WASHINGTON, January 7, 2021 (by Michael Dickens)
The Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com marks the return of the ATP Tour to North America.
Main draw play in the ATP Tour 250 outdoor hard-court event at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center in Delray Beach, Fla., begins on Thursday with Sam Querrey and Mackenzie McDonald giving opening night a distinctive American flavor. The order of play also includes Tommy Paul, Ryan Harrison and Sebastian Korda, who concludes the day session against Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea.
Three Americans – Donald Young, Christian Harrison and Kevin King – plus Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador earned berths in the main draw through qualifying.
No. 1 seed Cristian Garin of Chile, ranked No. 22, is making his Delray Beach debut. He’s coming off a 18-12 season in which he won titles at Cordoba and Rio de Janeiro. He was originally projected to be the No. 2 seed this week before World No. 14 Milos Raonic withdrew from the tournament on Monday. Defending champion Reilly Opelka also pulled out on Monday because of a knee injury. All of this occurred a few days after two-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray decided to withdraw rather than risk traveling to the U.S. before heading to Australian to begin mandatory quarantining before playing in next month’s Australian Open in Melbourne.
“I’d love to play a lot of matches (in Delray), but I have to get back in the rhythm (of competition),” Garin said in a story published on the tournament’s website. “Last year was really weird for me after Rio. I didn’t play tennis for two months, and then when i came back I did feel well playing in the tournaments. I know what I have to do this year. … To be honest, I just want to play matches.”
Besides Garin, other top seeds include: No. 2 seed John Isner (ranked 25th), No. 3 seed Adrian Mannarino (ranked 34th) and No. 4 seed Hubert Hurkacz (ranked 35th). There are 14 countries represented in the main draw and the United States has a contingent of 13 players entered.
: ,
Stadium and Court 1 action starting at 11:00 amDon’t miss the action!
️ https://t.co/dEXn63Wnr5 pic.twitter.com/5N6xrvVCug— Delray Beach Open (@DelrayBeachOpen) January 6, 2021
Team Bryans win ATP Champions Tour event
Team Bryans captains Bob and Mike Bryan clinched the ATP Champions Tour event in Delray Beach, Fla., for their team Wednesday afternoon beating Luke and Murphy Jensen in the deciding match, 6-1, 6-1, for a four-points-to-three final advantage. Tommy Haas sent the event to a deciding match after beating Wayne Ferreira in straight sets.
Team Bryan Brothers win the #DBOpen @ATPChampions in straight sets 6-1, 6-1.
Congrats, @Bryanbros and @Bryanbrothers pic.twitter.com/K7ielzDS6u
— Delray Beach Open (@DelrayBeachOpen) January 6, 2021
Sakkari looks forward to representing Greece at Tokyo Games
During her virtual media chat with international press (including this reporter) following her first-round victory at the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open in the Emirates capital city, Greece’s 23rd-ranked Maria Sakkari (seeded ninth) was asked about how important the Olympics Games in Tokyo would be for her this year. She said: “It’s a dream come true you know. As a Greek tennis player – as a Greek athlete, actually – it’s probably one of the most important achievements in our careers as we all know the Olympics started in Greece.
“It’s a pretty unique feeling for us. I’m really looking forward. I actually cannot wait to compete there.”
When Sakkari was asked how the Olympics compared with the Grand Slams – the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open – she said it’s different “because we have four really big events in tennis. In track and field, for example, the Olympics are the most important thing. I love my country and know how important [winning] a medal for my country is. It’s important for me as well playing the Olympics trying to do my best and to win a medal.”
The Olympic tennis tournament will be held from July 24 to August 1, 2021.
Straight sets win
No.9 seed @mariasakkari ousted Potapova to secure a second round spot in Abu Dhabi –> https://t.co/vFU4SsAuRW pic.twitter.com/TjnKEqlb4t
— wta (@WTA) January 6, 2021
Upcoming Australian tournaments now have names
Tournaments will be named to recognise key regions of Victoria as the Melbourne Summer Series and Australian Open promote the reinvigoration of the state following the challenges faced due to both bushfires and pandemic.
— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) January 7, 2021
Apology from the WTA
We acknowledge we have experienced some technical issues today for which we apologize and they have been addressed. We look forward to rolling out the new live scores app.
— wta (@WTA) January 6, 2021
Alizé Cornet: Starting her 16th Tour season
Ready ..?
Go !
Starting my 16th season tomorrow ✊ #andmoreexcitedthanever pic.twitter.com/9Hrkj61AKt— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) January 6, 2021
Dinner with the champions
20 Grand Slams dinner
( @ChrissieEvert) pic.twitter.com/okdOM6sYFM
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) January 6, 2021
What they’re writing
Tumaini Carayol, tennis correspondent for The Guardian of London, on how the Abu Dhabi heat is testing players on their return to the tour.
‘Is this still the first set?’ Abu Dhabi heat tests WTA’s stars on return. By @tumcarayolhttps://t.co/QGrGayKwre
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) January 6, 2021
What they’re sharing on social media
Novak Djokovic / Merry Christmas Eve
Срећно Бадње вече. Желимо вам свима мир и склад у души, срцу и уму ❤️ pic.twitter.com/1L7Wp1q14H
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 6, 2021
