Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco on Wednesday, citing a shoulder injury he sustained after the Australian Open.

“Mexico is one of my favorite destinations in the world, and I have always cherished the opportunity to compete in this prestigious tournament,” Tsitsipas wrote in an Instagram Story. “I am incredibly grateful for the support that I have received from the tennis people and the fans in Mexico over the past couple of years.

“Your unwavering support has been a tremendous source of inspiration and motivation for me, and I am truly thankful for all the encouragement and kindness that you have shown me.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas has withdrawn from the @AbiertoTelcel due to a shoulder injury.

Speedy recovery, @steftsitsipas. We are going to miss you!

— Abierto Mexicano (@AbiertoTelcel) February 22, 2023

Tsitsipas competed at the ATP 500 in each of the past two years, tallying a 7-2 record in Acapulco. In 2021 the Greek reached the final and last year he fell in the semi-finals.

Felix Auger-Aliassime didn’t have things all his own way on debut at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open Wednesday, but he stepped up when needed to reach the quarter-finals in Doha.

Competing at the ATP 250 event, the second-seeded Canadian recovered from a slow start to overcome Australian Jason Kubler, advancing 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 after two hours and 16 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime struggled on return in the first set, winning just 20 per cent (5/25) of his points behind Kubler’s first and second serve. However, he found his range as the match went on, hitting with greater depth and aggression on return in the second and third sets to break the 29-year-old three times.

The 22-year-old, who is up one spot to No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, has levelled his ATP Head2Head series against Kubler at 1-1.

Auger-Aliasime will face seventh seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Soonwoo Kwon in his second tour-level quarter-final of the season. The four-time tour-level titlist reached the last eight in Rotterdam last week.

Having defeated then-World No. 9 Auger-Aliassime in Newport last year, Kubler was aiming to earn his second victory against the Canadian and the second Top 10 win of his career. The Australian is up three places to No. 71 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after beating Aslan Karatsev in the first round in Doha.

Frances Tiafoe was a natural fit for Netflix’s Break Point. Both the man and the docuseries share two major goals: entertain tennis fans and attract new fans to the sport.

Tiafoe is especially excited to see more diversity among tennis spectators.

“It’s cool to see more people of colour in the stands watching and becoming tennis fans,” he told the ATP Tour in a recent interview. “They don’t even know how to keep score but they’re just so into it because I’m playing. 

“That’s cool… you’re changing the game. That’s what I want, non-tennis fans to watch the game because Frances Tiafoe’s playing, to show young kids anything is possible.”

There’s no alternative. Hard work pays off 🏆 pic.twitter.com/yTboGkFfbM

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 21, 2023

The 25-year-old hit his first tennis balls as a young kid, famously playing at the Maryland tennis club where his father — who helped build the facility — worked as a janitor.

“I was about three years old when I started playing tennis. Three, four years old,” he said. “Both my parents being very hard workers, very dedicated, very passionate… that kind of instilled a certain drive in me to pursue the game of tennis once that opportunity was given.

“From a young age I knew this is what I really wanted to do, and it’s scary… but you’ve got to dream big. My parents always told me your dreams have got to be so big you’re afraid of them.”

Tiafoe’s rise to his career-high No. 15 Pepperstone ATP Ranking has included a run to the 2022 US Open semi-finals and a title triumph with Team United States at the inaugural United Cup in January. Such heady moments are a reward for his drive to push through the difficult times.

In his toughest moments, Tiafoe centres himself with a very simple question: “What I always go back to is, ‘Well, what would be the alternative?’ 

“You’ve got to go through some type of adversity to do anything successful.”

Fourth seeds Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop made amends for an early exit last week in Rotterdam with a dominant win on Tuesday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. The Dutch duo defeated Malek Jaziri and Mubarak Shannan Zayid 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals at the ATP 250.

Haase/Middelkoop did not face a break point in the contest, winning more than 80 per cent of points on both first and second serve. They generated 12 break opportunities on return, converting on three of them. 

The five-time tour-level champions, whose most recent trophy came earlier this month in Montpellier, will continue their bid for a sixth team title against Constant Lestienne and Botic van de Zandschulp in Wednesday’s quarter-finals. The French-Dutch duo defeated Raven Klaasen and Hunter Reese 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 on Tuesday.

Doha third seeds Matthew Ebden and Rohan Bopanna also advanced with a 5-7, 6-1, 10-3 win against Liam Broady and Alexander Zverev.

Third Seeds Upset In Marseille
The Indian team of N.Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan knocked off third-seeded Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-5, 5-7, 10-7 on Tuesday to advance to the quarter-finals at the Open 13 Provence.

They will next meet Dustin Brown and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, who edged Philipp Oswald and Szymon Walkow 4-6, 6-3, 10-8. Rounding out Tuesday’s doubles action in Marseille, Frenchman Jonathan Eysseric and Ukrainian Denys Molchanov defeated the French team of Arthur Fils and Luca Van Assche 3-6, 7-5, 10-4.

Cabral/Zeballos Advance In Rainy Rio
Only one doubles match was completed on Tuesday at the Rio Open presented by Claro, as fourth seeds Francisco Cabral and Horacio Zeballos beat Pedro Martinez and Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4.

Brazilians Felipe Meligeni Alves and Felipe Meligeni Alves won a 6-1 opening set against Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar before rain ended the day’s play.

When the Rio Open presented by Claro was hit with heavy rain on Tuesday evening, Carlos Alcaraz quickly saved a ball kid from a soaking.

With the top-seeded Spaniard leading Brazilian Mateus Alves 6-4, 5-3, play was suspended due to rain. After taking shelter under cover, Alcaraz called over a stranded ball kid, who quickly took the opportunity to join him.

It is not the first time Alcaraz has helped the ball kids stay dry at the ATP 500 event, having ushered them under cover during his match against Federico Delbonis last year. The 19-year-old will be hoping his rain heroics is a sign of history repeating itself in Rio, after he went on to win the title at the clay-court event in 2022.

Following the suspension of play, Alcaraz will return to court on Wednesday when he will aim to seal victory against Alves and book a second-round meeting against Fabio Fognini or Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.

Phoenix, Arizona is known to be scorching hot. And next month, the ATP Challenger Tour will bring the heat to the Arizona Tennis Classic, the first event of the newly created Challenger 175 category.

Six Top-50 players are set to play the Phoenix Challenger, which begins March 13. Main-draw action will kick off following the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells. Several high-ranked players who lose early at the ATP Masters 1000 event are expected to play in Phoenix before continuing onto Miami to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’.

Players who will compete in Phoenix unless they are still alive in the Indian Wells draw, include Botic Van de Zandschulp, Sebastian Baez, Richard Gasquet, Jack Draper, Marc-Andrea Huesler, and Alexander Bublik.

Van de Zandschulp, World No. 34, is the highest-ranked player in the Phoenix field. In 2022, the Dutchman earned a career-best 38 tour-level wins, including victories over Cameron Norrie, Taylor Fritz, and Bublik to help his home country qualify for the Davis Cup Finals knock-out stage. 

Nobody finished 2022 with a better winning percentage on the Challenger Tour this past season than Great Britain’s Draper. The 21-year-old boasted a 24-4 Challenger match-winning record in and collected a season-leading four Challenger titles (tied w/ Pedro Cachin, who will also be in Phoenix): Forli-2, Forli-4, Forli-5, and Saint-Brieuc. The lefty, who has since reached the semi-finals of two ATP 250 events (Eastbourne & Adelaide-2), will return to the Challenger circuit in Arizona.

Jiri Lehecka, who was a quarter-finalist at the 2023 Australian Open, will also compete in Arizona. A three-time Challenger titlist, the Czech was a finalist at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, which showcases the world’s best 21-and-under players.

Chinese star and World No. 61 Wu Yibing, who won the 2023 Dallas Open, will also be in action at the outdoor hard-court event. The 23-year-old won a trio of Challenger titles in 2022 before becoming the first tour-level titlist from China.

Did You Know?
Phoenix Challenger entrants Benjamin Bonzi and Sebastian Baez each claimed six Challenger titles in 2021. Only Tallon Griekspoor has collected more Challenger titles in a single season (eight, 2021).

Full main-draw entry list 👇#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/rA9Pktf1qV

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 21, 2023