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When Zhang Zhizhen defeated Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals in Hangzhou Saturday, he made history for Chinese tennis.

It is the first time multiple Chinese players have made the quarter-finals of the same ATP Tour event. On Friday his countryman Buyunchaokete upset second seed Karen Khachanov to reach the quarter-finals.

“We’re happy to [earn] some wins for Chinese people,” Zhang shared after the match.

? Home hero ?

ZZZ mania is in full swing!@HangzhouOpen|#HangzhouOpenpic.twitter.com/e18YM5Cd0Z

In a near-perfect performance, Zhang fired six aces and faced no break points throughout the match as Bellucci made 29 unforced errors. The Chinese will face Roberto Carballes Baena in the quarter-finals. It will be the first meeting in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Frances Tiafoe caught such fire on Saturday in Berlin that he felt like he was Roger Federer.

That form helped the Team World player rally past Team Europe’s Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 to give his side a 4-2 lead in Berlin.

“Honestly I just started having fun. Laughing with my team, laughing with my team over there and here. Just having a bit of fun and started really finding my rhythm,” Tiafoe said. “The courts are obviously much slower than I’m used to playing on, so it’s tough playing Daniil on this court. But after the second set, midway into the second and in the tie-break, I felt like I was Roger Federer, honestly.”

Team World back on top ?@FTiafoe with an impressive 3-6 6-4 [10-5] victory over Medvedev.@LaverCup | #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/ZeRI2ycna8

Federer, who was in the crowd, gave on-court reporter Mark Petchey a double thumb’s up when asked about Tiafoe’s comment. The American is playing some of the best tennis of his career, having just reached the US Open semi-finals for the first time after making the final in Cincinnati.

Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama upset top seed Holger Rune 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the quarter-finals at the Hangzhou Open.

The No. 160 in the PIF ATP Rankings won 77 per cent of his first-serve points to record the joint biggest win of his career, after his victory over World No. 14 Kyle Edmund at Brisbane in 2019. The 32-year-old Uchiyama also saved two of the four break points that he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to close out the match in one hour, 40 minutes.

UNST?PPABLE

Qualifier @yasutaka0805 downs top seed Rune 7-5 6-4!@HangzhouOpen | #HangzhouOpen pic.twitter.com/bIY092bOe6

“I’m very excited, I’m happy with my performance today,” Uchiyama said after the match. “I couldn’t imagine winning in two sets, I was just thinking about my performance, I had to play 100 per cent the whole match to get the chance to beat him, so it went well for me today”.

Uchiyama will compete in the third ATP Tour quarter-final of his career, in which he will face wild card Marin Cilic.

Lorenzo Musetti battled past Christopher O’Connell 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(4) on Saturday to advance to the quarter-finals at the Chengdu Open.

The top seed recovered from 5-3 down in the deciding set to notch a personal-best 35th win of the season and progress to his seventh quarter-final of the year. The 22-year-old Musetti hit 33 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to close out the match in two hours, 37 minutes.

This is what it means. This is tennis.@chengduopen | #ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/VNgf8mxk9y

“That was a difficult match, he [O’Connell] was serving pretty sharp and really precisely and I didn’t find so many break points,” Musetti said after the match. “But at the end I stayed focused, I played the right tactics and I managed to play well throughout the match.”

The Italian will meet fifth seed Adrian Mannarino in the quarter-finals, after the Frenchman survived a scare to beat home hope Yi Zhou 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4.

Lucas Pouille knows what it is like to win ATP Tour titles, reach the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings and compete in a major semi-final. The adrenaline of a match day is nothing new for the Frenchman. 

In 2017, Pouille held his nerve to secure the Davis Cup title for France in front of a raucous home crowd. It was a final, all-or-nothing deciding rubber against Belgium.

Now ranked World No. 142 and competing mostly on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, Pouille continues to live for that thrill of going toe to toe against another competitor.

“Before the match, in the morning you wake up and you have this little thing in the stomach. You know it’s a match day. You don’t wake up like the other days,” Pouille told ATPTour.com at this week’s Saint-Tropez Open, an ATP Challenger Tour 125 event. “Once I step on court, they are there for sure, but I take it as a positive. For me, it’s just great to have this kind of stress.”

In May, Pouille won his first title across all levels in five years at the Mauthausen Challenger. It was an important moment for Pouille, who has been plagued with injuries. He underwent elbow surgery in 2020 and last year at Wimbledon, he suffered a stress fracture in his lower back.

Roger Federer has seen a lot in his career. Friday at the Laver Cup, the Swiss was faced with something new.

Federer watched four-time major champion and No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings Carlos Alcaraz play a match in person for the first time.

The stars had already gotten to know one another during the leadup to the event, chatting at various functions, posing together for a photoshoot and having a nice conversation on the practice court Friday before the Spaniard's match.

Carlitos & Federer shared a nice moment on court ahead of his first match in Berlin. ?@lavercup | #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/BQThHJOq91

But for the first time, 103-time tour-level titlist Federer experienced the Spaniard's game up close when Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev faced Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton in doubles. Fritz and Shelton won the match in straight sets.

The battle for the 2024 Laver Cup is intriguingly poised heading into Day 2.

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton drew Team World level at 2-2 with Team Europe after downing the host team’s star Friday-night doubles pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final match of the day in Berlin.

All tied up ?

? Team World: 2
? Team Europe: 2@Taylor_Fritz97/@BenShelton tie things up after a 7-6(5) 6-4 win over Alcaraz/Zverev.@LaverCup | #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/XgtoSsulPo

Americans Fritz and Shelton fired 20 winners, including eight aces, en route to a 95-minute victory against the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings Zverev and No. 3 Alcaraz, the latter of whom was making his Laver Cup debut. They sealed their win after clinching a crucial break in the ninth game of the second set to restore parity for Team World in the annual teams event.

“We both served really well under pressure,” said Fritz in his on-court interview. “Ben served incredibly well, so I didn’t have to hit any volleys. That was huge.”

Francisco Cerundolo helped Team World take its first step towards a third consecutive Laver Cup title on Friday afternoon. Team Europe's Stefanos Tsitsipas then promptly issued a swift reminder of the challenge facing the Argentine and his teammates this weekend in Berlin.

The No. 31 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Cerundolo upset Casper Ruud in the opening match of the 2024 edition of the teams event. He triumphed 6-4, 6-4 after 97 minutes to take a 4-3 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the World No. 9.

“I’m super happy. I had the responsibility to go there and play the first match. I knew it was going to be tough,” said Cerundolo in his post-match press conference. “Casper is a great player. We played many times, so I knew how he was going to play, and I think I did a really good job from the beginning to the end.

“I was really there, focused, and super happy to get my second win in Laver Cup and first this year.”

Cerundolo outhit Ruud by 16 winners to 11 to avenge his recent defeat to the Norwegian at the Paris Olympics. The Argentine adjusted more quickly to the indoor conditions at Uber Arena than Ruud, who struggled with the consistency of his groundstrokes, to give Team World and its captain John McEnroe the perfect start in Berlin.

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Fourth seed Brandon Nakashima saved two match points to overcome #NextGenATP star Coleman Wong 6-7(7), 7-6(4), 6-1 on Friday and advance to the quarter-finals at the Hangzhou Open.

Nakashima, who is at a career high No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings, held his nerve to save two match points as he served at 6-5 down in the second set. The American struck 39 winners to defeat the 20-year-old in two hours, 40 minutes.

The former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF winner has maintained his momentum in the recent months, posting an 11-4 record since August, including a fourth-round run at the US Open. At Flushing Meadows he defeated Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune as he equalled his best run at a Grand Slam.

Nakashima advanced to his 14th ATP Tour quarter-final where he will face Australian Rinky Hijikata, who progressed after Fabian Marozsan withdrew due to sickness.

Mikhail Kukushkin rolled back the years as he defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 7-6(3) in an all-Kazakhstani battle.

The Laver Cup and the ATP have today announced a five-year extension to their existing certification agreement, which began with Laver Cup 2019, and both renews and enhances their partnership.

This extension comes as the Laver Cup enters its seventh edition today at Uber Arena in Berlin, marking a significant milestone for the event as it continues to bring together tennis superstars from the past, present and future in a thrilling team competition and a unique celebration of the sport.

The Laver Cup, where top players from Europe take on their counterparts from the rest of the world, will continue to benefit from the ATP’s global reach, marketing services — including press and social media — and operational support, including officials and physios.

"We are delighted to continue our partnership with the ATP," said Tony Godsick, Laver Cup Chairman and CEO of TEAM8.

"Their recognition validates the Laver Cup vision, which is to bring together the world’s top players – rivals year-round – as teammates, to celebrate and honour the legendary Rod Laver and his compatriots, while growing interest in this wonderful sport at new destinations around the world."

Yannick Hanfmann overcame seventh seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Friday to advance to the Chengdu Open quarter-finals.

In the pair’s first meeting, the 32-year-old won 79 per cent (37/47) of his first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats. The German also struck 26 winners to seal victory over the 21-year-old in one hour, 49 minutes.

"You have to be patient, that was the key to the match," Hanfmann said. "You’re not going to get a lot of chances to break him, he’s an amazing server.

Nicely done ☑️

Hanfmann reaches his 17th ATP Tour QF after battling past Mpetshi Perricard 6-4 3-6 6-3!@ChengduOpen | #ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/CKZZWT1qnW

The 2024 Laver Cup gets underway on Friday 20 September in Berlin, Germany, where John McEnroe’s Team World will begin its Laver Cup defence against Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe.

There are plenty of interesting matches from the start. The first match begins at 1 p.m. with World No. 9 Casper Ruud facing Francisco Cerundolo.

[ATP APP]

Fans will be able to watch four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz compete alongside Alexander Zverev in the doubles action. The two will face the American duo of Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, concluding Friday’s order of play.

ORDER OF PLAY – Friday

For the seventh and final time, legends Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will face off as captains of Team Europe and Team World, respectively, at the Laver Cup in Berlin. The event, which begins Friday, marks the end of an era.

The Laver Cup, founded in 2017 by former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Roger Federer, has seen Borg lead Team Europe and McEnroe Team World since the event’s inception.

“For me it’s very much a bittersweet week with Bjorn and John because I would love them to be captains forever,” Federer said. “At the same time, we’ve got to move with the times, I guess.”

Despite the end of their captaincies, Federer expressed deep gratitude for their contributions to the tournament.

“It was supposed to be three years, four or two, and it ended up being seven,” Federer said. “It’s been seven great years. Couldn’t have had better captains, to be honest.”

What role can personality and emotion play in forging success on the tennis court? Perhaps no one is better placed to comment on the topic than John McEnroe.

The American tennis icon is banking on team spirit to lay the foundation for Team World’s 2024 Laver Cup campaign this weekend in Berlin. Up against a Team Europe lineup featuring five of the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings, McEnroe nonetheless believes his Team World has what it takes to seal its third consecutive crown at the teams event.

“I believe that every Laver Cup we have played, nine of the Top 10 have been Europeans,” said McEnroe, when asked about his team’s off-court cohesion during a pre-event press conference. “So I think that team spirit that's something that has helped carry us eventually to victory and kept us really close in others. It's an excellent point.”

Not that McEnroe doesn’t have some top ATP Tour talent to send out on court at Uber Arena. His roster is led by World No. 7 Taylor Fritz, who will be competing for the first time since reaching his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open earlier this month. Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Alejandro Tabilo, Francisco Cerundolo and Thanasi Kokkinakis complete the Team World lineup.

Fritz shied away from suggestions that he was going to be something of a ‘leader’ within his team in Berlin, but instead said each member of Team World is ready to take individual responsibility in their bid to retain the Laver Cup.

Team Europe is not messing around when it comes to its latest bid for Laver Cup glory.

Five of the Top 10 players in the PIF ATP Rankings will this year don the blue colours under Bjorn Borg’s leadership at the teams event. Swedish legend Borg, who will captain Team Europe for the seventh and final time, was in a confident mood Thursday in Berlin, where his team aims to reclaim the Laver Cup trophy for the first time since 2021.

“The last two years I was very disappointed, but this year, look at this team,” said Borg at Europe’s pre-tournament press conference. “I don't think we're going to lose this year. This is going to be one of the good years.

“I'm happy to see these guys. Some of the guys have been playing in Laver Cup many times. We have a good atmosphere always, and to be here with all these guys, it's going to be great. It's going to be good tennis, as always, good matches. Team World, it's a tough team, they play really good, they played really good in the US Open. But I think we have a good chance.”

???? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ✨@LaverCup | #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/bLc6xxIOhf

The Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships is one of 13 ATP 500 events that will host tennis’ elite for a week in the 2024 season. Among those in action are Top 15 stars Taylor Fritz, Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the Japan tournament:

When is the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships?
The ATP 500 event will be held from 25 September to 1 October. The hard-court tournament, established in 1972, is played at the Ariake Tennis Forest Park. The tournament director is Shigefusa Kanroji.

Who is playing at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships?
Fritz, Hurkacz, Ruud, Tsitsipas, Rune, Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime are all set to compete in Tokyo.

When is the draw for the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships?
The Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships draw will be made on Monday, 23 September at 2:00 p.m.

The China Open is one of 13 ATP 500 events that host an elite roster of men's players. Among those in action this year in Beijing are No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the Chinese tournament:

When is the China Open?
The ATP 500 event will be held from 26 September to 2 October. The hard-court tournament, established in 1993, will take place at the National Tennis Centre. The tournament directors are Lars Graff and Alfred Zhang Junhui.

Who is playing at the China Open?
Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Grigor Dimitrov, Lorenzo Musetti and Zhizhen Zhang are among the field in China.

When is the draw for China Open?
The China Open draw will be made on Tuesday, 24 September at 2:30 p.m.

Sky-high expectations from home fans, lower back pain, a red-hot championship-match opponent with a near-untouchable serve, and an incoming typhoon playing havoc with the conditions. They were just some of the challenges faced by Kei Nishikori at the 2014 Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.

The Japanese star overcame them all.

By defeating Milos Raonic in three sets to lift the trophy at his hometown event, Nishikori not only sent a capacity Ariake Coloseum crowd home happy. The then-24-year-old, who had also won in 2012 to join 1972 titlist Toshiro Sakai as a home Tokyo champion, became the first Japanese two-time winner in event history and just the fourth multiple titlist overall after ATP greats Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier.

Nishikori was long established as a huge star in Japan, but his achievements in 2014 prior to Tokyo had arguably elevated his profile to unprecedented levels. Just three weeks prior to the hard-court ATP 500, he had become the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. He defeated three Top 10 opponents in Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic en route.

Despite a painful defeat to Marin Cilic in the New York championship match, Nishikori bounced back by winning his third ATP Tour crown of the year in Kuala Lumpur. By the time he arrived in Tokyo, he had won 10 of his past 11 matches and reached a then-career-high No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

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