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Alex de Minaur improved to 10-2 at ATP 500 events this season when he dispatched Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-2 at the Cinch Championships on Thursday.

The Australian defeated Andy Murray in the first round in London and backed that up with a dominant display against Schwartzman, limiting errors off both wings to outlast the 30-year-old in baseline exchanges.

With his 63-minute win, the seventh seed reached his 30th tour-level quarter-final and sixth of the season. De Minaur will continue the quest for his second title of the year against Taylor Fritz or Adrian Mannarino. The 24-year-old captured his first ATP 500 title in Acapulco in February.

De Minaur has often found his best level on grass, highlighted by his run to the crown in Eastbourne in 2021. The World No. 18 also advanced to the last four at The Queen’s Club two years ago, with his best result at Wimbledon a fourth-round appearance last season.

In 2019, Czech star Tomas Berdych announced his retirement from tennis after a storied 17-year career. In the same year, countryman Jiri Lehecka made his tour-level debut, representing his nation in the Davis Cup.

Four years on and the 21-year-old Lehecka is the face of Czech men’s tennis, the same position former World No. 4 Berdych held season after season. The World No. 36, who faces Carlos Alcaraz at the Cinch Championships on Thursday, has already achieved a series of impressive results on Tour. He advanced to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January and reached the semi-finals in Rotterdam (2022) and Doha (2023).

His success caught the attention of Berdych, who after spending time with Lehecka in Dubai, decided to join the team on a more regular basis.

“It is great having Tomas with me,” Lehecka told ATPTour.com in London. “He was in Monte-Carlo and he was in Rome and he will join us on Sunday here in London to do two weeks here at Wimbledon. I think that the cooperation works well.”

Berdych captured 13 tour-level titles in his career, including an ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris in 2005. He was in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from July 2010 until October 2016, reaching the Wimbledon final in 2010.

Fresh off their first title of the season in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski overcame a stern test Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals at the Cinch Championships.

The top seeds survived a hard-fought battle against defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 10-7. Neither team faced a break point throughout the one-hour, 54-minute contest.

The British-Dutch duo will next face Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, who won this year’s ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells and defeated Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 7-6(8), 7-6(5) on Wednesday.

[ATP APP]

Third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury also advanced after they moved past Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan 7-6(4), 7-6(4). In quarter-final action, Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka escaped Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-6.

Kei Nishikori will continue his return to competition on the ATP Challenger Tour in July, he announced on Twitter.

The former World No. 4, who triumphed at last week’s Palmas del Mar Challenger in his first tournament since October 2021, will next be in action at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The hard-court event runs from 3-9 July.

The following week, the Japanese star will compete at the Chicago Men’s Challenger. Nishikori, 33, is hoping to then return to tour-level action, as early as the ATP Tour events in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Despite playing his first tournament in 20 months, the 12-time tour-level titlist produced a high level to lift the trophy at last week’s Caribbean Open. Nishikori dropped just one set en route to his first title at any level since 2018.

Nishikori, who underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year, moved to World No. 492 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings following his triumph in Puerto Rico.

Alexander Zverev’s 2023 season continued to gain momentum Wednesday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where the home favourite eased past Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Zverev broke Shapovalov’s serve in the opening game of the match on OWL Arena and barely looked back as he wrapped a 75-minute triumph in which he did not face a break point. The German won 82 per cent (28/34) points behind his first serve as he rode vociferous home support to his first Halle quarter-final since 2019.

Calm ➕ Confident

@AlexZverev | @ATPHalle | #TerraWortmannOpen pic.twitter.com/bEZsY71rbF

“I’m very happy with today,” said Zverev after defeating former Wimbledon semi-finalist Shapovalov. “I’m especially happy with how I returned. I think the first return I missed was in the middle of the second set, so with that part I’m very happy.

“Moving forward, it’s not going to get easier. Nicolas Jarry is somebody that has an extremely big game, extremely suitable for grass courts, but I’m looking forward to the match.”

Holger Rune halted Ryan Peniston’s hopes of a second consecutive dream run at the Cinch Championships on Wednesday.

The second seed, who began the week with an 0-3 tour-level record on grass, defeated the home favourite 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at Queen’s Club. He will next play sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who clawed past Ben Shelton in three sets earlier in the day.

“I think the most important is that I came with a very, very humble approach to the surface and [was] ready to adjust it at any moment,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “I played Ryan last year, so I knew more of what I was coming into. Last year I didn’t see him play so much, but I’ve seen him over the year now and he’s a great player, especially on this surface.

“He’s dangerous. He makes you move and we all know how tough it is to move on grass, so I’m happy to come through.”

[ATP APP]

What better 30th anniversary present for the Terra Wortmann Open than a visit from ATP Tour greatness?

Ten-time champion Roger Federer was the guest of honour Wednesday at the ATP 500 event in Halle, where a special ceremony was held to mark the Swiss' achievements inside OWL Arena. The 103-time tour-level champion admitted it was surreal to drop back in on the ATP Tour after he played his final professional event at the Laver Cup last September.

“This is my first time back to a tournament [since I retired], so it feels a little bit strange in a very good way,” Federer told ATP Media on the tournament’s ‘Roger Federer Day’. “I always feel once you’ve retired you need a proper purpose to come back, and that’s why we are here to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the tournament here in Halle.”

Unconditional love ?

❤️ @rogerfederer @ATPHalle | #TerraWortmannOpen pic.twitter.com/it5h7TzvUx

Federer boasted a 69-8 career record in Halle, where he triumphed in 2003-06, 2008, 2013-15, 2017 and 2019. He is an integral part of the history of the tournament, and photos of the Swiss lifting the trophy still adorn the site in north-west Germany.

Cameron Norrie dug deep in front of his home fans Wednesday to deny Jordan Thompson a second-round upset at the Cinch Championships.

The fifth-seeded Briton prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Thompson at the Queen’s Club to reach the quarter-finals for the second time at the grass-court ATP 500. Norrie won 10 of the final 13 games of the match to complete an impressive turnaround after ‘s-Hertogenbosch finalist Thompson had taken charge in west London.

Delivering on home soil ?@cam_norrie reaches his sixth ATP Tour quarter-final of the season, navigating past Thompson, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2!@QueensTennis | #cinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/XeZZv0xerp

“I think it was the perfect match,” said Norrie. “Jordan obviously really likes the grass and he played a really solid first set. He played a couple of good points to break me, and I played a couple of loose points, and that was the difference in the first set. I actually thought I played great, so I didn’t really have to change too much.

“He dropped his level slightly [in the second set]. I came up with a few points and it was just like classic grass-court tennis. I was able to come out with a lot more energy in that third set and I think that was the difference. There wasn’t much in it, and it was a really good match to get through.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Feliciano Lopez have accepted wild cards into next week’s Mallorca Championships.

Tsitsipas, who is still competing this week in Halle, won the Mallorca tournament on his debut last year. The Greek battled past Roberto Bautista Agut in a final-set tie-break for the trophy.

[ATP APP]

Auger-Aliassime will be making his tournament debut after withdrawing from Halle this week due to a left knee injury. The Canadian has not yet competed this grass-court season after a first-round exit at Roland Garros.

“I’m very excited to come there for the first time,” Auger-Aliassime said in a video for the ATP 250 event. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about the tournament.”

Daniil Medvedev hung tough on the Halle grass Wednesday at the Terra Wortmann Open, where the top seed overcame stern resistance from Laslo Djere to notch a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 second-round victory.

Medvedev delivered a high-level performance in a two-hour, 10-minute encounter but was forced into a deciding set on OWL Arena after Djere rallied from 1/4 to claim the second-set tie-break. Just as he had in the opening set, however, Medvedev raced clear with an early break of Djere’s serve in the third to reach his 10th tour-level quarter-final of 2023.

Perfectly constructed ?@DaniilMedwed claims the first set 6-3 ? Djere!@ATPHalle | #TerraWortmannOpen pic.twitter.com/NQFdwPR4VO

“Grass is so tough for me,” said Medvedev, when asked about how he handled the surface during his win. “You can actually play a perfect match and lose on two tie-breaks, so it’s a little bit strange for me. When I see top players like Roger [Federer], from one side they can seem like aliens but you try to see the best in them, and how they are able on this surface, where it’s sometimes tricky to beat anyone, to have so many titles. Wimbledon, Halle, whatever.

“It’s just amazing and that’s what I try to watch. Happy to win and looking forward to the next matches.”

Wimbledon announced a majority of its wild cards on Wednesday, headlined by main draw singles wild cards for former Top 10 star David Goffin and British lefty Liam Broady.

Six of the eight men’s main draw singles wild cards were revealed. Joining Goffin and Broady in the field will be ATP Accelerator Programme qualifier Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski, George Loffhagen and Ryan Peniston, who is still in action this week at the Cinch Championships. Two main draw singles wild cards are still to be allocated.

Goffin has enjoyed success at SW19 in the past, having advanced to at least the fourth round four times, including quarter-final runs in 2019 and 2022, his two most recent appearances.

Fery of Stanford University was one of several ATP Accelerator Programme qualifiers who received a wild card into one of the tournament's draws. Those players were not given a place in Wimbledon because of the programme, but they will benefit from Accelerator spots into future ATP Challenger Tour events.

Johannus Monday of the University of Tennessee and Toby Samuel of the University of South Carolina were awarded qualifying singles wild cards. 

Why was filming with Nick Kyrgios different than expected? Why was Break Point Season 1 released in two parts? What was a memorable moment left in the editing room?

Break Point Executive Producer Paul Martin revealed all that and more in an exclusive interview with ATPTour.com.

What did you and the team learn from the reaction to the first five episodes that you implemented in the next five?
It's a good question. Whenever you do these types of shows, as you go along, your access and your understanding of the world just naturally gets better. And I would say that across all our shows — across Drive to Survive, Full Swing. I think by the time we got to Wimbledon and obviously then into the US Open and beyond, we sort of really found our stride in terms of the access, the relationships, just the bigger understanding of the world. So I think it was less a reaction to the first five, the audience's reaction to that.

At that point, we were in the edit, there was very little room to really change anything if we'd wanted. And I think it was just more a reaction to just having a better understanding of the world when we were producing the last five episodes. So I would say that that was the biggest change, just a deeper understanding of the tennis world, the personalities, the characters, and all that stuff.

You mentioned Drive to Survive and Full Swing. Those shows have come out in the past in one batch. How different was it working on a split season?
I think it was an interesting challenge. It was something we hadn't done before. It was partly the scheduling of it and we wanted to get something out before the Australian Open. Just the nature of the schedule meant that we couldn't get to a stage where we could get all 10 episodes out before that.

Nick Kyrgios is a captivating character, so it was no surprise the sixth episode of Break Point Season 1 heavily featured the inimitable Australian.

After recapping Part 1 of Netflix’s hit tennis documentary series, the show turned its attention to Wimbledon. For those unfamiliar with the grass-court major, Break Point detailed the royal aura around the tournament, juxtaposing the atmosphere with Kyrgios.

“I’m not going to conform to a bunch of old rules. I don’t care who you are or what you are because I know I’m not really accepted,” Kyrgios said. “I’m just hungry now. I’m channeling it. If I win Wimbledon, it’s like a middle finger to everyone.”

Watch Episode 6 Trailer:

Early in Break Point, film crews followed Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis during their run to the Australian Open doubles title. Little did anyone know that the Australian would have an even bigger effort in him later in the year. 

After five months of waiting, the time has come. The final five episodes of Break Point Season 1 are now live on Netflix.

The first five episodes of the hit docuseries were launched in January. Now fans can watch the rest of the season, further getting to know stars like Nick Kyrgios and Taylor Fritz, while being introduced to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe.

The five episodes that are now live are as follows:

Episode 6 - Belonging
Tournament Focus: Wimbledon
Players Featured: Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Ajla Tomljanovic

Episode 7 - Saints and Sinners
Tournament Focus: Wimbledon
Players Featured: Nick Kyrgios, Ons Jabeur

Carlos Alcaraz kept alive his chances of reclaiming World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings next Monday with his three-set win over Arthur Rinderknech in the first round of the Cinch Championships.

The 20-year-old Spaniard will climb past World No. 1 Novak Djokovic next week if he wins the title at the ATP 500 grass-court event. Anything less and recent Roland Garros champion Djokovic will remain No. 1.

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings (as of 20 June)

Every match counts for Alcaraz, though. Since no points are being defended at Wimbledon this year, he will want to stick as close to Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as possible, even if he is unable to return to No. 1 immediately.

Djokovic is closing in on history. The 36-year-old has held World No. 1 for 389 weeks in his career, more than any man or woman in tennis history. He is trying to become the first to sit atop tennis’ mountain for 400 weeks.

Daniel Evans and Lloyd Glasspool made a winning start Tuesday at the Cinch Championships, where they defeated Liam Broady and Jonny O'Mara 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance and set a blockbuster second-round clash against Roland Garros champions Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

Evans and Glasspool won five consecutive games after falling to a 1-4 deficit in the second set to survive their countrymen Broady and O'Mara.

Also in action at the Queen's Club, Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin saved two match points to escape Julian Cash and Luke Johnson 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 14-12.

[ATP APP]

Halle
Qualifiers Albano Olivetti and David Vega Hernandez scored the upset of the day when they rallied to beat second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-8 at the Terra Wortmann Open. In the Match Tie-break, Olivetti and Vega Hernandez won all nine points behind their serve to seal the victory.

Andy Murray is not overreacting to a first-round exit Tuesday at the Cinch Championships. The 36-year-old is instead considering how well he has competed the past month, in which he has claimed two ATP Challenger Tour titles on grass.

The former World No. 1 was unable to extend his winning run in west London, with Alex de Minaur ousting the record five-time Queen’s Club champion 6-3, 6-1. Despite the defeat, Murray is choosing to draw on the positives.

“Obviously after today, it's easy to overreact. I lost to a good player and it was obviously very comfortable,” Murray said in his post-match press conference. “But at the same time, over the past couple of weeks, yes, it's obviously not the same level of opponents, but I won the [Nottingham Challenger] last week without dropping a set.

“I only lost one set in Surbiton. Was holding serve very comfortably. Was moving well, hitting the ball well. There are a lot of positive signs there.”

World No. 38 Murray will next head to the All England Club, where he will be celebrating the 10th anniversary since his first Wimbledon. Murray also triumphed at the season’s third major in 2016. The 46-time tour-level titlist will enjoy some downtime before playing his home Slam.

Re-built and ready for grass, Sebastian Korda is hoping to see the effects of his recent work with fitness trainer Jez Green when he continues his comeback from injury at the Cinch Championships this week.

The American was sidelined for three months following the Australian Open due to a wrist injury, but made the time out count, teaming with Green in a bid to bulk up.

“It was a long period of time out, but in some ways it was good and in some ways it was bad. I couldn't play for a long time, but I had a really good opportunity to kind of work on my body with my new fitness trainer Jez Green and I am just very excited to be on grass,” Korda told ATPTour.com “I am still kind of getting the legs and the body used to playing tennis again, but I am slowly and surely getting there.”

[ATP APP]

Green, who has worked with former World No. 1 Andy Murray, joined Korda’s team earlier this year and quickly devised a new fitness plan for the 22-year-old. The American provided insight into their recent work.

Alexander Zverev delivered a rock-solid performance Tuesday to down Dominic Thiem at the Terra Wortmann Open. It was both men's first grass-court match since 2021.

The home favourite Zverev prevailed 6-3, 6-4 at Halle’s OWL Arena to advance to a second-round clash against Denis Shapovalov. Zverev kept Thiem under pressure throughout with a sublime serving performance during which he saved the only break point he faced, with the 26-year-old finishing having won 85 per cent (29/34) of points behind his first delivery.

With his 79-minute triumph, Zverev improved to 4-8 in his ATP Head2Head series with Thiem. The World No. 22 now holds a 13-6 record in Halle, where he reached the final in 2016 (l. to Mayer) and 2017 (l. to Federer).

More to follow…

Carlos Alcaraz survived a major scare on Tuesday to earn victory on his Cinch Championships debut. The Spaniard rallied from a set down to move past French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) at the ATP 500.

Competing in his third tour-level grass-court event and first outside of Wimbledon, the top seed took time to adjust to the conditions. After dropping the first set, Alcaraz improved his movement on the slick London lawns. He used the drop shot effectively in the second set to level, before battling from a break down in the decider to advance after two hours and 34 minutes.

“It was really difficult for me at the beginning to adapt my tennis, my game to the grass,” Alcaraz said. “For me it is tough playing here but of course I enjoyed playing on the grass and playing at Queen’s. It is a tournament that I really wanted to play. It was a good performance from me on my first match on grass.

“I have never played a tournament except Wimbledon on grass and I wanted to play here. I have watched this tournament on TV and I always thought it looked like a beautiful place to play and be. I am enjoying every single second. The crowd was amazing and the court was unbelievable.”

The 20-year-old, who was playing for the first time since his Roland Garros semi-final defeat against Novak Djokovic, will next meet Jiri Lehecka after the Czech downed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(4), 6-3.