Lorenzo Musetti

Chengdu Open Continues Famous Panda Tradition

September 19, 2024 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

One of the most cherished traditions at the Chengdu Open is the chance for players to visit the region’s beloved native animal, the giant panda. This year, top seed Lorenzo Musetti and fourth seed Pedro Martinez took part in this unique experience, paying a visit to the renowned Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding earlier today.

“We went to see the giant pandas, and so much has changed since I was last here six years ago,” Musetti shared. “There are new, spacious enclosures with more indoor areas to create the best possible habitat for them. The pandas have this adorable way of looking lazy and tired, they’re incredibly fluffy with such sweet faces. They’re just really cute!”

The Chengdu Open continues to blend tennis with the cultural essence of the region, offering players unforgettable moments off the court.

Tickets for the 2024 Chengdu Open at the Sichuan International Tennis Center are now available through the Watch A Game App. The ticket prices provide incredible value for fans to watch some of the best tennis players in the world. More information is available on the tournament Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ChengduOpenTennis, as well as on Instagram @chengduopentennis.

The tournament is owned by IMG and organised by the Chinese Tennis Association and Chengdu Municipal Government, co-organised by the Chengdu Sports Bureau, Shuangliu District Government and the Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group, and promoted by IMG and the Sichuan Investment International Tennis Centre Development Co., Ltd.

The Chengdu Open is also very proud to have the support of our distinguished partners, including China Southwest Architecture, the ATP Tour’s Premier Partner Emirates, China Telecom, Voyah, Chengdu Rural Commercial Bank, Chengdu Bank, Yonex, Luminox, Gran Melia Chengdu, People’s Insurance Company of China, COFCO Coca-Cola, Kelme, Impulse and Youku, amongst others.

Roland Garros Day Eight Picks – Sabalenka, Muchova On Semifinal Collision Course

June 3, 2023 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

Aryna Sabalenka vs. Sloane Stephens

The first women’s night match at Roland Garros in 2023 features a battle of two former major winners in Aryna Sabalenka, the most recent major champion from the Australian Open earlier this year, and Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion. It’s, surprisingly, the first time Sabalenka has reached the second week at the French Open and her run won’t stop here. Sabalenka’s UTR is .80 better than Stephens so look for Sabalenka to advance here and again where she is on a collision course with Karolina Muchova, who has the best UTR in her quarter of the draw at 12.79, just better than Elise Mertens and Daria Kasatkina, who are both at 12.54.

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Lorenzo Musetti

Musetti upset Alcaraz to win his first ATP singles title in Hamburg last year also on clay, but that was before Alcaraz had the confidence of a major title in his back pocket. This will be an exciting match, but Alcaraz has just a little bit more confidence and experience on the big stages and will prevail here.

Novak Djokovic vs. Pablo Varillas

Novak Djokovic is a Secretariat to show wager here against the overachieving Peruvian, but, more importantly, the form Djokovic has shown so far at Roland Garros make him, in our opinion, the favorite to win the title.

Day Six Roland Garros Picks – Lorenzo Musetti Is On The Rise

June 2, 2023 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

Cam Norrie vs. Lorenzo Musetti

Cam Norrie is seeded No. 14 and Musetti in No. 17 in this closely matched third round match. Despite being the higher seed and the slightly better career resume, Norrie’s UTR is a 15.68 while Musetti is a 15.79. The Italian has had a decent clay court season, including a win over Norrie in three sets In Rome and a celebrated win over Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo. He is trending upwards so we will.

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Denis Shapovalov

Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed and favorite to win Roland Garros, but there are some keen observers of the game who are not 100 percent sold on Alcaraz at this event. If you are in this camp, you may want to take a flyer on Denis Shapovalov here as he Is one of the best shot-makers in tennis. However, sometimes – and more often lately – he has been misfiring, but if there is lightning in the bottle, Shapovalov has the talent to beat anyone in the world. Perhaps a win here could put some much needed confidence back to the left-handed Canadian. There is a huge discrepancy in UTRs between the two (15.82 vs. 16.31) which would predict an easy Alcaraz win, but if some of those shots connect from Shapovalov, then….you would get great odds.

Aryna Sabalenka vs. Kamilla Rakhimova

Today’s Secreteriat-To-Show pick is Aryna Sabalenka over Kamilla Rakhimova. Women’s tennis is very deep these days, but not this deep. Sabalenka is pretty quietly moving through the draw, even with the first-round handshake controversy with her Ukrainian opponent. She will move on quietly again after a win here.