By: Aaron Xiong

In the world of sports, it can be anyone’s day. The famous quote, “You win some, you lose some” couldn’t be more apparent in the sport of tennis. One point can sway the momentum of the match towards another’s favor. Not even the top players are invincible and that was apparent at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (Rotterdam Open).

World number 3 and top seed at this year’s Rotterdam Open, Daniil Medvedev, loss in the opening round of the tournament to Serbian Dusan Lajovic in straight sets [7-6(7-4), 6-4]. The Russian is coming off a deep run at the Australian Open where he reached the final and loss to Novak Djokovic. Medvedev also attained a personal high ranking of world number 3 following the Australian Open.

In what he had hoped to be a successful tournament, Medvedev found himself over powered by Lajovic who hit 15 winners and improves his record to 2-1 against Medvedev. Had Medvedev reached the final of the Rotterdam Open, he would’ve reached the world number 2 spot in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Another surprising loss at this year’s Rotterdam Open was by world number 7 and third seed Alexander Zverev. Similar to Daniil Medvedev, Zverev was also coming off a decent run at the Australian Open after making the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion, Novak Djokovic.

The towering German was also looking to make a deep run as the third seed but ran into Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik. Bublik, who has stated in the past that he doesn’t find tennis entertaining and is only playing for the prize money, put on a show against the world number 7 in their first round matchup. Bublik served up 5 aces to Zverev’s one, while also keeping his first serve percentage at a stunning 85% to win the match in [7-5, 6-3].

In what has been a mind boggling first round at the Rotterdam Open, all eyes turn to world number 6 and second seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas as the favorite with Daniil Medvedev and Zverev out.. Tsitsipas pulled out a narrow victory over Bulgaria’s Egor Gerasimov in straight sets. Tsitsipas will face Hubert Hurkacz from Poland in the second round with his eyes set on that trophy.

By: Aaron Xiong

With the conclusion to the 2021 Australian Open, players are looking towards other hard court tournaments before the clay season begins. On the list of the bigger tournaments for the men’s tour is the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, and the Miami Open.

The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament which is held in Rotterdam, Netherlands was fortunate enough to hold this tournament due to declining number in COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands. Highlighting this tournament is new world number 3 Daniil Medvedev who is the top seed at this tournament and is looking to add another trophy to his collection. Other big names are world number 6 and second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, world number 7 and third seed Alexander Zverev and Russian Andrey Rublev as the fourth seed to round off the four quarters of the draw. With this tournament being a level 500 tournament which sees the winner winning 500 ranking points, the title is up for grabs during the first week of March as the players head to Europe.

Looking to the Middle East where several tournaments are played is the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Tennis legend Roger Federer will making his 2021 debut after missing over a year of match play due to injuries and surgeries that sidelined him in early 2020. Federer has been teasing fans about his comeback for months by counting down the days to his return in Qatar on his Instagram account. The 20 time Grand Slam champion has made several remarkable comebacks after missing portions of seasons such as the 2017 season. In 2017, Federer did the impossible and won his 18th and 19th Grand Slam titles after missing the ladder half of 2016 due to a knee injury he sustained at Wimbledon. Federer would go on to win the 2017 Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, as well as the Sunshine Double (Both Indian Wells and Miami Masters titles), and the Shanghai Masters. With experience on his side and the crowd behind him, Roger Federer will take the stage starting March 8th in Qatar.

Later in March, tournaments like the ATP 500 Dubai Open and the Miami Masters will be held. These tournaments will round up the Spring hard court season as the clay court season will begin starting in April.

By: Aaron Xiong

Ever since the sneaker collaboration between tennis icon Roger Federer and Michael Jordan on the Nike Zoom Vapor 9.5 and the Air Jordan 3 in 2014, styling your footwear has never been more popular these days. Back in 2020 when Nike had made a statement regarding a new performance tennis shoe in the works, the anticipation had built as a new silhouette would hit the courts in 2021. During the second week of this year’s Australian Open, Nike released the new NikeCourt React Vapor NXT.

The newest iteration of the ever popular Vapor line of tennis shoes provides tough plastic and rubber compounds in high wear areas such as the medial and lateral sides of the shoe. The outsole features a new “data informed design” to help players slide on the hardcourts according to the Nike website. The traction is a modified herringbone traction pattern to help keep you stable but not hindering your ability to slide into shots.

Nike’s newest cushioning technology has also made it’s way into the NikeCourt React Vapor NXT. As it states in the name itself, the Nike React technology is placed into the midsole to offer a low to the ground feeling without losing that the responsiveness that most tennis shoes possess. Although weighing in a lot heavier than past Nike Vapor models at 15.8 Oz according to the tennis warehouse website, the Vapor NXT is still a solid shoe for players of all different skill level.

The NikeCourt React Vapor NXT is available on the Nike website and other tennis specific retailor website in a full size run for both men and women.