Happy to see that David Goffin, who got injured in a freak accident at the French Open, is back in form, capturing the crown in Tokyo on Sunday. (This adds to the ATP World Tour title he won last week at the Shenzhen Open.) It was the Belgian's first trophy at an ATP World Tour 500-level tournament. The fourth-seeded Belgian defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 6-3, 7-5 in 84 minutes at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo for his fourth ATP World Tour title.
Meanwhile, the ATP writes that if Rafael Nadal is to finish as the year-end No. 1 for a fourth time, his recent performances on hard courts will be of critical importance. Nadal extended his win streak to 12 straight with the China Open title on Sunday, defeating Nick Kyrgios 6-2, 6-1. The Spaniard, who remains undefeated since returning to World No. 1 on 21 August, tightened his grip on the top spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London. Now up to 2,360 points over Roger Federer, he has put himself in prime position to cap his 2017 campaign in No. 1 fashion.
Victory in Beijing gives Nadal his 75th career crown, moving to within two titles of John McEnroe for fourth on the Open Era list. It was his second triumph in the Chinese capital, having previously defeated Guillermo Coria for the 2005 trophy.
On the women's side in China, red-hot Caroline Garcia defeated Simona Halep, 6-4, 7-6(3) to claim her 11th-consecutive win!
What made the victory especially satisfying is that the Slamless Romanian had just overtaken the No. 1 ranking from Garbiñe Muguruza, so she looks like even more of an asshole holding that flower-covered number. Chris Evert defended Halep's place atop the rankings -- "high level of consistency over 12 months more impressive than a Slam with poor or average results rest of year." But the truth is Halep hasn't been particularly consistent -- just slightly more so thana bunch of hapless players in a post-Serena world.
UPDATE:
UPDATE:
A commenter noted that Bartolomé Salvá Vidal, a childhood friend of Nadal's, was in his box this weekend. Hubba hubba!
Rafa's "friend" goes by Tomeu ...
1 comment:
Uncle Toni and Carlos Moya were not with Nadal in China. His longtime assistant coach Francisco Roig was there... along with Nadal's childhood best friend, Bartolome Salva-Vidal. He goes by "Tomeu" and was in Nadal's box. Did you notice him? He's gorgeous!
Post a Comment