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Zverev to face his Fritz nightmare in Halle semis

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Home favourite Alexander Zverev will face one of his biggest tennis fears on Saturday as a 7-6 (10), 7-5 (2) defeat of Belgian Raphael Collingnon put him into a semi-final showdown with US nemesis Taylor Fritz at the ATP Halle event,

The German winner of Roland Garros less than a fortnight ago, has lost his last six meetings with the Californian who seems to have his number on court. Two of his losses have come at the Grand Slams and two at the Laver Cup competition.

“I had a tough time against him, especially last season when I was not playing so well,” Zverev said. “I was not in a good stage.

“But I’m playing much better this season. I hope to keep it that way.”

Fritz and Collignon scrapped for two hours on the grass, which is fast wearing down in summer 32 Celsius conditions.

In the day’s first two quarter-finals, there was not a single break of serve.

“It’s is difficult to break anyway on grass and the way we are all serving so big makes it that much tougher,” the six-tiem Halle semi-finalist and two-time runner-up said.

“The court is also damaged and that makes it tougher to break. These hot conditions favour the big servers.”

Zverev finished with 18 forehand winners as his Grand Slam champion’s confidence carries him into the June 29 start of Wimbledon.

He now leads the ATP with a 38-9 match record this season.

“It was a really, really high level from both of us,” he said of his quarter-final win over the Belgian ranked 51st.

“I’m happy I kept my nerve in the tiebreakers and got the straight-sets win.”

Zverev’s win was his 10th in a row and will play in the 86th semi-final of his career.

ATP

Tien’s great re-set ties Laver at 3-all

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Laver Cup debutant Lerner Tien showed he’s fast on the rebound as the American took inspiration from coach Andre Agassi to level the Laver cup score a 3-3 with a Saturday win in London over Flavio Cobolli.

Tien, at 20 a young gun on the Rest of the World side, defeated Italy’s Roland Garros finalist 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.

With Day 2 win counting two points each, the victory in 97 minutes put teammates Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz on level-pegging heading into their later singles tests against Europe.

World has won four of the previous five titles in the exhibition run by Roger Federer’s management group in honor of the Swiss icons tennis idol, Rod Laver..

Tien, who won the spring Geneva ATP title, said he has to make a major reset after losing the second set to Cobolli, fighting back to win the match tiebreak third set at the O2.

“I can reset pretty easily,” the No. 13 said. “In this format, the score does not matter so much. Everyone always had a chance.

“To put the second set behind me was  pretty good.”

Tien dropped serve twice in the second set after winning the first. But his deciding set fightback made the difference for his side.

“I just went into lockdown, there are some moments where the ball if just there to go for it. It was still tough to get through.”

The youngster gave full credit to Agassi for his inspiration. “Andre has given me more knowledge than everyone combined.  It’s good to have a voice like that on the sidelines encouraging you. It’s very helpful.”

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Europe grabs Laver lead on opening day

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Casper Ruud and Rafa Jodar combined to start and finish Friday’s opening stage of the Laver Cup as their victories sent Europe into a 2-1 lead over Rest of the World in London.

Norway’s Ruud began day 1 play with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-8 defeat of Argentina Francisco Cerundolo while Spanish prodigy Jodar finished off the programme 6-2, 6-4 ovr Alexander Bublik in a winning debut at the team exhibition conceptualised by Roger Federer in 2017 to hour is tennis hero Rod Laver.

Jodar, who turned 20 only days ago, spent 84 minutes in adding a point for Europe coached by French legend Yannick Noah and earning his own 38th match win of this breakthrough season.

“It was a pleasure to represent Team Europe for the first time. I felt great on court. I played against a tough player… I think the atmosphere was great, so thank you everyone for coming” the winner said.

The unpredictable Bublik was unable to match it with the Spanish youngster ranked 14th 

Jodar won eight of his final nine service points for the win. Jodar and Carlos Alcaraz combined for a one-two punch in the concluding doubles rubber, defeating Bublik and Taylor Fritz to end the day with a 3-1 European lead

Main photo:- Casper Ruud opens the scoring for Team Europe – ISF Ltd

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Sinner knee not right – pulls from Beijing

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Jannik Sinner on Friday announced another injury setback, with the world No. 1 withdrawing from the September start of the China Open in Beijing.

The Italian who has not played since defending his Wimbledon title in July, has been on the injury list ever since, missing the Masters events in Canada and Cincinnati and skipping the US Open. 

Sinner won the Beijing event a year ago and could  now be in doubt for the Shanghai Masters next month.

“Hello everyone, Jannik here,” Sinner posted on social media.

“I want to send the warmest greetings to the Chinese fans. I’m very sorry to announce that I won’t be able to play in Beijing this year.

“My knee is not there, where I would like [it] to be, and I am not ready to compete yet. But I will do everything possible to be there on court as soon as I can.

“What I miss the most is, of course, the tournament, the fans, and the atmosphere. I’ve had a great, great time in the past, winning the title also last year, and I’m very disappointed that I cannot defend it this year, but I’m very happy to come back next year. 

“So I wish everyone a very good tournament and I’ll see you all very soon on court again.”

This season has been a roller coaster for the 24-year-old who won five Masters 1000 titles in a row in 2026: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.

Main Photo:- Jannik Sinner won Beijing trophy in 2023. – by ISF Ltd

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