Nishioka claims maiden ATP title
Tomic upsets Fognini to win Chengdu Open
SHENZHEN, China, Sept 30, (Agencies): Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka broke through for his maiden ATP singles title Sunday, outlasting seasoned Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in a grueling final of the Shenzhen Open.
The 23-year-old Nishioka, ranked 171 in the world, in the end played seven matches in eight days at the Shenzhen Longgang Sports Centre but his legs were full of running in a marathon final as he threw himself at everything Herbert could give.
As the match clock ticked towards two-and-a-half hours, Nishioka sealed the victory on his fifth match point – and looked as though he could hardly believe what had just happened.
Twelve months ago, the Japanese player was stuck at home pondering his future after tearing an ACL. He will now return to the world’s top 100 after that injury had seen his ranking plummet to as low as 362.
The 27-year-old Herbert was never going to leave the southern Chinese city wondering, rattling off 12 aces and helping his opponent’s cause with nine double faults and he poured on the power. But the Nishioka game plan – waiting out the barrages and keeping his opponent and saved seven of 11 break points he faced to win his first ATP title since Bogota 2015.
The No. 13th-ranked Fognini fell short in his attempt to become the first Italian to win four tour-level titles in one season, following wins at Sao Paolo, Bastad and Los Cabos earlier this year.
In Beijing, world number one Simona Halep said that she was “worried now” after a persistent back problem forced her out of the China Open after just 31 miserable minutes on Sunday.
The Romanian never looked comfortable against Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur, losing the opening set of their first-round match 6-1 before calling it quits. The 27-year-old Halep suffered a back injury a week ago in Wuhan and she cut a forlorn figure after it ended her Beijing adventure prematurely.
The top-ranked Halep’s departure
Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan celebrates with the trophy after winning the men’s singles final against Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France at the ATP Shenzhen Open tennis tournament in Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong province on
Sept 30, 2018. (AFP) Bernard Tomic of Australia hits a return shot against Joao Sousa of Portugal during their semifinal match in the ATP 250 Chengdu Open tennis tournament in Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Sept 29,
2018. (AP)
is another blow to organisers in the Chinese capital, with Serena Williams missing from the women’s draw and several big names also absent from the men’s event.
Halep believes it is a different back problem from the one that contributed to her early loss in Wuhan.
“I knew that there is pain, but I thought if I warm up during the match, it’s going to be better, but it wasn’t,” she said.
Holder Caroline Garcia survived a major scare before defeating wildcard Wang Yafan 7-6 (12/10), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 to open the defence of her crown.
The 24-year-old from France defied a rattling roof and a surprisingly stiff challenge from the home player to labour into round two on Beijing’s hard courts after more than three hours of nervy action. 29 percent gradient, to leave key rivals in their wake.
And despite being joined with a little over one kilometre to go by Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, Valverde held his nerve inside the final metres to race unchallenged to the finish line, where he beat Bardet by a bike length.
A breathless Valverde, who finished runner-up in 2003, broke down with the emotion of finally securing the rainbow jersey – arguably the most prestigious prize in the sport.
“It’s incredible, after all these years, struggling for the world title and to finally get it,” he said.
“Words can’t describe how grateful I am for the effort of the whole Spain team and the work they did too.”
As soon as the quartet came into the final kilometre the Spaniard had
Alejandro Valverde of Spain celebrates on the podium after winning the Men’s Elite road race of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria on Sept
30, 2018. (AFP)
looked the most likely to win. Both Bardet and Woods are stronger climbers while all-rounder Dumoulin also lacks Valverde’s top-end finishing speed.
“I knew I was possibly the strongest and was waiting for someone to make a move,” he said.
Pre-race favourite, Julian Alaphilippe of France, Briton Simon Yates and Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali and the last of the Colombians were dropped on the steep gradients of the final climb.
World time-trial champion Annemiek van Vleuten broke her knee in a fall during Saturday’s world championship road race in Innsbruck, she revealed on Sunday.
The Dutch rider won the world