Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo broke new ground on Thursday at the $125,000 event in Chengdu, China.

Sixteen years after playing his first ATP Challenger Tour event, the 38-year-old Spaniard became the first player to win 400 matches in Challengers. He accomplished the feat by winning a marathon second-round match over Ante Pavic of Croatia, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. 

Having won his first Challenger match over Massimo Dell’Acqua in May 2000 in Manerbia, Italy, Ramirez Hidalgo said he was grateful to have a long career that allowed him to win so many matches.

“This [record] is because I started playing a long time ago,” he joked. “But I still enjoy tennis. I’ve always said tennis is my life, so I’m going to try and play until I can’t play anymore.”

To put the accomplishment in perspective, Ramirez Hidalgo has won Challenger matches in 103 different cities throughout 30 countries and territories worldwide. He’s reached 23 ATP Challenger Tour finals throughout his career, winning 11 titles on four different continents.

Ruben’s Milestone Match Wins

The Spaniard isn’t done yet, though. After struggling with injuries last year, Ramirez Hidalgo has climbed 60 places in the Emirates ATP Rankings this season. He reached the final of the Challenger held last May in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, becoming the oldest finalist in Challenger history at 38 years, four months.

“Right now, I have no plans to retire,” said Ramirez Hidalgo. “My coach thinks I can play one more year, so I want to finish out this season and then we’ll see what happens. I’m just trying to enjoy each match and each tournament.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has drawn level with Roger Federer for the most ‘Big Titles’ – Grand Slam championships, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals’ or ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns.

The Serbian drew level with Federer on 47 ‘Big Titles’ as a result of becoming the first player to capture 30 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles after a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Kei Nishikori in the Rogers Cup final.

Djokovic has by the far the best conversion rate of any player, past or present, winning one Big Title for every 3.13 events played at this level.

Federer, who will not play for the rest of the 2016 season, has 47 ‘Big Titles’, including 17 Grand Slams, six Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (both records) and he is third all-time with 24 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns. The Swiss has played 205 tournaments at this level, averaging one title for each 4.38 events played.

Rafael Nadal, who will be playing at the Rio Olympics, also boasts an exceptional strike rate, winning one Big Title for every 3.52 appearances. He is joint second all-time (with Pete Sampras) for most Grand Slam titles won with 14, and outright second all-time for most ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles won with 28 crowns, just two behind Djokovic’s record haul.

Andy Murray, who captured his third Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon last month, has won 15 ‘Big Titles’, including 12 ATP World Tour Masters 1000s. Murray, who has competed in the same era as Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, wins one Big Title for every 9.2 tournaments played.

Since the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series launched in 1990, Sampras has been the only player to rival the ‘Big Titles’ strike rates of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. A winner of 14 Grand Slam titles and five Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the six-time year-end World No. 1 averaged one Big Title per 4.9 tournaments played.

One other player whose strike rate is in single figures is Andre Agassi, who at one time was the record Masters 1000 title holder with 17 titles, including six Miami crowns. Agassi also won eight majors and one season finale. His 26 ‘Big Titles’ from 164 tournaments played came at an average of one title per 6.3 events played.

Those historical averages put in perspective the utter dominance Djokovic has displayed in his past 24 outings at this level dating back to the 2014 BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. During that time the Serb has won one Big Title for every 1.33 events he’s played, going 5 of 7 at Grand Slams, 11 of 15 at Masters 1000s and 2 for 2 at Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Current and Former Champions (Records Since 1990)

More than anything this week, Nick Kyrgios just wants to have fun at the BB&T Atlanta Open. Some weeks this season, the 21-year-old Aussie has enjoyed himself on the ATP World Tour, and the results have followed. Other weeks, it’s been the opposite.

“I’m just going to try to find that balance of enjoying myself, having fun and competing hard,” he said. “Hopefully I have a good week.”

His singles week will start on Thursday evening when Kyrgios, No. 18 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, faces #NextGen player Jared Donaldson for the first time. Donaldson, World No. 123, prevailed against Kyrgios’ countryman Sam Groth earlier this week.

“He’s capable of producing great tennis,” Kyrgios said of the 19-year-old American.

Kyrgios has been determined about trying to be relaxed on and off the court in Atlanta. He visited the NBA TV studio in Atlanta and talked tennis and basketball with hosts Vince Cellini and former NBA player Steve Smith. Kyrgios also played basketball at least a couple times at Georgia Tech with fellow ATP World Tour players, including Christopher Eubanks, Reilly Opelka and #NextGen’s Taylor Fritz.

“That was unbelievably fun,” Kyrgios said.

He also entered a doubles draw for only the fifth time this season (Australian Open, Open 13 Provence, Roland Garros and Rogers Cup). On Monday evening, he and long-time friend James Frawley, whom Kyrgios played tennis with as a teenager in Australia, fell to Ukrainians Sergiy Stakhovsky and Alexandr Dolgopolov.

“I feel like it’s a good balance,” Kyrgios said of playing doubles. “You have a lot of fun out there. I probably enjoy myself a lot more on the doubles court than I do in singles… and hopefully it can help me with my singles.”

The 6’4” right-hander has faced high expectations ever since he bursted onto the scene as a big-serving 19 year old making his Wimbledon debut in 2014. Kyrgios reached the quarter-finals then, upsetting top seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.

But it’s not as if Kyrgios has been struggling all season on the ATP World Tour. The Canberra native is 26-11 this season. He won his first ATP World Tour title at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. He’s also hiked 12 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings since January.

Read More: Kyrgios First-Time Winner Spotlight

“I think my season has gone pretty well,” he said. “Obviously I’ve had a lot of ups and downs this year and last year. But I think, ultimately, I’m getting better as a player.”

Kyrgios wants to reach the Top 16 of the Emirates ATP Rankings before the season ends. He also might hire a coach in the near future. In Atlanta, he’s without a coach and a strength and conditioning assistant.

“I’m definitely having some interest… I’m just trying to see what I want to do,” he said.

He’s also glad to be in Atlanta for the first time. “I think the conditions suit me well here as well – fast hard court, bouncy,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for me to do well.”

I missed a flight?

I was 12 years old and I was on my way to Las Vegas from San Francisco, playing junior tournaments. We were right next to the gate we were supposed to be at and were sitting there for two hours. After that someone said, “Oh my God, we have a flight to catch”. So we had to get the next one an hour later.

I lost something important?

The most important time, was when I was 12 years old. After winning a semi-final, I put my phone down on the side of a court to play mini tennis with other players. I left it and forgot my phone. It was when the iPhone had just come out and my Dad had just got me one. I remember he was so upset and he was giving me a lecture.

I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls?

Probably one of the last times I went to a Challenger, I think in Savannah. There were using different balls than the previous tournament so we had to go out and buy a case.

Being famous or well-known helped me?

Flying back from my first Futures win in Bodrum in Turkey. The mayor came out to watch us and lent us his driver to get us to the airport after we had won, because we had a flight to catch to Istanbul. At the airport they gave me first-class tickets for free on the flight from Bodrum to Istanbul.

I strung a tennis racquet?

Never because I’ve never tried, never attempted to learn.

I cooked for myself or others?

When I was at home this past June, my girlfriend and I had a cook-off making pasta bolognaise from scratch, making your own tomato sauce. This was the first time I’d ever cooked and it took five hours.

I met a childhood idol?

I love baseball, my idol is Barry Bonds. I got my ear pierced because of him. We were at a resort in the Bahamas and he was there with his family. I walked up to him as a four year old and I said, ‘How did it feel to hit all those home runs?’ He said that it felt ‘pretty good’.

I shared a hotel room with another player?

Probably on junior Davis Cup duty in Barcelona, when I shared with Stefan Kozlov and Noah Rubin. So there was a lot of talent in that room.

I asked someone famous for an autograph or a selfie?

When I worked with Andre Agassi in Las Vegas, I got a photograph. Before that it was with Roger Federer, when I was playing with him in Dubai.

Top seed John Isner’s BB&T Atlanta Open title defence is off to a flying start after the American reeled off the last 10 games of the match to dispatch of Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday night. Isner extended his winning streak in Atlanta to 13 with the 6-4, 6-0 second-round result having claimed the title the past three years.

Despite being broken for 2-1 in the opening set, the World No. 17 began to find his range. From 2-4 down, he broke twice to take the opening set and after saving four break points in the opening game of the second set, was never troubled again, reeling off a bagel set to seal the match in little more than one hour. He finished with 16 aces and saved four of five break points faced.

“I guess just getting that break at 4-3 to get it back on serve,” Isner said of the turning point in the match. “The previous game I had three break points but didn’t play that well but it was still an encouraging game.

“I held serve at 4-2 and got it back on serve and from there felt really good about my chances. I certainly turned the match around. I don’t know if I’ve ever won 10 games in a row, but I’ll take it.”

Isner carried a 5-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his match with the French lefty. He knew exactly what he had to do to ensure a sixth win.

“I think tactically I did some things well out there. I needed to go to his forehand and I did,” he said. “I was going to his backhand a little too much early on and was paying the price for it. The game plan was get the ball high and up on his forehand because he does not like that at all.”

Isner will next meet either No. 8 seed Taylor Fritz or fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo for a place in the semi-finals. He has never fallen before the semi-finals in six prior appearances.

Follow all the latest off-court action on MyATP! Download the app for iPhone or Android or visit MyATP.com.

BB&T Atlanta Open – Atlanta, Georgia

NextGen stars Nick Kyrgios and Taylor Fritz were joined by Reilly Opelka and Christopher Eubanks for some two-on-two hoops at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Read & Watch

Kyrgios also stopped by the NBA TV program “Game Time” to chat with Vince Cellini and former NBA star Steve Smith. Read

Donald Young opened up his swanky apartment to our cameras for a tour of his Atlanta home. Read

Fritz and Julien Benneteau attended Tennis Night on the Town and assisted at the draw ceremony. Watch

Fernando Verdasco and John Isner attended a reception for the title sponsor, BB&T, while the top seed also visited with fans on College Night.

Third seed Kevin Anderson chatted with Fox Live and did a meet-and-greet at the PGA Superstore.

Artem Sitak, Andreas Siljestrom, Nicholas Monroe, Benneteau, Purav Raja, Divij Sharan, Marcelo Demoliner and Eubanks were among the stars to participate in tennis clinics.

Verdasco, Jared Donaldson, Jonathan Erlich, Mariusz Fyrstenberg, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, Austin Smith and Opelka were on hand for the tournament pro-am.

Alexandr Dolgopolov, Tim Smyczek, Opelka and John-Patrick Smith met with fans at autograph signings, while Donaldson and Young visited suites.

#NextGen star Andrey Rublev has enjoyed breakout results in 2016, but the Russian teenager hopes it’s only a sign of what’s to come.

The 18-year-old Russian is competing in this week’s scenic $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Cortina, Italy. On Wednesday, he weathered 16 aces to prevail in a tight two-set match over qualifier Viktor Galovic of Croatia and move into the second round, 7-6(4), 7-6(7).

Prevailing in the majority of the long rallies is a testament to the work that Rublev has put in on the practice court and in the gym. The rigorous program he embarked on during the off-season has helped take his game to the next level as he continues a push towards the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

“I focused on my fitness and trying to get stronger, faster, and prepared for lengthy matches played at a higher speed,” said Rublev. “I was working at IMG Academy in Bradenton [Florida] and playing with top-level people. Being there gives you a chance to work on some technical details and their work attitude is a great example for me.”

The hard work paid off when Rublev came through qualifying to win his first ATP Challenger Tour title this February in Quimper, France. He became the third teenager to win an ATP World Tour title in 2016, joining Taylor Fritz (Happy Valley) and Blake Mott (Launceston).

“Winning a Challenger for me was the next step in my career, a new stage,” said Rublev. “Winning always gives you a lot of confidence. It shows that you are moving in the right direction and all your work is not in vain.”

Even though Rublev is still relatively new to life as a pro, he’s already racking up the miles. The teenager is competing in his 25^th tournament of the year in Cortina.

But while he’s played throughout the world, it’s his time at the ATP Challenger Tour event this June in his hometown of Moscow that ranks among his favorite memories of the year. He’s hopeful to get the chance to play in front of a home crowd later this year at the Kremlin Cup.

“It’s always a special feeling to play in front of my family, my relatives and people I like so much. I’m trying to do my best for them to be proud of me,” said Rublev. “The people who organise the Challenger in Moscow are great as well. They really want to do everything possible for us to feel at ease and be able to show our best tennis. They show a lot of enthusiasm, hard work and creativity.”