It took Francisco Cerundolo some time to find his clay-court bearings after a long stretch away from the surface, but he did so in the nick of time on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals at the Cordoba Open.

In a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory against fellow Argentine Federico Delbonis, the second seed trailed 2-5 in the third set and saved a match point on return at 3-5 before claiming victory on his sixth match point. Cerundolo won the final five games of the two-and-a-half-hour contest.

“I think after 2-5 in the third I played my best tennis of the match,” the 24-year-old said in his on-court interview. “I was more solid, more patient. I was used to playing on hard [courts], faster points, two or three balls. I had to grind here, play more balls. I figured it out at the end of the match and I think that was a key.”

Cerundolo’s most recent clay match was last July, when he reached the Hamburg semi-finals. With Thursday’s win, he advanced to his second tour-level quarter-final since that event.

The World No. 31 created 18 break chances against Delbonis, converting six of those opportunities. Cerundolo claimed the decisive break, to lead 6-5 in the third, with a majestic forehand winner that was perfectly placed, hit inside-out with authority. After he served out the match in a four-deuce game, the countrymen shared a warm embrace at the net.

Cerundolo will next face another Argentine in sixth seed Federico Coria, who advanced to the quarters when Marco Cecchinato retired while trailing 3-6, 1-3.

It was a banner day for the Cerundolo family as Francisco’s brother, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, also reached the last eight with a 7-6(6), 6-1 upset of top seed Diego Schwartzman. The younger Cerundolo, 21, won the Cordoba title as a qualifier in 2021—his lone tour-level triumph. With victory Thursday in the all-Argentine matchup, he improved to 10-0 at the ATP 250 (including his three qualifying wins in 2021).

The World No. 114 will look to extend that streak against Hugo Dellien, who defeated Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day.

Also on Thursday, Albert Ramos-Vinolas made a successful start to his Cordoba title defence with three-set victory against Dusan Lajovic.

The 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 result stretched the third seed’s win streak to six matches at the ATP 250, after he claimed the 2022 title with the loss of just one set. He has also won 10 of his past 11 matches in Cordoba, starting with his run to the 2021 final.

Ramos-Vinolas is seeking to become a repeat champion at the same event for the first time this week. All four of his tour-level titles have come on clay, with his Cordoba victory his most recent triumph.

Photo credit: @CordobaOpen / Nicolás Aguilera

In his first clay match of 2023, the third seed played his best tennis in the closing stages against Lajovic to earn his first win of the season. After saving a break point at 2-2 in the third set, Ramos-Vinolas went on to win the final four games of the match, sealing victory with a break to love.

Portugal’s Joao Sousa awaits in the quarter-finals after his 7-5, 7-6(6) win against Cristian Garin.

It has been a standout year for Quentin Halys. In the past 12 months, the Frenchman has won three ATP Challenger Tour titles and climbed from outside the Top 150 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 61.

Now Halys is making his mark on the ATP Tour. The 26-year-old pushed Novak Djokovic to two tie-break sets in Adelaide last month before he reached his maiden tour-level quarter-final in Auckland.

Halys received praise from Djokovic following their match, when the Serbian said the Frenchman “played like a Top 10 opponent”. The World No. 1’s words have given Halys a boost this week, with the 26-year-old into the quarter-finals at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier.

“It gave me some confidence hearing that,” Halys said when discussing Djokovic’s comments. “At the end I was a little disappointed because I lost. But It is a nice comment. It is always great to hear that. I know I can perform against those players and I am trying to keep training hard and I know where I want to be.”

Alongside Djokovic, Halys has faced World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas this season, with the pair facing off in the first round at the Australian Open. Despite a tight straight-sets defeat, the Frenchman loved the experience of playing inside Rod Laver Arena, leaving him hungry for more.

“It was another good experience,” Halys said. “I was close to winning the third set but I have learned from that match and now know if I play him again I know what I need to do better. It is always a good experience to play on big stadiums. You play for those matches.

“Now I feel I can beat the top guys. It is completely different to how I felt one or two years ago. Now I feel I can do something. At least win one set. Now I am preparing to have a plan to win and feel I can do something.”

After turning professional in 2012, Halys made his Top 100 breakthrough in May 2022 after reaching the final of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Bordeaux. It was a milestone that the 26-year-old reflects fondly on.

“It was a good moment,” Halys said with a smile. “I was winning so many matches, but it was so tough because I had so many points but I was just outside [the Top 100]. I was winning and then when the guys lost the points from two years ago, I went to No. 86. I was happier about my level than my ranking. I kept working hard and knew I was winning tough matches and going the right way.”

Halys, who supports football team Paris Saint-Germain and rugby side La Rochelle, defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Thursday to reach his second tour-level quarter-final in Montpellier. The Frenchman is delighted with how he has adjusted to the demands of the ATP Tour and is ready to go further at the indoor-hard event.

“I am feeling great this week,” Halys said. “It is always a pleasure to play at home, especially with the crowd here. I have played two great matches and I am excited to be in the quarter-finals.

“On the ATP Tour I am having some good practices and it is a different atmosphere… You have to be on top of your game if you want to perform well. You get better week after week. My goal is to improve, stay at this level and compete and have good wins. Then my level will keep rising.”

Targeting his first tour-level title, Halys will aim to keep his run going when he meets #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils in the last eight on Friday.

Third seed Borna Coric is up and running at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier.

The Croatian produced a dominant performance on Thursday when he moved past Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event.

Coric, who is making his third appearance in Montpellier, was strong on serve throughout the one-hour, 30-minute clash. He did not face a break point and won 79 per cent (34/43) of points behind his first delivery to earn his fifth win of the season.

“In the second set, I just managed to break him and that was the key to the match. I also served very well today,” Coric said during his on-court interview. “I am very happy to be here again today.”

The 26-year-old now leads Rinderknech 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next meet Maxime Cressy after the American defeated seventh seed Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-4. If Coric defeats Cressy, he will return to the Top 20 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since October 2019.

“I think we have never played before,” Coric said when looking ahead to his match against Cressy. “I need to go and watch back some of his matches. I know him but I have never hit with him or played against him. But I know his serve is very, very big, so it is going to be a similar match to today.”

In other action, Frenchman Quentin Halys reached his second tour-level quarter-final when he defeated fifth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-3, while Lorenzo Sonego beat Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-1. Halys will next play Arthur Fils, with Sonego taking on Jannik Sinner.

For any teen looking to make progress on the ATP Challenger Tour, being coached by a former Top-25 player is a good place to start.

Lithuanian Vilius Gaubas is just getting his pro career started. The 18-year-old is working with former World No. 23 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who Gaubas even convinced to play doubles with him at the 2022 Vilnius Challenger.

This week, the home hope Gaubas pushed World No. 168 Elias Ymer to a three-set battle at the Vitas Gerulaitis Cup. Despite the loss, the teenager, who is No. 760 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, is drawing on positives from Tuesday’’s performance and is keeping his sights on a strong showing in 2023.

ATPTour.com spoke with Gaubas and Garcia-Lopez to learn more about their partnership, the teen’s background, and the Spaniard’s memories of his early days on the Challenger Tour.

Vilius, how did you meet Guillermo?
Gaubas: We met maybe three years ago. I was practising with a coach that Guillermo knows and a few days later I got to practise with Guillermo in Alicante, Spain.

Tell me about the experience of playing doubles together at the 2022 Vilnius Open.
Garcia-Lopez: It was my last ATP match. Vilius wanted to play with me in doubles. I said, ‘Why not?’ We got a wild card here. I can still play a little bit of doubles, I’m still in good shape.

How was that experience?
Gaubas: It was good. I got to play with my coach, who also made the US Open doubles final [2016].

What does the next few months hold for you guys?
Garcia-Lopez: We are planning to play Challengers in Italy. We are going to start to play on clay after this week. Before that Challenger, we will play one ITF Future event, also in Italy. He didn’t play on clay the past three or four months, so he has to adapt to the clay first. We want to improve in all areas. Technique, tactics, of course ranking, and everything.

A tough match this week against Elias Ymer. What positives are you drawing from that three-setter?
Gaubas: I think it was a positive match, I was playing well. I think in the end it was just a lack of experience against a player who has much more experience and a better ranking.

Vilius Gaubas in action at the 2023 Vilnius Challenger. Credit: Saulius Čirba

How did you start playing tennis?
Gaubas: I started in a small city, Siauliai, three hours from Vilnius. I was maybe four years old. My parents brought me to it and I remember I was playing on carpet courts with small plastic racquets.

Guillermo, what’s the biggest difference going from an ATP player to a coach?
Garcia-Lopez: It’s much different. Now, I’m totally outside the court. Everything is more clear and easy. The player has the difficult task.

What are your best memories of playing on the Challenger Tour?
Garcia-Lopez: My first final in Seville. I made it past the qualifying, tough matches against Spanish players on clay courts. That was probably my best memory from the Challengers. I played really good, I believed I could play that kind of level. I didn’t win the tournament but after that I was growing up and those kind of tournaments give you a lot of confidence.

Vilius, what’s it like to make the step from juniors to the Challenger level?
Gaubas: I think the biggest thing is the mental part. In juniors, there’s many players who are a rollercoaster mentally. In Challengers, players are more solid and mentally stable. Tennis-wise, there’s some difference but not as much as mentally.

What are your memories of watching tennis as a kid? Did you idolise any player?
Gaubas: I always enjoyed watching Roland Garros and the clay-court season. When Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer were playing against each other, those were great, long matches. Dominic Thiem and Casper Ruud are also some of my favourite players.

Talk about your experience as a ballboy.
Gaubas: It was one of the Davis Cups. Lithuania was playing Cyprus. There was a mini-tennis tournament that they did for small kids and the winner got to play a mini-tennis match with Ricardas Berankis. I won the tournament and I got to play with Berankis. It was a great time. Now, I’m playing the same tournament [2023 Vilnius Challenger] as him.

Vilius Gaubas (left) and Ricardas Berankis at the 2013 Davis Cup tie against Cyprus.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Gaubas: I like to mountain bike. Especially going alone with music on the sunny days in Alicante, it’s fun.

Very cool player/coach partnership 🤝

Learn more about how 18-year-old Lithuanian Vilius Gaubas linked up with the former ATP top 25 Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ✔️#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/ggomn5ASOv

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 9, 2023

After a long wait following his third-round exit at the Australian Open, Frances Tiafoe made the most of his first match since Melbourne with a dominant display Wednesday night at the Dallas Open.

The second-seeded Tiafoe blitzed past countryman Mackenzie McDonald 6-1, 6-3 in just 58 minutes to advance the the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event. In a clean performance worthy of his current career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 14, Tiafoe hit 15 winners and only five unforced errors.

“I played really well today,” said Tiafoe, who saved the lone break point he faced. “I haven’t played in a couple of weeks and I’m really determined. I had a short Australian Open. I wanted a much better Australian Open, so I’m definitely coming in here hungry and I’m just happy I was able to put on a good show for you guys.”

This was the third time Tiafoe played McDonald in Texas. Tiafoe also won on the clay of Houston in 2018, while McDonald earned the win in Dallas at a 2018 ATP Challenger Tour event.

Wednesday was also a big day for Tiafoe off the tennis court, as he was named to the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game next weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

“I was nervous today because I played more basketball the past two weeks than I have tennis, getting ready for the All-Star game,” he joked.

In the Dallas quarters, Tiafoe will face sixth seed J.J. Wolf, a 6-3, 7-6(5) winner against Radu Albot earlier on the stadium court.

Wednesday’s play also rounded out the first round at the ATP 250, with Oscar Otte, Daniel Altmaier and Emilio Gomez advancing to the last 16.

Wednesday’s play at the Cordoba Open was not kind to the home favourites, as three Argentines suffered defeat on the ATP 250’s stadium court — with fourth seed Sebastian Baez still in action.

Joao Sousa opened the day’s play with a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 win against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, before Marco Cecchinato defeated Facundo Bagnis 6-2, 7-6(4) and qualifier Hugo Dellien downed fifth seed Pedro Cachin 6-3, 6-4.

Italy’s Cecchinato did well to finish off his victory in straight sets after he missed out on two match points on return at 5-3 and failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set. The former World No. 16 raced out to a 5/0 lead in the tie-break before sealing his place in the second round with his second tour-level victory of the season.

“I started the match very well on my serve. At the end I [felt] a little bit of tension because it’s the first [clay] match of the year,” said Cecchinato, who was broken just once. “I need the confidence during the match and I need the feeling on red clay. It’s the first match after so many months on the red clay. In the end I’m very happy for this victory.”

Moving on!

Marco Cecchinato defeats Facundo Bagnis 6-2 7-6 at in Cordoba! 💪@CordobaOpen | #CordobaOpen pic.twitter.com/kg784WzhyY

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 8, 2023

The 30-year-old will face sixth seed Federico Coria in the second round after the Argentine scored a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2 win against Thiago Monteiro on Tuesday. In addition to the pair’s lone previous ATP Head2Head meeting, a three-set win for Coria in Bastad in 2021, they have also met three times on the ATP Challenger Tour, with the Italian winning twice.

“I know Coria,” said Cecchinato. “We’ve played so many times, so for sure it will be a tough match.”

Chile’s Tomas Barrios Vera became the first man to reach the quarter-finals this year in Cordoba courtesy of his 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win gainst eight-seeded Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles. The wild card awaits the winner of Baez’s evening match against Italian qualifier Luciano Darderi.

Top seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus made a quick start to their Dallas Open on Wednesday. The British-Kiwi duo defeated Jonny O’Mara and John-Patrick Smith 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at the Texas ATP 250.

The veterans saved the only break point they faced while converting three of their four opportunities to advance in pursuit of their first title as a duo.

Murray and Venus will next play William Blumberg and Miomir Kecmanovic, who eliminated American wild cards Mitchell Krueger and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski 7-6(1), 6-3.

In other Dallas action, second seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow also moved on with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-7 victory against Luis David Martinez and Cristian Rodriguez.

Top Seeds Move On In Cordoba
Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez lifted four ATP Tour trophies together in 2022. Will this be the week they capture their first crown as a pair in 2023?

Matos — who won the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Luisa Stefani — and Vega Hernandez clawed past Marcelo Demoliner and Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 1-6, 10-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Cordoba Open. They saved five of the seven break points they faced on the Argentine clay.

Bolivians Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos also moved on with a 7-5, 7-5 triumph against Portugal’s Francisco Cabral and Serbian Nikola Cacic.

Mies/Peers Into Montpellier QFs
Andreas Mies and John Peers made a good start to their partnership in Australia, where they made the Australian Open quarter-finals. The third seeds maintained their good form on Wednesday in France, where they reached the last eight of the Open Sud de France – Montpellier with a 6-4, 6-4 win against the Czech pair of Roman Jebavy and Adam Pavlasek.

The German-Australian team will next play Dutchmen Sander Arends and David Pel, who ousted Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 7-6(2), 6-4. Another Dutch duo, Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop, beat Indians N.Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 6-4, 6-4.

Guido Pella leaves the training courts at the Córdoba Open and immediately makes his way to the players’ lounge to see if his daughter Arianna, not yet one year old, is still having her nap or has woken and been taken to the hotel by her mother to enjoy the pool. When he sees her, his face lights up immediately. The Argentine stops being a tennis player and is simply ‘dad’.

This constant switching of roles is now a daily routine for Pella, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2019 and has now opened with a win in Cordoba. He is playing on a wild card at the ATP 250, where he finished runner-up in the event’s first edition four years ago.

In fact, for Pella, the 6-2, 6-2 victory over Italian Andrea Vavassori was his first win on the Tour in the past sixteen months because of a chronic right knee injury.

“I feel like crying, like suffering again, continuing to compete well, fighting for it and being a tough player. Winning the first match of my return here in my country is really special, and even more so with my family around,” Pella said. “I don’t want to be corny, but I’m here again because of my family. I was beaten and ready to pack it all in.”

Pella is now the No. 1018 player in the Pepperstone ATP Ranking, but his targets are not number-oriented. He looks no further than a few months ahead. The Argentine, No. 20 in the world in August 2019, returned to competition at the end of 2022 after more than a year sidelined because of his knee injury. He has one goal — to enjoy his daily life.

“I’m gradually starting to feel like I did before,” Pella said. “Hopefully at this tournament, which has given me so much joy, I can start to play better, win matches. I would like to recover the confidence that I haven’t felt for some time, which took me into the Top 20 players in the world.”

Despite having spent more than 15 years on the Tour, Pella is starting from scratch.

“My opener in Cordoba was a very different match, because it felt like I needed that win, not only because of what it means in terms of points, but because I feel like an elite player again and I feel good on court,” Pella said. “I really felt good. I managed to return all the serves, hold mine well and not be nervous, which is the most difficult thing in tennis.”

Is there something special about Cordoba for him?

“This is a tournament where I feel really good. It’s a city I like playing in. The court is pretty fast, the ball is quick but it’s a slightly heavier ball so it means you can control it,” Pella said. “I’ve actually been preparing really well. I got here on Friday, so I’ve had time to train.”

Does he have a specific goal for the next weeks or months? “I never set myself long-term goals because when I did, when I started training, I felt really bad again. I began training in April, May and I had to compete recently, in October, November,” the lefty said. “I could see I was a long way from competitive, and I started to just think from week to week, or one month ahead.

“That way, I can focus on the daily work and know that I have a match now and nothing else. Then, I’ll have another one on Thursday, and if that goes well, then Friday. Otherwise, I’ll go to the next event and back home.

The Argentine made that point with a smile before concluding: “Until not long ago, I was close to staying at home and drinking fizzy drinks on the sofa watching the tennis, but my family motivated me… and here I am. Celebrating it with them is something I will never forget.”

Pella’s campaign to return to the upper echelons of the Tour started in Australia, where he bowed out to Francisco Cerúndolo in straight sets. Now, at home and with his family for the start of the clay swing in Cordoba — he also received an invite to Buenos Aires — the Argentine wants to start progressing on his path back to elite tennis. Only time will tell how far he can go this time around.