Looking back on the big tennis news in our exclusive ‘Second Service’… Coco Gauff is excited to play at WTA Finals as Novak Djokovic considers skipping over Paris Masters, plus more…
To start this tennis news roundup, Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia have confirmed their places at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, leaving three spaces still up for grabs.
Guadalajara second seed Aryna Sabalenka’s loss to Liudmila Samsonova assured the American and Frenchwoman of their qualification. Gauff and Garcia then both won their matches to advance to the third round of the WTA 1000 event.
“I’m just super excited,” Gauff said after the victory. “I wasn’t really thinking about it before the match, but I’m excited to join Jess (Pegula).”
In other tennis news, Novak Djokovic might not compete at the Paris Masters according to coach Goran Ivanisevic as the 21-time Slam champion’s schedule is not confirmed.
Djokovic has won the Masters 1000 event a record six times, including last year over Daniil Medvedev in the final. Should he compete he would have a shot at extending both that and his overall Masters record with a 39th title at 1000 level.
“He played brilliantly, especially in Astana,” Ivanisevic told Sportske novosti. “It’s like he didn’t take a break at all, and he hasn’t been in tournaments since Wimbledon.
“It is clear that he will play in Turin, but the question remains whether he will go to Paris before that,” the Croatian revealed.
Furthermore, Cameron Norrie remains in the running for the ATP Finals after coming from behind to reach the quarter-finals of the Stockholm Open.
The world number 14 defeated Aslan Karatsev 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-4 to advance at the ATP 250 event. The Brit is in pursuit of his third title of the season after trophies in Delray Beach and Lyon.
“It was a tough match,” Norrie said. “Every time Aslan was down he raised his level and he really stole that first set from me. I had a couple of set points and I didn’t execute as well as I could have done in the tiebreak.
Read what Norrie had to say here.
To conclude, Matteo Berrettini has made it through to the quarter-finals in Naples by defeating the same man who dumped him out of Florence last week.
The world number 16 defeated Roberto Carballes Baena clinically 6-4, 6-2 to advance at the ATP 250 event. The Spaniard downed Berrettini 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in Florence, where the Italian was seeded second.
“The atmosphere, the conditions for sure [are different here],” Berrettini said after reversing his fortunes. “This is outdoor, way warmer. I wanted to get revenge. I felt like I had a lot of chances last week and there was stuff to digest. Especially because I played in Florence in Italy.
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