finalist Canada on Sunday.
But in Nadal’s view, the only hero for Spain was grieving teammate Roberto Bautista Agut. He sent Spain on its way to victory by winning the first singles match on Sunday, three days after the death of his father.
“I’ve won the eight matches but the person who was vital in this Davis Cup was Roberto,” Nadal said. “For me, what he did was something almost inhuman. I don’t know how to explain it. It will be an example for the rest of my life. He had to leave, then his dad died, then he came back and practiced with us yesterday, and today he was ready again to play at a very high level. It was something incredible.”
Before Nadal defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6 (7) to clinch the title — Spain’s first since also winning at home in 2011 — Bautista Agut had given Spain a 1-0 lead by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime7-6 (3), 6-3.
Bautista Agut pointed his finger to the sky after winning the final point in his match, and was in tears while speaking briefly to the crowd, which chanted his name. And he was the Spanish player lifting the cup in the title celebrations.
Bautista Agut’s father died on Thursday — a day after his son had defeated Nikola Mektic of Croatia — with his health deteriorating quickly after an illness that stemmed from a 2016 accident.
Bautista Agut, No. 9 in the world, played as teammates Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers nursed injuries entering the final.
As for Nadal, he considered himself lucky to be able to play all matches.
“It’s true that I held up, but we know that playing so many matches in this [hard-court] surface is risky for me, something can happen at any time,” Nadal said. “That’s how it’s been in the past, but luckily I held up.”
Spain’s Granollers and Feliciano Lopezhad been scheduled to face Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisilin the now-canceled doubles match, although Nadal was likely to play if the title had been at stake. Nadal played in the decisive doubles on Friday and Saturday.
Voted the tournament’s best player, Nadal sealed the title with his 29th straight Davis Cup singles win, igniting the home crowd’s celebrations.
Tournament organizer and Barcelona soccer star Gerard Pique, his wife Shakira — who performed in the closing ceremony — and Spanish King Felipe VI were among those celebrating Spain’s triumph.
Spain’s other Davis Cup titles were in 2000, ’04, ’08, ’09 and ’11.
The new Davis Cup Finals is the result of a 25-year partnership between the International Tennis Federation and the Kosmos group co-founded by Pique.
Fernandez defeated Daniela Seguel 6-3, 6-2 before Nicolas Jarry leveled the Group B tie for Chile by beating Steven Diez in straight sets.
