Martin Klizan saved five match points on Friday against one of the ATP World Tour’s most in-form players in 2016.

Klizan, who is currently No. 43 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, broke a four-match losing streak against sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut with a 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-0 victory in two hours and 44 minutes for a place in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament semi-finals.

Klizan saved two match points when serving at 4-5 in the second set, and then saved a further three match points in the next game on Bautista Agut’s serve.

“It was a very, very tough match. I was almost on the plane,” said Klizan. “I saved five match points, which is incredible. I am very happy that I won, breaking his four-match winning streak he had over me.”

Bautista Agut, who had won 13 of his past 14 matches, is a two-time ATP World Tour titlist this season, lifting trophies at Auckland (d. Sock) and Sofia (d. Troicki).

Qualifier Nicolas Mahut, who will appear in the ninth ATP World Tour semi-final, stands in the way of Klizan reaching his fourth title match. Mahut beat eighth seed Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-1 in 71 minutes.

“I played really great today, changing my tactics a little bit from when I played him in Sydney,” said Mahut. “Today, I didn’t want to press him too much and played from the baseline, a little bit slower. When Viktor has some targets he is really tough to beat.”

Mahut, the oldest player in the draw at 34, last reached the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour event during his ‘s-Hertogenbosch title run (d. Goffin) in June 2015. “Holland inspires me a lot, having gone through qualifying twice in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and won the title,” said Mahut. “I like the atmosphere and the court. I’ve had a great tournament so far.”

The Terms of Reference and Protocols for the Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis were announced today, by the four governing bodies of international tennis ATP, WTA, ITF and the Grand Slam Board. The Independent Review Panel (IRP), established in the Terms of Reference and Protocols, will investigate thoroughly the allegations of corruption in international professional tennis and the effectiveness of existing anti-corruption practices and procedures.

View Terms Of Reference And Protocols (PDF)

The IRP will review the effectiveness and appropriateness of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP), the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) and the Tennis Integrity Protection Programme (TIPP) and recommend any suggested changes.

The IRP will have wide powers including the right to require the production of documents, the right to carry out interviews and to appoint experts, as it considers appropriate.

In carrying out the Independent Review, the IRP will engage with all relevant parties. This will not be limited to the stakeholders in tennis and will extend to bodies outside of tennis, including international and state bodies, law enforcement agencies, betting operators and other relevant organisations.

While there is no fixed deadline for the IRP to complete its Independent Review, it is expected that the full review will take at least twelve months with the publication of an Interim Report during that time.

Following the publication of the Interim Report, there will be a consultation process, through which the stakeholders in tennis, other relevant parties and the public will be able to submit comments on the Interim Report for consideration by the IRP. Following this consultation process, the IRP will produce a Final Report. The governing bodies of international tennis will publish this document and have committed to fund and implement all of the IRP’s recommendations.

The Terms of Reference and Protocols have been published on the websites of the Chairman of the IRP Adam Lewis QC; the Solicitors to the IRP, Charles Russell Speechlys; the four Grand Slam Tournaments, ATP, WTA, ITF, and the Tennis Integrity Unit.

The IRP, led by Adam Lewis QC, will consist of three members. The additional two members of the panel will be confirmed by the end of February.

Any communications to the IRP should be addressed to Jonathan Ellis, of Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, who is appointed to act as the Solicitor and Secretary to the IRP at TennisIRP@crsblaw.com.

The Terms of Reference and Protocols are attached and available at:

* www.blackstonechambers.com
* www.charlesrussellspeechlys.com
* www.atpworldtour.com
* www.wtatennis.com
* www.itftennis.com
* www.rolandgarros.com
* www.tennis.com.au
* www.usopen.org
* www.wimbledon.com
* www.tennisintegrityunit.com

Rafael Nadal made a winning return to his beloved clay Thursday night in Buenos Aires, beating close friend Juan Monaco in a repeat of last year’s final of the Argentina Open. But the victory – in which Nadal dropped serve three times and committed 15 unforced errors in the first set alone – wasn’t pretty, especially coming against an underdone Monaco, playing his first tournament in six months.

“I’m happy for the victory,” Nadal said. “The start was tough, as Juan is a good player and the big humidity here in Argentina made it difficult. I am happy to be through and hope to be ready for tomorrow.”

Monaco had not played a tournament since undergoing right wrist surgery shortly after Kitzbühel in August last year. And, coming into the match, the 2007 Buenos Aires champion had won just 18 games in 14 sets played in six career meetings on clay against Nadal.

Playing his first match since a first-round loss to Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open, Nadal’s confidence seemed to seesaw during the match. Soon after breaking back for 3-all in the second set, Nadal threw in two double faults on serve in the ninth game. But he closed it out with a crushing inside-out forehand down the line and then broke in the following game to close out the match.

Nadal plays Italian Paolo Lorenzi in the quarter-finals Friday.

“Paolo is a strong player and he had a great victory today,” Nadal said. “We’ll have an early afternoon start so it’ll be very warm. It’ll be a tough one.”

Nadal has won titles at four different Golden Swing tournaments: Acapulco (2005, ’13), Sao Paulo (2005, ’13), Rio de Janeiro (2014) and last year in Buenos Aires. This week he is chasing his 48^th career title on clay to move within one victory of Guillermo Vilas’ all-time record of 49.

Nadal won three titles last season: Buenos Aires (d. Monaco), Stuttgart (d. Troicki) and Hamburg (d. Fognini).

Sascha Zverev was a point away from being two breaks down in the deciding set against one of the steadiest baseliners on the ATP World Tour, but the German teen did not give up. The wild card  fought through cramps, worked his way back into the match and downed third seed Gilles Simon 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) in just under three hours in Rotterdam on Thursday.

“The crowd helped me so much,” Zverev said. “I really had to give it all I’ve got. When I was cramping, my box was worried, but I fought hard and stayed in there. Gilles can run all day long so it was tough for me physically.”

The 18 year old, the youngest player in the draw, is into his second quarter-final is as many weeks. In Montpellier, he upset Marin Cilic in the second round en route to the semi-finals. The win against Simon improved his record against Top 20 players to 4-6.

Zverev’s quarter-final opponent will be fifth seed Gael Monfils, who eliminated 19-year-old Borna Coric on Wednesday. Zverev is currently No. 70 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and can overtake Coric, the youngest player in the Top 50 (No. 38), with a title in Rotterdam.

“We’ll see how I feel because right now I’m quite exhausted, but I am very happy to be in the quarter-finals.”

American No. 3 seed Donald Young is through to his first quarter-final of the season after downing Marcel Granollers 6-1, 7-6(2) at the Memphis Open on Thursday. The World No. 48 in the Emirates ATP Rankings dropped his opening serve before reeling off six games to take the first set, breaking serve three times en route. 

“It was good. Apart from the first game it was a really solid match,” Young said. “I was able to be aggressive and put some pressure on and not allow him to do the usual mix of shots that he likes to pull out.”

Players traded breaks of serve early in the second before games continued on serve until the tie-break. From there, it was all Young. Making his seventh appearance in the tournament, the 26 year old closed it out on his first match point and moved to within one win of matching his semi-final run from last year.

“This year, it’s the best I’ve played, even though I haven’t played many matches,” Young said. “I didn’t want to go three. Anything could happen in the third if he got momentum.”

He will face Ricardas Berankis next, after the Lithuanian upset Bosnian eighth seed Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-4. Berankis, World No. 102 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, had claimed the pair’s only prior clash in Brisbane two years ago and broke serve three times in the opening set.

The 25 year old broke Dzumhur’s serve to love to close out the match in one hour and 23 minutes. He will carry a 1-0 FedEx Head2Head record into his match against Young.

German Benjamin Becker overturned a 0-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against seventh-seeded Australian John Millman to register a 6-2, 7-6(6) victory.

The 34 year old progressed to the quarter-finals in one hour and 21 minutes. After Becker took the opening set without losing a point on his second serve, he quickly found himself trailing a break at 3-0 in the second. The German rallied to break back, however, and saved a set point in the second-set tie-break before closing out the win.

At age 33, David Ferrer is still going strong. The Spaniard, seeded second, routed Argentine wild card Renzo Olivo 6-2, 6-2 at the Argentina Open on Thursday to move into the quarter-finals. Ferrer needed only 72 minutes to advance.

In the speedy win over the World No. 151, the Javea native showed off his remarkable consistency against lower-ranked players. Last year, he only lost one ATP World Tour match on clay against a player ranked outside the Top 5 (Andujar, Barcelona SFs). Since turning pro in 2000, he has won more than 75 per cent of matches against opponents who trail him in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Next up for the efficient Spaniard is eighth seed Pablo Cuevas, who saw off Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-2 in 85 minutes. Giraldo was looking for his first win over Cuevas since 2006, but was defeated after the Uruguayan broke him four times in nine opportunities.

Ferrer holds a 2-0 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Cuevas and has never dropped a set against his quarter-final opponent.