Ernesto Escobedo has been quietly rising up the Emirates ATP Rankings for the past year, but the #NextGenATP American made has made plenty of noise this week at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. 

The 20 year old reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final in Houston with a hard-hitting game and impressive mental toughness in tight moments. Escobedo prevailed on Friday in a three-hour, three tie-break marathon quarter-final against second seed John Isner. The American remained calm as Isner fought off six match points with big serving. Escobedo finally converted on his seventh with an ace.

Escobedo was ranked outside of the Top 300 just 12 months ago, but is projected to move well inside the Top 80 when the newest rankings are released on Monday.

“I wasn’t winning a lot of matches my first two years on tour, so to have the results come this quickly is a little surprising,” he admitted. “But at the same time, I don’t want to say it surpassed my expectations. This is what I’ve been working for. Now that I’ve won matches lately in Acapulco and Miami and here, I’m really feeling like I belong.”

It may seem surprising that the big-hitting baseliner reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final on red clay, especially since the California native played almost exclusively on hard-courts growing up. However, Escobedo said that not only does his game suit the surface, but that other American players can also produce similar results on the red dirt this year.

“I feel like Americans can play on clay. There’s a stereotype that we can’t, but I think it can be our best surface,” he said. “I grew up in Los Angeles, so there’s maybe only one or two clay courts in the whole city, but I always loved sliding around on it. It teaches you how to be patient, work the point around a little more. It’s a different game.”

Currently No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, Escobedo will move inside the Top 4 on Monday with a semi-final finish in Houston and could climb as high as No. 2 if he reaches the final or wins the tournament. The American is now in solid standing to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and said he’s eager to take part in it.

“It would be so cool to be one of the Top 8 guys and make it there. It’s the first year of the event, but my last chance to qualify since I’m turning 21 this year, so I want to have that experience,” he said. “It’s really going to come down to the wire for those last few spots after the US Open and every match will count.”

A week ago, #NextGenATP American Ernesto Escobedo had never won an ATP World Tour match on clay. Safe to say he’s now enjoying the surface.

The 20 year old advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final on Friday, knocking out second seed and 2013 champion John Isner 7-6(6), 6-7(6), 7-6(5) at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.

“I’m speechless right now. I can’t believe it. It was a very long match, three tie-breaks. I just stuck with it. I just told myself it’s going to happen, just keep on pushing, stay mentally tough,” Escobedo said.

The right-hander notched an ace out wide on his seventh match point to finish off Isner, who delivered a tournament-record 35 aces in the three-hour and two-minute quarter-final. Escobedo improved to 5-0 in matches decided by tie-breaks, including four ATP Challenger Tour contests. Isner, meanwhile, is 3-10 in deciding set tie-breaks since the start of the 2016 season.

Escobedo, who received a wild card into the main draw, will meet Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who came back from a break down in the third set to beat third seed Sam Querrey 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The semi-final will be Bellucci’s first in Houston and second of the season. He also reached the last four in Quito. “I’m feeling well. I think it was my best match this week,” he said.

Top seed Jack Sock became the first 20-match winner on the ATP World Tour in 2017 with a 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-4 victory against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Sock, the 2015 champion, reaches the Houston semi-finals for the third consecutive year.

He will face compatriot Steve Johnson for the sixth time overall and the third time this season. Sock leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1 and has won both of their 2017 meetings.

Johnson beat fifth seed Fernando Verdasco for the first time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Verdasco had won their past four contests but Johnson saved both break points faced to roll to a 6-2, 6-4 win. “I found my footing great today. I served well, got out of jams, made a lot of first serves,” said Johnson, who’s through to his first ATP World Tour clay court semi-final.

Rafael Nadal will have two championship themes on his mind when the clay swing heats up in Monte-Carlo, beginning on Sunday: the opportunity to win three tournaments for a record 10^th time in his career, and the chance to catch Roger Federer and take over the No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Nadal, who’s climbed to No. 2 in the Race with final runs in Australia and Miami, can’t catch Federer at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, the season’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay court tournament. But another crown in the Principality – and the 1,000 Race points that come with it – would go a long way towards pushing the Spaniard ahead of the Swiss.

The 35-year-old Federer currently leads Nadal by 1,810 points in the Race. But Federer plans to rest until Roland Garros, which starts 28 May, and, given Nadal’s past success before Roland Garros, the Spaniard could very well catch Federer before Paris.

See Who’s Chasing Federer, Nadal

Since 2009, Nadal has gained an average of 2,448 points at the four biggest clay tournaments before Roland Garros: the three Masters 1000 tournaments – Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Mutua Madrid Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome – and the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, an ATP World Tour 500 event. At the four tournaments, Nadal has won a combined 29 titles.

Nadal On Clay Leading Into Roland Garros

The Spaniard has looked confident during the first three months of the season. He started the year by racing to the Australian Open title match (l. to Federer) and backed it up with a final run in Acapulco (l. to Querrey). Earlier this month, Nadal made his fifth Miami Open presented by Itau final before again falling to Federer.

“I think I am close to what I need to be. I am at a very high level of tennis and I believe I am ready to win titles,” Nadal said. “I’m playing well enough to fight for everything. I have good hopes that I going to be ready for Monte-Carlo… If I am ready for that, I think I am very excited about playing back on clay again.”

The 30 year old has won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters a record nine times. He returns as the defending champion after beating Frenchman Gael Monfils during last year’s final.

Most Titles At A Single Tournament (Open Era)

Should Nadal claim the top spot in the Race, it’s likely he will have captured at least one title from either Monte-Carlo, Barcelona or Roland Garros – the three events he has won a record nine times each. The Spaniard is the only player in the Open Era to have won a tournament nine times. If he were to win the trio of tournaments for a record 10^th time, he’d stamp his legacy on the game – and on the clay – once more.

“I am very happy about the first part of the season on hard courts before the clay arrives. I won a lot of matches. I have a lot of points. I am in a privileged position of the Race,” Nadal said. “That’s great news for me and gives me calm to play the next couple of tournaments.” 

Miomir Kecmanovic continues to break new ground in 2017. The Junior World No. 1 is currently embarking on his professional career, hoping to follow in the footsteps of countryman Novak Djokovic.

A host of recent juniors, the likes of #NextGenATP players Denis Shapovalov, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas to name a few, are enjoying recent success on the ATP Challenger Tour. Kecmanovic is certainly on the right track to join the group and break into the Top 200 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

This week in Mexico at the San Luis Open, the 17 year old is truly making strides. A 6-2, 7-5 victory over #NextGenATP player Stefan Kozlov, in a rain interrupted contest, was backed up by a fighting 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win over World No. 275 Emilio Gomez on Thursday to book a quarter-final spot in just his second Challenger main draw appearance.

“It feels great, especially as I started playing fully professional this year, not juniors anymore. I think this will help me a lot in the future and boost my confidence,” said Kecmanovic.

“I beat a very good player in the first round, so I’m very happy. I played pretty solid in both matches, I made them play everything, I didn’t give too many free points away. That was the plan from the start, so I’m really happy to make that happen.”

The win over Kozlov was his first on the ATP Challenger Tour. In doing so, Kecmanovic became the second-youngest player to win a match at this level in 2017 (17 year and 7 months), only behind Felix Auger Aliassime, and he is determined to keep this run going in Mexico.

Youngest Match Winners In 2017

“It’s a really nice tournament. I’m really grateful for the wildcard and the opportunity,” added the Serbian. “I’ve been coming to Mexico a lot, so it feels great to be here again. I just hope to play well, the key is to compete.”

In 2013 Kecmanovic left Serbia to accept an invitation join the IMG Academy in Florida, U.S.A., accompanied by his Aunt Tanja Pavlov, and it seems four years of hard work have paid off.

The signs have been promising for a couple of years for the 17 year old. Kecmanovic won the prestigious U18 Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships in 2015. Roger Federer won the title in 1998, Dominic Thiem was the champion in 2011, but Kecmanovic also returned to defend his title in 2016. A final showing at the junior US Open last year (l. Auger Aliassime) culminated with Kecmanovic finishing his junior career ranked No. 1.

In January he won his first event of the year, clinching the Futures F4 title (d. Lindell) in Florida. In March, at the Miami Open presented by Itau, he ousted then World No. 117 Henri Laaksonen in a qualifying match.

Despite finishing his Junior career ranked at No. 1, Kecmanovic insists plenty of hard graft is required to maintain his fledging development.

“I think mentally I need to get a little bit more stable and to stay more focused throughout matches. I can upgrade my fitness and work hard on everything in general,” added the World No. 608. “It’s very different from the juniors, where I was top seed, then coming into these tournaments, I maybe have to go through qualies, then facing the top guys, it’s a lot more physical and a much more demanding mentally. Hopefully I adapt soon.”

The victories in San Luis prove his potential, but Kecmanovic is surprised by his recent success. “Honestly, I didn’t think it would start this good,” revealed the Serbian. “I won my first pro title at the beginning of the year. It’s going better than expected and hopefully it can stay that way.”

He has been lucky enough to sometimes train with World No. 2 Djokovic. If Kecmanovic keeps up this pace, he could be facing Serbia’s tennis talisman on a match court soon.