SOUTH KOREA’S CHUNG BECOMES THE NEXTGEN CHAMPION IN MILAN
oger Federer made a strong start to his bid to cap his golden year with a seventh ATP Tour Finals title as the Swiss star defeated Jack Sock 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) yesterday.
Four months after winning Wimbledon for a record eighth time just a few miles across London,FedererisbackintheEnglish capital aiming to cap a remarkably successful spell by lifting the silverware at the O2 Arena.
When Federer missed last year’s Tour Finals through injury, it seemed possible he would never recapture his former glories.
He came into 2017 having missed half of last season due to fitness problems and was without a Grand Slam title since 2012.
But the 36-year-old has enjoyed a stunning renaissance, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon among seven titles — more than other male player over the last 11 months.
Federer hasn’t triumphed at the season-ending Tour Finals since 2011. But after seeing off Sock in his group opener, the world No. 2 has now won his last 11 matches. With defending champion Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka all absent from the Tour Finals due to injury, Federer and Rafael Nadal are the unquestioned headline acts.
Nadal is already guaranteed to finish as the year-end world No. 1 for the first time since 2013, making the 31-year-old the oldest man to earn that honour.
But Nadal’s hopes of finally winning the Tour Finals for the first time could be hampered by injury. Nadal is due to open his campaign against David Goffin today, however the Spaniard admits he is still struggling with the knee problem.
Chung triumphs
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Hyeon Chung upset top-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev to claim his first title at the Next Gen ATP finals in Milan on Saturday.
The bespectacled 21-year-old rallied from a set down to see off Rublev 3-4 (5/7), 4-3 (7/2), 4-2, 4-2 in just under two hours.
Chung, ranked 54, sealed victory on his third match point after Rublev saved two to came back to 3-2 in the final set.
In Minsk, CoCo Vandeweghe gave the United States a 2-1 lead over the hosts Belarus in the Fed Cup final on Sunday with a straight-sets win over teenager Aryna Sabalenka.
This season’s Australian Open and US Open semi-finalist Vandeweghe, ranked 10th in the world, fired 12 aces to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in her first ever meeting with the 19-year-old Sabalenka in one hour 18 minutes
The opponents both played with confidence from the start on the hard-court at the packed Minsk Chizhovka 8,000-seat arena, holding their serves until the 11th game when Vandeweghe broke.
But Sabalenka broke back immediately under the watchful gaze of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko to force a tiebreak, which the 25-year-old American won to take a one-set lead after 50 minutes on court.
In the second Sabalenka suddenly lost her nerve allowing Vandeweghe to break twice for a commanding 5-0 lead minutes before she took the set and the match sealing her victory with an accurate backhand.