U21 Race to Milan: Ugo Humbert closes on Tsitsipas, de Minaur and Tiafoe
Three ATP tournaments and two Challengers are behind us although there were no significant changes in the U21 Race to Milan list outside the Cerbourgh champion Ugo Humbert. The defending NextGen Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas is still miles in front after his Australian Open semi-final run, despite an early exit in Rotterdam and the second defeat in a row after losing to Monfils in the quarter-final in Sofia. Stefanos headlines the draw in Marseille, hoping for a better result and more points on his tally in the quest for the top-10 in the ATP rankings.
Just like in 2018, Alex de Minaur is unable to play February tournaments after Davis Cup, withdrawing from New York and no entering Delray Beach as well, staying on 385 points and in the second place behind Tsitsipas. The American Frances Tiafoe had the opportunity to pass the Aussie after taking a late wild card in New York but he is still on 360 points following an unexpected second-round loss to Jason Jung, moving to Delray Beach where he is the title defender. Denis Shapovalov stayed 4th on the list despite clinching 90 points in Rotterdam, beating Franko Skugor and Tomas Berdych before Stan Wawrinka toppled him in the quarters.
The Frenchman Ugo Humbert barely missed Milan berth in 2018 but he is eager to change that this season, especially after winning the title in Cherbourg in front of the home fans. Ugo saved all six break points against Steve Darcis to score a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win and earn 80 points that propelled him above five rivals who were not as good as him in the previous week. Chennai champion Corentin Moutet lost in the second round of Bangkok while Mikael Ymer skipped another week after playing for his country in Colombia in the first days of February. After a poor run in Cleveland and Dallas, Miomir Kecmanovic also decided to take a break, gathering energy for the next couple of weeks when he will try to improve his tally.
Alexei Popyrin failed to qualify for the main draw at Delray Beach this weekend and outside Ugo Humbert and Denis Shapovalov it was a rather quiet seven days on the Tour for the upcoming youngsters born in 1998 or later. U21 Race to Milan top-15 list:
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2SdbUWv
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