It was an unhappy return for Frenchman Richard Gasquet as he played his first match in Metz since 2001. The sixth seed was beaten 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Denis Istomin in the first round of the Moselle Open on Tuesday.

It was a fast turnaround for Gasquet, who captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title in seven years when he triumphed in Szczecin on Sunday. Istomin saved 10 of the 13 break points he faced as he overturned a 1-6 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Gasquet to prevail in one hour and 54 minutes.

Seventh seed Benoit Paire recorded his third match win on his fifth appearance in Metz by beating Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4 in 57 minutes. He now plays Spain’s Marcel Granollers, the 2012 finalist, who lived to fight another day by saving one match point in the deciding set tie-break to scrape past Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli 7-6(9), 3-6, 7-6(8) in two hours and 42 minutes. Granollers, who struck 17 aces, saved one set point at 5/6 in the first-set tie-break, then one match point at 5/6 in the third-set tie-break in the pair’s first meeting for nine years.

Nicolas Almagro levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head record with Frenchman Julien Benneteau at 3-3 after a 7-6(3), 7-5 victory. The Spaniard hit 10 aces and broke in the final game on his third match point to secure the victory.

It is the first match win in Metz for the former No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He will next face No. 2 seed David Goffin for a place in the quarter-finals. Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili toughed out a 2-6, 7-(5), 6-4 win over French qualifier Vincent Millot and now challenges fourth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

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Russian Mikhail Youzhny opened his 16th appearance (2001-13, ‘15-17) at the St. Petersburg Open on Tuesday by beating Australian qualifier John Patrick Smith 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour 33 minutes. The 2004 champion, with a 34-13 record at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament, will next face third-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini in the second round.

Seventh seed Viktor Troicki fired nine aces and saved four of five break points as he edged Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6(6), 7-6(2) in one hour and 45 minutes.

“I think it was a good quality match,” said Troicki. “I came up against a great player, a very talented Russian player, who I always had trouble with in the past. It was a tough one today, which I expected and I’m happy to go through to the second round.”

Briton Liam Broady, currently No. 242 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, recorded just his second tour-level match win – and his first since 2015 Wimbledon – in sweeping past fellow qualifier and 2013 titlist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-3, 6-0 in 63 minutes. Broady, 23, will now prepare to meet fourth seed Adrian Mannarino of France.

Ricardas Berankis set a second-round clash with fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber as he defeated qualifier Daniel Masur 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

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The evolution of a tennis player typically develops along a pathway where the serve matures quicker than the return of serve.

Not so for Andrey Rublev.

The talented 19-year-old Russian already has one of the best return games on tour, fueling his meteoric rise up the Emirates ATP Rankings in the past three months to a career-high No. 37 this week.

Flash back just 12 weeks to mid-June and Rublev was not even ranked in the Top 100, losing in the second round of a clay-court ATP Challenger Tour event in Caltanissetta, Italy.

Fast forward three months to mid-September and he now has his first ATP World Tour 250 title under his belt after coming through qualifying to win at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag. He followed that up with two Top 15 victories at the US Open (No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 14 David Goffin) to become the youngest quarter-finalist in New York City since Andy Roddick in 2001.

The improvement curve is about as steep as it gets.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis identifies the Muscovite’s return game is mature beyond his years. Rublev is ranked just 63rd in the Infosys ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD with a 257.6 rating in the past 52 weeks. He is all the way up seventh best on tour on the Return LEADERBOARD, with a 156.0 rating.

The average age of the other nine players in the Top 10 of the Return LEADERBOARD is 29 years old – 10 years his senior. The closest in age is Diego Schwartzman, who is 25. It normally takes players several years on tour to gather enough reps and experience when returning to reach the Top 10 in this category. Rublev is currently short-circuiting that theory.

Below are his impressive return metrics from the past 52 weeks.

Infosys Nia Data identifies that when Rublev won the opening point returning in the 2017 season and forged ahead 0/15, he broke a remarkable 49 per cent (60/122) of the time. By contrast, 20-year-old Alexander Zverev, who is ranked No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, only broke 40 per cent (117/289) of the time.

It’s correct to factor in that Zverev has played more than double the amount of points than Rublev against higher ranked opposition, but it’s clear to see that the young Russian is more than taking care of business as he sets his own collision course with the Top 10.

Rublev’s most impressive return metric in the past 52 weeks is Break Points Converted, being sixth on tour winning 45.5 per cent of these critical momentum points. In 2017, he has converted 38 per cent (47/125) against first serves, and a decisive 60 per cent (40/67) against second serves.

Rublev is now the second highest ranked Russian behind 21-year-old Karen Khachanov, who is ranked just five spots ahead of him at No. 32. The third ranked Russian is 21-year-old Daniil Medvedev, who is ranked No. 61 this week. All three of these players are on track to compete at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan from 7-11 November.

The ATP today announced a new partnership that will see J. P. Morgan become a Platinum Partner and Official Banking Partner of the Nitto ATP Finals beginning in 2017. The news follows May’s announcement that the world’s biggest indoor tennis tournament would remain at The O2 in London through 2020.

“Our season finale in London has enjoyed great success since 2009, and continues to grow on a global level, attracting more than 100 million broadcast viewers in 2016. Today, we’re delighted to welcome J.P. Morgan as partner to our prestigious showcase event,” said Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President. “This new agreement is a testament to what we have built over the last eight years at The O2, and we look forward to growing the tournament’s success even more with the support of such a world-renowned brand.”

“The Nitto ATP Finals tournament is the perfect fit for J.P. Morgan. The competition features the world’s best singles and doubles players at the top of their game. Earning a coveted spot at the season showdown is a result of hard work, focus and success throughout the year – all values we share at J.P. Morgan,” said Vis Raghavan, J.P. Morgan’s Head of Banking for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa and Deputy CEO of the region.

“The Nitto ATP Finals will be an exciting show for tennis fans everywhere, but especially for those who get to experience the action live here in London. We’re thrilled to help bring the best-of-the-best to The O2,” said Alessandro Barnaba, J.P. Morgan’s Co-Head of International Sales and Marketing.

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To be held 12-19 November, the Nitto ATP Finals welcomes more than 250,000 fans to The O2 arena each year, as well as generating a global TV viewership of more than 100 million, as the ATP’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams compete over eight days at the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have secured the first two singles berths to this year’s tournament. The players are locked in what appears to be a two-way battle for the coveted year-end No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking, which could be decided in London for the second consecutive year. In 2016, Andy Murray needed to beat Novak Djokovic in the final to become the 17th man in history to finish the year No. 1.