Carlos Alcaraz has improved with every match this week at the Hamburg European Open. If that trend continues, he’s in prime position to claim his fifth ATP Tour title of 2022, an achievement which would break a tie with Rafael Nadal for the most on the season.

The 19-year old Spaniard was at his untouchable best on Friday in a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Karen Khachanov. He fired 21 winners to seven errors as he raced into the semi-finals in just over an hour, winning a battle between the only two seeded Hamburg quarter-finalists.

“I played unbelievable today, probably one of my best matches this year,” Alcaraz said, repeating his sentiments from after his second-round victory against Filip Krajinovic. “I’m pretty happy with the performance that I’m playing in this tournament. Yesterday was amazing as well.

“I’m training every day to be solid and at the same time to be aggressive,” he added. “That is my game.”

The top-seeded Alcaraz, who was five of 11 on his break chances, saved the only break point he faced in the contest late in the second set.

Khachanov, seeded seventh, was playing in his third straight ATP Tour quarter-final. He managed two service holds early in the second set but could not stop the Alcaraz attack as his opponent claimed the final five games of the match.

Alcaraz improved to 2-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series following a straight-sets win in the Roland Garros fourth round. 

By reaching the Hamburg final, Alcaraz would match his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero’s best result at the event.

“I will try to do my best in the semi-finals to be able to do the same result as Juan Carlos, and of course trying to fight into the final,” he said. “Of course to beat Juan Carlos, to try to win this tournament means a lot. If I win this tournament, I will make jokes to him that I am better than him. It would be amazing.”

He will face Alex Molcan in Saturday’s semi-finals. The Slovakian led Borna Coric 7-6(7), 2-0 before the Croatian retired on Thursday evening. The 24-year-old Molcan is seeking his first ATP Tour title, having reached three finals including two this season (Marrakech, Lyon).

Playing in his first event since reaching the Wimbledon third round, Molcan defeated fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5) in the Hamburg second round.

Lorenzo Musetti is poised to crack the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time behind his semi-final run at the Hamburg European Open. The 20-year-old defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 6-3 on Friday at the ATP 500 event to secure his best result of the 2022 season.

“I think I played one of the best matches of the year,” he said after the victory against his close friend. “Really intense from the beginning and really focussed on each point. I think that was the key to get through with the win.”

Musetti has moved up 13 places to No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week; he could reach as high as No. 31 with the title. The Italian’s career-high in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is No. 51.

Entering Hamburg on a six-match tour-level losing streak, the #NextGenATP star has broken out of that slump in style. After dropping his opening set of the tournament against Dusan Lajovic, Musetti has now won six straight sets in Hamburg to book his semi-final place opposite Francisco Cerundolo.

“I was returning really good. I was hitting with full power every shot,” said the Italian, who converted five of seven break points in the quarter-finals. “I was really confident. Sometimes it’s like this, it’s a joy to play.

“Sometimes you have to suffer for this, you have to work hard. Sometimes you have to sacrifice to have the achievements that you dream of. I’m dreaming really hard, so I will keep working hard too.”

Entering the week fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan, Musetti has strengthened his grip on a place in the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals by reaching his fourth career tour-level semi-final.

Matteo Berrettini survived a major scare on Friday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad, rallying past fifth seed Pedro Martinez 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 to reach the semi-finals and extend his winning streak to 11 matches.

The Italian was on the brink of defeat in the second-set tie-break, trailing 1/5. However, the second seed found his best level just in time, reeling off six consecutive points to clinch the set, before he raced away in the third set to advance after two hours and 16 minutes.

“Sometimes it is just tennis. It is a crazy sport. At 1/5 I thought I was done. Then I played two good points and it was 3/5 and I thought ‘let’s try’,” Berrettini said in his on-court interview. “I don’t think I played my best match here. But sometimes it is important to win when you are not playing well. I managed to find some energy inside me and I am really happy to be through.”

The 26-year-old will next play Austrian Dominic Thiem after the former World No. 3 continued to gather momentum with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas. Berrettini leads Thiem 3-2 in their ATP Head2Head series.

“Dominic has had an unbelievable career,” Berrettini said. “He is a Slam champion and he got injured, but he is coming back. I saw some of him today and his level is coming back, so it is going to be a tough match. We always play great matches, so tomorrow will be a good one.”

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Berrettini overcame Richard Gasquet in his opening match at the ATP 250 clay-court event to earn victory on his return to Tour, after missing Wimbledon due to Covid. He lifted trophies on grass in Stuttgart and London in June after missing the spring clay swing in Europe due to a right hand injury.

The 26-year-old, currently No. 14 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, is making his second appearance in Gstaad, having not dropped a set en route to the title in 2018.

The ATP has announced the launch of a multi-year education partnership with You Can Play, an organisation committed to furthering LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport. The collaboration aims to build on insights from a first-ever LGBTQ+ survey completed by ATP players last season.

You Can Play, a long-time partner of the NHL, MLS and NASCAR, is a non-profit organisation with an impressive track record furthering safety and inclusion for all who participate in sports, including LGBTQ+ athletes, coaches and fans. Through the multi-year partnership, ATP has committed to developing an education programme aimed at furthering LGBTQ+ inclusion on Tour. Together, the two organisations will create science-based educational content to be rolled out across ATP players, tournaments and staff over coming seasons, with content directly informed by insights and data from an ATP survey conducted last year.

The survey, developed in collaboration with Pride Sports and renowned researchers at Monash University (Melbourne), aimed to understand the experiences and perceptions of ATP players, reveal potential barriers to inclusion, and offer data-driven insights to make tennis safe and welcoming for all. The initiative also formed part of ATP’s wider drive to strengthen diversity and inclusion through the ATP Serves programme.

Made open to players on an anonymous basis, the survey looked at behaviours and attitudes across various stakeholder groups and levels of the tennis ecosystem, in order to build as comprehensive a picture of LGBTQ+ inclusion as possible. In total 65 ATP players took part, with the majority of respondents ranked inside the world’s Top 250. Several players also participated in voluntary one-on-one interviews to offer in-depth personal perspectives on the topic. Data was then independently analysed by the researchers and compiled into a final report.

Among its findings, the survey revealed that homophobic language is commonly used in tennis, at rates consistent with other major sports. However, the survey also revealed general positive attitudes of players towards gay people, with very few players expressing homophobic attitudes. While 75 per cent of players reported having heard other players use homophobic slurs, the survey identified social acceptance, conformity with social norms and banter as primary drivers of homophobic language use within tennis.

In parallel, players overwhelmingly felt this language created a negative environment for everyone and strongly agreed with the statement “I want homophobic language to stop”. This is consistent with a report by the International Olympic Committee, which found that homophobic language is not only harmful to the mental health of LGBTQ+ players, but also creates a negative climate detrimental to the mental health of all athletes.

The ATP’s survey and interview data also indicated a strong fear of rejection, isolation from others on tour, and loneliness as being likely barriers to LGBTQ+ players publicly disclosing their sexuality to others. A majority of players that participated in the survey, including 95 per cent of players under the age of 31, were supportive of ATP taking action to combat homophobia.

In addition to ATP and You Can Play’s education push, LGBTQ+ inclusion will also form a key part of ATP’s safeguarding efforts going forward.

Massimo Calvelli, ATP CEO: “Tennis is one of the world’s most global and diverse sports. Through ATP Serves, it’s our goal to ensure the culture of tennis is as inclusive and welcoming as possible. This requires us to take an honest look at ourselves and continue asking the right questions. Our LGBTQ+ survey showed overwhelming support amongst ATP players for greater action in this space and identified clear areas where we can be doing better. We would like to thank everybody for their contributions to this process so far and, together with You Can Play, look forward to making meaningful progress in years to come.”

Kurt Weaver, You Can Play: “The steps ATP has taken to be proactive on inclusion is impressive. Their willingness to not only identify current challenges and address them; but also find future opportunities and harness them is the reason we are so excited for this partnership. The reach of ATP and the game of tennis is truly world-wide and their ability to use that voice to support inclusive tennis will ensure the game is open and welcoming to every participant, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity.”

In parallel, ATP and WTA have also come together to make a joint donation to support You Can Play’s efforts in the space, following a similar joint donation in 2021.

To learn more about You Can Play or to make a donation, click here. To learn about the ATP Serves programme, click here.

Dominic Thiem’s comeback stepped up a gear Friday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad, where he overcame Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first tour-level semi-final of the season.

In a dominant performance, the Austrian pulled the 26-year-old from around the court as he took heavy cuts at the ball to dictate the baseline exchanges, advancing after one hour and 47 minutes in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“I played a good match yesterday and I was able to back it up today.” Thiem said in his on-court interview. “Some things I didn’t like that much. I failed to serve out at [5-2], but it was also the nerves a little bit because it is my first semi-final in one and a half years. I need the points to go back up the rankings. I was happy I was able to break the nerves.”

The former World No. 3, who missed the second half of last season due to injury, reached the quarter-finals in Bastad last week, earning his first tour-level win of the year in the process.

The 28-year-old has backed up that run in Gstaad and will next face second seed Matteo Berrettini or Spaniard Pedro Martinez. It is the first time Thiem has reached the semi-finals at a tour-level event since May 2021, when he enjoyed a run to the last four in Madrid.

“Tomorrow I can go into the match free, trying to do my best,” said Thiem, who is up to No. 195 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. “When I travelled to Bastad last week I didn’t expect to reach the quarter-finals there and then the semi-finals here. It is really, really good and I am happy with the progress.”

The 17-time tour-level titlist, who saved one match point in his first-round victory over Hugo Gaston, is aiming to triumph at the ATP 250 clay-court event for the second time, having lifted the trophy in his previous appearance in 2015.

For the first time in Laver Cup history, the ‘Big Four’ will join forces for Team Europe this September in London.

Novak Djokovic announced Thursday his commitment to the 2022 event, with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray already confirmed to participate in the competition’s fifth edition. 

“Laver Cup is the only competition where you can have all the big rivals, the ‘Big Three’, ‘Big Four’ players joining in the same team,” Djokovic said at Wimbledon, where he won his 21st Grand Slam title earlier this month. “Of course, it is [a] very different and exciting concept for us players, but also for the fans around the world.”

The Serbian is set for his second Laver Cup appearance and will be seeking his first match wins in the competition. Djokovic was a part of Team Europe’s winning 2018 side, but lost two Match Tie-breaks — one in singles and one in doubles — in his only matches. He teamed with Federer in doubles, but they fell to Team World’s Kevin Anderson and Jack Sock.

Captain Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe has reigned supreme since the inaugural Laver Cup in 2017, lifting the trophy at all four of the event’s previous editions.

The 2022 Laver Cup will be held from 23-25 September at The O2 Arena. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Diego Schwartzman have committed to represent Team World alongside captain John McEnroe.