Breaking News: Rublev and Rune Set Headline Inaugural ahead of Open In September
The ATP has announced the addition of a newly minted Tour-level tournament to its 2024 calendar, the Hangzhou Open, following the relocation of the Zhuhai 250 event.
The tournament organizers have begun taking names of those who will play in Hangzhou. The city is located on the East Coast of China and is the capital of the country’s Zhejiang province. The new tournament will be part of the ATP 250 series running from September 18th to 24th.
This tournament will be held a week after the fourth and final Grand Slam of 2024 at the US Open. The Hangzhou Open will be one of two tournaments that will mark the start of the Asian swing (along with the Chengdu Open).
Andrey Rublev is the first Top 10 player to confirm his presence at the event. The Russian, who is a champion in Hong Kong and Madrid this year, is” excited” about the prospect of showcasing his tennis skills inside the Hangzhou Olympics Tennis Centre, which hosted the 2023 Asian Games.
“I’m looking forward to coming back to China and playing in the Hangzhou Open in September. I’m excited to come to the beautiful city of Hangzhou and play in the stadium, which I know hosted the Asian Games last year.”
WATCH: Rublev Once Again Takes Out His Anger On Court After Another Shock Loss
Thursday, 20 June 2024
Holger Rune and China’s No. 1 ATP player Zhizhen Zhang will also play there. Zhang, in particular, is fond of the city. Last year, he won a gold medal at the Asian Games, guaranteeing his place at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“It was an excellent experience to play at the Hangzhou Olympics Tennis Center in last year’s Asian Games. It has nice facilities and there is a great atmosphere there.”
The World No. 42 is not the only history-making Chinese man. Last year, Yibing Wu became the first Chinese player to win an ATP title when he defeated John Isner in the Dallas Open final.
The 24-year-old Hangzhou native will be pumped to return to his home city after losing in the round of 16 of the Asian Games. Wu hopes to recover from an undisclosed injury that has limited him to just three matches this season.
Djokovic Promoted To World No. 2 After Alcaraz’s Shock Loss At Queen’s Club
by Zachary Wimer
Novak Djokovic will be back in the Top 2 of the ATP Rankings after Carlos Alcaraz lost early at the 2024 Cinch Championships at the Queen’s Club.
The Serbian player spent much of this year ranked number one in the world, thanks to an impressive season last year that included trophies at three of the four Grand Slams played.
This year hasn’t been as good for Djokovic, as he has gone without a title at majors, which has caused him to lose quite a few points. He lost his number one ranking after Roland Garros, failing to defend the 2000 ATP points he won last year and getting replaced by Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz moved into the number two position thanks to his Roland Garros win, and for the first time since January 2023, Djokovic was not ranked inside the Top 2 on the ATP Tour.
He was number three behind the two youngsters, but it didn’t last long. He’ll return to the Top 2 next Monday, one week ahead of Wimbledon. It happened because Alcaraz, who didn’t have a huge lead on Djokovic, lost early at the Cinch Championships.
Defending Champion Alcaraz Stunned By Sensational Draper At Queen’s Club
Thursday, 20 June 2024
The Spaniard won the event last year, earning 500 ATP points, which is more than the lead he had over Djokovic. Losing to Jack Draper meant that he lost the majority of those points, and that ensured that the 37-year-old player would return to number two ahead of Wimbledon.
The Serbian will have 8,360 points at next week’s rankings, which is 230 points more than Alcaraz, who will have 8,130 points. Both are over 1,000 points ahead of Alexander Zverev, and neither is close to Sinner, who has over 9,400 points right now, with a chance to add more at the ongoing Halle Open.
The rankings aren’t a huge concern for Djokovic, but this means that he could theoretically avoid the Spaniard prior to the final, and the same applies to the Italian, while previously, he was sure to possibly face at least one of the two in the semi-finals.
Leave a Reply