#NextGenATP star Daniil Medvedev reached his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season on Thursday as he defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3) at the Open 13 Marseille.

The 21-year-old Russian also battled through his first-round match against eighth seed Benoit Paire in a third-set tie-break and now has an 8-4 mark on the season. He edged Struff in one hour and 43 minutes, saving a break point in the ninth game of the deciding set before going on to claim the tie-break.

Watch Medvedev’s Road Trip To Marseille

Medvedev has made a strong start in his bid to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals. After reaching his first ATP World Tour final at the Aircel Chennai Open (l. to Bautista Agut), as well as a last eight showing at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier (l. to Tsonga), he is currently second in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, with Alexander Zverev at No. 1.

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For a place in the semi-finals, Medvedev will face fourth seed Lucas Pouille, who celebrates his 23^rd birthday today.

 Watch Full Match Replays

Bill Oakes, the Tournament Director of the Winston-Salem Open, was presented the 2016 ATP World Tour 250 Tournament of the Year award on Wednesday during Wake Forest University’s 63-59 basketball victory against Pittsburgh.

“I am so humbled to accept the award on behalf of the community of Winston-Salem,” said Oakes. “The entire city deserves the credit, for they treat all of the players as their personal guests and have made this tournament a special week on the ATP World Tour.”

Linda Clark, ATP Vice President – Tournament Relations, Americas, presented Oakes with the trophy in an on-court ceremony. The tournament shared the 2016 award with the If Stockholm Open in the 2016 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon.

The Winston-Salem Open, which began in 2011, will be held this year between 20-26 August.

Milos Raonic overcame #NextGenATP threat Borna Coric and a rain-delayed start to reach the Delray Beach Open quarter-finals on Wednesday night. The top-seeded Canadian held off the Croatian 6-3, 7-6(2) to book a showdown with eighth seed Kyle Edmund.

Raonic was typically efficient on serve. He sent down 12 aces and won 89 per cent of his first-serve points in the one-hour, 34-minute match. His only wobble came when leading a set and a break up at 1-0 in the second, where he was broken back to love.

“He tried to be a bit more aggressive, I got that early break and I had a lop-sided game with a couple of doubles [faults], couple of mistakes, that I’d be disappointed with normally,” Raonic said. “If I can get myself ahead a break it’s where my strength lies so I’m happy I managed to keep it together since then and managed to pull it out in two.

“It worked out well. I have 36 hours now to recover and that’s what the focus is going to be on. I’ll practise, I need practice.”

It capped a clean sweep for the seeds on Wednesday. Eighth seed Edmund rallied to beat Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, sending down nine aces and breaking three times in the process.

American seeds Jack Sock and Steve Johnson also advanced to the quarter-finals. Third-seeded Sock had a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 result against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. He saved all seven break points faced and converted on all four break points.

Fifth-seeded Johnson posted an identical scoreline to defeat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in one hour and nine minutes. Sock and Johnson will square off for a semi-final berth. 

Dominic Thiem returned to the Rio Open presented by Claro quarter-finals with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Dusan Lajovic on Wednesday.

Thiem entered the contest victorious in both previous meetings with the Serbian, while Lajovic had yet to post a win over a Top 10 player.

Last week Thiem played a quarter-final at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (l. Herbert) and has transitioned onto the Rio clay with ease. He saved two break points at 2-2 to spark four straight games for the World No. 8 to clinch the opening set.

 Watch Full Match Replays

Lajovic spurned three chances at 1-1 to open up a second-set lead, before the Austrian claimed the pivotal break in the 11th game with one of his 13 winners. The second seed will meet Diego Schwartzman in the final eight. The World No. 51 defeated his countryman Federico Delbonis 6-4, 7-6(1).

Fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas also reached the quarter-finals. Fabio Fognini, 2015 Rio finalist, was chasing a 300^th ATP World Tour singles victory and held a dominant 8-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Spaniard. However, Ramos-Vinolas secured a second successive victory over the Italian 6-2, 6-3 to book an encounter with qualifier Nicolas Kicker.

The Argentinian defeated Arthur De Greef, who had ousted defending champion Pablo Cuevas in the first round, fending off two break points for a 6-3, 6-3 win.

All four top seeds in the doubles advanced into the quarter-finals. Top seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares put in a dominant display to beat Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner 6-4, 6-2. Second seeds Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot defeated wild card duo Fabricio Neis and Joao Souza 6-1, 7-6(4).

Pablo Carreno Busta teamed with Pablo Cuevas to beat Santiago Gonzalez and David Marrero 6-3, 6-3, while Buenos Aires champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah continued their recent form in a 6-1, 6-4 win over Thomaz Bellucci and Thiago Monteiro.

Reigning Open 13 Marseille champion Nick Kyrgios opened up his title defence with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Malek Jaziri on Wednesday.

The third seed won all five matches in straight sets and without dropping serve en route to lifting the trophy in 2016. The Australian replicated that dominance over Marseille debutant Jaziri, striking a twelfth ace on match point to advance into the quarter-finals.

 Watch Full Match Replays

“I had a tough Australian Open, so I was looking forward to coming back here. It’s where I won my first ATP World Tour title and I have great memories from this court,” said Kyrgios. “The crowd is always great, I love playing in Marseille, so I’m happy to be back.”

The 21-year-old will face Alexander Zverev’s conqueror Nicolas Mahut or qualifier Norbert Gombos in the quarter-finals. “Everyone in the draw is really good, there are plenty of players who can win this tournament. So I have to take it one match at a time and see if I can make the final again.”

An early contender in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, Daniil Medvedev, claimed his seventh win of the season as he rallied to defeat eighth seed Benoit Paire 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4) in two hours and 25 minutes in the first round of the Open 13 Marseille on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Russian, who lives in nearby Antibes, twice dug himself out of a hole against home favourite Paire. He rallied from 1-3 down in the second set – breaking the Frenchman to 15 as he served for the match in the 10^th game – and from a double break 0-3 deficit in the decider.

Watch: Medvedev’s Road Trip To Marseille

“It was a really tough match,” said Medvedev. “I’m really happy to win, because not everything was going good for me. I wasn’t playing my best tennis in the first two sets. I was making a lot of unforced errors. 

“In my mind, I just had to keep on fighting. I was a bit too nervous during the match, that’s why I was lost the first set and was losing in the second. Finally, I managed to step up my game a little bit and be more consistent. I started to play some really good tennis in the third set, especially in the tie-break.” 

 Watch Full Match Replays

Medvedev has staked an early claim for one of the coveted eight places at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in November. The Russian is currently second in the Race, having reached his first ATP World Tour final at the Aircel Chennai Open (l. to Bautista Agut) and the quarter-finals in Montpellier (l. to Tsonga).

Sixth seed Richard Gasquet booked his spot in the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Youzhny. The Frenchman is looking to reach his second ATP World Tour final of the season, having finished runner-up at the Open Sud de France two weeks ago (l. to Zverev).

In an all-French second-round contest, seventh seed Gilles Simon overcame Julien Benneteau 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in just over two hours to reach the quarter-finals. The 32-year-old Simon is bidding to win this ATP World Tour 250 tournament for the third time, having lifted the trophy in 2007 (d. Baghdatis) and 2015 (d. Monfils).

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

Rio Open presented by Claro – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray went head-to-head with UFC stars Jose Aldo and Minotouro. Aldo loved his time at the tournament so much, he came back to watch Thomaz Bellucci oust top seed Kei Nishikori!

David Ferrer, Bellucci, Soares, Pablo Cuevas, Marcelo Melo, Pablo Carreno Busta, Stephane Robert, Gastao Elias, Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak were among those to have a great time at the players’ party at Windsor Atlantica Hotel.

Ferrer and Bellucci visited one of the most picturesque sites in Rio, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas.

Dominic Thiem enjoyed a visit to Copacabana, while Janko Tipsarevic took a walk on Ipanema Beach.

Soares and Joao Souza visited Livraria de Travessa for the draw ceremony and a bit of shopping.

Open 13 Provence – Marseille, France

Defending champion Nick Kyrgios took time out of his schedule to bring smiles during a visit to La Timone Hospital. The Aussie even played games with some young children.

ATP World Tour Uncovered picked up #NextGenATP’s Daniil Medvedev from his home in Antibes and made the drive with him to Marseille ahead of his tournament debut.

Delray Beach Open – Delray Beach, Florida

Kevin Anderson and Bjorn Fratangelo went head-to-head in a series of beach games. Watch

Santiago Giraldo enjoyed the sun and sand at the nearby beach, learning beach tennis while he was there. Watch

Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Raven Klaasen, Treat Huey, Michael Venus, Robert Lindstedt, Jonathan Erlich, Scott Lipsky, Divij Sharan and Purav Raja participated in Pro-Ams.