Roger Federer loses ATP Finals opener to Kei Nishikori

Associated PressNov 11, 2018, 7:43 PM EST

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LONDON — Roger Federer lost his opening match at the ATP Finals for the first time since 2013 as he went down 7-6 (4), 6-3 to Kei Nishikori on Sunday.

An error-strewn display from the 20-time Grand Slam champion allowed Nishikori to take the first set via a tiebreaker despite the Japanese player struggling for consistency himself.

Federer earned the first break points in the opening game of the second set, and took his chance, but Nishikori hit straight back in the following game.

Nishikori was far more composed than Federer from that moment on and broke for a 4-2 lead, before closing out the match for a first win over Federer since 2014.

Six-time champion Federer will now likely need to win his remaining two round-robin matches to keep alive his chances of claiming the 100th title of his career.

Earlier, Kevin Anderson made a confident start to his ATP Finals debut with a 6-3, 7-6 (10) victory over Dominic Thiem.

Having qualified for the season-ending tournament for the first time, the 32-year-old Anderson produced a dominant serving display to take the first set at the O2 Arena, before saving two set points to come through a tense tiebreaker in the second.

“I think it was important, you know, going out there and getting off to a good start,” Anderson said. “I definitely felt a little bit nervous.”

The fourth-seeded Anderson, who was runner-up at Wimbledon this year, was taken to deuce in his opening service game, but dropped only one more point on serve in the first set – and wasn’t punished for taking just one of seven break point opportunities on Thiem’s delivery.

Anderson’s groundstrokes were almost as impressive as his serve, particularly in the first set, and drew a series of errors from Thiem in the fourth game, which resulted in the crucial break.

Thiem, who beat Anderson in straight sets at the U.S. Open this year, was struggling for consistency as he made just 48 percent of his first serves with 12 unforced errors, compared to just five winners.

“I didn’t have a good start,” Thiem said. “It was not working out at all.”

The 25-year-old Austrian rallied in a far more competitive second set but couldn’t force a break point despite taking Anderson to deuce on two occasions.

Thiem was showing glimpses of the form that took him to the French Open final earlier this year, but his unforced errors continued to bail out Anderson and the set went to a tiebreaker.

A rare triumph for Thiem in a lengthy rally gave him the first mini-break and a 2-1 lead, but Anderson quickly hit back before the pair exchanged mini-breaks once more to leave the score at 5-5.

Both players raised their level as 10 consecutive points, which included three match points for Anderson and two set points for Thiem, went with serve.

Anderson, who saved a match point before knocking Federer out in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July, once more displayed his ability to thrive under pressure.

Forced wide by Thiem, Anderson slapped a forehand winner up the line to bring up a first match point on his own serve at 11-10.

“The more I’m in those positions,” Anderson said, “I definitely feel more and more comfortable.”

He didn’t waste it, hitting a 13th ace of the match to ensure that the sixth-seeded Thiem has now lost his opening round-robin match on all three of his appearances at the tournament.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.

New mom Elina Svitolina beats seeded player at French Open in 1st Slam match in 16 months

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:27 AM EDT

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PARIS — So much has changed for Elina Svitolina, who played – and won – her first Grand Slam match in nearly 1 1/2 years at the French Open, eliminating 2022 semifinalist Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2.

For one thing, she’s now a mother: Svitolina and her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, welcomed their daughter, Skaï, in October. For another, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd, nowhere near the career high of No. 3 she first reached in 2017, back in the days when she was regularly reaching the second weeks of major tournaments – including a pair of semifinal runs. Away from the courts, her home country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia last year, and the war continues.

“Everything,” she said, “is kind of old and new for me right now.”

In sum, Svitolina is juggling a lot nowadays.

She hadn’t played at a Slam since a third-round exit at the Australian Open in January 2022. She hadn’t played a match anywhere since March 2022, when she was still ranked 20th.

“It was always in my head … to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” the 28-year-old Svitolina said.

The work to return to the tour after giving birth began this January; her initial WTA match came at Charleston, South Carolina, in April. She won her first title since returning to action, at a smaller event on red clay in Strasbourg, France.

At Roland Garros, she used her big forehand to compile a 20-12 edge in winners and never faced a single break point against Trevisan, who was seeded 26th.

Trevisan cried as she spoke after the match about a problem with her right foot that made it difficult to even walk and prompted her to stop playing during her quarterfinal last week at the Morocco Open, where she was the defending champion.

Still, she gave Svitolina credit.

“Even though she’s just coming back from having a daughter, she’s a champion,” Trevisan said. “And she’s coming off a title, so she’s confident.”

Svitolina talked about feeling “awful when you’re pregnant, especially the last months,” but getting into a position now where she thinks she’s stronger than before – in more ways than one.

“I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court and, match by match, I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental (state) can influence your physicality, as well,” she said. “I tried to find the balance, and I feel like I’m seeing (things) a little bit again differently as well after the break. Everything is getting there. The puzzles are getting slowly into place.”