Jared Donaldson

Jared Donaldson, Mikael Ymer Gain Chinese Culture In Chengdu

September 24, 2017 by tennisbloggers

Two young ATP stars from the Chengdu Open main draw – American Jared Donaldson and wild card Swede Mikael Ymer – visited ‘Wangjian Lou’, one of Chengdu’s cultural attractions that roughly translates as ‘river view pavilion,’ as part of the event.

The duo took part in a game of mini-tennis in the park before learning the ancient local art of Calligraphy from a ‘sifu’ (master).

“There are not a lot of similarities between American and Chinese culture – we don’t have bamboo and cultural places like this. It’s a really beautiful setting. I remember learning calligraphy in the 4th grade but I haven’t practiced it since – I think it did a good job though! I’m lucky to have this opportunity to visit places like these as a profession tennis player, my friends would be jealous! I love playing tennis in Asia and in China. The atmosphere is great and it’s very cool to experience all these different cultures,” said the 20-year-old ATP Next Gen star Donaldson.

It’s my first time in China and Asia, so it’s really amazing. This place is very special and I’ve never seen anything like this. The bamboo is beautiful and the master was very nice to show us how to paint the calligraphy. I’m quite amazed we managed to do it quite well. Everyone is so nice here in China, the people and the tournament staff are all amazing. It’s very well organised. To explore places like this at eighteen or nineteen is really a privilege,” said the 19-year-old Swede.

There will be free admission to qualifying round matches and court 1 and 2 matches. Tickets for the Chengdu Open main draw center court matches through to the finals will range in price from RMB 30 to RMB 400 and are available through www.damai.cn and www.piao.com.cn.

The tournament is owned by IMG and is organized by the Chinese Tennis Association and Chengdu Municipal Government, is co-organized by Chengdu Sports Bureau, Shuangliu District Government and Chengdu Culture Tourism Group and is promoted by Sichuan Investment International Tennis Centre Development Co., Ltd., CCTV IMG (Beijing) Sports Management Co. Ltd. and IMG Sports Development (Shanghai) Limited.

The Chengdu Open is also very proud to have the distinguished support from ATP World Tour’s Premier Partner Emirates, the official player hotel St. Regis, Chengdu which fast became a favourite of the players, Srixon tennis balls, the Sichuan Tennis International Hotel which is conveniently located adjacent to the courts and providing efficient services to the tournament, the official sponsor Chengdu Better City, the official car Unicorn, the official apparel Erke, the official gym equipment Life Fitness, the official Chinese tea Sichuan Mengding Tea Co. Ltd., the official stringer Yonex and the official water Ice Age. The Official media partners are Iqiyi Sports, West China Metropolis, Chengdu Radio and TV Station, Chengdu Daily, CTA APP, Shenzhen Hundred-Meter Life Shares Co., Ltd., and Tennis World.

Mikael Ymer and Jared Donaldson in Chengdu

Qualifier Jared Donaldson Reaches Third Round In Breakthrough Major

September 1, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

American qualifier Jared Donaldson reached the third round of the US Open on Thursday as he defeated Viktor Troicki of Serbia in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3 6-3.

Not only does the win for Donaldson send him into the third round of a major for the first time in just his second appearance, but it will also propel him to a new career high ranking inside the Top 100.

Coming into the US Open, Donaldson was in fine form as he qualified for the tour level events in Washington, D.C. and Toronto, while totaling five tour level main draw wins. Two of those came over Fabio Fognini and Nicolas Almagro, and he was surely expecting to receive a wild card into the US Open.

When the list of wild cards was announced, though, the 19-year old, who is coached by Taylor Dent, was snubbed and was forced to win three matches in the qualifying tournament. With a chip on his shoulder and the feeling that he still had something to prove, he won his three qualifying matches with ease, not dropping a single set and only getting taken beyond 6-3 twice.

After that impressive run in qualifying, the No. 122 player in the world continued to impress as he pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the opening round, beating the No. 12 seed David Goffin in four sets, including a bagel in the fourth set.

With risen expectations on his shoulders, Donaldson, who only has one challenger level title and three futures level titles to his name, showed no signs of extra stress or pressure as he strolled into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and left with a routine win over a perennial Top 40 player in Troicki.

After going down an early break in the first set and staring down a 4-1 deficit, Donaldson started to show off the good form that he had been displaying all summer, winning six of the next eight games, including two breaks, to take the first set.

From the point in the first set when it was 4-1 in Troicki’s favor, Donaldson clearly became the better player as it looked like he was the veteran on the court and Troicki was the teenager. The American quickly found himself up a double break in the second set, breaking the No. 35 player in the world in his first two service games of the set.

Troicki would get one break back, but it did not phase Donaldson as he was able to break back later in the ninth game to close out the set and grab a two sets lead.

In the third set, Troicki kept it much tighter and even had a look at two break points early on. The American was able to fight those off at 1-1, though, and didn’t look back. Donaldson would go on to break for a 4-2 lead before fighting back from a 0-30 whole in each of his next two service games to close out the straight sets win.

Donaldson will either face fellow American Donald Young or Ivo Karlovic in the third round.

Five American Teens Playing This Week In Memphis – Passing Shots with Kevin Craig

February 8, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

Victor Estrella Burgos became just the seventh player on the ATP to win a title after turning 35 years old since 1980 as he won his second title in Quito in a row this week. Jaime Fillol, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Fabrice Santoro, Tommy Haas, and Ivo Karlovic were the previous six to do so.
Dustin Brown reached his first career ATP semifinal in Montpellier this week after going 0-8 in ATP quarterfinal matches to start off his career.
Paolo Lorenzi earned his first Top 20 win in a completed match in Quito this week after defeating Bernard Tomic. Lorenzi was previously 0-22 against Top 20 opponents.
In Memphis this week, five American teens are playing in an ATP main draw for the first time since the 2006 US Open. Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, and Taylor Fritz received wild cards and were joined by Michael Mmoh and Jared Donaldson via qualifying.
Alex Zverev became only the second player on the ATP this season to reach the semifinals of both the singles and doubles at the same event. In Montpellier, he made the semifinals in singles before losing to Paul-Henri Mathieu, while also making the final of the doubles event with his brother Mischz Zverev, losing out to Mate Pavic and Michael Venus. Benoit Paire was the previous player to make the semifinals of both the singles and doubles at the same event, doing so in Chennai in the first week of the year.
Kyle Edmund and Daniel Evans played in only the second all-British challenger final, the first of which that took place outside of Great Britain. The previous all-British challenger final took place in Nottingham in 2005 with Alex Bogdanovic beating Mark Hilton. Edmund won the final with Evans in straight sets,
19 year old Blake Mott of Australia won his first challenger title this week after only having three previous challenger main draw wins and being ranked outside of the Top 700.
Taylor Fritz