Ivo Karlovic said he was happy after his opening-round win for various reasons, including earning his first victory as a 39-year-old. Three days later, he has done a lot more than that.

The Croatian beat fourth seed Nick Kyrgios 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 Friday at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship to become the oldest player to advance to an ATP World Tour semi-final since Jimmy Connors at 1993 San Francisco. The right-hander was already the oldest quarter-finalist at Houston in the Open Era.

“It’s definitely a huge win. I lost against him every match up until now,” said Karlovic, the 2007 Houston titlist. “I’m really happy that I won today.”

Kyrgios had previously owned a 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Karlovic, but the World No. 88 hit 18 aces and was not broken after his first service game in the match. The eight-time ATP World Tour champion last reached a final last year in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Muller). 

Karlovic will look to change that when he plays American Tennys Sandgren, the No. 8 seed, who came from a break down in the third set to oust Argentine Guido Pella 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours, 19 minutes to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final. A year ago this week, Sandgren qualified for his first Tour main draw at the River Oaks Country Club.

“I was proud of myself for just sticking it out and keeping myself around and doing everything I could to keep the scoreline close,” Sandgren said. “It seemed like, from my end of the court at least, that he was doing a lot better job of handling the conditions on the clay than I was… I was really frustrated and thinking that obviously, it’s not looking good from here.”

Pella served for the match at 6-4, 5-4, but the World No. 56 broke twice in a row — his first two breaks of serve in the match — to force a decider. And from there, he broke twice more to earn his third victory of the week — Sandgren owned two tour-level wins in his career prior to this season. 

“I was watching his match a little bit today,” Karlovic said of Sandgren. “He has a really good baseline [game] and he’s a strong guy, so it will be a really difficult match.”

Did You Know?
Karlovic, who became the oldest ATP World Tour semi-finalist since Jimmy Connors at 1993 San Francisco, can become the oldest finalist since Ken Rosewall, 43, won the 1977 Hong Kong title.

Rafael Nadal has a tough task if he is to lift an 11th trophy at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with three players in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings and also two-time former champion Novak Djokovic in his half of the draw, following the ceremony at the Atrium du Casino de Monte-Carlo on Friday. The Spanish star, who is attempting to capture his 54th clay-court crown, will need to potentially beat Dominic Thiem or Djokovic, before a possible semi-final against Grigor Dimitrov or David Goffin.

Nadal, who will meet Aljaz Bedene or a qualifier in the second round, could face Adrian Mannarino in the third round, prior to a quarter-final against 2013 and 2015 titlist Djokovic or Thiem. Nadal lost to Djokovic in the 2013 Monte-Carlo final, ending a 46-match winning streak at the tournament. The World No. 1 beat Thiem in last year’s Barcelona Open Banc Sababell and Mutua Madrid Open finals, plus also in the Roland Garros semi-finals. But Thiem did overcome Nadal in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals in May 2017.

“I always feel good when I am here, it is one of my favourite tournaments,” admitted Nadal, during the draw ceremony that was hosted by Zeljko Franulovic, the Tournament Director of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the 1970 champion (d. Orantes). “It’s been a love story between me and this event, the people who run the tournament. I saw this tournament on the TV before I started playing here and always wanted to do well. These sorts of tournaments help me to wake up in the morning and to train and compete with a lot of passion.”

The 31-year-old Nadal, who has a 63-4 record at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, has an incredible 319-35 record (.918) on clay courts according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. He is riding a 10-match winning streak at the event, but should he not retain the trophy Roger Federer will return to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, for his 309th week in top spot, on 23 April.

View Monte-Carlo Singles Draw

Nadal and Djokovic have both captured a record 30 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns. Monte-Carlo resident Djokovic, the ninth seed this week, will face a qualifier in his first match, before a possible second-round meeting against Filip Krajinovic or Paolo Lorenzi. Fifth seed Thiem, who opens against Andrey Rublev or Robin Haase, may then lie in wait for Djokovic in the third round.

Second seed Marin Cilic, a quarter-finalist in 2015 and 2017, will begin his quest for a second Masters 1000 title (2017 Western & Southern Open), against 2010 runner-up Fernando Verdasco or Pablo Cuevas. In the same quarter of the draw, No. 12 seed and 2015 finalist Tomas Berdych will meet Kei Nishikori in a must-see opener.

Third seed Alexander Zverev, who has a 3-2 record in the Principality, will challenge Gilles Muller or a qualifier in the second round as he bids to lift a third Masters 1000 trophy (also 2017 Rome and Rogers Cup in Montreal). Seventh seed Lucas Pouille, who advanced to his first Masters 1000 semi-final last year (l. to Ramos-Vinolas), takes on Mischa Zverev or wild card Felix Auger-Aliassime.

This time, Taylor Fritz feels as if it can last.

Two years ago, Fritz, then 18, became “The Next Big Thing” on the ATP World Tour. He reached the Memphis Open final, becoming the youngest American to make a tour-level title match since 17-year-old Michael Chang won 1989 Wembley.

Months after, Fritz made the quarter-finals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco, an ATP World Tour 500 event. “The Next Big Thing” seemed like he was here to stay.

But he couldn’t produce it week after week, and his ATP Ranking, which had risen to No. 53 in August 2016, fell to No. 135 last June.

This year, Fritz is on the rise again, but he’s confident it will stay that way. His game has improved that much, he said, and he’s also learning how to win from one of most well-known coaches in tennis.

Read More: Isner Inspired By Mom’s Courage

Fritz, in addition to his regular coach David Nainkin, is working with Paul Annacone, the former coach of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Tim Henman. Annacone also worked with Stan Wawrinka during the grass-court swing last year.

Annacone and Fritz started working together at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells last month. Fritz made the fourth round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, and he’s into the quarter-finals at this week’s Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.

“I just felt like I needed someone who I thought could take my game to the next level, someone who I really respected and thought highly of,” Fritz told ATPWorldTour.com. “I think he enjoys working with me, and I think I’ve already improved so much working with him.”

Watch Fritz’s My Story

 Annacone’s attention to details has stood out to Fritz, who’s at No. 72 in the ATP Rankings this week. “Just the focus on on everything we do. The focus on not missing volleys, not missing a ball… is something that has helped me a lot,” Fritz said.

Annacone hadn’t worked with an ATP World Tour player since Wawrinka last July. But he was intrigued by Fritz, who finished as the No. 1 junior in the world in 2015.

Annacone already knew Fritz’s mother, former WTA player Kathy May, and Fritz’s agent, Matt Fawcett. He also established a good relationship with Nainkin. Annacone repeatedly praised the job Nainkin has done and stressed that Nainkin remains the main coach.

Read More: Americans Top ATP Race To Milan

For Fritz’s part, his potential and work ethic appealed to Annacone.

“He’s only 20. He has a very big game. He can do a lot of damage. He’s still, to me, is a work in progress. I love the fact that, even as a work in progress, he’s had the results he’s had already,” Annacone told ATPWorldTour.com. “I enjoy the fact that he’s not afraid to work hard. He’s enjoys hitting the gym and doing all the things he’s supposed to do.”

Annacone also particuarly likes that even on days when Fritz’s power game – his big serve and big-strike forehand – are off, the #NextGenATP American still finds ways to advance.

“My coaching philosphy is you’re really only as good as you are on your average days, so you better be able to figure stuff out, and he embraces that,” Annacone said.

Watch: What Fritz Has Learned From Annacone

For instance, in February at the Delray Beach Open, night winds were dragging the ball from side to side and up and down as Fritz faced then-World No. 12 Sam Querrey. Fritz couldn’t find his power game, but he adjusted his plan and left with one of the biggest wins of his career, a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory against his compatriot.

Read More: Fritz: California Clutch

“It was tough to get anything on the ball. So what really started working for me was falling back, not being so aggressive and just trying to make him play as much as possible, because conditions were tough,” Fritz said.

The win was his fourth third-set tie-break victory of the year, including ATP Challenger Tour matches, and he’s added two more since then, including another this week in Houston, to improve to 6-0 in third-set tie-breaks this season.

“I have this thing I always say, ‘I don’t lose third-set tie-breaks’,” Fritz said. “It feels like I’m pretty clutch.”

More clutch play will see Fritz making his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. The 6’4” right-hander finished 11^th in the ATP Race To Milan last year. But, after three-and-a-half months this season, he’s in second place, behind countryman Frances Tiafoe.

“I feel like I’m having very strong results again but I’m playing within myself,” Fritz said. “I’m playing tennis that I know I can go out and play every single time.”

View The ATP Race To Milan

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will turn 40 on 29 April. But the six-time Houston champions are showing no signs of slowing down.

The Americans advanced to the semi-finals of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Thursday, beating another team of brothers in Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.

The Bryans raised their level after dropping the first set. They didn’t face a break point in the second set, and in the Match Tie-break, they won all three second-serve return points. The Bryans will next meet Max Mirnyi/Philipp Oswald, who squeezed past Scott Lipsky/Tennys Sandgren 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 11-9.

It will mark the 55^th time the Bryans have faced Mirnyi, who turned 40 last July. The Bryans are 31-23 against the 6’5” right-hander, who has had 22 doubles partners against the American greats.

In other doubles action, Andre Begemann and Antonio Sancic beat 2017 Roland Garros doubles finalists Santiago Gonzalez/Donald Young 7-6(4), 6-2. Begemann/Sancic will next play 2017 Houston doubles finalists Dustin Brown and Frances Tiafoe, who dismissed Ivo Karlovic and Daniel Nestor 7-6(5), 6-3.

DID YOU KNOW?
Houston will be the 24^th event where the Bryans and Mirnyi will have played.

A trio of former Huoston titlists took to the red dirt on Thursday, and all three advanced to the quarter-finals.

Top seed and 2013 champion John Isner claimed his eighth match in a row, winning 93 per cent of his first-serve points (28/30) to beat Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen 6-4, 6-2 in only 65 minutes at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Isner, No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, is fresh off his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The 32-year-old will next face countryman and defending champion Steve Johnson, who saved six of seven break points to beat #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4.

The sixth-seeded Johnson hit 12 aces and broke Tiafoe three times to reach his second quarter-final of 2018 (Delray Beach SF).

“It was windy today.. I just felt like things were going to go both ways, good and bad… You really can’t let the little things affect you. I think I did a great job of that in the second set,” Johnson said.

Tiafoe’s fellow #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz had never beaten compatriot Ryan Harrison, losing to him last year at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Dallas and during qualifying at the 2016 Rolex Paris Masters.

Read More: Isner, Bryans, Tiafoe Help With Hurricane Recovery In Houston

But the 20-year-old Fritz came back to win their first tour-level contest 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. Fritz won a higher percentage of his second serves than he did his first (68 to 63) and broke five times.

Fritz will next play third seed Jack Sock, who won his fourth match of the year 6-4, 6-4 against Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos. Sock lost his first nine break points but later broke Zeballos two times to advance. 

“He was coming up with some amazing shots, some amazing serves on the break points,” Sock told the Tennis Channel. “But I felt like I was playing well, kept playing my style, aggressive, looking for forehands, obviously, and it was paying off.”

Sock won the Houston title in 2015, his first ATP World Tour singles crown, and is making his sixth consecutive visit to the River Oaks Country Club. He will try to win back-to-back matches for the first time this season against Fritz. Sock leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0.

DID YOU KNOW?
Isner now has 10 wins on the year. The top American had won only two matches before winning the Miami title earlier this month.

The ATP World Tour players saw the same devastating photos from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, and they all asked the same question: “How can we help?”

Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Frances Tiafoe, John Isner, Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey compete at tournaments around the world, and they all call somewhere else “home” when they’re not traveling.

Yet they still thought of Houston as Hurricane Harvey dumped about 30 inches of rain and displaced almost 30,000 people in the southeastern Texas city last August.

“From the start, ‘It was how can we help? How can we make a difference? How do we help get Houston back on its feet?’” said Bronwyn Greer, tournament director at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.

“You wouldn’t think that from guys who play all over the world. They could donate or help anywhere… It was very touching and inspires a lot, I think, in both the community and us as a tournament, to want to make sure we’re giving back in the best way that we possibly can.”

The players worked with Greer to donate money, and this week, they saw the courts – and the lives – that their generosity will affect. The Bryans, Isner, Tiafoe, Querrey and Steve Johnson visited Sunnyside Park in central Houston and hit around with about 40 possible future ATP World Tour stars, many of whom use the courts regularly.

The park, along with its adjacent community center, was flooded, like much of Houston last year, and the standing water ruined the courts, leaving cracks behind and turning the courts shades of brown and green.

“This neighborhood was hit very hard,” said Ellen Martin, with the Houston Tennis Association National Junior & Tennis Learning program. “A lot of kids go through here each week and to have this place taken out, with their homes and their schools, it was just a triple whammy. It was a very very difficult time for everybody.”

The tennis courts at Sunnyside Park, like much of Houston, was hit badly by Hurricane Harvey. (Photo: Drew Carlisle/ROCC)

“It’s bigger than tennis,” said #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe. “Terrible things happen everywhere, and it’s always good to give back, and that’s what sports are about, togetherness. It brings people together.”

The visit was especially meaningful to the 20-year-old American, who grew up playing in public parks and visited similar grassroots programs with Martin when she worked in Maryland.

“It reminds me of where I started, very humble beginnings,” Tiafoe said. “I do my best every day to try to become someone to be able to give back. Because I was given so much, I was very fortunate, very lucky.”

He was surprised, however, by one part of the trip: the kids’ skill levels. “Oh, that’s too good,” Tiafoe said as one ball trickled over the net.

The boys and girls were using topspin, taking the ball early – “He SABRs every ball,” Bob Bryan said – and volleying back and forth with the ATP players.

“They were way better than I thought they were going to be,” Tiafoe said. “Whoever’s coaching them is doing a good job.”

The boys and girls who play at Sunnyside Park in Houston will soon have resurfaced tennis courts. (Photo: Drew Carlisle/ROCC)

The kids knew their tennis, too. Greer quizzed them on who was who, and the kids correctly identified the Bryan twins, something that used to allude Isner.

“It took me four years to tell them apart. How did you do that!?” Isner said.

“All of us really enjoyed our time here, and it’s the absolute least we can do,” he told ATPWorldTour.com. “To be a very, very small part of the rebuilding process is very humbling for all of us.”

The Bryans, like Isner and Tiafoe, played in grassroots programs before finding their way to Grand Slams and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events. Yet, despite the Bryans’ 37 Masters 1000 team titles, they haven’t forgotten about where they started.

“Our foundation donated money to help redo the courts, which is hopefully going to make a big impact in the community,” Mike Bryan said.

Bob Bryan said: “We’ll be back next year. We’ve been coming to Houston for 20 years; we’re not retiring anytime soon. We’ll be back to see the new facility and hopefully see some of these kids grow into great players.”

If the kids keep practising, that very well could happen. They already have that all-important self-belief.

“I’m pretty good, not on their level, but pretty good,” said Zavier Smith, a 14-year-old eighth grader who hit with the pros.

He, like the other kids and adults at Sunnyside Park, appreciated the ATP players making time for them. He said, “It’s inspiring, showing that you can do great things in life.”