Third seed and two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki extended his winning streak to 13 matches at Apia International Sydney on Wednesday after he struck 12 aces to beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 33 minutes. He is now 15-3 at the tournament. He will now play fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who was a 7-5, 6-4 winner over wild card Jordan Thompson.

World No. 8 and top seed Dominic Thiem required two hours and 40 minutes to beat qualifier Gastao Elias 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 in the final match of the day to set up a clash against Daniel Evans, who defeated eighth seed Marcel Granollers 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Second seed Pablo Cuevas reached the Sydney quarter-finals for the first time on his fourth appearance at the event following a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over Nicolas Mahut. He goes on to face the sixth seed Gilles Muller, a semi-finalist for the past two years, who saved one match point to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov on Tuesday. Muller came through another three-setter against qualifier Matthew Barton 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Muller hit 22 aces and lost only four of his first service points, while World No. 198 Barton fired down 17 aces and lost nine of his first service points.

Also, fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta knocked out Mischa Zverev 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Two-time champion John Isner fended a match point to keep his hopes for a third Auckland title alive on Tuesday. The second seed outlasted No. 56 Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) at the ASB Classic.

Jaziri had a match point at 6/5 on Isner’s serve in the third-set tie-break, but Isner erased it with a stiff backhand volley. The 6’10” right-hander then charged the net during the next two points as well, finishing the match with a backhand volley down the line.

Isner will meet countryman Steve Johnson in the second round. Johnson, the seventh seed, lost only two points on his first serve (31/33) to dismiss Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4, 7-6(4).

Robin Haase opened up the top half of the draw, upsetting four-time champion and third seed David Ferrer 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours. The 29-year-old Haase struck 11 aces and saved six of nine break points against the Spaniard, who won Auckland crowns in 2007 and 2011-’13.

The Dutchman will next meet Portugal’s Joao Sousa, who beat Brit qualifier Brydan Klein 6-3, 6-4 in 73 minutes.

Qualifying veterans and #NextGenATP stars both started making their way to the main draw of the Australian Open on Tuesday as qualifying matches got underway in Melbourne.

Top seed Radek Stepanek took his opening qualifying match 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 against American Sekou Bangoura. Stepanek, 38, is trying to reach his 15^th Australian Open singles main draw. The right-handed Czech will face Slovenian Blaz Kavcic next.

Second seed Frances Tiafoe, a member of the ATP World Tour’s Next Generation, also advanced in three sets. The 18-year-old American won 75 per cent of his first-serve points to beat Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in two hours and 14 minutes. Tiafoe is attempting to reach his first Australian Open main draw.

Two other seeded Americans also claimed opening victories on Tuesday. Sixth seed Bjorn Fratangelo beat Slovenian Grega Zemlja 6-4, 7-6(3), and 21^st seed Ernesto Escobedo took 74 per cent of his second-serve points to beat German Maximilian Marterer 7-6(5), 7-5.

Slovakian Jozef Kovalik, who upset World No. 6 Marin Cilic last week after qualifying for the Aircel Chennai Open, couldn’t keep his good run going. The 24-year-old Kovalik fell 6-3, 6-3 to Argentine Marco Trungelliti.

Go Soeda of Japan, the 29^th seed, also moved on in straight sets, beating Belgian Ruben Bemelmans 7-6(10), 6-3.

Time is one of the most precious commodities a tennis player has to manage. Time on court is invaluable, but then again, so is limiting that time to avoid injuries and stay fresh. The big picture clearly dictates that improvement is predicated on playing more matches, which means more time on court in the cauldron of competition.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the 2016 season showed Andy Murray’s ascension to the No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking was built on spending substantially more time on court than anyone else in the Top 10.

Murray spent 162 hours on court in 2016, which was up from 151 hours in 2015. Murray’s average set time in 2015 was 44 minutes, and that rose to 46 minutes last year as he climbed to take the No. 1 ranking.

Time Spent On Court During The 2016 Season

It’s interesting to note that there is no link between hours on court and ranking spots, as eighth-ranked Dominic Thiem spent the second most amount of time on court of the Top 10 at 136 hours. Rafael Nadal spent the least amount of time on court of the Top 10 in 2016 at just 89 hours.

He played only 53 matches as injury took him away from the tour. Nadal completed a full workload in 2015, spending 152 hours on court.

Even though the Spaniard racked up the least amount of match hours in 2016, his average set time was the longest, at 47 minutes. Murray was next highest at 46 minutes, with Gael Monfils being the quickest per set at 39 minutes.

The Top 10 average of 120 hours on court for the season is a valuable number for players to know and prepare for with their off-court training regimens. The average time per set is more of a reflection of playing styles and shot tolerance.

As players rise up the Emirates ATP Rankings to the coveted Top 10, they now have a clearer understanding of the on-court workload that is required, and the off-court preparation that must fuel it.