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Aslan Karatsev overcame former World No. 1 Andy Murray once again on Saturday to reach the quarter-finals at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships.

The 30-year-old defeated Murray in the Sydney final in their only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in January 2022 and ensured he maintained his 100% record against the Scot with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory at the Chinese ATP 250 hard-court event.

Karatsev was aggressive off both wings throughout the two-hour and 54-minute clash. Murray offered up an increasing number of short balls as the match went on, with Karatsev hitting through the 36-year-old to seal his sixth Top 50 win of the year.

The World No. 63, who is chasing his first tour-level title since Sydney in 2022, will next face second seed Cameron Norrie or Australian qualifier Marc Polmans in his third quarter-final of the year.

Murray was aiming to reach his second tour-level quarter-final of the year after advancing to the final in Doha in February. The Scot has lifted five titles on Chinese soil, including three Shanghai crowns.

One of the most graceful players in ATP Tour history, Grigor Dimitrov has never been one to focus on cold, hard numbers. That is not to say the Bulgarian’s career stats do not hold up.

On Saturday, Dimitrov defeated Juan Pablo Varillas at the Chengdu Open for his 400th tour-level win, a milestone he later acknowledged he was unaware of while completing his 6-3, 6-4 victory.

“I’m a person that loves the game and I’ve, in a way, lived for the game,” the 32-year-old told ATPTour.com. “I think this [milestone] has been something for me that was not the most important thing, but at the same time I try to do the right things for the sport itself. I think when you do these things and you win, it adds up.

“This is an achievement in itself. For me, I never set myself a goal to have 500 or 300 wins or whatever it is. You just never know how it is going to be, but I’ve been on Tour for 14 years now so it’s nice when you have that approval and you’ve done it yourself out there. You’ve gone out there 400 times and won, so I think it’s pretty cool.”

Grigor Dimitrov poses for a selfie with fans after claiming his 400th tour-level win at the Chengdu Open. Photo Credit: Chengdu Open.

Surging towards the Top 20 and in the best form of his career, 2023 was going brilliantly for Jan-Lennard Struff until he lunged for a volley in Bordeaux shortly before Roland Garros.

A week earlier the German had come from qualifying to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final when beaten by World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in a high-quality decider.

This followed a string of strong Masters 1000 efforts where, after starting in qualifying, he won main draw matches at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo in the first half of the year. That saw the 33-year-old’s Pepperstone ATP Tour Ranking jump from 150 at the start of 2023 to a career-high 21 leading into his preferred stint of the season.

But then Struff, who plays Yoshihito Nishioka in a quarterfinal of the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships on Sunday, felt a sharp pain during an ATP Challenger in Bordeaux.

“I thought, ‘Mmmm, that is a strange feeling’, but I finished the match with no problems. And then, in the evening, I felt more of a problem,” he said. “When I woke up in the morning, I could not tie up my shoe laces, because I could not reach my shoes, so that was very tough.”

Roger Federer’s record-breaking career ended 12 months ago. The Swiss legend lifted 103 tour-level titles and faced many great battles during his playing days, competing against the world’s best in all corners of the globe year after year.

Today he no longer has the challenge of going toe-to-toe with long-time rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. However, the tests have continued to come for the 42-year-old…

Speaking at an on-court Q&A with Jim Courier at the Laver Cup on Friday, Federer gave insight into his life post-retirement and was quickly quizzed on life as a parent to four children, including two teenage twin girls.

“Days are long but at the same time, I feel I don’t have enough time because I pack my schedule up. Four kids will do that to you as well. I am a professional driver nowadays, organiser, logistics man. It is a test on another level,” Federer joked.

“I am just happy to be able to be allowed to live in my own house still," added Federer when asked specifically about his two teenage daughters. "They are amazing, I love them. But my god, I can’t believe who they are right now at 14. I feel like I have taught them everything and more and at the moment it is complicated but in a good way.

Team World had never finished Day 1 of the Laver Cup with a lead heading into this year’s edition of the team event. John McEnroe’s men set that record straight in style on Friday in Vancouver as they forged a 4-0 lead over Team Europe with a dominant evening session display.

After Ben Shelton and Francisco Cerundolo had earlier opened a 2-0 lead for Team World, Felix Auger-Aliassime downed Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-3 in the third and final singles clash of the day at Rogers Arena. Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe then held firm for a 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 triumph against Arthur Fils and Andrey Rublev in the first doubles clash of the three-day event.

Another win: sorted ☑️

Tiafoe and Paul secure Team World’s 4th win of the day ??@LaverCup | #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/4pY8dqwMDr

Auger-Aliassime, who has struggled to find his best form for much of 2023, broke Monfils’ serve twice in a five-game streak from 4-4 in the first set to take control of the pair’s encounter. The 23-year-old held firm behind serve, ultimately winning 85 per cent of points behind his first delivery en route to securing a 3-0 lead for his team.

“It felt nice,” said Canadian favourite Auger-Aliassime, who improved to 3-2 in Laver Cup singles matches with his triumph. “Last year, it was an amazing win in London, but if we can win on home soil for the first time, that would also be cool. It was our first win last year for Team World.

Grigor Dimitrov earned his 400th tour-level win on Saturday at the Chengdu Open, where he moved past Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250.

The Bulgarian, who is making his third appearance at the Chinese hard-court event, struck the ball cleanly in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Varillas. He also recovered from squandering a break advantage in the second set to advance after one hour and 26 minutes.

The 32-year-old captured his first win at an ATP Tour event in Rotterdam in 2009, defeating Tomas Berdych in three sets. Dimitrov has since lifted eight tour-level titles, rising to a career-high No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Dimitrov will next face Christopher O’Connell as he continues his quest for his first title of the season. Earlier this year, the World No. 20 reached the final in Geneva.

Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech also advanced, defeating Marcos Giron 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach his second tour-level quarter-final of the season. Rinderknech will next meet Lorenzo Musetti or Philip Sekulic.

One year ago, the sporting world stopped to watch Roger Federer say goodbye to competitive tennis at the Laver Cup in London.

The Swiss legend returned to the court one final time to team with his longtime friend and rival Rafael Nadal, treating fans to one last glimpse of his majestic game. Following a memorable doubles match against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe, which was decided in a Match Tie-break, Federer was celebrated in an on-court ceremony.

"We'll get through this somehow, will we? Right?,” an emotional Federer said during his on-court interview. “I’m happy, I’m not sad. It feels great to be here and I enjoyed tying my shoes one more time.

"Everything was the last time. The match was great, I couldn't be happier. It's been wonderful."

The former World No. 1 spoke at length, reflecting on his history-making career and thanking all those who played a part in his successes throughout the years.

Frances Tiafoe has become one of the most popular players on the ATP Tour in recent years, with his high energy, fun personality gaining him fans both in the stands and in the locker room.

The American, who starred in the first season of Break Point, recently showed off his fun side when he answered questions that were asked by his fellow stars on the ATP Tour and Hologic WTA Tour.

Quizzed by Andrey Rublev, Coco Gauff, Casper Ruud, Sebastian Korda, Mike Bryan and Jessica Pegula, Tiafoe recalled funny memories with Rublev, pushed off banter from Ruud and Pegula and discussed his love-hate relationship with his brother.

To learn what he said, watch the full video below.

Ben Shelton heard the doubters when he was selected by John McEnroe to make his Laver Cup debut for Team World. The American was happy to prove those naysayers wrong with his breakout semi-final run at the US Open, and he continued to repay McEnroe's faith on Friday with a straight-sets win against Team Europe's Arthur Fils.

In his first match since a defeat to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the New York semis, Shelton was a 7-6(4), 6-1 winner against France's Fils, earning defending champion Team World an early 1-0 lead in the first-to-13 event.

The American revelled in the team environment, constantly interacting with the Vancouver crowd and the Team World bench throughout the victory.

"Come on, Johnny!" Shelton shouted to McEnroe after winning six straight points to win the opening tie-break from 1-4. "Yeah baby!" was the captain's reply.

"It's been amazing," Shelton said of working with his fellow American lefty. "Just a few key pieces of advice I've picked up on over the last few days. It's been great to be around him, and his energy is unmatched. Having him as a captain at a team event is amazing. He definitely matches my energy out here on the court, and I'm happy to be playing for him and Team World."

Tennis is uniting once more through Tennis Plays For Love to support those in need in North Africa.

Following devastating events earlier this month — an earthquake in Morocco and floods in Libya — tennis’ seven governing bodies (ATP, WTA, ITF and the four Grand Slam tournaments) are coming together to raise funds to provide emergency relief and long-term support for the affected families and communities.

Donate Now Through GlobalGiving

Moroccan Hicham Arazi, the former World No. 22 and tournament director of the Grand Prix Hassan II, an ATP Tour event played in Marrakech, said: "The earthquake in Morocco has devastated communities and families throughout the Marrakech region, home of our ATP event. Many need our help. It is important to do our best to assist those in need. Funds raised will help provide food, clean water and necessary supplies to survivors, while also supporting longer-term relief and recovery. I thank in advance the tennis governing bodies, the players, my fellow former players, and our fans for doing their part and rally for those in need through Tennis Plays For Love.”

Another Moroccan, former World No. 14 Younes El Aynaoui, added: “The international solidarity has been amazing. But coming from the tennis family, having a thought for the Moroccan population, we are blessed, and we can’t thank you enough.”

Andy Murray loves a bit of banter. But when it comes to fantasy football, the Briton keeps receipts — as Cameron Norrie found out after his cheeky question to his countryman in the latest edition of The Tour: Player Questions.

Murray coolly answered Norrie's pointed query and sent a bit of spice back his friend's way, while also fielding questions from Grigor Dimitrov, Jack Draper, Denis Shapovalov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev.

The Q&A covers a wide range of topics, from Murray's penchant for marathon matches to his distaste for hair salons. He explains how, after sitting through a haircut for an excruciating one hour and 15 minutes, he settled on a more homemade option to tame his locks.

The former World No. 1 also mentions a Colombian singer as one of his recent go-to music listens, and looks back on the epic final game that ultimately earned him his first Wimbledon title in 2013.

Check out all that and more in the full video below.

Karen Khachanov earned his first tour-level win since June on Friday when he dispatched Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships.

The top seed was competing for just the second time since his quarter-final match at Roland Garros, where he suffered a stress fracture in his back. The 27-year-old looked sharp at the Chinese ATP 250 hard-court event, though, saving all 10 break points he faced to advance after one hour and 50 minutes.

"I played at the US Open but it was another tournament after the injury at Roland Garros and for me it was very important to get the rhythm and the matches," Khachanov said. "I feel better than three weeks ago at the US Open. I was looking to find the rhythm and find the form and it is very important for me now to play matches and be competitive."

Khachanov, who lost in the first round at the US Open on his return to Tour last month, has tasted success in China before, lifting his maiden tour-level trophy in Chengdu in 2016.

Khachanov will next face Mackenzie McDonald after the American clinched a comeback 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Belgian Kimmer Coppejans. The sixth seed has now earned a career-best 30 tour-level wins this season.

Jordan Thompson and Roman Safiullin set their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash for the Chengdu Open quarter-finals by each notching comfortable victories Friday at the Chinese hard-court ATP 250.

The World No. 56 Thompson did not face a break point in his 6-1, 7-6(1) triumph against Dusan Lajovic in Sichuan province. Despite letting two match points slip at 6-5 in the second set, the Australian charged through the tie-break to wrap victory in 89 minutes and reach his 17th ATP Tour quarter-final.

“It’s tough, but he played two very good points on them,” said Thompson when asked about the two missed match points. “I felt like I was in front the whole way, I was up 6-1 and also serving to start in the second set. So I always kept in front, but just couldn’t pull through.

“Credit to him because he started playing a lot better and serving well, but in the tie-breaker I just got out to a very big lead and that really helped.”

Following Thompson and Lajovic on Chengdu’s centre court were Safiullin and fourth seed Daniel Evans. The World No. 55 Safiullin wasted little time notching an upset as he converted four of his six break points in a 6-3, 6-3 triumph.

Team Europe may count four debutants among its six-strong roster for this year’s Laver Cup, but that does not mean there is any shortage of big-stage experience for captain Bjorn Borg to call upon this weekend in Vancouver.

With 42 ATP Tour titles between them, Borg is excited at the lineup he has to choose from this year as he aims to help Europe reclaim the trophy from Team World at the annual event.

“I'm very happy with my team. We had a good practice the whole week,” said Borg at Team Europe’s pre-tournament press conference. “I think it's going to be very interesting match. Unfortunately, we lost last year in London. That was a very big disappointment.

“I know that all these six guys are very eager to bring back the trophy to Europe… It's the best week of the year for me personally, and spend time with these great champions here, it's such a nice thing. The team we have together, it's wonderful. It's a very close team, and it should be in that kind of way.”

Team Europe came to serve ? pic.twitter.com/1qI3u1rFhy

Team World broke new ground at the Laver Cup in 2022, defeating Team Europe for the first time to lift the trophy in London.

Twelve months on and John McEnroe’s side is ready to go in Vancouver, where ATP Tour stars including Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will aim to guide Team World to a successful title defence.

“In the format, how it's always gone, it always comes down to the wire either way,” Fritz said when looking ahead to the sixth edition of the three-day event. “Europe has always been the favourite, but it's also been really close almost every year. Maybe we might be the favourites this year with winning last year and we have such a strong team, but we can't be thinking like that because it's probably going to come down to the wire either way, so we have to treat it like it's all the other years.”

[ATP APP]

Team World possesses Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and alternate Milos Raonic, Argentine Francisco Cerundolo and five Americans: Fritz, Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Christopher Eubanks, who like Raonic, is an alternate.

Cameron Norrie is determined to tick off another major career goal by the end of the year. The English star, who is in China for the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships on Saturday, believes he is ‘going to be pretty dangerous’ in the latter stages of 2023.

The 28-year-old is 15th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin. But Norrie is confident he is hitting the ball well enough to make a big leap forward over the next month in Asia and believes he can qualify for the ATP Tour Finals.

“At the start of the year that was a huge goal [but] there were a couple of things that got in the way of that, mostly in the level of my tennis,” Norrie said. “I've been really working hard to bring the quality up again in my practice sessions and my team has been great with me and I think I'm ready to have a big week again.

“Honestly, in previous years, I've thought I've played my best tennis here in Asia, but I never had a really big result. Someone always came up and beat me and played well against me. But I think I'm going to be pretty dangerous these next few weeks. It's going to take someone very good to stop me.”

[ATP APP]

The photos have been taken and practice is complete. On Friday, Team Europe and Team World will begin the 2023 Laver Cup in Vancouver. 

After taking official photos for the teams event on Wednesday, the stars made their final preparations on Thursday in Canada. The Order of Play for Day 1, when matches will be worth one point each, was also unveiled.

Recent US Open semi-finalist Ben Shelton will try to make a good start for defending champion Team World against fellow Laver Cup debutant Arthur Fils of Team Europe.

“Being back in a team environment, I feel really comfortable," Shelton said at his team's press conference Thursday. "Really excited to be on this team with these guys, guys that the last few years I’ve been watching tear it up on Tour and been watching tear it up in this event. So really happy to be here, excited to be kicking things off tomorrow and looking forward [to] the chance to set the tone for the team.”

A series of smiles ?@LaverCup | #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/sBGq9NRfuH

A first-round match on Thursday at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships featured one of the most interesting endings to a match in recent memory.

After Mackenzie McDonald polished off a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over #NextGenATP Chinese star Shang Juncheng, who was struggling physically with cramp, the American jogged to Shang’s side of the court. McDonald put Shang on his back and carried him to his chair.

“I knew he was struggling so I ran to him to shake his hand,” McDonald told ATPTour.com. “He said, ‘Good match’, and he said, ‘Can you help me to the bench?’ I said, ‘Hop on’. So he jumped on my back and I carried him over to the bench and he said, ‘Good match, man.’”

Still friends ?@mackiemacster passes a tough test against Shang 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3!@ZhuhaiChampions | #ZhuhaiChampionships pic.twitter.com/kOznQVQJd9

The clip of the competitors enjoying a light-hearted moment after a tough battle quickly went viral on social media. McDonald needed two hours and 36 minutes to win the match, but just seconds to earn plenty of fans around the world.

Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul booked a quarter-final spot Thursday at the Chengdu Open, but the top seeds were made to battle to the final point by Robin Haase and Bart Stevens in a tense doubles encounter at the ATP 250.

Doumbia and Reboul were two points from defeat at 7/8 in the Match Tie-break but did not face match point as they held firm for a 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 victory in China’s Sichuan province. The French duo’s 89-minute victory was based a solid serving performance, as it won 88 per cent (35/40) of points behind first serves.

Currently 17th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings after reaching one championship match and four other semi-finals at ATP Tour events this year, Doumbia and Reboul will hope a deep run in Zhuhai can kick-start a late charge towards qualification for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Their next test in Zhuhai is a last-eight clash against John Peers and Roman Safiullin, who also enjoyed Match Tie-break success as they downed home wild cards Cui Jie and Wang Aoran 6-0, 4-6, 10-7.

[ATP APP]

Marcos Giron bounced back from a tough run of results in style Thursday at the Chengdu Open. The American downed fifth seed and 2019 finalist Alexander Bublik 7-6(6), 6-3 to reach the second round at the Chinese ATP 250.

Faced with fast conditions ideally suited to Bublik’s big-serving, free-hitting game, Giron rallied from 0-2 and then crucially held firm to claim a see-saw first-set tie-break that featured seven mini-breaks. The World No. 64 carried that momentum to an ultimately unassailable 5-0 lead in the second set as he snapped a four-match losing streak at all levels in 101 minutes.

Solid performance ?@marcos_giron93 gets the better of Bublik 7-6(6), 6-3 and advances to the second round!@ChengduOpen | #ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/h6d1rOUsAR

“Bublik obviously is an incredible player,” said Giron, who now leads Bublik 3-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “He has so much potential, so much weaponry, and you never know really what’s going to come.

“The first set really was a battle. It was so important. He had a lot of break points, but I played well when I needed to. He served well and that’s what he is [always] going to do, so I knew in the breaker he was not going to give it to me, and I’m really happy with that."