From September 20 to 26, China hosts two ATP-250 tournaments, which serve as a kind of warm-up before the Shanghai Masters. Tennis players compete in Zhuhai and Chengdu, and the timing is quite unusual: both tournaments began on Wednesday and the finals will take place on Tuesday. This is due to the expansion of the Shanghai Masters grid from 56 to 96 participants; This tournament now lasts not one week, as in previous years, but almost two. Now let’s talk about everything in order.
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In Zhuhai, two Russians made it to the main draw: world number 15 Karen Khachanov, the number one seed, and world number 63 Aslan Karatsev. Khachanov, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, missed almost three months due to injury.
“The tendons, all the connective tissue, the bone itself suffered a stress fracture. Everything is interconnected. It all started in Australia. I kept trying, but it got to the point where I literally couldn’t walk. This happened after the match with Djokovic at Roland Garros. At the same time it could still continue [выступать], but the fact that he felt pain when walking became an obvious warning sign. That’s when I had to stop,” Punto de Break quotes Karen.
Karen Khachanov plays against Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros quarterfinals
Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
At the US Open, Khachanov lost in the first round. And in Zhuhai, the Russian, who missed the first round, achieved his first victory in three and a half months. In the second round he beat Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 6-4, 6-4. In the quarterfinals he will face sixth seed Mackenzie MacDonald, world number 39. This match will take place on Sunday, September 24.
As for Karatsev, in the first round he scored 17 aces and won a resounding victory over Matteo Arnaldi (6:7, 7:6, 6:2), and in the second he faced the three-time Grand Slam champion. Andy Murray. The rivals have already met. At the final in Sydney in the winter of 2022, Aslan won his third and last ATP singles title, winning in straight sets: 6:3, 6:3.
In the informative match, the first set turned out to be a “swing”. Karatsev was the first to face break points. But in the prolonged fourth game, in which he tied seven times, the Russian missed all four opportunities to seize his opponent’s serve at 2-2. Then Aslan’s game collapsed and Murray led 5-2 with two breaks. On the first attempt, the Briton failed to serve for the game and lost a set point. However, in the tenth game, when the score was already 5:4, Andy still achieved success: first he saved a double break point and then gave the final touch to his opponent with the third set point: 6:4 in 1 hour. 11 minutes.
Despite this, Karatsev did not give up and won the second game. He went ahead 3-1 with a break, then 4-2. After that, the tennis players exchanged breaks (5:3), and in the ninth game Aslan successfully served for the game from the second set point, having previously played a break point: 6:3 in 1 hour and 3 minutes .
Aslan Karatsev plays at the US Open – 2023
Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
And in the third set, Murray seemed to have run out of steam. The first four games were in the hands of Karatsev, who only gave up a few moves. At 5:2, Aslan, who served for the match, took advantage of the second match point and achieved a resounding victory over the three-time TBS champion 4:6, 6:3, 6:2 in 2 hours 53 minutes.
Karatsev’s opponent in the semifinals will be determined a little later. It will be second favorite Cameron Norrie or qualifier Mark Polmans.
Now about the tournament in Chengdu. Here, Russia’s main hope is world number 55 Roman Safiullin. He has already reached the quarterfinals without losing a single set in the first two matches. First, Safiullin beat Brandon Nakashima (6: 4, 6: 4), and then, and this is a pleasant surprise, he faced the fourth seed, Daniel Evans, 6: 3, 6: 3. In the quarterfinals, Roman will face Jordan Thompson of Australia. This meeting will take place on Sunday, September 24.
But two other Russians have already finished fighting in the tournament. Both Pavel Kotov and 21-year-old Alibek Kachmazov (world number 319) reached the main draw through qualification. Kotov won the first match, in which his opponent was Daniel-Elai Galán from Ecuador, 7:5, 7:5. And in the second round he couldn’t beat Alexander Zverev (1). In the first set, the Russian managed to force the fight with Zverev. The opponents took their games with confidence and without break points. In the twelfth game, the German tried not to take the matter to a tiebreaker, but missed a set point on the reception. But in the tiebreaker Alexander still gave the final touch to Pavel for 7:5.
In the second set, events unfolded in the same way as in the first: there were no signs of break points. But here Kotov turned out to be stronger. In the tenth game, on the first try he converted a set point on the reception: 6:4. In the decisive match, Zverev’s superior class still showed itself. Kotov had a chance to gain the advantage, but in the second game he missed a break point (1:1). After this, the German was unstoppable. The Russian tried to fight at first, but in the end he couldn’t take it anymore. In the last two matches, Pavel took only two points and Alexander won 7:6 (7:5), 4:6, 6:1 in 2 hours and 27 minutes.
In the quarterfinals, Zverev will face Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (7).
Kachmazov was defeated in the first round. Australian Christopher O’Connell was stronger, who, remember, managed to create problems for Daniil Medvedev in the US Open: 7-6, 6-4.
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Rublev’s defeat in the Laver Cup
And this weekend in Vancouver there is an exhibition tournament called the Laver Cup. It is attended by the Russian Andrei Rublev, who, as part of the European team, fights with the world team.
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On the first day of competition, the Europeans lost all four games, leaving the world team leading 4-0. Arthur Fiss lost to Ben Shelton, Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina to Francisco Serundolo, Gael Monfils to Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The latter two even fought in their match. Auger-Aliassime really didn’t like the fact that Monfils lingered too long between draws, putting on a show out of habit. Félix asked that the ATP rules be respected. At the same time, the tennis players expressed their complaints not to each other, but to their boxes.
Monfils: They [организаторы] They call me and say: “You are free to behave however you want…” I am here to have fun.
Auger-Aliassime: What did the people who called you here tell you?
Gael Monfils
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
The day’s program concluded with a doubles match in which Rublev and Fiss faced Francis Tiafoe and Tommy Paul. The Russian-French pair started the match without success, losing 0-4 and then 1-5. Andrey and Arthur managed to recover a break, but then lost serve again and with it the set 3:6.
In the second game, Rublev and Fis got their revenge. They only needed one break in the ninth game, which they also managed to score. They took the set 6:4. However, in the championship tiebreaker up to 10 points, the Americans were stronger. Andrey and Arthur led 3-0 with a break, but then there was a disastrous stretch in which they only won one point out of nine. In the end Tiafoe and Paul won 6:3, 4:6, [10:6].
