(This article is translated from Tennis Majors' Chris Oddo article.) As the dust settles on the various medals in the Tokyo Olympics tennis event, something has happened in the tennis world over the past two weeks. Here are some things you might overlook while watching an Olympic game:
1 Nadal returns in North America season
The King of Dirt is ready for the North American hardfield season. This week, he will play in Washington for the first time and start chasing his fifth US Open trophy.
As a wild card player, Nadal will face the winner between Sok and Ryohito Nishioka in the second round, and here are his potential opponents on the way to the title:
Round 2: Sok/Ryohito Nishioka
Round of 16: Harris [No. 14 Seed]
Quarterfinals: Nori [Seed No. 7] / Alexander Bublick [Seed No. 9]
Round-4: Dimitrov [No. 4 seed] / Evans [No. 6 seed]
Final: Aliassim [Seed 2] / Jannick Sinar [Seed 5]
2 Three consecutive titles by Casper Rudd
Norway's Casper Ruedd spent three memorable weeks in July. After winning three titles for Basstad, Görstad and Kitzbühel, Ruud became the ATP player to win three consecutive titles in three consecutive weeks after Andy Murray in October 2011. The 22-year-old has risen to 12th in the world rankings.
3 Is Kyrgios going to end his career?
Nick Kyrgios said at a citibank pre-match press conference last Sunday that he didn't miss the [game] in the days he left the game. The 26-year-old Australian will continue to say: "Every time I play on the tour I think it's my last, in Atlanta and in Washington. I'm confused with my career.
We hope that Kyrgios will reconsider this issue in the wake of the pandemic.
4 Andreescu will make a comeback in Canada
Not only has Bianca Andreescu resumed training in Canada, she will also compete in the Montreal Open. We also learned from gossip that she hired a famous coach , Sven Groneveld ( former coach of Sharapova, Ivanovic and other famous players ) , of course, this news has yet to be officially announced.
5 Federer in Croatia
The Swiss may opt out of the hard-court season, but the news of his visit to Ivan Lyubic in Croatia is expected to have excited many young fans. We can also see Federer's daughter hitting the ball on clay courts, as well as football superstar Thierry Henry.
6 Atlanta's "Beast" – John Isner
When it comes to the list of players in ATF history who have won at least 6 titles in the same event, Isner is definitely one of them. His consistently outstanding performances at at the Atlanta tournaments have made him so accomplished. After beating Brandon Nakajima in the final, the 36-year-old also joined Federer, Djokovic and Nadal as one of the oldest champions on the tour.
Appendix: List of players who have won at least six titles in the same tournament on the Tour:
Roger Federer: Seven events (Wimbledon, Australian Open, Cincinnati, Madrid,Madrid[original mistake, Federer has won only three titles in Madrid, translator's note]), Halley, Basel, ATF Finals, Dubai [original omission, Federer won eight championships in Dubai, translator's note])
Rafa Nadal: Four events (French Open, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Roma)
Novak Djokovic: Four events (Australian Open, Wimbledon, Miami, Beijing)
John Isner: One event (Atlanta)
7 Rising Star Mid-Island Brandon
Brandon Nakajima, a 19-year-old from San Diego, California, has been impressive on the tour over the past two weeks and has the potential to become the next rising star! The once third-placed junior team reached the finals of back-to-back events in Los Cabos and Atlanta. It was also the second young American player to achieve this feat since Andy Roddick in the 2001 season. During those two weeks, Nakajima's ATP points increased by 46 points, and the world ranking also rose from 135 to 89th.
8 Bouchard's new attempt
Bouchard, former world No. 5 (now 294) and Wimbledon women's singles runner-up, is good at playing tennis, but will she be so good at the live room? The star, who has just recovered from a shoulder injury, will be on the tennis channel this summer as a commentator.
9 Arthur Lindknecht has steadily improved on the Tour
The late French players continued to perform well in the 2021 season. The former NCAA star has so far reached the quarter-finals of five events, all this season. Last week at Kitzbühel, he reached the final four. Lindknecht has won five games against the top 50 players in the 2021 season, and his world ranking has reached a new high of 79, ranking 7th among French players in the world rankings.
10 New Tournament Director of Citibank Open
Keely O'Brien, who has been Citibank Open tournament director since 2017, will be replaced by Carlos Silva, who is also CEO of the World Tennis Team Championships.
Original source: https://www.tennismajors.com/atp/10-tennis-stories-you-might-have-missed-while-watching-the-tokyo-olympics-441797.html