#dominic stricker

[schumi-nadal]

Domi is trying to clown to help Casper but our dear boy is clowning harder

[wimbledon2008]

stefanos tsitsipas you are a FRAUD

[stateofsport211]

NextGen Finals 2023: Challenger Frequents Making their Mark

An Introductory Post to the NextGen Finalists 2023

The NextGen ATP Finals 2023 logo (📸 ATP Tour)

The field for this year’s NextGen Finals, which will be held in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) during the last weeks of November, has been set. Interestingly, just like parts of the field last year, all contenders made their mark in the ATP Challenger Tour throughout the year, which became part of the tennis Tour that showcased their potential even deeper.

This post will celebrate the next generation of tennis, serving as a recap of their season and what to expect before the Bootcamp, where everyone will get to know them better in a series of off-court challenges in one of the innovations of this year’s NextGen Finals. Furthermore, with an emphasis on the Challenger Tour, this would hopefully bring more exposure to the Challenger Tour, which became the intermediary between the rising players, those trying to rediscover their form, and those still trying to break even.

For this year, the NextGen Finals qualifying window was open until November 20, 2023, the day after the finals in 5 Challenger events this year were held. Eventually, it all came down to that week due to a possibly tight race between several players concurrently playing in several tournaments, especially Kobe and Montevideo. It took a while for the ATP to eventually finalize the finalists, and they officially announced the last 3 qualifiers earlier this Monday (November 20) despite the field looking set by the end of the second round of Kobe. They will be drawn into two groups on November 25, 2023, playing in the best-of-five mini-sets (first to 4 games).

Hereby introducing the NextGen Finalists:

1. Arthur Fils

Arthur Fils during the Montpellier (250) (📸 Next Gen ATP Finals via JB Autissier)

Arthur Fils' points to break 2-1 in the second set of the Oeiras 2 Challenger final against Joris de Loore (left), and to take the second set 7-5 in the Aix-en-Provence Challenger first round against Gregoire Barrere (right) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Starting this year one line below the Top 250, Fils’ meteoric rise commenced in Oeiras 2 Challenger, the start of his season, where he won the title against the previous week’s winner, Joris de Loore, 6-1, 7-6(4) through his predominantly working first serves and notably fiery passes, which often carried him until today. He continued the streak by being the Quimper Challenger runner-up to Gregoire Barrere 1-6, 4-6, which earned him the wild card to the Montpellier (250), where he became an eventual semifinalist to Jannik Sinner, as well as being a semifinalist of Marseille (250) to Benjamin Bonzi.

Since then, his potential flourished despite the rollercoaster clay season, with winning Lyon (250) as the pinnacle of his season (d. Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-5), followed by a semifinal appearance in Hamburg (500) several weeks later, closing the season with a runner-up finish in Antwerp (250, l. Alexander Bublik). As a reward for his remarkable season, not only did he become the first qualifier for the NextGen Finals, but he also achieved a career-high ranking of 36 by the end of October.

2. Luca van Assche

Luca van Assche's reaction upon winning the longest Challenger final of the year in Pau Challenger (📸 Tennis.com)

Luca van Assche's point to create his match point to 5-3* 40-ad in the second set of the Sanremo Challenger final against Juan Pablo Varillas (left), and to 4-3* 15-0 in the second set of the Aix-en-Provence Challenger against Andy Murray (right) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

After breaking through the Top 150 by the end of 2022, van Assche had a relatively slow start to the year until he became the runner-up of the Pau Challenger at the beginning of March, where he got defeated by a resurgent Ugo Humbert in a high-quality match that lasted almost 4 hours 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(6) in the finals. The form did not stop until he cracked the Top 100 for the first time upon advancing to the semifinals of the Sanremo Challenger but further confirmed it once he straightforwardly defeated Juan Pablo Varillas 6-1, 6-3 for the title.

After a different set of rollercoasters in the clay season, including a notable defeat to Andy Murray in the Aix-en-Provence Challenger, van Assche continued his season beyond Challengers, as he made it to the second round of Eastbourne (250) as a qualifier, got eliminated against J.J. Wolf 2-6, 7-6(5), 1-6. During the indoor season, he made more noise again in the Orleans Challenger, where he lost against the eventual runner-up Jack Draper 5-7, 3-6 in the semifinals. He then sealed his season with a quarterfinal loss against a comeback Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, ranking 66th by the time of this writing right before the NextGen Finals.

3. Dominic Stricker

Dominic Stricker celebrated as he stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas in the US Open second round (📸 DAZN Germany via Getty Images)

Dominic Stricker's point to create one of his break points to 4-3* 40-ad in the second set of the finals of the first Prague Challenger against Sebastian Ofner (left, 📸 ATP Challenger Livestream) and also create one of his break points to *0-1 40-ad in the second set of the US Open third qualifying round against Thiago Agustin Tirante (right, 📸 Eurosport)

Despite his great potential being discovered last year (thus his NextGen Finals debut then), Stricker had to overcome several injuries and moments before he got to where he is today. Started the year straight to the Australian Open qualifying rounds, where he lost to Enzo Couacaud 7-6(2), 7-6(7) in one of the earliest Top 100 matches (when he was 18-19 lines away), he went on to win his second career Challenger title in Rovereto back in February (d. Giulio Zeppieri 7-6(8), 6-2), having won won his maiden Challenger title in Bergamo last year, followed by a home semifinal run in Lugano (l. Otto Virtanen). He then added Prague 1 Challenger to the list of the Challenger titles he won this year (d. Sebastian Ofner 7-6(7), 6-3), subsequently becoming a lucky loser in Roland Garros upon his third qualifying round loss against Thiago Agustin Tirante, which further asked the question on his ability to qualify for the Grand Slams due to the pressure moments he succumbed to during.

However, Stricker started steadily announcing himself on the bigger stage starting the grass season, steadily striking the ball more effectively and visibly improving during the pressure points/moments. Appeared competitive in the quarterfinals match of the Ilkley Challenger against Andy Murray despite the 6-7(5), 5-7 loss, and found himself qualified for Wimbledon after enduring a 4-set match against Mattia Bellucci in the third qualifying round. He then qualified for the US Open despite the subpar mini-clay season and build-up and asserted his revenge against Tirante (to whom he lost the final qualifying round in Roland Garros), successfully advancing to the fourth round in a competitive loss against Taylor Fritz after winning his third-round match against Benjamin Bonzi. Eventually, despite the end-of-season rollercoaster, his quarterfinal run in Basel (500) (l. Ugo Humbert) confirmed his Top 100 finish attained back in the US Open but unfortunately had to retire (for likely precautionary measures) in Ismaning Challenger at 7-6(2), 1-4 against Rudolf Molleker in hopes to be ready for his second NextGen Finals appearance.

4. Flavio Cobolli

Flavio Cobolli in action during Olbia Challenger (📸 OA Sport)

Flavio Cobolli's point to break 4-3 in the first set of the Roland Garros third qualifying round against Laurent Lokoli (left, 📸 France TV Sport), and to take the second set 6-4 during the Milan Challenger final against Facundo Diaz Acosta (right, 📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Trying to live up to his discovered potential last year thanks to his aggressive play (and often going deep on important occasions), Cobolli started his season with a second-round run in Pune (250), where he lost against Botic van de Zandschulp 5-7, 4-6. He then started to sparkle in Munich (250), where he ended up as a quarterfinalist (l. Christopher O’Connell), followed by a semifinal showing in Rome (Italy) Challenger (l. Jesper de Jong) and Milan Challenger (l. Facundo Diaz Acosta). In a similar timeframe (clay season, its extension, and Challenger’s own clay season), he also qualified for the Roland Garros, where he ended up being defeated by Carlos Alcaraz 0-6, 2-6, 5-7 in the first round. Fast-forward to the end of July, in almost the same tournament he finally got himself known in Umag (250), he became a quarterfinalist after the loss against Matteo Arnaldi in an all-Italian-NextGen showing.

He then continued his stellar showing in the clay Challengers, where he reached the semifinals in Tulln (l. Sumit Nagal) and won the title in a close encounter in Lisbon (d. Benjamin Hassan 7-5, 7-5), citing Cristiano Ronaldo as his title run inspiration during the post-finals press conference. Furthermore, outside of the clay-court Challengers, he still managed to maintain the streak in the Olbia Challenger, where he was out-paced by Titouan Droguet during the finals, hence his runner-up finish after a 3-6, 4-6 loss. After two early exits in Bergamo and Helsinki Challengers, both of which were indoor hard tournaments, Cobolli had a semifinal showing in Danderyd by defeating Gilles Arnaud Bailly in the first round 6-4, 6-1, advanced to the quarterfinals at the cost of Gauthier Onclin’s withdrawal before winning against Radu Albot 6-4, 7-6(5) in a close encounter that confirmed his NextGen Finals qualification, but was overwhelmed when dealing with eventual champion Maximilian Marterer’s serve+1s in the semifinal.

5. Alex Michelsen

Alex Michelsen in Newport, where he became the runner-up to Adrian Mannarino (📸 ATP Tour)

Alex Michelsen's point to break 2-0 in the second set of the Rome, GA Challenger quarterfinals against Edan Leshem (top left), to take the second set 6-1 in the second Cary Challenger second round against Strong Kirchheimer (top right), and to *2-3 30-30 in the first set of the Knoxville Challenger second round against Gabriel Debru (bottom) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream).

Starting the year precisely at World No. 600, A. Michelsen’s rise started in the Rome, Georgia (USA) Challenger in February, where he became the runner-up to Jordan Thompson 4-6, 2-6 right after becoming the runner-up of the ITF M25 Malibu (Jan 2) and winning the ITF M15 Edmond, Oklahoma (Jan 23), followed by a semifinal showing in Waco Challenger a week after Rome, GA, which earned him the wild card to the Indian Wells M1000 qualifying (l. Leandro Riedi in Q1). After another solid showing in the ITFs (including a runner-up in M25 Calabasas-Mar 20), A. Michelsen started to get out of his comfort zone and tried the Nottingham Challenger in the grass courts of the United Kingdom (l. Gabriel Diallo in R2 6-3, 5-7, 2-6 as a qualifier) and had a competitive appearance in Mallorca (250) as a qualifier (l. Christopher Eubanks in R1 3-6, 7-6(5), 5-7) before winning his maiden Challenger title in Chicago (d. Yuta Shimizu 7-5, 6-2), further strengthening his explosive and intuitive play as the year progressed.

A week after his Chicago Challenger title, he became a runner-up in the grass courts of Newport (250), where Adrian Mannarino eventually won 6-2, 6-4 and after notably defeating Maxime Cressy, James Duckworth, Mackenzie McDonald, and John Isner from the first round until the semifinals. However, the next few tournaments became tricky with the Top 100 in sight, including a semifinal loss against eventual champion Zachary Svajda in the Cary 2 Challenger. He then got his rewards to finally enter the Top 100 for the first time after winning the Knoxville Challenger title, when he survived four three-setters in five rounds, defeating Denis Kudla 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 as the pinnacle, solidified his position by defeating Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-0 in the Champaign Challenger’s first round in a rematch of their last week’s close encounter in Knoxville. Ultimately, A. Michelsen became the runner-up of the Champaign Challenger to Patrick Kypson, where he confirmed his NextGen Finals participation, as well as his Australian Open 2024 main draw direct entry likelihood thanks to his Top 100 year-end finish, landing at 94 live.

6. Hamad Medjedovic

Hamad Medjedovic celebrated after defeating Jiri Lehecka in Astana (250) for the biggest win in his career (by then) (📸 ATP Tour via Kazakhstan Tennis Federation)

Hamad Medjedovic's point to 6-5* 15-30 in the second set of the Bengaluru Challenger semifinal against Max Purcell (top left, 📸 ATP Challenger Livestream), to create the break point to *0-1 40-ad in the second qualifying round of Roland Garros against Juan Manuel Cerundolo (top right, 📸 France TV Sport), and to 6-5* 15-0 in the third set of the Danderyd Challenger second round against Jakub Mensik (bottom, 📸 ATP Challenger)

Medjedovic came a long way after his rise last year, winning the Luedenscheid Challenger 2022 by double-breadsticking Zhizhen Zhang, steadily answering the doubt on whether or not he’s breaking even, even if he has Novak Djokovic’s support. After having a slow start to the season (and an even slower second semester of 2022), he started having deep runs in the Bengaluru Challenger, where he was eliminated in the semifinal against eventual champion Max Purcell 2-6, 7-5, 6-7(4). However, he then started his stellar Challenger clay season with a title in Szekesfehervar Challenger (d. Nino Serdarusic 6-4, 6-3), followed by another title in Mauthausen (d. Filip Misolic 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4) in a rain-ridden dramatic match. To top it off, he qualified for the Roland Garros and Wimbledon but got eliminated against Marcos Giron and Christopher O’Connell in the first round, respectively.

Trying to rise the ranks to the main Tour, he followed those up by having several great runs in the 250s and the Challengers in the second half of 2023, carried by his powerful serve and forehands when they are on (and occasionally, drop shots and volleys to add to his intuitive play). He started with a semifinal run in Gstaad as a qualifier (l. Pedro Cachin 3-6, 1-6, with a notable win against Dominic Thiem in the second round in a rematch of their Mauthausen Challenger semifinal encounter, as well as winning the Mallorca Challenger (d. Harold Mayot 6-2, 4-6, 6-2). He topped those runs off with a semifinal run in Astana (250) (l. Sebastian Korda, with some notable wins against Alexander Shevchenko and Jiri Lehecka in the second round and quarterfinals, respectively) despite the early exits in the last 3 250-level tournaments (Antwerp (250) R1, Basel (500) Q1, and Sofia (250) R1). Subsequently, after defeating Stefano Travaglia 6-4, 6-3 in a chaotic first-round match, he was defeated by fellow up-and-coming NextGen player Jakub Mensik 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) in the second round, having his 3 match points saved, 2 of them in the second set and one when he should have served for the match. Recognizing his tremendous potential through his aggressive gameplay and often reliable serves, while his usual rollercoaster could be expected, it all depended on his intuition in handling the point construction within the longer rallies if he could not keep it short.

7. Luca Nardi

Luca Nardi won the Porto Challenger title in August this year, gifting himself his birthday present after three hard-fought sets (📸 ATP Tour via Porto Open)

Luca Nardi's point to 6-5* 0-15 in the third set of the Pune Challenger semifinal against Dominik Palan (left) and to take the third set 7-5 in Kobe Challenger against August Holmgren (right) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Another name with potential being further discovered since last year is Luca Nardi, who answered the doubts coming from his sloppy start of the year by making strides toward the end of the year, thus rewarded with NextGen Finals qualification. He exited in early rounds in the first one-two months of the calendar before reaching the finals of the Pune Challenger, where he became the runner-up to a red-hot Max Purcell 3-6, 2-6. The rollercoaster then continued to the clay season, where he was remembered for being double-bageled by Lorenzo Musetti during the second round as a qualifier during the Monte Carlo M1000, as well as advancing to at least the quarterfinals in several Challengers, notably in Vicenza (l. Pablo Llamas Ruiz) and Milan (l. Matteo Gigante).

Realizing the whole rollercoaster, L. Nardi’s more offensive approach to complement his defenses and return depth started to pay off in Porto Challenger back in August, where he pulled a comeback win against Joao Sousa 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 as a sweet birthday present he gifted himself. Since then, his trajectory has gone back on track by being the semifinalist of the Bratislava 2 Challenger (l. Joris de Loore) and finally took the title in the Matsuyama Challenger in another comeback fashion (d. Taro Daniel 3-6, 6-4, 6-2), securing his NextGen Finals place after his second-round victory in the Kobe Challenger just to start the week (d. August Holmgren 6-3, 3-6, 7-5) before falling to Sho Shimabukuro to the semifinals, showing that his decision to partake in the Japanese Challenger swing paid off for his almost last-minute qualification.

8. Abdullah Shelbayh [WC]

Abdullah Shelbayh during his first-round match in Doha (250) (📸 The Hindu via Abdullah Shelbayh's Instagram post)

Abdullah Shelbayh's point to *5-2 40-40 (one of the break points saves) in the second set of the second-round Tenerife 3 Challenger match against Ryan Peniston (top left), to break 5-2 in the second set of the Manama Challenger semifinal against Salvatore Caruso (top right), and to *0-0 40-ad (second break point) in the Charleston Challenger final against Oliver Crawford (bottom) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Hailing from Jordan and training in Rafa Nadal Academy under Princess Lara Faisal’s Rise for Good Foundation, Shelbayh exceptionally started the season as a runner-up of the ITF M25 Manacor against Daniel Rincon (Jan 23) in a marathon match to start his positive semester after his remarkable rise kicked off in the second semester of 2022, from winning ITF M25 Monastir on two occasions (Jul 18 & Aug 22, 2022) before closing that year by winning ITF M15 Trnava (Dec 5) against Daniel Rincon, several months after securing his Challenger debut with a semifinal appearance (l. Zizou Bergs, but notably d. 1st seed Dominic Stricker in the first round). The only way was up, which he proved throughout the 2023 season by reaching the second round in Tenerife 3 Challenger as a qualifier (l. Ryan Peniston), ultimately becoming the runner-up in his maiden Challenger final in Manama (l. Thanasi Kokkinakis). He backed this up with his maiden ATP Tour main draw appearance in Doha as a wild card despite the first-round loss against Soonwoo Kwon.

He kept gaining experience as the year passed by from the aforementioned raw potential, making a last-minute decision to partake in the Banja Luka qualification rounds, stunning then-have not broken out (yet) Fabian Marozsan and Lukas Klein in both qualifying rounds before defeating Elias Ymer 6-1, 7-5 in the first round to record his maiden Tour-level victory (as well as becoming the first Jordanian to win a main Tour match) but was eliminated in the hands of Miomir Kecmanovic. He also qualified for the Mallorca (250) event on grass (l. Roman Safiullin in the first round) and went on to win his maiden Challenger title in Charleston (d. Oliver Crawford 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3), also becoming the first Jordanian Challenger-level champion. His sparkling rise continued through Metz (250) as a qualifier (d. Dan Added & Gijs Brouwer in the qualifying rounds), shocking Hugo Gaston 7-6(5), 6-2 before Lorenzo Sonego defeated him 3-6, 5-7 despite his competitive efforts. Aided by his often impressive point construction (as displayed), when he is on, not only rewarded him his career-high ranking of 187 (attained Nov 20, 2023) but also a wild card to this year’s NextGen Finals as the regional (Middle Eastern) representative.

[sportsallover]

Really happy to see Dominic Stricker holding his own against Stefanos Tsitsipas!

[mvp114]

The swiss nation has always been nothing but kind to me

[sportworldtone]

Dominic Stricker

Dominic Stricker is an international Swiss tennis player. Dominic Stricker, a professional tennis player from Switzerland, has a height of approximately 6 feet 0 inches and his weight is around 80 kilograms.

As of now, his net worth and income details are not available publicly. Stricker comes from a supportive family, but specific details about his family members are undisclosed. You'll get here Dominic Stricker Tennis Career, Net Worth, Wife, And Family

[bluespring864]

Honestly this was so casually sexy of him.

Andy Murray playing a left-handed forehand during his quarter-final against Dominic Stricker at the Nottingham Challenger 2023. [Source]

[distopea]

The sound of the ship slicing through the waves permeated the air in a backdrop of white noise, like radio static. Up on deck, the sun beat down over their heads like they were ants under god’s magnifying glass. Raum fought the urge to repeatedly wipe the beads of sweat away from his forehead as he glanced over the troops. A warm day, a calm sea, a little bit of downtime for training, and they were practising close quarters combat techniques with some drills. It was a joint exercise between the two squads, also considered to be team-building, and so both squad leaders were present to oversee that everything went smoothly. They had paired everyone up for the exercises, one marine to one pilot, focusing on immobilisation techniques and disarming. It was fairly standard fare – although once the exercises were complete, the competitive spirit was building between the two groups and they had some time to spare. Eventually they had organised a little makeshift ring to spar in. Nothing too violent or bloody – that would go against the nature of team building – just three minutes, get your opponent out of the ring and you win.

It was a free for all, certainly entertaining to watch the lengths the men would go to claim victory. Everything from faux boxing matches, strange distraction techniques, to childish pushing and pulling – someone even tried to wedgie their opponent. Taunting, laughing, whistles, whoops and cheers sounded around the ring as each man tried to get the better of the other one. Until eventually they reached a stalemate – turning to the two leaders to settle the score. Raum had met Mads’ eyes and saw the little spark of challenge there, shook his head. Fuck, no. He’d never hear the end of it later.

Regardless, that’s how Raum found himself inside the little ring facing off a… Well. A Scottish fucking bear. He’d reluctantly stripped his jacket for the occasion, white t-shirt underneath still clinging to his spine with sweat while the sun beat down on them. Raum could feel the heat tingling on the back of his neck – starting to burn already. Mads looked hardly less worse for wear. The deck of the ship was his turf. He looked made for it. Confident and calm. Frankly – it made Raum a little jealous. Made him want to mess that composure up.

There was a palpable excitement around them, to watch the two leaders square off against each other, even just for fun. A couple of words of encouragement were sounded, jeering and humorous : ‘fuck him up, commander!’ , ‘no mercy, lieutenant!’. Raum huffed a laugh, pushed sweat-damp strands of hair out of his eyes so he could focus on his opponent.

“All right, let’s get this over with so they pipe down,” Raum rolled his shoulders and spread his feet into a wide stance, boots gliding on the hot metal tile. He lifted both arms, fists raised in front of his face, and faced off towards Mads. Despite himself, his heart was speeding up, excitement rushing in his blood. Raum flashed his teeth in a grin, and winked. He wanted to get under Mads' skin.

“Don't go easy on me now. I can take you. Show me what you got, big guy.”

@cantuscorvi

A little bit of violent exercise was perhaps a way for the soldiers to get rid of the lingering anxiety running on the deck. A boost for the ego, but also somehow their own tradition to remain fit, ready, battling with their fists when they couldn’t be anywhere else but on this large metallic ship. Even for Mads, that kind of exercise felt like a haven of peace, even if they weren’t appreciated nor encouraged by Stricker. Not that he was a brute in the first place, but in the middle of those men, it was more than necessary sometimes to dissolve tensions through a good old fight. Both the marines and the pilots had cohabited for a few months already, so it was only fair to assert dominance from time to time. 

With a rather cheerful grin, Mads was observing his troops in the middle of the ring. The temperature was awful today, even if he was used to the sunny weather; he still preferred the gloomy clouds of Scotland and almost missed its everlasting drizzle. Among the fighting men, he couldn’t help but eye his natural nemesis in the middle of those men, standing behind his comrades in arms, blue eyes sometimes flashing in his direction. It was a matter of time before the rest of the crowd would demand a fight between the commanders, and Mads was getting himself ready. He wanted to test his limits. 

At some point, both of them were pushed into the middle of the circle, oozing with confidence, but also a certain urge to fight. Mads had removed his jacket a long time ago, standing in his traditional white tank top, his marine pants and his boots. His black hair was plastered against his skull, and with an impatient whip of his hand, he removed a few droplets of sweat dripping down his forehead. “Oh, you want it hard? Come on, blondie.” He beckoned Raum to come closer, raising both of his fists and anchoring both of his feet to the ground. “Princesses like you don’t like sunburns. Come get your ass whooped before you turn into a lobster.” 

Even if the words were taunting, Mads could tell that there was mutual respect and a profound eagerness to show off and see the limits of their opponent. Despite his military training, he was still used to fighting like a little scumbag in the streets; techniques he had learnt from his brother who had the strength of a bear, and he hoped to surprise Raum with a few of them. They both took one step closer, and for the first seconds, they only try to attack the other one's defense with timid and testing punches.

‘Are you fighting or dancing?’ ‘Come on, it’s getting boring lads!’ The soldiers were still cheering at the top of their lungs, until both Raum and Mads decided to get closer. With the techniques they had probably learnt from their military training, they jumped to tackle the other one. Mads grunted and circled his arms around Raum, while the blond returned the favor. The main goal was to get the other one on the ground, using their weight and feet for that, and it was a matter of seconds before they both crashed on the deck in a loud clap. Soldiers yelled, excited. 

“Fucking wiggling like a worm!” Mads huffed as he tried to catch Raum’s arms to place him on his back. He plastered his own on the ground, despite the insufferable heat of the metal, using his feet as leverage, wrestling with the pilot as they rolled on the ground, grunting like two beasts in a cage. One fist flew in the air, and Mads saw blurry for a second, right after the impact against his temple. He retaliated immediately by knocking Raum’s arm behind his back, the two of them barely up on their legs before they would fall back on the deck. ‘Get him!’ ‘No aim for the balls, LT!’. Mads threw another punch inside Raum’s waist and they went back to try getting the upper hand by slamming the other one on the ground. 

“ATTENTION!” Another voice suddenly yelled from the entrance of the deck, all of the soldiers suddenly getting stiff and obeying while the rear-admiral Stricker, leader of the fleet, stepped closer, unable to hide his anger. Raum and Mads had no choice but to separate themselves, bloody, sweaty, and definitely frustrated. Even so, Mads couldn’t help but pull the pilot back on his feet before he stood to attention like the other of their troops. “Lieutenant Colonel Weiss, Commander Campbell, am I going fucking blind or did I just witness my two commanders rolling on the ground like two pigs?!” He barked at them, his eyes falling on their half-ripped clothes. “You’re both standing on the vessel of his Majesty… You should be ashamed of your behavior!” Mads opened his mouth but Stricker was quicker. “Shut your damn mouth, Campbell! I don’t know what the problem is with Weiss and I don’t want to hear about it, but if I have to tie you both to the deck until you start acting like men of your rank, I’ll go get the rope myself! 

He turned around, a lingering silence invading the deck. Mads inhaled, but he couldn’t help throwing an oddly conspirational look at Raum. “Weiss, Campbell, if you’re so eager to get rid of that testosterone, go run around the deck until we ring the dinner bell.” Stricker yelled again before he threw a look at the rest of the soldiers. “And for the rest of you, don’t you have tasks? Back to your stations! Dismissed!” 

[schumi-nadal]

Ugo Humbert & Dominic Stricker - Swiss Indoors Basel

Another semifinal for my boy 🫶🏻🇫🇷

[hotnew-pt]

Excelente desempenho de Dominic Stricker - rts.ch #ÚltimasNotícias #Suiça

Hot News O tênis suíço está recuperando a cor neste outono. No dia seguinte à grande resistência oferecida por Jérôme Kym diante de Ugo Humbert, Dominic Stricker (ATP 258) ganhou destaque no Swiss Indoors. Em Basileia, onde disputou as quartas de final no ano passado, o canhoto bernês venceu por 6-4 e 6-4 na primeira rodada o holandês Tallon Griekspoor (ATP 35). Diante de um Griekspoor que saiu…

[stateofsport211]

Wimbledon MS Q3: Know Your Men's Singles Qualifiers + Lucky Loser Situation (2/2)

The qualifying competition as they happened, side-by-side (📸 AFP via The Japan Times)

Compared to the first batch, most matches covered in the second batch were concluded in four or five sets (as they happened). While some of these could be tense, some also featured the (possible) plot twists that only occurred in the best-of-five sets: either the match that could have finished long ago but the opposition dug deep (thus adding extra pressure) or another kind of turnaround that resulted in a rollercoaster of a kind.

Those stories enriched the Wimbledon qualifying rounds, making it distinct from the other Grand Slams since this is the only Grand Slam played on grass. It could be a good preparation for them coming to the main draw, so be sure to have these qualifiers (and possibly, lucky losers) on the lookout too!

The first part of the article can be found here, and the Twitter thread can also be found here.

Section 5: Radu Albot d. Felipe Meligeni R. Alves 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(6)

Radu Albot’s point at 3-0* 0-30 to 15-30, 2nd set (left) and match point conversion to 7-6(6), 4th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Having qualified for the Championships last year as well, Albot came with at least a tie-breaker set in his previous two rounds, one of which he had to dig deep against Johannus Monday 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. On the other hand, Felipe stunned two veterans by defeating Pablo Cuevas and Vasek Pospisil to prevent a vintage battle to claim the qualifying spot.

Although Felipe’s defense-to-offense approach worked to some extent, just like in the fast hard ones, Albot’s creative prowess enabled him to outhit Felipe. While his working drop shots were spotted making the difference, minimizing the gap before Felipe held 1-3 in the second set, Felipe’s balance already went off before his level raise in the fourth set was insufficient to hand Albot the win, all on Felipe’s double fault as an initial differential, that even if the latter saved a match point out of his own volley (to reply to Albot’s lob), it was insufficient to the match tie-break thanks to Albot’s forehand, which Felipe shanked after the ball reached the let cord (and turned out to be in).

Section 8: Dennis Novak d. Yosuke Watanuki 6-7(9), 6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Dennis Novak’s point to *3-4 40-40 to 40-ad, 3rd set (📸 Wimbledon qualifying feed)

Y. Watanuki’s return depth, which also bothered Hubert Hurkacz when the former was a qualifier in Stuttgart (250), could pose an interesting test in the final qualifying round as he faced a more experienced Dennis Novak, who avenged Charles Broom 6-3, 6-4 after his three heartbreaker tie-breaker sets loss in the second qualifying round of the Ilkley Challenger.

The moment shifted in the last three sets once Dennis gained control in the middle of the second set. Stemmed from the Austrian’s power and variety (inclusive of his often proper slice usage and a forehand winner, displayed during a break point creation in the third set), Y. Watanuki’s service games ended up being pressed, often getting his shots rushed when trying to finish a point, hence the rest of the three sets.

Section 10: Dominic Stricker d. Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Dominic Stricker’s point to 3-3* 0-15 to 0-30, 4th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

M. Bellucci could regain his form in the grass season after reaching the second round of the Ilkley Challenger (l. Jason Kubler) after the rollercoaster clay season post-Australian Open qualifying rounds (l. Francesco Passaro in Q2). Somehow, after defeating Raphael Collignon and Ivan Gakhov in straight sets, he had to face a rising Dominic Stricker, who sought a main draw qualification to close his competitive grass season, notably keeping it close against Andy Murray in the Nottingham Challenger.

Stricker finally qualified for the main draw after sealing the fourth set with an ace. Before that, while handling M. Bellucci’s groundstrokes that worked better in faster courts (notably hard courts and grass), Stricker added more pace and spin to his shots, resulting in the sampled forehand winner to put himself 2 points ahead in the sixth game of the fourth set. In the end, after M. Bellucci got pressed, he rushed his final shots, which did not help anything except Stricker gaining his moment.

Section 2: Oscar Otte d. Marc Polmans 6-3, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5

Oscar Otte’s point at 3-3* 30-0 to 30-15, 2nd set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Otte came with a questionable form since the beginning of the year (even was the 32nd seed last year) but appeared trying to make his comeback count in the grass season. This was visible in his journey to survive this popcorn chaos section, where he defeated Benoit Paire and Leandro Riedi, of all people, to secure his third-round encounter against Marc Polmans, who was eliminated by Cristian Garin in the second round of Wimbledon 2021.

Somehow, his grass-court prowess appeared just in time during the qualifying rounds. Despite being a closer encounter than his first two rounds, Otte’s redirecting ability and shot selection (including some balance of power in between) were still strong, he caught unleashing a drop shot and perfectly landed it before Polmans replied. The margin was thin, where the latter became an important differential in another example, where Otte lobbed his way through the 3-1 lead in the second set tie-breaker, eventually pressing Polmans’ service games at some other moments.

Section 4: Kimmer Coppejans d. Taro Daniel 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

Kimmer Coppejans’ point at *4-4 15-15 to 15-30, 4th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

The fourth section partially fell apart when Coppejans defeated last year’s Ilkley Challenger champion, Zizou Bergs, in the second qualifying round after digging deep to defeat Timofey Skatov (in the first qualifying round) to conclude that match in a tie-breaker to break his 8-match losing streak on grass. On the other hand, although T. Daniel’s career grass records were an entirely different entity, he kept it competitive against Tommy Paul in the Queen’s Club’s first round; and it is possible to visualize the application of his game on the grass courts, with some pacing adjustments while trying to stay aggressive.

Had this been a best-of-three match, T. Daniel would have advanced. However, maintaining the rhythm looked like a tough challenge for T. Daniel, where his rushes only shifted his moment in Coppejans’ favor. Even if T. Daniel broke for the other two sets, Coppejans re-found his balance thanks to his systematic point construction, where not only his forehand caused more damage, but he also smashed his way to open the path before he broke T. Daniel’s service game in the fourth set. The latter then ended up having his balance further off, resulting in the fifth set beatdown with Coppejans dominating its flow.

Section 3: Maximilian Marterer d. Fabian Marozsan 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 5-7, 7-5

Maximilian Marterer’s match point conversion to 7-5, 5th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Upon winning the Perugia Challenger (which was held on clay), Marozsan entered the Top 100 for the first time in his career, currently sitting at number 95 in the official rankings. Playing his first professional grass-court Slam qualifying, Marozsan adapted his game in his own way by defeating Oleksii Krutykh and Elias Ymer before facing Maximilian Marterer, who qualified for the main draw last year after defeating Nicolas Moreno de Alboran.

This match became the match of the day as both players fought thick and thin in another five-set thriller. While Marterer often came up with passes caught off-guard in his strokes, Marozsan’s grass-court adaptation worked by using more slices and trying to use more drop shots despite its 50-50 success rate. However, as deep as Marozsan tried to dig, Marterer stood out by the end of the decider because of Marozsan’s rushed forehands, resulting in Marterer’s qualification to the main draw.

Section 9: M. Tomas Barrios Vera d. Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-4, 6-7(3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

M. Tomas Barrios Vera broke to 5-2, 5th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Barrios Vera came to the qualification right after being the runner-up of the Poznan Challenger on clay (l. Mariano Navone 7-5, 6-3). However, having qualified in 2021 before his first-round elimination to Kevin Anderson, he might have a slight edge in facing an aggressive Seyboth Wild, who advanced after defeating Jelle Sels and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first two rounds.

After Barrios Vera took the first set 6-4, he tried to find his balance because Seyboth Wild tried to paint his own lines, with a forehand down-the-line winner sealing him the second set through a tie-breaker. However, a fall in the middle of the fourth set forced Seyboth Wild to take a medical timeout in the middle of a game, and Barrios Vera started to regain his pace and passed him in one way or another. The forehand winner to double the break in the fifth set was the pinnacle before he served it out to dominate the last two sets, finally securing his main draw ticket.

Section 13: Laurent Lokoli d. Michael Mmoh 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2

Laurent Lokoli’s point to break 3-1, 3rd set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

In an already chaotic section, Lokoli and Mmoh faced off to secure a spot in the main draw. While Mmoh had to dig deep in defeating Adrian Andreev and Dragos Nicolae Madaras in the first two qualifying rounds, Lokoli qualified for both the Nottingham and Ilkley Challengers in his maiden grass season, coming to the third qualifying round without dropping a set here.

Despite this match coming to a decider, Lokoli’s creativity carried several crucial parts in his favor. Not only his drop shot could run Mmoh over at the net (on his volley side) in this third set sample, but he also could utilize the open space to adjust his pacing, neutering Mmoh’s baseline game in one way or another. Things like these were behind Lokoli’s stand-out performance in the fifth set, resulting in a relieving ending as he qualified for his second Grand Slam appearance this year after the Australian Open.

Lucky Loser Situation

Lucky loser situation per the last two matches playing (📸 Entry List Updates via Twitter)

After Jan-Lennard Struff and Gael Monfils withdrew due to an injury, four highest-ranked people (lost in the third qualifying round) will be drawn for two spots in the main draw, which are Marozsan, T. Daniel, Y. Watanuki, and Mmoh (all of which, somehow, came from this batch). Two of them will appear in tomorrow’s main draw, while the other two would stand by (just in case).

By the time the last match ended, it means A. Kovacevic and Piros will stay on the borderline, leaving the first four names to be drawn (for that moment). The lucky losers will be covered in a separate article before or after the draw and could be updated should they increase. For the first time in the tournament's history, the main draw ceremony will be streamed live on their official website at 10am local time, where the qualifiers and lucky losers will also be placed.

[sportsallover]

I am excited for tomorrow!! I have never watched Next Gen ATP Finals matches yet, so I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m very curious to see how it’ll go.

[fritzes]

2023 next gen finals friendships my beloveds