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Cameron Norrie celebrating victory at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon has become a familiar scene in recent years.

On Wednesday, the World No. 14 sealed his record-extending 12th match win at the clay-court ATP 250 by defeating David Goffin 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. The 2021 finalist and 2022 champion saved five of six break points he faced en route to an 89-minute triumph, his 50th tour-level clay victory.

“It’s such a special tournament for me, winning my first clay 250 this time last year, and I really like this tournament, "said Norrie in his on-court interview. "It’s pretty unique, in a cycling velodrome in the middle of a park, and it’s always the start of summer for me. I feel really good here… It’s good to be back and good to get a straight-sets win today.”

With his win, Norrie improved to 26-9 for the season. After early exits in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, the 27-year-old is hoping to build on his fourth-round run in Rome last week as he chases his second ATP Tour title of the year.

“I was happy, I felt like I could have moved a little bit better, but it’s always a few nerves in the first match,” said Norrie of his display against Goffin. “I was able to control those in the first set, and I was down an early break in the second and I was able to fight back.”

The bigger the tournament, the higher the stakes.

Netflix released its first look at Break Point Season 1, Part 2 on Wednesday and revealed that the next batch of episodes will premiere on 21 June.

The hit tennis documentary series debuted in January with five episodes, which followed the new generation trying to claim the spotlight with some of tennis’ legends reaching the twilight of their careers.

That theme comes to the forefront in this first look, which teases a look at Serena Williams' 2022 US Open run. The clip also demonstrates the aura of competing at Flushing Meadows, with celebrities and fans everywhere you look.

“The energy and the amount of people, you can feel the noise and that’s different,” Paul Annacone said. “You better be able to manage that because even if you think it’s not going to grab you, I promise you it will.”

Roger Federer sent tennis fans around the world into a frenzy on Tuesday when he answered questions on Twitter.

Naturally, some fans asked about Federer’s rivalry with Rafael Nadal. Does the Swiss miss playing the Spaniard?

yes and no ?

Federer and Nadal played many memorable matches that will be spoken about for years to come. Which was the 20-time major winner’s favourite?

RG 2008. Those 4 games were awesome. ?

Yannick Hanfmann maintained his strong clay-court form Tuesday when he overcame Mattia Bellucci in the first round of Roland Garros qualifying.

Hanfmann, who is at a career-high No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, ousted the Italian 7-6(3), 6-4 to kick off his quest to play in the Roland Garros main draw for the first time since 2019. That year, the German advanced through qualifying before losing to Rafael Nadal in the opening round.

The 31-year-old has enjoyed success throughout the clay-court season, reaching the semi-finals at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open and quarter-finals at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where he fell to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev.

[ATP APP]

In other qualifying action, top seed Aslan Karatsev advanced past Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(2), 7-6(1). The 29-year-old Karatsev was playing his first match since his semi-final run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid.

Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic is the talk of the sporting world. The Serbian superstar led the Denver Nuggets in a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

When asked after Monday’s game about his countryman, Novak Djokovic, he was quick to praise the tennis great.

“He is a guy who represents Serbia in a much bigger scene,” Jokic said during his press conference. “He's a Serbian ambassador, and he's really [an] idol to the kids in Serbia and not just on the court, [but with] the things that his foundation is doing. He is the guy who can you can look up [to]. 'I want to be like him'.

“He is doing something great for kids, for Serbia, for everything. So we cannot be compared.”

[ATP APP]

Mark Philippoussis announced on Instagram Tuesday that he is no longer working with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“@stefanostsitsipas98 thank for the opportunity of being a part of your team,” Philippoussis wrote. “It was a great ride and experience, I’m proud of what we achieved together in the short amount of time we had. I wish you health, happiness and success for your future, on and off the court! ???”

One of the brightest moments of the Philippoussis-Tsitsipas partnership came at this year’s Australian Open, where the Greek advanced to his second major final.

Ahead of this year’s BNP Paribas Open, Tsitsipas said of Philippoussis “Mark is a very wise man, he has a lot of knowledge.

Former Gonet Geneva Open champion Alexander Zverev continued his love affair with the ATP 250 event on Tuesday when he moved past American Christopher Eubanks 6-2, 6-3.

The German, who is competing in Geneva for the first time since he won the title in 2019, overpowered Eubanks in their first ATP Head2Head meeting. He hammered the ball off both wings and broke Eubanks’ serve four times to advance after 69 minutes.

"My first reaction is that I am very happy," Zverev said. "I am very happy to be in the quarter-finals here. It is nice to be back here. The weather is beautiful and the city is beautiful. The crowd was amazing and I really enjoyed myself out there today."

Zverev arrived in Geneva off the back of runs to the fourth round at ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome. The 26-year-old will face Wu Yibing or Marco Cecchinato in his second tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Zverev is this week chasing his first tour-level title since winning the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals. The German has clinched six of his 19 tour-level trophies on clay.

A lot has gone into Aleksandar Vukic’s pursuit of becoming the best tennis player he can be. That paid off Monday, when the 27-year-old broke into the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

The Australian, who is now World No. 95, accomplished the feat by reaching Saturday’s final at the Oeiras Challenger. One of the big reasons he has reached this point is his ability to compartmentalise the pressure of chasing the milestone.

“I don’t analyse it a crazy amount, but I’m aware of what’s going on, it’s in the back of my head,” Vukic said in a press conference in Oeiras. “But when I’m on court, I try not to think about it. There’s sometimes when you do and sometimes it helps, it can be motivating in a way. Sometimes it can add maybe too much pressure. I try to stay in the moment as much as I can.”

[ATP APP]

To understand how the Australian reached this point takes revisiting his past. Vukic’s parents, Rad and Lilijana, made a critical decision to flee the Yugoslav War in the 1990s before ‘Aleks’ was born.

Jack Draper continued his winning return on the ATP Tour Tuesday when he moved past fifth seed Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 21-year-old competed in Monte-Carlo in April but missed ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome due to an abdominal injury. He has come out firing on his return in Lyon, though. The British lefty defeated Alexandre Muller in the first round and backed that up with a hard-fought display against Kecmanovic.

Draper rallied from a break down in the first set and won 82 per cent (27/33) of his first-serve points in the match to earn his 10th win of the season after one hour and 33 minutes.

"I am really happy. I have played two really high-level players and I feel that my game is in a good place, especially after having a few weeks off with injury," Draper said. "Hopefully I can continue."

Draper, currently No. 53 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, will face Francisco Cerundolo in his second quarter-final of the season after the fourth-seeded Argentine advanced past Juan Pablo Varillas, who was forced to retire after losing the first set 2-6.

Arthur Fils has consolidated his fifth-placed position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race after recent clay-court success.

The 18-year-old, who is aiming to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals, defeated Top 100 Frenchmen Gregoire Barrere and Quentin Halys en route to the quarter-finals at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence. He then advanced through qualifying and reached the second round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time in Rome.

Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race

Frenchman Fils, currently on 431 points, is competing this week on home soil at the ATP 250 in Lyon, where he is in the second round.

Ben Shelton remains fourth in the Live Next Gen Race on 545 points. The American’s best result on clay this season came at a ATP Challenger Tour event in Cagliari, where he advanced to the semi-finals.

Hungarian Zsombor Piros has been one of the hardest players to beat on the ATP Challenger Tour this clay-court season. The 23-year-old won back-to-back Challenger titles in April at the Split and Oeiras Challengers and this week looks to qualify for his maiden major main draw at Roland Garros.

If Piros is not competing on court, you can find him creating memories with friends and family or playing football, darts, and card games. The Hungarian may even recollect a magic trick he learned as a teenager.

“When I was 14, I had a good two or three years doing magic tricks. I was very obsessed with it,” Piros told ATPTour.com. “I'm not doing that obsessively like a few years ago, where I would learn for two or three hours a day, card tricks, coin tricks, ring tricks, mental tricks.”

While a series of magic tricks could have left Piros’ friends with their jaws dropped, it was a 10-match winning streak for the loss of just one set that left the World No. 125 surprised in April, when he captured back-to-back Challenger titles in Split, Croatia and Oeiras, Portugal.

Zsombor Piros defeats Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the Oeiras Open 3 final. Credit: Sara Falcão/FPT

Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg made a successful start to his Roland Garros campaign on Monday when he defeated 27th seed Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying.

The teen has not yet played a tour-level match, but he did not show his lack of experience against a veteran in Kudla, who has competed in 200 tour-level matches. The home favourite saved 11 of the 12 break points he faced and converted all three of his opportunities to advance after one hour and 32 minutes.

Another teen, Chinese 18-year-old Shang Juncheng, set the wheels in motion for a run at this year’s Roland Garros when he moved past former World No. 19 Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4.

The #NextGenATP star struck 28 winners on the Parisian clay to advance after one hour and 16 minutes. Shang, who reached the second round of the main draw at the Australian Open on his Grand Slam debut in January, will next play Fabian Marozsan. The Hungarian, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Rome, moved past Australian Li Tu 6-3, 6-4.

[BREAK POINT]

Wu Yibing is finding his footing on clay. After earning his first tour-level win on the surface in Rome, he earned another on Monday in Geneva.

The Chinese star saved one match point en route to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) victory against home favourite Marc-Andrea Hustler in the first round of the Gonet Geneva Open.

“[He is] a very tough opponent to play against. It’s the first time we played each other and of course he is from here, there’s more people cheering for him,” Wu said in his on-court interview. “But I’m glad I [pulled] through these ups and downs, especially the first few games in the second set. I made like 10 double faults in a row, which shouldn’t happen. [I will] try to be better next time.”

Wu, who hit seven double faults in the match, found his best when it mattered most. Huesler earned match point at 6/5 in the final-set tie-break, but Wu played aggressively and finished off the point at the net with an overhead.

“I’m very happy,” said Wu, who will next play 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato. “It’s my first time here playing Geneva, first time for me here in Switzerland and it’s a beautiful country. First few days I practised and I tried to visit the city a little bit. You guys have amazing watches and chocolate!”

Daniil Medvedev lifted the title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the third and final clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, while several Top 100 stars enjoyed deep runs.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as of Monday, 22 May 2023.

View Pepperstone ATP Rankings

[ATP APP]

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, +1 (Joint Career High)
The Spaniard has returned to top spot once again following his exploits on the clay in Madrid and Rome. The 20-year-old lifted his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid and returned to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after playing his opening match in Rome, where he reached the third round.

Brandon Nakashima earned his first tour-level win since March on Monday when he moved past Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals champion has struggled to find his best form this season, falling in the first or second round at all six previous events he has played this year. The eighth-seeded American looked sharp on the clay in Lyon, though, striking his groundstrokes with aggression to advance after two hours and two minutes on tournament debut.

"Against Diego it is never going to be easy," Nakashima said. "I had to fight for every point and I am glad I played well in the important moments and I hope this is a good step in the right direction for me."

After earning his fourth win of the season, Nakashima will next face Arthur Rinderknech after the Frenchman defeated South African qualifier Lloyd Harris 6-4, 6-2.

[ATP APP]

Daniil Medvedev leaves Rome with a healthy lead in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin after claiming his first clay-court title on the ATP Tour.

The 27-year-old, who passed Carlos Alcaraz in the Live Race when he reached the Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals, now leads the 20-year-old Spaniard by 845 points. Medvedev is 1,555 points ahead of third-placed Novak Djokovic.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (after Rome)

The Rome champion has made an early statement in the battle for year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone, which he is trying to claim for the first time. Medvedev ascended to World No. 1 last year, but he has not yet claimed year-end No. 1 honours.

Alcaraz became the youngest year-end No. 1 last year aged 19. Now 20, he is once again in the heat of the battle, as is Djokovic, who holds the record of year-end No. 1 finishes with seven.

Daniil Medvedev dismantles your game.

Playing your “A-Game” is next to impossible against Medvedev, who willingly absorbs your best punches and silently disrupts your winning patterns. Medvedev defeated Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final on Sunday by dismantling Rune’s strengths and finding another level at the end of both sets to secure victory. There were seven specific battles in which Medvedev managed to craft an advantage over Rune to capture his first clay-court title.

1) Medvedev Owned Ad-Court Rallies
Medvedev’s primary baseline tactic was to make the match a backhand-to-backhand war of attrition through the Ad court. Medvedev’s ultra-flat, uber-consistent backhand is almost impossible to do anything with.

Medvedev Backhand Placement

Rune Backhand Placement

Andy Murray has withdrawn from Roland Garros.

The former World No. 1 competed on clay this season, but will not play in the clay-court major. He has taken part in the tournament once since 2017 (in 2020).

Murray owns an 8-8 tour-level record in 2023. He won his first title of any kind since 2019 earlier this month at the Aix-en-Provence ATP Challenger Tour 175 event, where he defeated then-World No. 17 Tommy Paul in the final.

The Scot lost in the first round in Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome. He also fell to former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka at an ATP Challenger Tour 175 event this week in Bordeaux.

Murray has tallied a 39-11 record at Roland Garros, where he reached the final in 2016 and the semi-finals in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2017.

Daniil Medvedev has always been open about his testy relationship with clay. So how did he rise to become an ATP Masters 1000 champion on the surface?

The 27-year-old had not won a match in three previous appearances at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, but he capped a dream run Sunday by defeating Holger Rune to triumph in Rome.

It was Medvedev’s first ATP Tour title on clay at any level, let alone at a Masters 1000. Even given his solid form on European clay courts prior to Rome, the former World No. 1 expressed some disbelief at his title run in Italy and admitted the unexpected nature of his triumph made it one of his best yet.

“In a way [this is my] number one [success], just because it's the first one on clay and it's unbelievable,” said Medvedev in his post-match press conference. “I would never have thought I would be able to make this. Then [I] have to be honest, a Grand Slam is always bigger. [The 2021] US Open is always number one there.

“This one is special because I didn't think it was going to be able to happen, [that I was] going to be able to make it. I still kind of don't believe… Not that I won it, but I played so well this week. I don't believe it.

Daniil Medvedev will return to No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday after defeating Holger Rune at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for his first clay-court title.

If Medvedev did not lift the trophy, Novak Djokovic would have entered Roland Garros as World No. 2. But now Medvedev is slated to be the second seed at the clay-court major. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will be the first seed and Djokovic the third seed, so they could land in the same half of the draw in Paris.

"If I would be No. 3, I would definitely play one of Alcaraz or Novak if I am in the semi-finals. You definitely have one of them in your draw," Medvedev said. "I guess it's better to be No. 2 and get the chance.  Carlos and I [will not] play for sure before the final, and Novak maybe 50 per cent chance he's not in your draw.  At the same time I haven't been further than quarters in Roland Garros."

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings (after Rome Final)

Medvedev fell out of the Top 10 in January and was as low as World No. 12 in February. But the 27-year-old has surged since, winning titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami and now Rome. The 20-time tour-level titlist will now set his sights on a return to World No. 1, a position he first reached last year and held for 16 weeks.