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Daniil Medvedev maintained his perfect record against Felix Auger-Aliassime in style Friday at the ABN AMRO Open, where the sixth seed took out the defending champion 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.

The 27-year-old Medvedev was relentless from the baseline in the 83-minute quarter-final in Rotterdam, hitting just five unforced errors across the two sets to Auger-Aliassime’s 20. That consistency proved crucial in enabling the World No. 11 to break the Canadian's serve four times en route to extending his lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series to 5-0.

“Today was my best match of the week, but I have to build on this,” said Medvedev post-match. “Usually, the best weeks you play, many times you’re going to play your best tennis in the last match, so that’s definitely a goal. But I’m happy with my level today, beating someone like Felix in straight sets.”

With the win, Medvedev advanced to the semi-finals in Rotterdam for the second time, having also reached that stage in 2019. His next opponent in the Netherlands will be Grigor Dimitrov, after the Bulgarian saved two match points to down Alex de Minaur 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) in a dramatic opening quarter-final earlier on Friday.

Auger-Aliassime lifted his maiden ATP Tour crown at the Rotterdam Ahoy a year ago. The 22-year-old struggled to match the level he showed during that title run against Medvedev, yet many of his wayward groundstrokes could be attributed to the superb defensive skills of his opponent at vital moments.

Lorenzo Musetti won his first ATP Tour title on the clay of Hamburg last July, defeating fellow Argentina Open seed Carlos Alcaraz in the final. In his first match on the surface in nearly seven months, the Italian eased back into the win column with a 6-2, 6-3 win against home favourite Pedro Cachin on Thursday in Buenos Aires.

Patient but aggressive in his tournament debut, Musetti opened the court time and again to earn his first victory since he won four straight matches at the United Cup. He created 10 break points, converting half, and sealed the win by claiming the final three games of the one-hour, 25-minute contest.

"It was not easy because Pedro was playing good. It was his second round and for me it was the first match here," the third seed said. "I feel great. I felt great from when I arrived here. I feel at home even if we are in Argentina. I think Italian culture and Argentinian culture is really close. So I'm happy with the win because I played great tennis."

Entering the week as World No. 20, Musetti is up two places to No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, a mark which would match his career high. He will meet qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas in Friday's quarter-finals after the Peruvian defeated Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day.

"He beat Thiem so I think he's playing pretty well," Musetti said ahead of the pair's first ATP Head2Head meeting. "I have to focus on my game and concentrate on myself and try to play, like today, really solid."

Playing in his first ATP Tour match since his breakthrough run to the Australian Open semi-finals, Tommy Paul continued his red-hot form with a victory at the Delray Beach Open on Thursday. The second seed defeated countryman Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals at the ATP 250.

Both players were part of the United States Davis Cup team that defeated Uzbekistan earlier this month, with both earning road singles victories. With the pair on opposite sides of the net in the U.S., Paul's speed and athleticism helped him advance at his home tournament.

"It’s always nice to be home. I live like 15 minutes away from here," said Paul, who hit seven aces and 14 winners. "It’s nice to play in front of of my friends and some of my family here. It’s easy to have my whole team here so it’s always a good time."

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While it took the American some time to adjust to the windy conditions in Delray Beach, he wrestled away control of the match by winning five straight games from 3-3 in the opening set. In holding for a 2-0 lead in set two, Paul saved what proved to be the last break point of the match for either man.

Jannik Sinner emphatically ended his four-match losing streak against Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4, 6-3 win on Thursday night at the ABN AMRO Open. The Rotterdam victory is the Italian's first against a Top 3 opponent.

The 21-year-old, who lost in five sets to Tsitsipas in one of the matches of the Australian Open, used a dominant serving performance and an aggressive return game to earn his first win against the Greek since 2020. Sinner won 89 per cent of his first-serve points and converted on three of his four break points, a backhand passing shot clinching his third break and the match after one hour, 21 minutes. He did not face a break point.

"It means a lot obviously," Sinner said of the biggest win of his career by measure of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. "A lot of work behind. I'm very happy. I played some good tennis, very focussed today. Hopefully I can keep it going but for sure, Stef is an incredible player. I have a lot of respect for him. He played incredible tennis this year already.

"I was looking forward to this match to be honest, after my win yesterday already. So I'm very happy about my performance today."

Sinner improved to 2-5 in his ATP Head2Head against Tsitsipas, the top seed in Rotterdam. After three straight-set defeats from 2021-22, the Italian has turned around their rivalry this season, winning four of the past five sets. He fell just short in a five-set thriller in the Australian Open fourth round, but left nothing to chance in a comprehensive victory at the ATP 500.

At the highest level of the sport, tennis is a game of small margins. In these settings, tactical innovations can be very effective.

Whether it's Novak Djokovic often serving to the forehand on second serve or Maxime Cressy regularly storming the net to serve and volley on second serve, strategic innovations breathe new life and excitement into the game.

One recent and highly effective tactical innovation is the use of the forehand drop shot by the 2022 year-end World No. 1, Carlos Alcaraz.

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Drop shots are nothing new on the tour, particularly on clay. But for players at the very top of the game, Alcaraz has employed the forehand drop shot with an unusually high frequency and effectiveness, including on hard courts.

Netflix’s Break Point told the story of the biggest victory of Taylor Fritz’s career, when he won his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Open in his native Southern California. 

But there was no camera crew following the American when he was grinding his way through the junior ranks and the ATP Challenger Tour — periods filled with difficult moments, hard work and sacrifice with no guarantee of success.

[BREAK POINT]

“I’ve given my whole life to the sport,” he reflected in a recent interview with the ATP Tour. “Parties, high school, none of that… college, didn’t happen. I definitely traded a normal life. I knew what I wanted, I knew I wanted to be a professional athlete.

“I’ve had so many days where you just question why you’re even doing it. That’s how hard you need to be pushing yourself all the time. You need to be working so hard that it’s not fun.”

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev have set a blockbuster quarter-final showdown at the ABN AMRO Open after comfortable second-round victories Thursday.

Third-seeded Auger-Aliassime served nine aces in a 6-4, 6-3 win over French qualifier Gregoire Barrere. But the Canadian will look to improve his lackluster 50 per cent first-serve percentage before coming up against Medvedev.

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Medvedev saved all six break points faced in his 6-2, 6-2 win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Felix, but three have gone the distance, including a 2022 Australian Open quarter-final meeting, in which Medvedev rallied from two sets down to win. The World No. 11 is expecting another close battle.

Michael Mmoh is feeling right at home at the Delray Beach Open after his second straight three-set win earned him a place in the quarter-finals of the Florida ATP 250. The 25-year-old, who was born in Saudi Arabia and holds both American and Australian citizenship, upset third seed Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday night.

Mmoh stormed back from 1-4 down in the opening set, then escaped 0/40 at 2-2 in the third before claiming his third break late in the set and serving out the victory.

"It's amazing," Mmoh said after winning in front of the supportive Delray Beach crowd. "I've been in Florida for the past 10 years. I call this my home state. To have a packed-out crowd like I did tonight, there was lot more people on Wednesday night than there was on Monday. Thank all you guys for coming out."

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After riding a hot start in his first-round win against fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Mmoh overcame a slow opening against Shapovalov, who suffered his third straight tour-level defeat.

Playing his first ATP Tour match in more than three months, Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to competition on Wednesday night at the Argentina Open. The first former World No. 1 to compete in Buenos Aires since Gustavo Kuerten in 2004, the Spaniard lived up to lofty expectations with a powerful performance at the ATP 250.

Returning from recent abdominal and hamstring injuries, Alcaraz earned a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victory in two hours against Laslo Djere. He was at his best early and late as he moved through the gears, treating the expectant crowd to the full range of magic that helped him claim the 2022 year-end No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

"It's a great feeling to win again," Alcaraz said post-match. "It's been a long time for me with no competition, with no matches, just recovering. Finally I got my first win of 2023."

A fast start quelled any early nerves, as the 19-year-old raced to a 3-1 lead. But he could not win a wild second set that included 15 combined break points, none of which were converted until Djere made the breakthrough on his second set point. Any disappointment was short-lived with an immediate break putting Alcaraz back in command. Like in the opening set, he did not face a break point in the decider. 

While he did most of his damage with heavy baseline blows, Alcaraz mixed in a few drop shots and net approaches as he eased back into competition in a welcoming atmosphere. He was serenaded with an "Ole Carlos" chant in between sets, with Argentine legend Gabriela Sabatini among those in the stands to see the the Spaniard's tournament debut.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz caused an upset at the ABN AMRO Open on Wednesday when they defeated top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Germans won 86 per cent of their first-serve points and saved all three break points they faced to advance at the Rotterdam ATP 500 event.

Krawietz and Puetz are finding their rhythm in their second tournament of the year together after reaching the semi-finals last week in Montpellier.

In other action, Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin ousted home favourites Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6(6), 6-4. They will next play third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

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Cameron Norrie was two points from defeat on three occasions on Wednesday at the Argentina Open, but the Briton found his best tennis at the crucial moments to deny Argentine wild card Facundo Diaz Acosta an upset win in his native Buenos Aires.

In a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) victory, Norrie never truly hit top gear, but the second seed showed his champion mentality to get over the line at the ATP 250. 

"I thought Facu played great and it was a battle out there. It was my first [ATP Tour] match on clay in a while," said Norrie, who earned two Davis Cup wins on the clay of Colombia earlier this month. "I have a lot of things to work on but it was a great atmosphere and I had a lot of people supporting me as well, so I really enjoyed. But I need to improve a lot."

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In the closing stages, Norrie was able to redirect the pacy groundstrokes from his opponent to great effect, attacking without taking big risks as the pressure mounted. Diaz Acosta was two points from victory on return at 5-4, 30/30 and twice in the tie-break at 5/5 and 6/6 after leading 4/1. But each time, Norrie had the answer.

Dominic Thiem announced on Wednesday that he has been awarded a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open, the ATP Masters 1000 event held at Indian Wells. The last time the Austrian competed in the tournament, four years ago, he captured the title.

“Hello Indian Wells! Today I received the great message that I will get a wild card for the 2023 BNP Paribas Open,” Thiem said. “It’s unbelievable news for me as it’s a tournament I love and it’s going to be the first time I played there since I won the tournament in 2019. So looking forward to seeing you all there. Thank you!”

Testing, testing ?

2019 champion @domithiem has an important announcement to make ?? pic.twitter.com/84NwqlIyMU

The 29-year-old owns a 13-5 record at Indian Wells, where he debuted in 2014. During his dream run in 2019, Thiem upset Roger Federer in the final to secure his maiden Masters 1000 trophy. This year's BNP Paribas Open will be played from 8-19 March.

Thiem, who is still battling back to top form following a 2021 wrist injury, is No. 99 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Austrian is competing this week in the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

Alex de Minaur earned his third Top 5 win in four months on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO Open, producing a dominant display to defeat second seed Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-4.

De Minaur did not face a break point in the one-hour, 21-minute matchup, winning 88 per cent (28/32) of his first-serve points. He put pressure on Rublev early in both sets and secured a break in the third game of each.

"It was a hell of a mach," De Minaur said after advancing to the last 16 at the Rotterdam ATP 500. "I think I had the right mindset. I knew I had to be aggressive and take it to him, and really believe in myself. I've been practising great. I've been doing exactly what I did today on the practice court. So it was great to see it all come alive."

The 23-year-old did his damage from all parts of the court, hitting 19 winners to seven unforced errors and winning 11 of 14 net points.

Flying into the next round @alexdeminaur @abnamroopen #ConversionScore calculates the percentage of points won when the player has been #InAttack#StealScore calculates how often a player has won the point when they are in defence during the point#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/F79YeBc2In

When tennis fans talk about Hubert Hurkacz's delivery, they're usually discussing the Pole's booming serve, one of the best on the ATP Tour. But the 26-year-old can also deliver a good punch line.

His comedic timing was on full display in the latest edition of our 'Travel With A Pro' series, in which the Pole gives an interview from his Vienna hotel room. Our Q&A got off to a rough start, with Hurkacz pointing out the "Privacy Please" sign on his door: "That wasn't respect!" he joked.

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He later shared the importance of his physiotherapist during his time on the road. A big Formula 1 fan, Hurkacz enjoys watching the weekend races with his physio and was travelling with a book on the history of the sport.

"I actually watch every single race," he said. "Very rarely I miss one."

Casper Ruud has been a competitor all his life, having fun playing many sports throughout his childhood in Norway. After being exposed to a variety of athletic options, he made the “natural choice” to pursue tennis as a career, with his father Christian Ruud a former pro himself.

Now that the game of tennis has become his job, the Netflix Break Point star is all business.

“I would say that I’m quite professional about things in my career,” he said in a recent interview with the ATP Tour. “I don’t mess around too much. Any time I step on court, whether it’s a practice or a match, I’m all business. Of course I always have fun with it.”

Ruud’s dedication paid off in a big way in 2022, when he rose to a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 2 by winning three titles and reaching finals at Miami, Roland Garros, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals.

Anytime there’s an ATP Challenger Tour event in France, the local fans flock to watch world-class tennis. The Cherbourg Challenger, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week, is a case in point.

The longest-running French Challenger has been a staple of professional tennis for three decades. Year after year, spectators have enjoyed seeing some of the sport’s stars before they became household names.

The Challenger Cherbourg La Manche is also the longest-running indoor Challenger and has featured past champions such as former World No. 4 Sebastien Grosjean [1999 champion] and 2017 Nitto ATP Finals winner Grigor Dimitrov [2011]. In 2003, Rafael Nadal was a finalist (l. Sergio Roitman) just two years prior to winning his first Grand Slam title just three hours east in Paris.

That’s what the Challenger Tour has taken pride in its 45-year history: Providing tournaments for young stars to gain pro experience and develop their skills all while competing for points and prize money.

Matija Pecotic is living his Hollywood Moment.

The 33-year-old is the Director of Capital Markets for a real estate investment company who signed in as an alternate for qualifying at the Delray Beach Open. The lefty not only received a spot, but reached his first ATP Tour main draw. On Tuesday evening, he upset former Top 10 star Jack Sock to reach the second round.

Not bad for someone who worked his office job on Monday after qualifying.

But to fully understand Pecotic’s road to this point takes revisiting his roots. The Croatian was born in 1989 and in 1993, his family was still in Belgrade, which was entrenched in war. Matija’s father, orthopedic surgeon Goran, received a call from a friend who had just travelled to Malta. Recruitment was underway for an orthopedic surgeon.

“If he got there within a few days he might have had a shot to get the position. So he flew there by himself and found a base [and] rented a house. It’s not easy,” Pecotic told ATPTour.com. “People say there’s so much pressure playing this match. But if you really think about what he did, he was 40 years old, [had] two kids, hyperinflation [was] going on in the country. All your life’s possessions became worthless and you had to move to a country where you didn’t speak the local language and figure it out.

Jannik Sinner was tested on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO Open, but last week’s Montpellier champion battled on to set a second-round showdown with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Italian overcame a second-set hiccup to defeat Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 after two hours and four minutes in Rotterdam.

“For sure it’s tough when you come quite late to the other tournament, so I’m very happy about my performance today,” Sinner said. “It was not easy for me. We made a lot of unforced errors today. But still I tried to stay focussed [on] my game.”

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Sinner saved two of the three break points he faced and won 46 per cent of his return points to improve to 9-2 on the season. He will next try to double his win total against Tsitsipas (1-5).

Dominic Thiem got off the mark for the 2023 ATP Tour season with a quality win on Tuesday night at the Argentina Open. The former World No. 3 defeated seventh seed Alex Molcan 7-6(4), 6-3 in Buenos Aires, breaking through in his fifth match of the year.

"It was a good match," said Thiem, who won the Buenos Aires title in 2016 and 2018. "I like it a lot here in Buenos Aires. Already the last days in practice I was feeling well.

"I won my first match of the season against a very good opponent. I stayed focussed throughout the whole match, as well in the difficult moments. So I'm happy and I'm trying to focus fully on the second round now."

Thiem and Molcan traded breaks from 5-5 in the opening set, with Thiem racing to a 5/1 lead in the tie-break after failing to serve out the set. The 29-year-old Austrian did not face a break point in set two as he improved to 12-1 in Buenos Aires with the victory.

Next up for Thiem is Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas, a 6-2, 7-5 winner against Joao Sousa earlier on Tuesday. Third seed Lorenzo Musetti is a potential third-round opponent at the ATP 250.

Matija Pecotic became one of the stories of the young season on the ATP Tour by qualifying for his tour-level debut at the age of 33. But the Croatian, who holds a full-time job in finance, was not content just to make the main draw at the Delray Beach Open.

On Tuesday, Pecotic extended his dream run in Florida with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win against former Top 10 player Jack Sock. After falling behind 0-4 in the opening set and fighting off a break point early in the second, the Princeton and Harvard graduate dominated the second half of the match. He won the final four games of sets two and three, and did not face a break point beyond the third game of the second set. 

"I certainly didn't expect to win, but certainly didn't come into the match thinking that I'm definitely going to lose," said Pecotic, who represented Croatia at the inaugural United Cup last month. "You've got to be realistic. This is a former Top 10 guy with an incredible amount of tennis experience, with a huge serve. He came out serving 134 [mph] on the first serve. It would be arrogant to think that I'm going to come out and expect to win.

"But I certainly figured if I could sink my teeth into the match and work on the two or three patterns that I prepared before, that I'm going to have a chance. And then let's see... if I was going to fall under pressure or not be able to serve it out at some point. But I didn't and I got the win."

Pecotic hit 10 aces and 30 winners in the two-hour, 10-minute match, saving six of eight break points. He attacked the net 31 times, winning 21 of those points.