The performance should not be overlooked. If Aslan Karatsev was still a virtual unknown in 2020, beating him 6-3, 6-0 in 2021 is almost a feat. Sebastian Korda managed to do just that in the previous round, ending the Russian's streak of 15 straight wins against players ranked beyond the TOP 5 - the world No. 27 only failed to beat Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem this year.[......]
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After eight consecutive tournaments in which he did not do better than semi-finalist, Stefanos Tsitsipas will try to reach the final for the first time since last September (in Hamburg). After a mixed indoor tour where he was rarely in control but always combative, the Greek arrived in Mexico as a tournament favourite.[......]
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For the first time since 1990, a player reaches the semi-finals of a tournament without playing a single match, bravo Andrey! Exempted from the first round because of his status as the number 3 seed, the Russian took advantage of the withdrawal of Richard Gasquet, who is still visibly bothered by his foot injury.[......]
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You have to go back to the summer of 2019 to see the Spaniard in the quarterfinals again. Since then, Roberto Carballes Baena has performed better in Challenger (a final and a semi-final) but without being transcendent either. The 97th in the world is very irregular, capable of beating Shapovalov at Roland Garros as well as losing to Petrovic and three times to Thiago Monteiro.[......]
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How hard it is for Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin! He started his 2021 season very badly and despite a victory against Juan Ignacio Londero in his first match, there is not much left behind. He made an illusion on a set against Dominic Thiem then followed two defeats at home to the Nur Sultan Challengers against Mackenzie McDonald and Frederico Ferreira Silva, in two dry sets each time.[......]
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Titled this Sunday in Montpellier, David Goffin will have only had 72 hours to recover but it's always easier to get back on the court after a good week and a regained confidence. As we have seen in the game, the Belgian has been much more enterprising and more regular in the exchanges. He hurt his different opponents during the exchange by varying a lot and finding angles in the forehand.[......]
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First confrontation on the professional circuit between Marin Cilic and Alexei Popyrin. At the start, it was another Australian who was expected in the last four of this low part of the table, in this case John Millman, seeded N°2. But Millman failed in the quarter-finals against his compatriot Matthew Ebden, who was dominated by another Australian, Popyrin.
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Mission accomplished for the Frenchman who will be well on his way to the quarter-finals after a victory in two sets against Roberto Marcora (6-3, 7-5). He has made a serious match, in line with his performances since last autumn, to take the match on his own and push the Italian to the fault.
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Taro Daniel won, not without difficulty, in three sets against Ramanathan on Monday. The gap in the classification (119th against 200th ) and the experience on the ATP circuit (150 matches played against 50) could announce a one-way victory. Only, the Japanese rider had difficulties to settle down his dynamics, with notably a lack of liveliness and lucidity in his placements and in return of service (15 aces conceded).[......]
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Interesting match to follow between the talented Francisco Cerundolo, very fit on clay (21 victories in his last 24 matches) and the Italian Gianluca Mager. The young Argentinian (22 years old) has won 7 ITF tournaments but especially three Challengers tournaments in 2020 and has just confirmed with a final played last week despite a positive test at Covid-19 a few weeks ago.[......]
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Ernests Gulbis didn't start the season in the best possible way with three defeats in a row in the first qualifying round of the Australian Open and at the challengers in Istanbul and Quimper. The Latvian rider has been waiting for a victory on the main circuit for 13 months. But he made up for it last week in Biella by reaching the quarter-finals, crashing against Lorenzo Musetti.
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After an 11-month suspension for doping, Nicolas Jarry made his comeback on the circuit at the end of last season with a very mixed result since he suffered three consecutive defeats against Nicolas Alvarez in the Lima Challenger and against Zane Khan and Felix Corwin in the ITF.
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Will Diego Schwartzman finally lift an ATP trophy in Argentina? For the moment, he has failed twice in the final in Cordoba last season and in Buenos Aires in 2019. For the opening of the season on clay, Cordoba has for the moment offered us on the first two editions of the ATP 250 with a nice cast in the last four.[......]
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Welcome to the newest addition to the 2021 calendar! Added by the ATP in mid-January, the Singapore tournament has obtained an exceptional licence for this season with Marbella, which will take place from 5 to 11 April after the Masters 1000 in Miami. This is the third time that the little yellow ball has been to the "Garden City", after appearances between 1989 and 1992 and again between 1996 and 1999.[......]
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In Montpellier, we start at the end. Not with the final, but with the last week of February. A novelty, since the Open Sud de France usually takes place in the first days of this month. The fault of a modified calendar, pandemic obliges. What does not change, on the other hand, is that the Hérault event starts well in the wake of the Australian Open.[......]
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Face to face the two best players in the world on hard at the moment. This final will offer the much-awaited showdown, which will lead to an almost natural outcome, namely a 9th title for Djokovic in Melbourne, or an unprecedented winner, the first Grand Slam title in the career of Daniil Medvedev.
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