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Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz extended his perfect record in 2023 to 7-0 after a fighting 6-4, 7-6(0) win over Serbian Dusan Lajovic to advance to the semi-finals of the Rio Open presented by Claro on Friday.

The 19-year-old Spaniard rallied from 2-4 in both the first and second sets before putting away the World No. 80 for the second time in as many weeks, having beaten the 29-year-old 6-4, 6-2 in the Buenos Aires quarter-finals.

Despite clubbing 32 winners to Lajovic’s 13 and winning 16 of 17 net approaches, Alcaraz will not be entirely happy with his performance after forcing himself to work harder than perhaps needed for victory. In addition to going down breaks in both sets and making 25 unforced errors, the Spaniard was broken at 5-all in the second despite holding a 40/0 lead in the game.

The former World No. 1 was forced to save a set point with some inspired play at net in the following game before running away with the win in the tie-break.

"That's the point... to find a way to come back against a tough opponent," Alcaraz said. "I had to be really focussed and be there all the time waiting for my chances."

The rapid rise of Arthur Fils continued unabated Friday at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. The #NextGenATP Frenchman dispatched former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 at the indoor hard-court event to reach his second consecutive ATP Tour semi-final.

Fils’ converted four of 12 break points in his dominant 66-minute victory to underline his status as one of the breakout stars of 2023 so far. The 18-year-old is 5-1 on the ATP Tour after reaching the semi-finals in Montpellier and now in Marseille. He also began the season by going 9-1 on the ATP Challenger Tour.

In a dominant quarter-final performance, Fils dropped just one point behind his first serve against Wawrinka, who struggled to find his best form after coming through tough-three-setters against Zizou Bergs and Richard Gasquet in his opening two rounds.

The home wild card Fils later admitted that it felt slightly surreal to defeat a three-time Grand Slam champion, for whom he served as a hitting partner just under four months ago at November’s Rolex Paris Masters. Fils made his ATP Tour main draw debut as a qualifier at that event, where he pushed Fabio Fognini to three sets in the first round.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Fils. “I was watching him [Wawrinka] play during all my young career. I was hitting in Bercy with him as a sparring partner, and now I beat him. It’s a long way, a long way for my coach and my family, but it’s not over yet and I want to enjoy more.”

After the ATP singles stars made their 2023 predictions, the world’s best doubles teams sat down to make their picks for the year.

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury have been a consistent force at the top of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings, but have never finished as the year-end No. 1 duo. However, they were a popular pick to claim the honour in 2023, with Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah and Nikola Mektic/Mate Pavic among the teams to choose the American-British pair.

“Salisbury and Ram because they have been playing well the past two years,” Farah said.

[BREAK POINT]

When asked to pick which team would win the most ATP Masters 1000 titles, Lloyd Glasspool/Harri Heliovaara and Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski were among the teams that jokingly picked themselves before locking in on Mektic and Pavic.

Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Bublik both came back from the brink Friday to reach the semi-finals at the Open 13 Provence after an afternoon of dramatic quarter-final action in Marseille.

The top-seeded Hurkacz saved a Mikael Ymer match point at 5/6 in the deciding-set tie-break en route to a hard-earned 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) victory at the indoor ATP 250 in southern France. The Pole, who saved six of nine break points he faced in his two-hour, 50-minute win, reeled off three points in a row to prevail and reach his maiden Marseille semi-final on his third appearance at the event.

“I’m just really happy with the victory today,” said Hurkacz post-match. “Mikael is a beautiful player, an amazing competitor and it could have gone either way. Those matches mean a lot if you’re able to come through them. I’m just really pumped and happy to be in the semi-finals.”

What a v?lley!@Open13 | #open13provence | @HubertHurkacz pic.twitter.com/XFpvFM7JRP

The World No. 11 Hurkacz is now 8-4 for the 2023 season. The Pole is this week chasing his sixth ATP Tour title, and his first since his triumph on the grass in Halle last June.

There was an element of déjà vu in the air on Friday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where Daniil Medevedev defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets for the second week in a row to reach the final at the hard-court ATP 250.

Seven days after Medvedev secured quarter-final victory against Auger-Aliassime in Rotterdam, the 27-year-old delivered another rock-solid performance to prevail 6-4, 7-6(7) in the Doha semi-finals. Auger-Aliassime ensured a closer contest this time around by reclaiming early breaks in both sets, but he could not match Medvedev’s consistency at crucial moments in the one-hour, 57-minute clash.

“Today and yesterday the matches were super close,” said Medvedev, when asked about the confidence gained from Friday’s win and his quarter-final victory against Christopher O’Connell. “Confidence matters, because [Auger-Aliassime] had [three] set points. I managed to just stay in there and it was enough to win, but a very high-level match. Two hours for two sets.”

Medvedev saved three set points in the second-set tie-break before converting his first match point to complete a win in which he won 77 per cent (37/48) of points behind his first serve. He also struck just eight unforced errors across the two sets, compared to 26 for the second-seeded Auger-Aliassime.

The win improved Medvedev’s ATP Head2Head series lead against the Canadian to 6-0. The third seed is now on an eight-match winning streak, having gone on to lift his 16th tour-level title in the Netherlands last weekend.

Andy Murray pulled off another thrilling three-set victory on Friday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, where the Briton saved five match points to down Jiri Lehecka 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(6) and reach his first ATP Tour final since last June.

In an engaging clash of generations and gamestyles in Doha, the determined defence and consistent baseline hitting of former World No. 1 Murray prevailed in dramatic fashion against the greater power of 21-year-old Jiri Lehecka. The Briton recovered a 3-5 deficit in the final set, including breaking Lehecka when trailing 4-5, 40/0 on the Czech's serve.

“I don’t know [how I won],” said a disbelieving Murray after the match. “That was one of the most amazing turnarounds I’ve had in my career. You obviously had the three match points at 5-4, but also [two] when I was serving at 5-3, and then I don’t know.

“I knew it was his first time serving for a final, so I knew I had to try and keep the pressure on at the end. I know how difficult it is to serve matches like that out, but I’ve no idea how I managed to turn that one round to be honest.”

It was Murray’s fourth three-set win in four matches this week in Doha, where he has also gone the distance in victories against Lorenzo Sonego, Alexander Zverev and Alexandre Muller. The two-hour, 29-minute victory improved Murray’s record for 2023 to 6-2, with all six of the 35-year-old’s victories coming in deciding sets. He has not won a tour-level match in straight sets since beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Gijon first round on 11 October last year.

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden capped a week of Match Tie-break redemption at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday, when they edged Constant Lestienne and Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-6 to lift their maiden ATP Tour title as a team.

Despite losing a tie-break to drop a see-saw opening set that featured six breaks of serve, the Indian-Australian pair held its nerve to complete a 99-minute final victory. Bopanna and Ebden converted four of six break point opportunities and took command early in the Match Tie-break, opening 4/1 and 9/4 leads en route to their win.

[ATP APP]

Last weekend, Bopanna and Ebden suffered final heartbreak in Rotterdam, where they held a championship point in the Match Tie-break before falling to Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek. This week in Doha, the third-seeded pair sealed three of its four victories in Match Tie-breaks, including Friday’s final.

It was Bopanna’s second title in Doha. The 42-year-old lifted the trophy there in 2018 alongside Wesley Koolhof, while he also reached the 2022 final with Denis Shapovalov. His partner Ebden is the first Australian titlist, in singles or doubles, in the history of the Doha event.

The ATP Challenger event in Monterrey, Mexico is not only a fan favourite, but consistently ranks towards the top of players’ lists as well.

Club Sonoma, where the Challenger 125 event is hosted, sits under breathtaking views of the Nuevo León mountains. The tournament has a plethora of off-court activities for fans to enjoy alongside world-class tennis. Next week, there will also be a WTA 250 event at the venue. Autograph sessions and interactive kids clinics are organised throughout the week. A hospitality area is filled with food trucks, vendors and games for fans to enjoy.

Among players’ favourite aspects of the tournament are the views, first-class organisation, and everything that Monterrey has to offer as one of Mexico’s largest cities.

“The Challenger 125s tend to be higher quality and I think this one is special even among those. We have everything here,” World No. 103 Nuno Borges told ATPTour.com. “I really like the views. The hotel and the club have nice views, that was my first impression. The courts are pretty quick too because it’s at altitude.

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Marcelo Melo dominated the Argentine team of Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Diego Schwartzman on Thursday at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The second seeds earned a 6-1, 6-2 win in the all-South American quarter-final, not allowing a break point in the match.

Home favourite Melo is lone Brazilian remaining in the singles or doubles draw at the ATP 500.

The Colombian-Brazilian duo will meet Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the semi-finals after their 7-5, 6-4 win against Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

Fourth seeds Francisco Cabral and Horacio Zeballos also advanced to the last four with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win against Gonzalo Escobar and Tomislav Brkic.

[ATP APP]

Carlos Alcaraz's title defence at the Rio Open presented by Claro picked up steam on Thursday, but not before a vintage opening set from Fabio Fognini threatened the Spaniard's reign at the Brazilian ATP 500.

In a rematch of their 2022 Rio de Janeiro semi-final, Alcaraz earned an entertaining 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 victory, improving to 6-0 on the season as he bids to back up his Cordoba title with second trophy in as many weeks on the South American clay.

"It was really tough. Both Fabio and I played such a high level, great points, great shots," Alcaraz said post-match, later admitting to feeling tired but ready for more. "It's amazing to play these kinds of matches. I would say both players played almost our 100 per cent."

Alcaraz led 3-0 in the opening set and had two break points for 4-0 before Fognini stormed back into the match with his unique brand of shotmaking, frequently leaving his opponent and the Rio crowd stunned with his inventiveness. After breaks in seven of the set's final eight games, Fognini's brilliance peaked at 4/5 in the tie-break, when a casual pickup volley came off inch perfect to spark a run of three points to seal the set.

"I struggled with my serve a little bit. I was up with a lot of control of the match. But a lot of breaks of serve in a row," Alcaraz said of the eventful opening set. "I got a little bit down in that moment and it was tough to come back after that.

If you can’t find Aleksandar Kovacevic on the tennis court or on a plane, perhaps you should look to the mountain slopes to find the American who is making quick progress on the ATP Challenger Tour.

“My favourite thing to do in the world is snowboard,” Kovacevic said when sharing his love for thrill-seeking activities such as jet-skiing and skydiving. “In 2021, I went and snowboarded with my buddy who lives in Lake Tahoe, California. I was there for like four days during the Australian Open because I didn’t qualify. But this year I went to Australia, so I missed out on snowboarding.

“I grew up in New York City, so I’d go to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, it’s about a 90-minute drive from where I lived. I sustained some injuries from snowboarding when I was younger because all my friends were regular people, they didn’t play sports like I did. All they wanted to do was try tricks at the terrain park and I was a little kid trying all these tricks. I wasn’t very good so I hurt myself a lot. Now, I’m a little smarter.”

The 24-year-old, who is competing at this week’s Monterrey Challenger, misses the days when he had more spare time to pack his gear and head out for a getaway, but now he’s focused on a different mountain: climbing the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

For a 35-year-old with a metal hip, Andy Murray has spent quite a bit of time on court this season: more than 20 hours across his past six matches, to be exact. Given his age and recent injury struggles, it might be assumed that those marathon matches would favour his opponents. The reality is the opposite, far from the first time the Briton has proven conventional wisdom wrong.

Murray has notched five ATP Tour victories this year. Each one of them was won in a deciding set.

"The last couple of years I lost quite a lot of close matches, and it's something I spoke to my team about last year," Murray said this week in Doha, where he has won three three-setters to advance to his 102nd tour-level semi-final. "I think the work I did in the offseason on my game, physically has given me a bit more belief in those moments.

"I think when you're in better shape, when you start to fatigue, it helps you make better decisions. If you're struggling quite a bit physically towards the end of matches and in those important moments, it makes you maybe try and shorten the points, or play a different way, which doesn't give you the best chance of wining. I feel like that improvement physically has helped in those moments."

After a pair of marathon five-setters at the Australian Open, Murray has continued his penchant for long-running matches this week at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. The 35-year-old's most recent win came on Thursday, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback against Alexandre Muller in the quarter-finals of the ATP 250. Clocking in at two hours and four minutes, that match wrapped up the blink of an eye compared to Murray's other recent exploits.

If you have checked the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week, you might have noticed that Carlos Alcaraz has an opportunity to tie World No. 1 Novak Djokovic by winning the Rio Open presented by Claro. However, the Spaniard cannot return to World No. 1 next Monday.

When two players are tied for the same spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the first tie-break goes to the player who has more points at the mandatory events: the Nitto ATP Finals, Grand Slams and ATP Masters 1000s. Djokovic has 5,820 points at those tournaments compared to Alcaraz’s 5,090.

Therefore, even if Alcaraz defends his Rio de Janeiro title and matches the number of points Djokovic will have Monday (6,980), the Serbian will remain No. 1 and Alcaraz No. 2. 

The battle for No. 1 will heat up next week, with both men set to compete in ATP 500 events. Alcaraz is scheduled to play in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, and Djokovic will lead the way at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

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Daniil Medvedev extended his winning streak to seven matches Thursday when he clawed past Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.

With his one-hour, 55-minute victory, Medvedev has improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against O’Connell. The 27-year-old will continue the quest for his 17th tour-level title when he plays second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or seventh seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last four.

"At 5-5 in the third, you have a last chance to break him and then serve for the match. I managed to play quite a good game," Medvedev said. "He missed a few shots that he didn't miss before. It was an important moment in the match and that made me win today."

The third seed was zoned in during the first set, striking with consistency to outlast the Australian in the baseline exchanges to move ahead. Medvedev suffered a dip in the second set, though, as O'Connell started to close the net effectively to push his opponent into errors and force a decider. However, Medvedev remained calm and increased his level deep in the third set, gaining the crucial break in the 11th game before holding serve to advance.

"Everything depends on small moments," Medvedev said. "Sometimes confidence, sometimes pure luck. I have lost close matches in my life and won some. I am trying to use my experience to make it better. I am happy it worked today."

Tennis has given Felix Auger-Aliassime a lot. The Canadian has lifted four tour-level titles in his career, rising to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2022.

Aged 22, his journey to the top started 19 years ago in Canada, where he first took to the tennis court.

“Dear tennis, I remember when I was first introduced to you. I was three or four years old. It was really love at first sight for me,” Auger-Alassime said. “I remember having a tennis racquet in my hand, going to the tennis court, so the first meeting was as good as it is now.

“I remember when I played my first match in Quebec City, Canada. I was only six years old. Actually coming to play a match for the first time and having an opponent there and a referrer. It was quite special.”

A love letter to tennis ?

Hear @felixtennis discuss his relationship with the sport; detailing the highs, lows, and hopes for the future ?https://t.co/7ZrqQ6wj6l pic.twitter.com/YWe056LERO

ATP is proud to announce a new multi-year partnership with waterdrop®, a fast-growing Austrian hydration brand. waterdrop® becomes the Official Hydration Partner and Gold Partner of the ATP Tour from 2023.

With a mission to encourage people to Drink More Water, waterdrop® is committed to helping customers live healthier, longer and more sustainable lives. Products, including Microdrinks dissolvable cubes, reusable water bottles and cutting-edge water filtration systems, are designed to eliminate plastic waste. To date, waterdrop® products have prevented more than 30 million plastic bottles from entering circulation.

The partnership will see ATP and waterdrop® promote sustainable hydration on the ATP Tour. The brand will provide its signature reusable bottles to players, staff and volunteers - paving the way for significant reduction in plastic bottle usage across the season.

waterdrop® will also introduce innovative on-court hydration benches for players and hydration stations for fans at a global portfolio of ATP Tour events. On-site activations will offer fans the chance to experience the brand’s exciting range of products and flavours, and pick up their own reusable bottle, as used by the professionals themselves. With more than five million fans attending professional tennis tournaments each season, this will form an integral pillar of the ATP’s drive to reduce its environmental impact under ATP Serves.

In addition, waterdrop® has engaged superstar tennis ambassadors Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Danielle Collins to advance the brand’s mission and storytelling within sports and tennis. waterdrop® will also collaborate with ATP’s medical team to support hydration of all participating players.

Hubert Hurkacz survived a scare against #NextGenATP Swiss Leandro Riedi at the Open Provence 13 on Thursday to reach his first tour-level quarter-final of the season.

In a hard-fought clash in Marseille, the top-seeded Pole produced a strong serving performance in the second and third sets to earn a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory at the ATP 250 event.

[ATP APP]

The World No. 11, who is making his third appearance at the hard-court tournament, won 100 per cent (24/24) of his first-serve points in the second and third sets, overpowering the 21-year-old Riedi to triumph after one hour and 49 minutes.

"Leandro can play at a super high level and he started well. It was a battle. He won the first set and was playing really well, but I was just trying to compete," Hurkacz said in his on-court interview. "The crowd is amazing, it is so nice. It is so much fun.

Jiri Lehecka earned the biggest win of his career by Pepperstone ATP Ranking Thursday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he upset World No. 5 Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach his second tour-level semi-final.

The 21-year-old Czech entered the clash off the back of straight-set wins against Damir Dzumhur and Emil Ruusuvuori and he demonstrated his confidence levels in a heavy-hitting performance against the top seed.

Lehecka timed the ball cleanly off both wings, causing damage with his flat forehand to hit through a frustrated Rublev. He broke twice, sealing his victory after one hour and 41 minutes to improve to 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Rublev.

"These past two months have been very great for me," Lehecka said in his on-court interview. "I was very looking forward to playing here in Doha on this beautfiul centre court, so I am very happy with the win and looking forward to tomorrow."

The Czech will aim to advance to his first tour-level final when he faces former World No. 1 Andy Murray or French qualifier Alexandre Muller on Friday. Lehecka, who is up eight spots to No. 44 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, reached the semi-finals in Rotterdam last year.

Teaming for the first time, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Marcelo Melo reached the quarter-finals at the Rio Open presented by Claro on Wednesday when they clawed past Austrians Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

The second seeds broke twice and raised their level in the Match Tie-break, winning five consecutive points from 1/2 before sealing victory on serve after one hour and 30 minutes. Cabal has tasted success at the ATP 500 clay-court event, winning the title with Robert Farah in 2014 and 2016.

The Colombian and Brazilian Melo will aim to keep their run going this week when they face Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Diego Schwartzman.

In other action, Nikola Cacic and Andrea Pellegrino upset top seeds Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez 7-6(8),4-6, 11-9. The qualifiers will next meet Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni after the Argentines beat Mateus Alves and Joao Fonseca 7-5, 7-6(4).

Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul saved one match point to overcome Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 4-6, 11-9, while Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar beat Marcelo Demoliner and Felipe Meligeni Alves 1-6, 7-5, 13-11.

Carlos Alcaraz continues to dip his toes into the world of fashion with a fresh feature story this month in Vogue. In the wide-ranging article, Alcaraz touches on his love for chess, his fashion sense and his admiration for Roger Federer, among many other topics.

Complete with photoshoot imagery of the 19-year-old, the longform piece provides new insight into the routines, habits and whims of the ATP Tour's newest superstar. Alcaraz also discusses what he called a "bad period" after he won the US Open last September for his first Grand Slam title.

"That sounds like I'm making it up," Alcaraz said, before explaining the stress that followed his achievement in New York, which made him the youngest No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Read an excerpt from the feature below.

Alcaraz grew up just over an hour from [the Ferrero academy], in a village outside Murcia called El Palmar, a place he still visits on weekends. Everyone knows one another, he says, and he has the same friends he hung out with as a child. Some 40 years ago his great-uncle built a tennis club there, on what was a clay-pigeon shooting range, and Alcaraz’s grandfather, Carlos, joined in the venture. Later, Alcaraz’s father—who played professional tennis until he couldn’t afford to continue—became the director. So Carlitos was born, he says, “with tennis in my blood.” His older brother, Álvaro (now 23), played in tournaments before him, and his younger brothers (ages 13 and 11) are as passionate about tennis as the rest of the family, including his mother, who until recently worked as a shop assistant at IKEA. Alcaraz got his first racket at the age of four, and, according to his father, cried when he had to stop playing to go home for dinner. His social life revolved around the tennis club.