There are lots of GIFS/images in The Racquet. It may need time to load. I promise it's worth it 😅 View this email in your browser. 'The Racquet' is concise ATP tennis news, stats and analysis, delivered weekly/daily to your inbox. Make sure you never miss an issue: Subscribe SPOILER FREE ZONE 🎥 If you don't want to see the results yet, and want to catch up with the highlights, stop here. Links:



A. Zverev 🎥 Tsitsipas



Dimitrov 🎥 Anderson



Khachanov 🎥 Haase



Match Of The Day : Cilic 🎥 Nadal RESULTS 🎾 💥 = Beatdown

🤕 = Injury

‼️ = Upset



Featured matches:



Tsitsipas d A. Zverev 3-6, 7-6(11), 6-4 ‼️



Sascha will be wondering how this one got away from him. The German was a set and a break up, and it looked like we were in for a repeat of his routine, straight-set victory over Tsitsipas last week in Washington. Stefanos did brilliantly to get back in the 2nd by being far more aggressive on his forehand side and stepping into the court, taking more risks, leading us to a tiebreaker. The breaker saw both players throw multiple set/match points away before Tsitsipas finally converted to take us to a decider. The 3rd set saw Zverev again go up a break for a 3*-2 lead, but some some strange shot-selection halted any momentum he may have had against a tiring opponent, donating the break right back with a forehand error. Sascha then double-faulted on match point down at 4*-5 to complete Tsitsipas's comeback.



Zverev converted only 1/9 break points in that 3rd set and generally looked poor under pressure today. A bad loss for Sascha, but playing back-to-back weeks may have caught up with him. Another huge win for, new Top 20 member, Stefanos Tsitsipas.



Nadal d Cilic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4



If someone ever wants to see Rafa Nadal getting smashed off the court by someone red-lining, there has always been the 5th set of the 2011 Nadal - Rosol Wimbledon 2nd Round, or parts of his 2008 Australian Open Semi Final vs Tsonga to show them. Last night a new example was added to the archives in the form of the first set of the 2018 Nadal Cilic Toronto QF. Cilic started ridiculously well, crushing every return, booming every serve and generally making the world No.1 look like light work. This was partly due to the fact that Rafa's 1st serve went AWOL early in the match (only landing around 40% of his serves), but also because Cilic just smoked every ball that came his way.



But then Rafa got to work doing what he does best, figuring out how to solve the problem in front of him. This is always the most interesting version of Rafa to watch.



Nadal knew that if he could make the rallies last a bit longer, and mix up the points more, that he'd disrupt Cilic's near-flawless first strike tennis that had been so overwhelming in the 1st set. Nadal improved his 1st serve in % from 47% to 63%, which helped him get a foothold in a crucial first service game of the 2nd set. The Spaniard then dug in with much improved depth to break Cilic in the following game. Observers have given Rafa a lot of flack for standing so far back to return serve, but making that adjustment in the 2nd set essentially saved Rafa, allowing him time to hit big, deep returns, and start the point off on his terms. In a very tight set in which they traded breaks again, Rafa came out on top to take the momentum going into the decider.



The 3rd set saw Nadal take charge with much improved serving (83% 1st serve points won & 63% 2nd serve points won) and baseline play, facing no break points while Cilic faced 4 (saving 3). Marin struggled with the number of returns coming back at him on the bigger points, with Rafa doing a great job of mixing pace with slower, higher balls. Finally, Marin succumbed to a break/match point serving at 4*-5. Rafa, the problem solver, had worked it out.



Also:



Anderson d Dimitrov: 6-2, 6-2 💥

Khachanov d Haase: 6-3, 6-1 💥 SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮 Karen with the big combination of forehands.

(TennisTV) Flat, punched backhand from Anderson.

(TennisTV) Federer-esque from Tsitsipas.

(TennisTV) This Rafa forehand landed within a foot of the baseline and Cilic just CRUSHED it. The 1st set of this match in a nutshell.

(TennisTV) For parts of tonights match, Marin utterly had his way with Nadal's serve.

(TennisTV) Variety like this from Rafa pushed Cilic out of his baseline comfort zone.

(TennisTV) INTERVIEW/PRESS BEST BITS 🎤 Anderson after beating Dimitrov: - "And, you know, right from the first point till the last, I felt I was in a really good frame of mind, playing the kind of tennis that I knew I wanted to be playing and needed to be playing."



Q: Was there ever a moment in the last year or so where you felt like a switch kind of flipped for you where you figured something out?



- "No, I don’t think there was one sort of flick of a switch. It really feels like there was systematic improvements in many different areas."

Source

Zverev post-loss:



- “I just wasn’t feeling the ball today...lost concentration in the 2nd”

Source



- "I don't think he played that well. I think the match was absolutely pathetic on all levels. I'm very honest with you guys. Today was an absolute pathetic match I don't even think he played well."

Source



(Matt): People got REALLY angry about this quote on Twitter. But it's always funny to me that we ask these hyper-competitive players about a match, minutes after defeat, then judge their responses viciously from our incredibly high horses. Why is anyone shocked about players saying dumb sh*t when the pressers are essentially designed to provide incendiary, clickbait drama? I'd rather Zverev be honest and wrong rather than fake.

Tsitsipas post-win:



- “I changed completely since last year — I’m a different player. I’ve evolved my game and have become more solid and a better thinker.”

Source



- “I would say I played more clever than Washington last week. Washington helped me understand his game more. ... Achieving this (semi-final) makes me feel so nice.“

Source



On his relationship with Zverev:



- "The relationship is ok, it's not too good, it's not too bad." 🌶



Video of Zverev's comments and Tsitsipas's response.

Nadal post-win:



- "The way that he played in that first set was unstoppable, no? So I resisted... but [it] was so, so difficult. So that's why it was an important celebration. It means a lot to me to be in the semi-finals."

Source



- "The beginning of the 2nd set was so, so important. Manage to hold my serve and then get the break... the match became more equal after that."

Source WHO'S PLAYING TOMORROW? ⏰ Centre Court 3pm Start - Local Time (8pm UK)



Anderson vs Tsitsipas (H2H: 0-1)



NB 8pm - Local Time (1am UK)



Nadal vs Khachanov (H2H: 3-0) CINCINNATI MASTERS - DRAW SUMMARY 📜 Full Draw



Projected Quarterfinals by Seed:



Top Half

Nadal vs Dimitrov (more likely Djokovic)

Zverev vs Cilic



Bottom Half

Anderson vs Del Potro

Thiem (more likely Nishikori) vs Federer

🔥 Rd 1 Matches



Shapovalov vs Tiafoe, McDonald vs Edmund, Isner vs Querrey, Tsitsipas vs Goffin, Chung vs Sock, Nishikori vs Rublev, Wawrinka vs Schwartzman, Murray vs Pouille



🔥 Potential Rd 3's



Kyrgios vs Delpo

Murray vs Federer



Quick thoughts: Decent draw for Federer, good draw for Djokovic. Bad draw for Nadal (Raonic Rd 2, Shapo Rd 3, Djokovic QF). TERRIBLE draw for Murray (Federer Rd 3), Schwartzman and Pouille. Top HalfvsvsBottom HalfvsvsShapovalov vs Tiafoe, McDonald vs Edmund, Isner vs Querrey, Tsitsipas vs Goffin, Chung vs Sock, Nishikori vs Rublev, Wawrinka vs Schwartzman, Murray vs PouillevsvsQuick thoughts: Decent draw for Federer, good draw for Djokovic. Bad draw for Nadal (Raonic Rd 2, Shapo Rd 3, Djokovic QF). TERRIBLE draw for Murray (Federer Rd 3), Schwartzman and Pouille. EXTRAS...🔍🎤📊 After beating A. Zverev today, Tsistipas will enter the Top 20 for the first time!

Tsitsipas is the youngest player to beat 3 top 10 players in a tournament since Nadal at the 2006 Monte Carlo Masters.

Because A. Zverev drops points after his loss today, Del Potro will reach a career high ranking of No.3 next week.

By reaching the Quarter Finals, Nadal is the first player to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November. This is his 14th consecutive year qualifying which ties the all time record (Federer 2002-2015).

Source (qualified) & Source (record)



Nadal on finding out he had qualified on Thursday, but the ATP only confirmed it on Friday:



- "The app had it yesterday, so the ATP is late." Everyone was laughing. "It is Nicola's fault,"

Source



(Matt): Context = He's talking about the 'Live ATP Ranking app' and Nicola is an ATP team member who normally notifies players about things like this. Funny, but unsurprising, that Rafa pays such close attention to the rankings.

Proposed Davis Cup Reforms: An 18 team tournament at the end of the year in one venue, which would be held in Europe for the first two years.

A 24 team qualifying event in February, which would consist of 12 home and away ties, with the 12 winners advancing to the end of season tournament along with the four semi-finalists from the previous year’s Davis Cup and two wildcards. The losers compete in the Zone Groups.

The tournament would consist of six round robin groups of three teams in each group, with Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals following the group stage.

Teams placed 17th and 18th would automatically be relegated to the zonal groups, with 5th to 16th competing in following year’s qualifying event.

Ties contested at the event will be two singles and one doubles all on one day while the qualifying event and zone groups will have four singles and one doubles spread over two days.

All matches would be best of three tiebreak sets.

Source

Federer touched down in Cincinnati and was straight on the practice court. LOL 😂 Murray and Kyrgios went on a date to a theme park.

Source Nick looked pretty happy about it.

Source

Source Andy even won Nick a pink monkey. But Andy seemed like he immediately regretted his decision to get on the roller coaster.

Source Paire's questionable hairstyles catching on in the French camp.

Source Zverev admiring his handiwork.

(TennisTV) 'The Racquet' is concise ATP tennis news, stats and analysis, delivered weekly/daily to your inbox. Make sure you never miss an issue: Subscribe Tweet Forward GAME, SET & MATCH 👋 The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt. You can find me on twitter by tapping/clicking this. You early subscribers (Beta testers) get access to 'The Racquet' Discord. Tap/click the Discord button below to join (we even have Jerzy Janowicz emojis). If you know anyone who would like 'The Racquet' here is the link to send them so they can sign up: https://theracquet.co See you tomorrow for the Toronto Semi-Finals (Day 6)!