Event of the Day: Semi-Finals at the ATP Next Gen Finals
Our event of the day is the Semi-Finals at the ATP Next Gen Finals at the Fiera Milano in Milan, Italy. The Next Gen Finals is a tournament played by the seven best male tennis players of the 2018 ATP tour aged 21-or-under, as well as one local wildcard entrant. Today sees the semi-finals of the competition. There is no defending champion (as the 2017 winner was ineligible due to age) so it’s all to play for. Number one seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will be looking to cap off a very successful season as he faces Andrey Rublev. Meanwhile, Alex de Minaur, the tournament’s youngest player at 19, will be looking to prove his place as one of tennis’ brightest stars of the next few years. He is set to face Juame Munar. It’s set to be an exciting day of tennis between some of the tennis world’s brightest upcoming stars. It was all to play for on Day 3. While Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur had already secured their places in the semi-finals, there were two places in the final four left to decide. The day opened with Frances Tiafoe facing Jaume Munar. Both players had a shot at the semi-finals (though this was dependent on the outcome of the match between Tsitsipas and Hubert Hurkacz). Tiafoe, the world number 40, had enjoyed modest success during the 2018 season, the highlight of the year being a tournament win at the Delray Beach Open in February. That tournament run had included a three-set victory over world number 10 Juan Martín del Potro in the Round of 16.
However, he was subdued with little resistance by the Spaniard Munar, who beat him 4-1,4-3 (7-3), 4-1. Munar, the underdog in this match, has quietly worked his way through the lower echelons of men’s tennis this year. He won back to back ATP Challenger Tour tournaments in June and reached the Round of 64 at the French Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. However, a nervous wait through the afternoon paid off as the results of the Tsitspias/Hurkacz match granted Munar a place in the semi-finals. Also hoping for a semi-final place was Andrey Rublev. He had finished runner-up in the 2017 Next Gen finals and faced wild card entrant Liam Caruana, who had already been eliminated from semi-final contention. Rublev won in straight sets and will have a chance to improve on that runner-up position as the results of de Minuar/Fritz match meant Rublev moved on to the semi-finals. It should be an exciting day of tennis showcasing the future stars of the sport.
Honourable mentions around the globe to ODI Cricket, where Australia host South Africa at the Adelaide Oval for the second match of a three-match series. Australia look to recover from the convincing loss they suffered to South Africa on Sunday. The loss extends Australia’s worst ODI-losing streak in team history. The batters only managed 154 runs before they were all out. The highest run scorer for the Baggy Greens was Nathan Coulter-Nile, who scored just 34. South Africa went on to win by six wickets. Expect an exciting day of cricket as Australia looks for a reaction to their poor performances. Elsewhere, in the MLS, the Seattle Sounders host the Portland Timbers for the second leg of their conference semi-final matchup at CenturyLink Field. The Timbers hold a 2-1 aggregate after the first leg between these two Pacific Northwest rivals. In the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs look to extend their two-game win streak as they host the struggling New Jersey Devils at the Scotiabank Arena.
Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!
Photos by ATP World Tour