Dominic Thiem remained on course in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he defeated Gilles Muller on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Moselle Open. The top-seeded Austrian withstood 16 aces to beat the 33-year-old Luxembourg native 6-4, 7-6(5).

“I’m very happy about the match because the return is one of my biggest weaknesses and it’s always tough against a good server like Gilles,” said Thiem. “The first set I returned really well… I broke him and I also had chances to break a second time.”

Thiem currently sits in the seventh position in the Race To London, behind Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and Gael Monfils, who are also in close contention for the remaining five Barclays ATP World Tour Finals qualifying spots.

The World No. 10, who hit 33 winners and did not face a break point in the 82-minute victory, will take on fourth seed Gilles Simon for a spot in the ATP World Tour 250 final. The pair are tied 2-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with Thiem claiming the win in their last meeting at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome in 2015.

Earlier, the Frenchman Simon defeated Malek Jaziri 7-6(2), 6-0, capitalising on five of his 13 break point chances to advance in one hour and 40 minutes and reach his first semi-final of 2016.

“It’s not the biggest result ever but I get a lot of satisfaction from fighting through and winning the match,” said Simon. “The first set was very tight. Malek likes to change the rhythm and adjust his court position quite a bit. I managed to hang on.”

In doubles, Julio Peralta/Horacio Zeballos ousted second seeds Oliver Marach/Fabrice Martin 6-7(1), 6-4, 10-8 to reach the final.

Tomas Berdych was solid on serve on Friday at the St. Petersburg Open to reach his fourth tour-level semi-final of the year. The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contender, who is currently No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, struck six aces and lost only four of his first service points to dismantle Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-3 in 78 minutes.

“I felt good,” Berdych said. “I am trying to improve day by day, trying to find my rhythm. My goals is to play as many matches as possible.”

Berdych will next face fifth seed and #NextGen star Alexander Zverev, who downed 2004 champion Mikhail Youzhny. Berdych is looking for his first final of the year, having lost to eventual champion Andy Murray at Wimbledon in his most recent semi-final appearance.

“I think he is a rising ATP star,” said Berdych of Zverev. “I have already played against him a couple of times. We had a couple of good battles at the beginning of this year. One of them was the Davis Cup rubber which I won in five sets. I beat him again at Wimbledon this year. He is definitely a guy with a great future. He always makes me work hard on the court to beat him.”

Zverev cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win against hometown favourite Youzhny to earn his third win in as many FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against the Russian. The towering German fired eight aces and only dropped three points when landing a first serve. His week in St. Petersburg has been a homecoming of sorts, as both his parents hail from the Soviet Union. The 2015 Emirates Star Of Tomorrow winner is chasing his third ATP World Tour final, having finished runner-up in Halle and Nice this year.

Top seed Stan Wawrinka remained perfect against Viktor Troicki, winning 7-5, 6-2 to improve to 6-0 against the Serbian. Wawrinka broke on the final point of the opening set, then swept the last four games of the match to win in 64 minutes. He will play Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the final. Wawrinka has won his past 11 finals, most recently against Novak Djokovic at the US Open.

Bautista Agut overcame a slow start to advance 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against Joao Sousa. The No. 4 seed dropped serve twice in losing the opening set, but held easily the rest of the way to down the Portuguese in one hour and 40 minutes. All three previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings between the two baseliners have gone the distance. Bautista Agut has now won the past two matches.

The pressure of playing at home can be difficult for some players, but it’s exactly where Rogerio Dutra Silva has thrived in his career.

Despite not having many chances to play on home soil throughout the year, the 32 year old from Brazil has won three of his seven ATP Challenger Tour titles on home soil. Competing as the third seed at this week’s $50,000 Challenger in Santos, he defeated fellow Brazilian Joao Pedro Sorgi in straight sets on Thursday to move into the quarter-finals

“Normally I win, so I like it!” joked Dutra Silva about playing in Brazil. “But I really enjoy playing in my country. I’ve played on these courts all my life and I love the food, the fans and all the support. It makes me just want to try and keep going.”

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Dutra Silva’s rapid rise up the Emirates ATP Rankings in the past two years is even more impressive because injuries took him off the tour for six months and forced him to make a comeback at age 31. With his Emirates ATP Ranking as low as No. 515 in April 2015, he went on a tear in the second half of the season by winning two ATP Challenger Tour titles (Prague, Santiago) and finishing as runner-up in two others (Milan, Barranquilla).

This season, he won the biggest title of his career in May at the $100,000 event in Bordeaux, France, and was also a finalist in two other Challengers (Santiago, Barranquilla). He credited success in his personal life with bringing improved results professional.

“My daughter was born and that was the best thing in my life,” said Dutra Silva. “It’s not easy to come back, but I worked a lot and did my best to try and improve.”

Dutra Silva reached his career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 82 this June. Inspired by the success of players who are well into their ‘30s like Roger Federer, he also believes his best tennis is still to come.

“I think it’s almost normal these days!” he joked. “People are playing really good tennis at 35 and 36 years old, so that’s my goal. I’m still trying to improve and glad I have a few more years to achieve this.”

Top junior star John McNally will soon spend the next four years competing for Ohio State University, but he’s making noise on that campus this week at the $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Columbus.

The 17 year old received a wild card into the singles and doubles main draws, marking his first main draw appearances at an ATP Challenger Tour event. Although he lost in the first round of singles to fellow American Tommy Paul, he’s into the doubles quarter-finals with another American teenager in Jeffrey John Wolf, his regular doubles partner in ITF Junior events.

“Playing my first Challenger main draw was really special, especially in Columbus, since I’m from not far away in Cincinnati. It was also great to play it at Ohio State, where I’ll be attending college next fall,” said McNally. “Even though I had a tough first-round [singles match] against a good friend, I’m ready to try and keep going in the doubles.”

McNally is currently No. 15 in the ITF Junior Rankings, having posted a 27-10 record this year and recorded a third-round showing in the boys’ singles draw at Wimbledon. But while he’s used to making deep runs in junior draws, he admitted it may take some time for that to become a regular occurrence in pro events.

“In the juniors, I’ve been lucky enough to win a lot of matches. There are a lot of weeks where you can win three or four matches in the juniors, maybe even win the tournament, but you can sometimes go a month or more without winning a match in the pros,” said McNally.” It’s just about learning to be a little more mentally tough when it comes to the pro side and being able to flow with some of the ups and downs that will come with it.”

However, McNally is more than ready for the challenge. He’s soaked in the experience of playing and practising with ATP Challenger Tour players this week and is confident it will serve him well for upcoming tournaments.

“I got to hit some of the pro players at the US Open and some of the bigger junior events where they also are. Just seeing how seriously they take it and looking at it like it’s a job is definitely cool,” he said. “I’m able to learn a lot from it.”

There have been plenty of big upsets this year on the ATP Challenger Tour, but Tung-Lin Wu pulled off arguably the biggest one of 2016 at the $125,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

The 18 year old from Chinese Taipei, a wild card currently ranked No. 1,748 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, shocked world No. 131 Denis Kudla in the opening round, 7-5, 7-6(8). With a difference of 1,617 spots, it’s the biggest upset of the year by ranking on the ATP Challenger Tour. Although he lost in a competitive match to Yuya Kibi of Japan in the second-round, he’s still in the doubles quarter-finals with Ze Zhang of China.

“This victory is very special for me, especially being in front of Taiwanese fans,” said Wu. “Before the match, some people questioned whether I deserved to have the wild card, but this victory reconfirmed my ability. I did lots of homework and research about Kudla, so I was well-prepared, but I didn’t think too much on the court. I just swung hard and let adrenaline take over the rest.”

The teenager has competed all in of the junior events at Grand Slams for the past two years, but has also mixed in ITF Futures tournaments and ATP Challenger Tour events. Having gotten a taste of all three worlds, he has been able to pick up on the differences of what it takes to succeed in them.

“The biggest difference is the ability to take opportunities to win the match,” said Wu. “Most teenager players don’t have the mindset to cope with pressure on the court, but the professional players are mature enough to play under pressure.”

Lu’s win over Kudla will see him jump inside the Top 1,000 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. But perhaps more importantly, it’s instilled a new belief in his tennis.

“At the beginning of turning pro, sometimes I would doubt my own ability,” he admitted. “But this match showed me to just trust myself and made me realise I can be better in the future.”