by Patrick FAVRE | 19 May, 2024 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en
Sebastian Baez (ATP 19) and David Goffin (114) lit up Whitsun in front of another sell-out crowd to go with Saturday’s, further proof that the 2024 Gonet Geneva Open is the place to be this week.
An ATP 500 winner in Rio and ATP 250 champion in Santiago already this year, Sebastian Baez (in the photo) showed on his first outing at the Parc des Eaux-Vives why he is Argentina’s No. 1. Taking on India’s Sumit Nagal (93 in the ATP Tour Ranking) in the round of 32, he overcame a sticky start to the match to win 7-6 (9-7) 6-3. With a quarter-final against Casper Ruud potentially in the offing, Baez will now face Roberto Carballes Baena (62) in the last 16. The Spaniard beat Daniel Altmaier (78) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in the day’s second match in the main round.
David Goffin did not hang around in his qualifier on Court 2, the Belgian taking only 51 minutes to make sure of his place in the main draw with a comprehensive 6-1 6-0 win over Gijs Brouwer of the Netherlands (241). Having arrived from Turin on Friday night, the 33-year-old Goffin is not about to call time on his wonderful career just yet. Now recovered from a neck injury, the 2017 ATP World Tour Finals runner-up is intent on having a good year. And there seems no reason why he cannot make a positive start to it at the Gonet Geneva Open, where his first-round opponent will be another qualifier in Nicolas Moreno De Alboran of the USA (136).
by Patrick FAVRE | 18 May, 2024 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en, Uncategorized
As feared, luck was not on Switzerland’s side in the first round of the Qualifying tournament on Saturday. Antoine Bellier (ATP No.345), Damien Wenger (No.381) and Jakub Paul (No.516) all tasted the bitterness of defeat. As a consequence, for the first time in the tournament’s history, there will be no Swiss players in the main draw of the Gonet Geneva Open.
Though Bellier and Wenger – who were defeated 6-3 6-4 by the Netherlands’ Gijs Brouwer (No.241) and 6-2 6-4 by Jordan’s Abdullah Shelbayh (No.244), respectively – suffered convincing losses, Paul briefly had victory within reach. The player from Grisons took Argentina’s Juan Pablo Ficovich (No.232) to three sets. At 5-3 in the decider, Paul did not take advantage of the break point to get back into the match.
The man to watch in the Qualifying tournament, former World No.7 David Goffin (No.114) managed to live up to his status. In the sold-out venue, the Belgian defeated Italy’s Gianluca Mager 6-3 6-1 to round off the day in style. Tickets are also sold-out for Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.
Another high point of the day was the press conference held by Andy Murray. The former World No.1 complimented the venue and added that he was excited at the prospect of playing Novak Djokovic on Wednesday. “We haven’t played each other in a while,” he said, smiling. The last time was back in January 2017, when Djokovic defeated Murray in the final in Doha.
by Patrick FAVRE | 27 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en
Chile’s Nicolas Jarry (ATP 54) claimed his third ATP Tour title – and his third on clay – on Saturday, beating Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (1) 6-1.
“I’m obviously very happy,” said the Chilean afterwards. “It’s been a long road to get here. “Today is reward for the hard work I’ve put in to get back to my best.” Knocked out in the first rounds at Madrid and Rome recently – both times by players outside the Top 100 – Jarry reversed his fortunes this week, accounting for the No.6, 1, 3 and 4 seeds, including two previous winners of the tournament. Tallon Griekspoor (withdrawal), Casper Ruud, Alexander Zverev and Dimitrov make for quite a quartet of victims.
Just as he has been all week, the Chilean was in commanding form against the Bulgarian. “I think I’ve only played one bad set all tournament, against Ruud,” he said “It’s very encouraging for the future.” After two matches lasting nearly three hours, Dimitrov could be forgiven for feeling a little heavy-legged. That did not prevent him from clawing back a break in the first set, but there was no way back for him after a one-sided first-set tiebreak went Jarry’s way. With his high-octane serve firing to perfection, Jarry was too hot to handle for his opponents this week.
And so the 2023 Gonet Geneva Open ended on a high note, as the 2019 runner-up took the title. With a total of 30,000 spectators attending across the week, the Geneva tournament continues to cement its place in the local cultural and sporting landscape and is now one of the city’s main events of the year.
by Patrick FAVRE | 27 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en, Uncategorized
“I must introduce you to my partner,” said Jamie Murray during the trophy presentation that followed the men’s doubles final, in reference to Michael Venus. “He’s got muscles, he’s a good tennis player, but he never talks, so it’s up to me to do the work.” At which point, the stadium fell into fits of laughter.
The British player took the opportunity to thank the tournament organisers, their entourages and his mother, who had made the trip to Geneva but sat at the very top of the stand so her son didn’t have to put up with listening to her during rallies. Cue more laughter. You couldn’t have asked for nicer winners after such a tight match.
And it was expected to be tight, with little to choose between the pairings in the ATP Doubles Teams Rankings. Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos put up a fierce fight and were the first to force a break in the opening set. “I honestly don’t know how we managed to get that break back,” commented Murray. “We played a lot better after that, though.”
It was a final that came down to two tie-breaks: 7-6 (6) 7-6 (3). “We’ll definitely be coming back next year to defend our title,” said the jovial Scot. “We hope to see more Swiss players in the main draw because we missed them this year. And we’ll be back to eat röstis too. They’re even better than the hash browns you get back in the UK.” Cue yet more laughter!
by Patrick FAVRE | 27 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en
The final of the 2023 Gonet Geneva Open (Saturday, 15:00 CET) has all the makings of a classic. On one side of the net Grigor Dimitrov (ATP 33), the man with the impossible return of serve, and on the other, Nicolas Jarry (ATP 54), who accounted for two-time defending champion Casper Ruud in the quarters and Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in the semis, exacting a handsome measure of revenge for the his defeat to the German in the 2019 final, when he passed up two match points.
Jarry is enjoying perhaps the finest week of his career. At the age of 27, he is finally back to his best having had to start from scratch following an 11-month suspension handed down for taking a banned substance in a food supplement mistakenly prescribed to him by his doctor. “There were a lot of tears and sleepless nights,” said the Chilean. Thankfully, for him the tears have dried and his sleep now unbroken.
A deserving winner against Ruud on Thursday, Jarry proved so once more against Zverev. With both serve and forehand working to near perfection, he refused to allow the German to settle and ran out a comfortable 7-6 (3) 6-3 winner. With his all-court game and renowned mental toughness, Dimitrov will prove a formidable opponent in the final. In a repeat of his quarter-final win against Australia’s Christopher O’Connell, the Bulgarian found himself a set and a break down to Taylor Fritz before serving up another unlikely comeback, prevailing 3-6 7-5 7-6(2) in unquestionably one of the finest matches in the tournament’s history. The penultimate point of the match is worth watching alone. It left Dimitrov holding four match points and brought the entire stadium to its feet.
