David Goffin came back from a break down in the third set to knock out defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open in Bulgaria. The Belgian hit 12 aces and saved six of the 11 break points he faced to beat Bautista Agut 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(3) in two hours and 44 minutes.

Goffin fell behind 1-3 in the third set but rallied in a back-and-forth decider that featured six service breaks. The win is Goffin’s first against Bautista Agut in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The Spaniard had been 2-0 against Goffin.

The 26-year-old Goffin will go for his third career title on Sunday and his first since 2014. He will face the winner between home favourite Grigor Dimitrov and Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.

#NextGenATP star Noah Rubin is building on his unforgettable experience playing Roger Federer last month at the Australian Open with a solid run at this week’s $75,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Launceston, Australia.

The 20-year-old American, seeded seventh in Launceston, defeated fourth seed and local favourite Andrew Whittington on Friday to reach the semi-finals. Rubin credited the hard work he put in during this past off-season in Boca Raton, Florida, with helping him outlast his opponents in tough matches this year.

“We were putting in a lot of hours on the court, more than I was used to,” said Rubin. “We mainly worked on getting in better shape and just hitting a lot of balls to get my forehand to a place where it’s more of a weapon.”

Those long hours were well-rewarded last month in Melbourne, where Rubin came through qualifying and won his first-round match in five sets to earn the right to face Federer. Competing in front of a packed house on Rod Laver Arena, he showed no signs of being overwhelmed and pushed the 18-time Grand Slam champion to a competitive four-set match.

“It was pretty cool. I love stages like that and it’s one of the main reasons why I play tennis,” said Rubin. “To be in front of 16,000 people playing against probably the greatest player of time was a great feeling. I definitely had my chances to win, but it was just fun to be out there.”

Although his ultimate goal is to be a regular fixture on the world’s biggest stages, Rubin is turning his attention to Challengers for now as he looks to build his Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 196. With minimal points to defend from May to September due to struggling last season with an ankle injury, he’s confident that he has the game to break into the world’s Top 100.

Rubin is also hopeful that he can qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan this November and said the tournament provides even more motivation to produce a solid season.

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“It’s definitely an extra incentive because this isn’t some weak event,” he said. “Most, if not all of the players who make it there are going to be in the Top 100. It’s going to be a tough tournament and it’s really exciting to think about.”

After a frustrating 2016 season, Vasek Pospisil is back to producing the high level of tennis he’s capable of.

Competing at this week’s $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in San Francisco, California, the seventh seed battled past #NextGenATP star Reilly Opelka to move into a quarter-final showdown against another American #NextGenATP star in top seed Frances Tiafoe. Pospisil has left the crowd in awe this week with his court coverage and winners from impossible positions.

“I haven’t played too many Challengers lately, but the crowd here is great and the stadium court is really nice,” said Pospisil. “It’s a cool atmosphere and the organisation has been fantastic. Coming from ATP World Tour and Masters 1000 events, it still feels very comfortable here. “

Pospisil is coming off a weekend of outstanding tennis in Canada’s home Davis Cup tie in Ottawa against Great Britain. The Canadian fought through a knee injury to record Top 50 wins over Kyle Edmund and Daniel Evans.

“I was struggling mentally and physically the first match here,” admitted Pospisil. “I’m still feeling the effects because it’s very emotional playing three best-of-five set matches in a weekend. I’m not as fresh as I’d like to be, but it’s also nice to have confidence from getting good wins under your belt.“

The week in Ottawa was also another chance to offer guidance to Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. The 26 year old has unofficially taken the rising star under his wing and said he’s simply paying it forward from when other ATP World Tour players did the same for him.

“I really like Denis a lot and we have a great friendship,” said Pospisil. “I’m definitely trying to help him out because I know what it’s like being young and up-and-coming. I really valued having advice from guys who had been on tour for a few years. I’m almost 10 years older than him and he’s a great kid, so anytime young guys like that are coming up, I’m more than happy to help anytime.”

Currently No. 131, Pospisil is eager to get his Emirates ATP Ranking back into more familiar territory. He spent the off-season in Southern California with his new coach, 12-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion Mark Woodforde. The pair worked on several aspects of his game, including “my return and being more aggressive and coming into the net”, which he believes will serve him well in 2017.

“This past season was difficult, but I had been consistently ranked between 25 and 50 for the previous four years, so I want to achieve that and go even higher by getting into the Top 20. Mark is a great guy to try and help me with that,” said Pospisil. “I’ve played at that level on several occasions, so now it’s just a matter of doing it consistently.”

Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas came out on top in an all-Spanish battle on Friday against qualifier Roberto Carballes Baena, prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to move into the semi-finals of the Ecuador Open in Quito.

Little separated the two players for most of the match, but Ramos-Vinolas relied on his outstanding stamina to power through the final four games and advance in two hours and 54 minutes. He has now matched his semi-final result from last year in Quito (l. Estrella Burgos).

Next up for Ramos-Vinolas is either third seed Paolo Lorenzi or Rajeev Ram. The Spaniard is even in his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Lorenzi at 1-1 and leads Ram 2-0, with his most recent win over the American coming last year in Quito.

Fans at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier will have plenty of local players to cheer on this weekend after second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, third seed Richard Gasquet and Benoit Paire all won their quarter-final matches on Friday.

Two-time defending champion Gasquet fought off a mid-match surge from qualifier and fellow Frenchman Kenny De Schepper to advance 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. The third seed was unable to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, but grabbed the critical break of serve at 4-4 in the deciding set and held in the next game to prevail in two hours and 16 minutes.

Gasquet is now on a nine-match winning streak in Montpellier and improves his record here to 18-3. He also boosts his FedEx ATP Head2Head against De Schepper to 3-0.

Next up for the defending champion is Benoit Paire, who received an unfortunate path to the semi-finals after Dustin Brown retired due to a lower back injury with the Frenchman up 1-0 in the first set. Paire is now 8-3 in 2017, including a semi-final finish last month in Chennai. Gasquet leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Paire 3-0.

Tsonga didn’t face a break point in defeating #NextGenATP star Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 7-5. He now matches the semi-final showing from his most recent appearance in Montpellier in 2010 (l. Monfils). The World No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Rankings has been on fire this week, dropping just 10 games in two matches.

Next up for Tsonga is the winner between Jeremy Chardy and fourth seed Alexander Zverev. Tsonga leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Chardy 3-1 and with Zverev 1-0, defeating the #NextGenATP star this past October in Shanghai.

Home favourite Grigor Dimitrov delighted the Bulgarian fans as he reached the semi-finals of the Garanti Koza Sofia Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over last year’s runner-up, Viktor Troicki, on Friday.

The 25-year-old Dimitrov is set to play in front of a sell-out 12,000-strong crowd this weekend at the Arena Armeec Sofia when he faces either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Martin Klizan.

The Haskovo native is contesting an ATP World Tour event in Bulgaria for the first time and has returned home to a hero’s welcome after reaching the Australian Open semi-finals, where he pushed Rafael Nadal all the way in an exhilarating five-set battle.

Dimitrov was given a scare in his opening match on Thursday night against Jerzy Janowicz, eventually prevailing 7-5 in the third set, before a more straightforward victory over Troicki.

Second seed David Goffin surged into the semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 victory in an all-Belgian clash with Steve Darcis, his nation’s Davis Cup hero who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev this past weekend.  

Goffin, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last month (l. to Dimitrov), credited his aggressive tactics for pulling him through the contest, which intensified in the second set. “I started the match really well,” said Goffin. “In the second set it was a close match. I had five break points to save and I also had some opportunities that I didn’t take.

“When you win the first set 6-1, you always expect a reaction from your opponent. I managed it very well. I served and volleyed when I had to win the point and it helped me a lot to win the second set. I’m pleased to be in the semi-finals.”

For a place in his seventh ATP World Tour final, Goffin will face defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut, who improved to a 5-0 record at this ATP World Tour 250 tournament with a 7-5, 7-6(5) victory over Gilles Muller. Bautista Agut, who beat Troicki in the 2016 final, takes a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his clash with Goffin.