Weekend Tennis Roundup

Ilya Ivashka, Elina Svitolina and Anett Kontaveit won third-tier warmups going into the U.S. Open. A full report plus all the ATP beef that's fit to pub BELOW.

All eyes were on Luca Pouille's injury timeout in Winston-Salem. 

Ilya Ivashka crushed Mikael Ymer 6-0, 6-2 Saturday at the Winston-Salem Open to capture his maiden tour-level title and become the first Belarusian to win a trophy at this level since Max Mirnyi in 2003. 

It was a curious week that saw 18-year-old  Carlos Alcaraz beat Popyrin, Fucsovics and (manhandle) Marcos Giron, above, only to get beaten in straight sets by the Swedish eventual runner-up. Guess we'll see if any of them have anything left in the tank in New York. 

No.1 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine took home her first WTA singles title of the season by defeating No.9 seed Alizé Cornet of France, 7-5, 6-4, to win the inaugural Chicago Women's Open on Saturday.

Once flirting with being No. 1 in the world -- even without a major title -- I don't see her being a threat in NYC, although I'm open to being proven wrong.

Either way, she still has one of the hottest coaches on tour.

And No.2 seed Anett Kontaveit captured the inaugural Tennis in the Land event 7-6(5), 6-4 over Irina-Camelia Begu in Cleveland. The 25-year-old Estonian, who has started a new trial with Aryna Sabalenka's on-again, off-again coach (Dmitry Tursunov) this month, hit 25 winners while keeping her unforced error count down to 15, and converted both of her break point opportunities. Might this be the Baltic babe's moment to take her career to the next level? 

Around the net ...

Egor Gerasimov: The weather wasn't the only thing hot in Winston-Salem

Sexy coach sighting during U.S. Open qualies

Maxime Cressey threw up twice in two days, yet was still by far the prettiest man to qualify for the U.S. Open. The Franco-American will play Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round

Practice time for Matteo Berrettini 

What Lorenzo Musetti lacks in musical taste he more than makes up for in hitting partners.

Marton Fucsovics's body doesn't just happen 

Albano Olivetti: Woof

*too

Thigh's the limit

Robert Farah says he and partner Juan Sebastian Cabal would like to derail the Pavic/Mektic train in NYC -- good luck!

A Colombian in Grand Cetnral

Young Guns Go for It: Holger Rune and Jenson Brooksby

Did you know the young American is 6-4?

Can't believe Christian Harrison went out for a run and didn't even stop by to say hi

Bummer that David Vega Hernandez forgot his Speedo

Daniel Masur sees a bull market

Everything looks good on Tobias Simon

I always feel bad when foreigners visit NYC and wind up in Times Square, although Guido Pella can pull it off

Reilly Opelka and the boys celebrated his 24th birthday on top of the world

I'd like to see Matt Ebner try to put out my fire

Gavin Newsham writes that Alexander Zverev winning the U.S. Open will be a headache for men’s tennis, although I don't think we have too much to worry about there

I'm guess Corentin Moutet has to hunt high and low to find clothes to accommodate that ass of his

Denis Shapovalov doesn't really strike me at the No. 7 at a major

Jonny O'Mara is protein-packing before his doubles match tomorrow

Lots of birthday love for the 6-12 American

I love that his friends know him so well

Daniel Altmaier is the top seed at the Challenger this week in Como, Italy, in more ways than one 

Dennis Novak turns 28

Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from this year's U.S. Open. But coach Patrick Mouratoglou just won't quit

Holger Rune worked his way through three qualification rounds to land his first spot in a main draw of a major ... 

and guess who he drew in the first round?

While it sucks on one hand, it's a huge opportunity that the 18-year- Dane has probably dreamed of for years 

David Vega Hernandez and the boys 

The Spaniard works up a sweat 

Dave Pfister was in NYC with pal Christian Harrison

The American fell in the final round of qualies 

I spy two German men with Polish surnames 

South American Way: Ecuador's Emilio Gomez and Federico Coria hit the practice court. The Argentine later heated up Fifth Avenue

Diego Schwartman's too short to be a Rockette 

Might have known that Borna Coric would know where to find the booze and the boys 

 

Clearly fatherhood is driving Sam Groth to drinking ...

Imagine having Vasek Pospisil 

or Nikola Mektic show up at your eating establishment 

Tommy Paul should be able to get past Roberto Carballes Baena in the first round. Would be nice to see him go deep.

Andreas Mies is going to be on the disabled list again if he keeps trying to befriend rodents ...

Hubert Hurkacz's got a fast car

And a faster hitting partner

Coach Lugones on Cam Norrie: 'He's a completely different animal'; he'll probably need to be when he faces Carlos Alcaraz in the first round

No one could take their eyes of Luca Pouille's dark briefs in Winston-Salem

Miomir Kecmanovic's new relationship with David Nalbandian hasn't paid dividends yet 

Big Joe Salisbury (and partner Rajeev Ram) might be the biggest threat to Pavic-Mektic in Flushing Meadows

Contact in Red Square: Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev

It was nice seeing how much Eduardo Nava has matured since his college days

Retirement agrees with Alex Dolgopolov

Thiago Monteiro, with Marcos Giron, has a great run to the round of 16 in Winston-Salem 

Andy on Novak

And last but not least: I hope Filip Krajinovic isn't too jet-lagged when he plays Guido Pella later today, after attending a friend's wedding in Serbia over the weekend