A final to savour

A final to savour

by | 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.

Jarry ends Ruud defence

Jarry ends Ruud defence

by | 26 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en

A runner-up in 2019 after failing to convert two match points against Alexander Zverev, Nicolas Jarry (ATP 54) has gatecrashed the semi-finals at the Gonet Geneva Open. The Chilean defeated two-time defending champion Casper Ruud 3-6 7-6 (2) 7-5 to set up a rematch against Zverev on Friday.

Unbeaten in nine matches on the Eaux-Vives clay, Ruud can have no regrets about his winning run coming to an abrupt end. His misfortune was to come up against an opponent who did not put a foot wrong, an opponent capable of making a last-gasp adjustment to pull off a breathtaking passing shot down the line and prevent the Norwegian taking a 6-5 lead in the second set. Ruud unravelled after that little piece of magic from the Chilean.

The first match on court on Friday is the other semi-final, with No.2 seed Taylor Fritz taking on No.4 Grigor Dimitrov. Fritz cruised past Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (ATP 86) 6-1 6-2, while the Bulgarian came from nowhere to beat Australia’s Christopher O’Connell (ATP 85). The former world No.3 trailed a set and 4-1 before pulling off the finest remontada of the week to win 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4.

  

Top seeds flex their muscles

Top seeds flex their muscles

by | 25 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en

Wednesday at the Gonet Geneva Open 2023 was one of those days where the tournament favourites saunter into their post-match press conferences, all smiles and satisfaction, and say things like, “It was a great day at the office”. No.3 seed Alexander Zverev (ATP 27) was in that frame of mind on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday evening it was the turn of the No.1, 2 and 4 seeds. Two-time defending champion Casper Ruud (ATP 4) had every reason to be pleased with himself after making short work of the USA’s J.J. Wolf (ATP 49) and his tricky, quirky game, the Norwegian winning in straight sets, 6-3 7-5.

“J.J. is a player who hits the ball very hard and plays very fast,” said Ruud. “He was a dangerous opponent and I’m happy I made a strong start and finish to the match [Ruud forced breaks at the start of the opening set and right at the end of the second.] It felt really good out there and I’m delighted to be back playing in front of the Geneva fans, who always give me a very warm welcome.” Earlier in the day, wild card Grigor Dimitrov (ATP 33) turned in a near-perfect display to see off Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1 6-3. “I feel really good,” commented the 32-year-old Bulgarian afterwards. “I really love Geneva too. I love walking by the lake and discovering new things. Everyone – the volunteers, the fans, the organisers – has been lovely to us.” Now back to something like his best, Dimitrov will be one of the players to watch in the last eight.

As for Taylor Fritz (ATP 9), he had to work a little harder to shake off fellow American Marcos Giron (ATP 74) in three sets, 4-6 6-2 6-3. While not truly happy with his overall performance on the night, he at least has some good vibrations from the closing two sets to take into his quarter-final against Ilya Ivashka (ATP 86). “I’ve never played him before,” said the Californian. “I think I’ll take a little look at his game before I go to bed tonight.”

Zverev turns on the style

Zverev turns on the style

by | 23 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en

Four years on from defeating Nicolas Jarry to win the title, Alexander Zverev (ATP 27) made a winning return to the Court Central at the Parc des Eaux-Vives, beating the USA’s Christopher Eubanks (ATP 75) 6-2 6-3.

In what he described as an excellent match, the Olympic champion did not take long to find his bearings against an opponent who can pack a real punch, producing a high-quality performance. Seemingly on his way to regaining his very best form, the German should be in the mix for the title with the likes of Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and Grigor Dimitrov.

Zverev will now face Yibing Wu (ATP 59), victorious today against Marco Cecchinato (ATP 73), in the quarter-finals on Thursday. It promises to be quite a match, with the Chinese player, who saved a match point against Marc-Andrea Hüsler on Monday evening, playing a unique brand of tennis, much like Eubanks, and looking to win points fast more often than not. Zverev knows what he has to do: return well and mix it up and that way remind his opponent how clay court tennis is governed by its own specific laws.

Regrets for wasteful Hüsler

Regrets for wasteful Hüsler

by | 22 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en

The 2023 Gonet Geneva Open has not proved a happy hunting ground for Swiss players so far. Following Jérôme Kym’s unfortunate exit in the first round of the qualifying competition on Saturday, Marc-Andrea Hüsler (ATP 81) came up just short against Yibing Wu (ATP 59), the Zurich-born left-hander going down 6-4 4-6 7-6 (6) to the first Chinese player to win an ATP tournament, in Dallas earlier this year.

The main attraction on today’s order of play, the match turned into something of a nightmare for the Swiss No. 1, who had a match point at 6-5 in the third-set tie-break and failed to do much with it. Wu played the next two points to perfection to book his place in the next round, where he will face Marco Cecchinato.

Hüsler also passed up two break points that would have left him serving for the match at 5-2 and then lost his own serve from 40-0 in the very next game. The Swiss player’s failure to get across the line is perhaps a reflection of his low confidence following five defeats and only two wins on clay heading into what was his main-draw debut at the Gonet Geneva Open.

Adrian Mannarino (ATP 47) had no such problems as he swung his left arm to great effect to beat Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic (ATP 92) 7-5 6-1. Beaten in the first round on his last two appearances at the Parc des Eaux-Vives, the win was a welcome one for the Frenchman.

A first casualty among the seeds

A first casualty among the seeds

by | 21 May, 2023 | News_slider-en, News_Tournoi-en

US prodigy Ben Shelton (ATP 35) had his stay in Switzerland cut short on Sunday, coming off second best in a three-setter lasting a shade over two hours to Marco Cecchinato (ATP 83). The 21-year-old No. 5 seed passed up an excellent opportunity to see off the Gonet Geneva Open regular, coughing up a 5-3 lead in the first set, with the Italian eventually running out a 7-5 2-6 6-2 winner

While the Atlanta-born player rues his missed opportunity, Cecchinato – a Roland-Garros 2018 semi-finalist just days after a first-round loss at the Parc des Eaux-Vives – will now take on the winner of the opening match in today’s night session between Marc-Andrea Hüsler (ATP 82) and Yibing Wu (ATP 57).

Sunday’s last day match was a clash of the giants, with just five centimetres separating Benoît Paire (ATP 160) at 1.96m and Christopher Eubanks (ATP 86) at 2.01m. Not for the first time, the most Genevese of the French players turned in an inconsistent performance. An evenly contested first set was decided by a one-sided tie-break in which the Avignon man never got going. His confidence seemingly dented, Paire lost his serve at the start of the second and fell 4-0 behind. Though he showed some pride in pulling back to 4-3, Eubanks kept his cool to force the Frenchman to serve to stay in the match at 5-3. The 27-year-old American, another native of Atlanta, then went in for the kill, making the most of his opponent’s errors to win 7-6(2) 6-3 and set up a meeting with 2019 Gonet Geneva Open champion, Alexander Zverev.