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France fought back from 2-1 down for the first time since 2014 to defeat Hungary at the Tatabanya Arena on Saturday and seal victory in the 2023 Davis Cup Qualifiers.

It was a far from comfortable triumph for Sebastien Grosjean’s team. Nicolas Mahut and Arthur Rinderknech were outplayed by the unheralded doubles duo of Fabian Marozsan and Mate Valkusz in the first match on Saturday, falling 6-2, 7-6(4) as the home team moved 2-1 in front.

With their backs against the wall, the French knew they had to be faultless in the reverse singles if they were to ensure safe passage to September’s Davis Cup Finals Group Stage.

Grosjean made a tactical change, switching out his No. 1 player Benjamin Bonzi in favour of the lefty Adrian Mannarino to face Hungary’s highest-ranked player Marton Fucsovics, and the decision proved to be a wise one. Mannarino clinched a tight opening set tie-break before racing away with the second set against Fucsovics.

The Frenchman, who didn’t lose a point on his own serve in the second set, said: “Whoever won the first set was going to get a huge advantage. I wasn’t thinking about the score. I was going on court and giving my best and all my team were cheering for me, so it was easy for me to push myself a bit more.”

“Bring out the broomsticks,” the USA’s Tommy Paul said on Friday following his first-day singles win in the United States Davis Cup Qualifier against Uzbekistan. “A sweep would be nice”.

And a sweep it was, as Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram's doubles win against Uzbekistan made it three from three for the USA before Denis Kudla beat Amir Milushev in the fourth rubber of the tie to complete a 4-0 victory.

Captain David Nainkin's men have now secured a spot in the 2023 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage, as the nation bids for a 33rd title in the competition.

Krajicek and Ram were never in any real danger against Uzbekistan’s Sanjar Fayziev and Sergey Fomin. The American pair sped to a 6-2, 6-4 victory in just 52 minutes in a clinical display at the Olympic Tennis School, Tashkent.

“I was excited to see Raj and Austin play today,” Nainkin said. “They’ve practised well all week, they had five great days of preparation and as anticipated they came out really sharp and got the early break in the first set. After that it was like two freight trains, there was no stopping them.”

“In my career it always happens. After a tough loss, I [get] better.”

Netflix’s Break Point tracked Matteo Berrettini’s run to his maiden Australian Open semi-final at the start of the 2022 season. He fell to a heartbreaking four-set defeat against eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the last four in Melbourne, but the Italian’s mental approach has always set him up well to process disappointments and, crucially, learn from them.

“Once you feel that every day you are putting in the effort, improving the best that you can in everything you are doing, I think at the end of the day you can go to sleep and feel satisfied,” Berrettini told ATP Uncovered in 2021. “It’s not about winning or losing, it’s not about a trophy or no trophy, it’s about if you are enjoying what you are doing, your life, or not.”

View Berrettini’s Break Point Player Profile

Even stepping inside Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena to take on ATP Tour icon Nadal was reward for years of hard work for Berrettini, who bounced back from his disappointment in Australia by winning titles in Stuttgart and at The Queen’s Club in London later in 2022.

For aspiring stars on the ATP Tour, the opportunity to spend time with those at the top of the game is a dream come true. Just ask 18-year-old Daniel Vallejo, who rubbed shoulders with Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and other stars at the Nitto ATP Finals in November.

The Paraguayan spent two weeks as a hitting partner in Turin, where he watched and practised with those competing at the prestigious year-end event.

“These two weeks have been amazing,” Vallejo said. “You learn a lot and you get a lot of rhythm with the players. This court is amazing, it is one of the biggest courts I have been to. I have been hitting here. It has been cool to play here and to watch all the matches that have been played here. When you step in and hit it is a completely different feeling to hitting [on] a normal court.”

[BREAK POINT]

The World No. 581 first picked up a racquet when he was a six-year-old in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion. His desire to play professionally quickly grew, with his two older brothers a source of inspiration after they went to play college tennis in the United States.

It's all square for Great Britain and hosts Colombia after Friday's Davis Cup Qualifier action in Bogota.

After Colombia's Nicolas Mejia earned his first Top 100 win with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 result against Daniel Evans, Cameron Norrie levelled the tie at 1-1 by beating Nicolas Barrientos 6-2, 7-5.

Mejia clinched his milestone victory with a break in the final game against Evans, a blazing backhand passing shot sparking wild celebrations in the Colombian capital. After the competitors split a pair of one-sided sets, the 22-year-old fended off three break points in the first game of the decider before piling on the pressure late.

While he could not convert on two break chances as Evans held in a marathon game to level the set at 4-4, Mejias responded with a love hold before clinching victory with his third break of the two-hour, 31-minute contest.

"The key to victory? The attitude, dedication, not getting nervous more than necessary," he said post-match. "I have also learned a lot from previous defeats.

Alexander Zverev picked an opportune moment to record his second competitive win in eight months, defeating Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-1 to draw Germany level with Switzerland in their Davis Cup Qualifier in Trier.

Zverev, whose return to competitive action after ankle ligament surgery yielded three defeats from four matches in Australia at the turn of the month, looked much more like his old self in a commanding victory over the three-time Grand Slam champion.

The world No. 14 saw off Wawrinka in an hour and 36 minutes to cancel out Marc-Andrea Huesler’s battling 2-6 6-2 6-4 triumph over Oscar Otte earlier in the day.

“I think it’s important to go into tomorrow’s ties with a 1-1 [scoreline],” said Zverev. “Obviously I’m very happy with my game. I think that was the best match since my injury. It’s going in a positive way, and I hope I can continue progressing.”

[ATP APP]

The United States signalled winning intentions Friday in their Davis Cup Qualifier against Uzbekistan, taking a 2-0 lead after the first singles matches.

Debutant Mackenzie McDonald, fresh from an Australian Open outing that saw him take down Rafael Nadal in Melbourne, defeated Uzbekistan’s No.1 Sergey Fomin in the opening rubber of the tie. The 21-year-old Fomin, the No.366 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, delighted the vocal Uzbekistani supporters with flashes of brilliance but the World No.63 McDonald held firm for a 6-4, 6-1 win.

“It’s been amazing,” said McDonald of his first Davis Cup experience so far. “I’d say it’s really nice playing a team event. It’s not something you get to do a lot throughout the year… I’m very excited to be on the Davis Cup team.”

World No.19 Tommy Paul then faced No.480-ranked Khumoyun Sultanov in the second singles match.

After taking the first set 6-1, Paul faced a renewed onslaught from the Uzbek, who leapt to an early 4-0 lead before being reeled back in. The pair then went toe to toe before Paul edged the tie-break for a final score of 6-1, 7-6(6).

Netflix's Break Point chronicled the clay-court exploits of Casper Ruud during the 2022 season, culminating in his meeting with Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros final. Court Philippe Chatrier was a fitting venue for the Norwegian's first major final, played on a surface on which he has won eight of his nine ATP Tour titles.

[BREAK POINT]

Ruud claimed his first tour-level trophy in Buenos Aires in 2020, then broke into the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings behind five 2021 titles, including four on clay. In 2022, he rose to a career high of World No. 2 with a big helping of hard-court success. While he won three more titles on the dirt last season, Ruud also reached marquee finals at Miami, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals to flash his hard-court credentials at the highest level.

View Ruud's Break Point Player Profile

Speaking with the ATP Tour in late 2021 — a year in which he won three straight clay titles in July — Ruud discussed his confidence level on clay and hard courts.

If you’re looking for players who can add to the next generation of top-level American tennis talent, chances are you can find them competing at this week's Cleveland Challenger.

The indoor hard court event has been a stepping stone for Americans such as Sebastian Korda, Jenson Brooksby (‘21 Cleveland finalist), J.J. Wolf, Brandon Nakashima, Maxime Cressy (‘19 Cleveland champion) and Marcos Giron. All six of those men are currently Top-60 players.

The Cleveland Open has also earned visits from Miomir Kecmanovic, Yoshihito Nishioka, and 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals participant Dominic Stricker, who triumphed at last year’s edition.

“We’ve had an exceptional alumni base that we’ve built in only four years,” tournament director Alex Guthrie said. “We had 17 players in the main draw of the Australian Open [that have been to the Cleveland Challenger in years prior]. It’s really cool that the community of Cleveland can get behind this event because it’s been a pipeline to get players on the ATP Tour and become Top 50 or even higher. It’s cool to see the transition, they come through Cleveland and soon enough they are cracking on the ATP Tour as a regular customer.”

Netflix's Break Point showcased the biggest moment of Taylor Fritz's ATP Tour career, when the American won the 2022 BNP Paribas Open title in his native Southern California. By claiming the Indian Wells crown, Fritz followed in the footsteps of his idol, Pete Sampras, who won the ATP Masters 1000 event twice.

The victory also made Fritz the No. 1 American in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — an honour he still holds today, and one that Sampras held for much of his legendary career.

View Fritz's Break Point Player Profile

Long before he was chasing the biggest titles in the game, Fritz was just cutting his teeth at the professional level and hoping for an opportunity to meet the man who spent 286 weeks as World No. 1. In a 2018 interview, Fritz recalled a special birthday surprise from Sampras years earlier at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Monterrey.

"I had just started doing well on the pro Tour so I thought maybe I had a chance of talking to him or maybe he would want to talk to me," Fritz said, recalling that Sampras was in town for an ATP Champions Tour event.

Last week, Tommy Paul enjoyed the best run of his career at the Australian Open, where he reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final. The 25-year-old is looking to maintain his momentum this week in the 2023 Davis Cup Qualifiers, where he leads the United States against Uzbekistan.

Paul takes on the host nation's No. 2 Khumoyun Sultanov in his opening singles match on Friday in Tashkent after his countryman Mackenzie McDonald opens against Uzbekistan's top player Sergey Fomin. The singles matchups will then be reversed on Saturday afternoon, after the solitary doubles match of the best-of-five-rubbers tie, with the winner qualifying for September’s Davis Cup Finals Group Stage.

Sultanov is ranked No. 480 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and Fomin at No. 366, but despite his higher ranking Paul knows he needs to stay focused in unfamiliar conditions in the Uzbekistani capital. Yet the American admitted he may have at least one source of outside help as he prepares for his maiden tour-level meetings against Sultanov and Fomin.

“When the [Australian Open] started I was texting Reilly [Opelka] a bunch about the players I was playing and he was giving me the scouting reports,” said Paul, who reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne. “Every morning when I’d wake up for a match, he was sending me a long paragraph about what to do against certain players… maybe I’ll hit him up tomorrow!”

[ATP APP]

Twenty-four nations will start their quest to be crowned 2023 Davis Cup Finals champion this week when 12 qualifying ties take place around the world from 3-5 February.

Cameron Norrie and Daniel Evans will try to deliver for Great Britain in its tie against Colombia, with #NextGenATP star Jack Draper and Top 5 doubles pair Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury rounding up the squad.

Croatia has reached the championship match in 2021 and the semi-finals last year. They are at full strength once again for their tie against Austria, with singles stars Marin Cilic and Borna Coric and doubles duo Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in action. Former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem will lead Austrian hopes in his first Davis Cup appearance since 2019.

[ATP APP]

Tommy Paul, Mackenzie McDonald, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek make up a strong United States team for its tie against Uzbekistan, while two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev headlines for Germany against neighbours Switzerland.

Netflix’s Break Point highlights rising stars in the sport who are pushing to reach the top of tennis’ mountain and dethrone all-time greats like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

A legend who provides insight into what it takes to do so is former World No. 1 Andy Roddick, who competed against Nadal and Djokovic for a large chunk of his career. ATPTour.com looks at insight the American provided in the new tennis series.

View Special Break Point Page

Roddick Spoke To The Difficulty Of Facing Legends
“When you’re playing against the greats, it really humbles you. You respected their abilities, you knew what they accomplished. But with Rafa, the game plan is very clear,” Roddick said in Episode 2. “You’re not going to get into extended rallies. His physicality and what he does so well is so difficult to deal with. You can’t dance around. You don’t want this thing going nine and 10 rounds. You’ve got to get in there and punch him in the mouth. You can’t wait.”

Roddick gave this explanation to contextualise Matteo Berrettini’s semi-final against Nadal at last year’s Australian Open. The Italian showed flashes of his potential, winning the third set against the lefty. But already down two sets, it was too late in a four-set defeat.

Maxime Cressy is famous for his unique serve-and-volley tactics, an old-school style that stands out in the modern game. The Paris-born American also has a distinctive approach to the mental side of the sport, utilising a mindset that meshes with his aggressive play.

"My mentality is definitely unique," Cressy told the ATP Tour in a recent on-camera interview, crediting his volleyball-playing mother and his two older brothers for helping develop his competitive spirit. "I put a lot of emphasis on what I can control, on my serve, on being the most efficient serve-and-volley player.

"This is what scares my opponents the most, to be focussed on myself and not on them."

[ATP APP]

With full confidence in his approach, the 25-year-old has never shied away from setting lofty targets. After transforming himself from a "bench player" at UCLA to one of college tennis' best, he sees no reason not to aim for the stars on the ATP Tour.

Although his trip to the Cleveland Open involved spending a night inside the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Alex Michelsen is making the best of his second ATP Challenger Tour appearance.

On Tuesday, the 18-year-old wild card was calm, cool, and collected as he defeated former World No. 8 Jack Sock 7-6(3), 6-4 at the Challenger 75 event in Cleveland, Ohio.

“I was feeling good throughout the match and I did everything well,” Michelsen said. “I executed the game plan very well. I knew he was going to come out firing. His serve and forehand are obviously fantastic, that’s how he got to Top 10 in the world. But I stuck to the game plan and it worked well. Best win of my life so far.”

Michelsen, who hails from Southern California, is a senior in high school and is set to graduate from an online school this spring. After triumphing at the ITF M15 in Edmond, Oklahoma a week ago, the youngster began his journey to the Cleveland Open, but it wasn’t without interruption. Michelsen missed his connecting flight in Dallas, which forced him to get some shut-eye in the airport. The teen shared he enjoys a routine and while the trip to Cleveland may have been hindered, he still pulled off the opening-round victory.

As we turn the page from the first month of the 2023 ATP Tour season, we look back at some of the key takeaways from the Australian Open. From the dominant performances of champion Novak Djokovic and finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas to the first-week odyssey of Andy Murray, there was no shortage of storylines at the year's first Grand Slam.

[ATP APP]

1. Djokovic Sets The Standard
The Serbian left Melbourne as World No. 1, reclaiming the top spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since last June. The honour is reward for a scintillating stretch of results dating back to Wimbledon: Djokovic is 38-2 since the start of the grass-court Slam, winning six of his seven tour-level events in that span.

The 35-year-old carried his red-hot 2022 form into the new year, peaking in the later rounds of the Australian Open. Despite a hamstring injury he suffered in Adelaide limiting his movement in the opening rounds, Djokovic dropped just one set in Melbourne — to Enzo Couacaud in the second round — before hitting top form in devastatingly one-sided wins against Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev.

Tested by Tsitsipas in the final, the Serbian took a page from a familiar playbook by being the more solid player in the clutch moments, winning two tie-breaks to secure a record-extending 10th Australian Open title and a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam men's singles crown.

A major independent investigation into Alexander Zverev has found insufficient evidence to substantiate published allegations of abuse. As a result, no disciplinary action will be taken by ATP.

Commissioned by ATP in October 2021, the investigation looked into allegations of domestic abuse made by Zverev’s former girlfriend, Olya Sharypova. While the primary focus of the investigation related to alleged abuses taking place at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai in 2019, its scope also included purported misconduct in other locations, including Monaco, New York and Geneva, as referenced in public reporting.

The investigation was carried out by The Lake Forest Group (LFG), a third-party investigator, led by founder and chief executive G. Michael Verden and Jennifer Mackovjak. Both Verden and Mackovjak are licensed private investigators with more than 60 years of combined experience in the field, including in professional sports. LFG was directed to conduct the investigation in a fully independent manner, with ATP’s outside legal counsel, Smith Hulsey & Busey, serving as an intermediary. ATP assisted with access to information and witnesses as requested.

LFG conducted extensive interviews with both Sharypova and Zverev, and 24 other individuals including family and friends, tennis players, and other parties involved with the ATP Tour. The investigation reviewed submissions by both Sharypova and Zverev, including text messages, audio files, and photos. This included materials voluntarily extracted from Zverev’s electronic devices via a third-party forensic expert. LFG also reviewed operational records related to the Shanghai tournament, documents submitted by third-party witnesses, and public records including social media posts and press reports.

Following an exhaustive 15-month process, LFG submitted its full report to ATP. Based on a lack of reliable evidence and eyewitness reports, in addition to conflicting statements by Sharypova, Zverev and other interviewees, the investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations of abuse, or determine that violations of ATP’s On-Site Offenses or Player Major Offenses rules took place.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal took to social media to congratulate Novak Djokovic on winning his record-extending 10th Australian Open title.

Djokovic now owns 22 Grand Slam trophies, tied for most men's singles majors in history alongside Nadal. Federer, who retired at last year's Laver Cup, completed his career with 20 Slams.

"Congrats Nole, to you and your team for this great achievement," Nadal wrote on Instagram. "Enjoy the moment ! ??"

Federer wrote in an Instagram story: "Incredible effort, again! Many congratulations."

Michael Mmoh was one game away from qualifying for the 2022 US Open. Although he'd already played at Flushing Meadows three times, this was still another opportunity to compete in the main draw at his home Slam. But things suddenly went south after Mmoh was up 6-2, 5-2 on Gilles Simon. The American won just one more game and suffered a heartbreaking 6-2, 5-7, 1-6 loss.

Despite the defeat, Mmoh turned it into a lesson learned. After his loss to the Frenchman, Mmoh won 13 of his next 14 ATP Challenger Tour-level matches and was crowned champion at the Cary and Fairfield Challengers. The 25-year-old claims he sought after books and a psychologist to help him gain a new perspective.

“I think I put pressure on myself to do well during that US Open hard-court swing,” Mmoh told ATPTour.com. “I thought I was playing well at certain moments but I just wasn't winning matches. Against Simon, I was up 6-2, 5-2, probably played the best two sets of the whole year to that point. Then things went completely sideways. That was probably one of the toughest losses of my career.

“It forced me to explore everything and anything that could make me better. I started to look at myself in the mirror and find out ways I can improve. I was reading books, talking to psychologists, just trying to learn more about myself. I started switching that perspective to be more positive and optimistic, even when things weren’t going well. I tried to re-channel my energy in the right way.

He may have stepped on court as an ATP Tour competitor for the final time, but Roger Federer is finding plenty to keep himself busy in retirement.

Last week, the Swiss great attended Paris Fashion Week, where he rubbed shoulders with some fellow global icons, K-Pop stars Blackpink.

Blackpink, a four-piece musical group from South Korea, has rocketed to international fame since releasing their debut album in 2016. It is unclear how familiar Federer is with their work, however, as the Swiss great admitted it was his children who had prompted him to post about the encounter on Instagram. “My kids said this was a definite IG post,” he wrote.

Some of his younger colleagues from the tennis world were quick to respond. “Hahaha yessss” commented World No. 27 Denis Shapovalov on Federer’s post, while WTA star Coco Gauff enquired whether the 103 tour-level titlist now considered himself a ‘Blink’, the nickname commonly used for fans of the K-Pop giants.