Every day, you’ll find summaries of the previous day’s matches and all the news and information you need to know about the Gonet Geneva Open! Interviews with the players, portraits of the key players in the tournament organization, the day’s match schedules, everything you need to know… Don’t hesitate to help yourself when you arrive at the heart of TC Genève, or find out more below! Enjoy your reading.
Andy Murray’s (ATP 75) hopes of taking on Novak Djokovic in the next round are hanging by a thread after he endured a torrid Monday afternoon at the hands of Yannick Hanfmann (ATP 85). The Scot was trailing 7-5 4-1 when torrential rain handed him a reprieve until 1pm on Tuesday, though he will have to break back twice to have any chance of taking the match into a deciding set. The chances of Murray doing that look slim, however, given that he won only 12 points on his serve in eight games against the German, an out-and-out clay-court specialist.
Murray’s big brother Jamie and his New Zealand playing partner Michael Venus made a nervy start to their Gonet Geneva Open men’s double title defence, prevailing 6-3 3-6 10-8 against Romain Arneodo and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn.
The tournament lost its first seeded player earlier in the day, when rising Hungarian star Fabian Marozsan went down 4-6 6-7 (4) to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko in the opening match on the Court Central.
Finally, wild card recipients Luca Margaroli and Damien Wenger, the last two Swiss players left in the tournament, put up a brave fight in the second set against the experienced Lloyd Glasspool and Jean-Julian Rojer (a winner here in 2017 with his former team-mate Horia Tecau) before losing 1-6 6-7 (6).
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.
“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!
Casper Ruud: absolute mastery
The 2021 edition of the Gonet Geneva Open crowned Casper Ruud (ATP 21). The 22-year-old Norwegian won 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 in the final against Denis Shapovalov (ATP 15). He wins the second title of his career fifteen months after his success in Buenos Aires.
Favourite of the bookmakers, Casper Ruud did not concede a single break point against the Canadian, as he did in the semi-final the day before against Pablo Andujar. This statistic alone shows the absolute mastery of a player who had just reached the semi-finals of two Masters 1000 tournaments, in Monte Carlo and Madrid.
This success at the Gonet Geneva Open ensures that Casper Ruud moves up five places in the next ATP rankings. It also earns him the label of the great outsider at the next French Open. In Paris, no player will like to rub shoulders with the Oslo native who is developing a formidable game on clay after training with Rafael Nadal in Majorca. His forehand is becoming an absolute weapon.
With the titles of Casper Ruud in singles and the duo of Australian John Peers and New Zealander Michael Venus in doubles, the book for the 2021 edition of the Gonet Geneva Open has been closed in fine fashion. Despite the limited capacity of 100 spectators and the often unfavorable weather, the tournament was a success. The presence of Roger Federer and the exploits of Dominic Stricker have, of course, fed the chronicle of an event called to grow even more. The appointment is therefore made for 2022.