Top seed Taylor Fritz produced high-quality first-strike tennis Friday to down former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori and reach his seventh tour-level semi-final of the season at the Atlanta Open.

The 25-year-old defeated the Japanese star 6-4, 6-2 after dropping just four points behind his first delivery (25/29). Fritz looked to step around any ball left in the middle of the court before crushing a forehand winner, closing the match in one hour, 13 minutes.

“I’m super happy how I played today, getting better and better each day I feel like,” Fritz said in his on-court interview. “A lot of positives I can take into the next match. Kei has been around since I first started. He’s an incredible player and a great guy. I’m just happy to see him back playing again, having good results and hitting the ball well after being injured for so long.” 

Through the first five games, neither player dropped a point behind their serve. Fritz later took advantage of his lone break point, which doubled as a set point in the 10th game of the opening set. As the match wore on, Nishikori did not seem at his physical best, using a medical timeout before the second set started for a problem with his left knee. 

It was Fritz’s maiden Lexus ATPHead2Head win against Nishikori, who had won the previous three meetings. Friday was their first encounter since 2019.

Aiming for his second tour-level trophy of the season, World No. 9 Fritz will next meet countryman J.J. Wolf. The eighth seed Wolf, who has not dropped a set all week, cruised past Dominik Koepfer 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals to set a maiden meeting against the American No. 1.

The 33-year-old Nishikori was playing in his first ATP Tour tournament since October 2021. A 12-time tour-level titlist, Nishikori underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery in 2022 and returned to competition last month on the ATP Challenger Tour, immediately winning a title in Puerto Rico.

Frances Tiafoe on Thursday alongside the USTA Foundation announced the launch of The Frances Tiafoe Fund. The American, who revealed the eponymous fund at his home tennis centre, the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, hopes it will help serve as a source of positive social change.

“I’m so excited for this opportunity to work with the USTA Foundation and inspire kids who come from my hometown and beyond,” Tiafoe said in a statement. “One of my priorities has always been to show kids that dreams can come true and that success is in everyone – and this fund is just one step further toward that goal.”

Tiafoe led a clinic to interact with local youth at the facility where his father was a maintenance worker. The Frances Tiafoe Fund will help support National Junior Tennis and Learning chapters, like the JTCC, throughout the country.

Three years ago, Tiafoe received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award in the ATP Awards. In a letter he wrote at the time, the American explained why it is important for him to give back to the next generations.

“It’s about more than just setting up my family for life. What about those kids?” Tiafoe asked. “I want to help them write their stories right the first time. If there are kids out there who do not think they can achieve their dreams, I want to change that. I really believe success is in everyone. I want to paint a picture for them that they did not know was possible. I want to help them make that a reality.”

The creation of the Frances Tiafoe Fund is another step towards accomplishing that goal.

Arthur Fils has long made his mark on the 2023 ATP Tour season. Yet his Hamburg European Open quarter-final win against Casper Ruud on Friday felt like a further significant leap for the #NextGenATP Frenchman.

Fils delivered a stunning display for a 6-0, 6-4 victory against the World No. 4 Ruud at the clay-court ATP 500, his first win against a Top 20 opponent. The 19-year-old Fils was in particularly devastating form on his forehand in Germany, striking with the sort of power and accuracy off that wing that Ruud himself has become renowned for.

“I’m really happy about it. Of course, it was a tough match,” said Fils in his on-court interview. “I had good tactics with my coach before the match. We talked before the match, that I have to believe I can win. Of course, I’m coming on court, I want to win, so I tried to play my game and I played my best today, so I’m happy about it.”

Fils made a lightning-fast start to his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the Norwegian, unloading on his forehand at every opportunity and converting three of his six break points to charge to the opening set. Ruud settled into his groove in a closely fought second set, but Fils crushed four huge forehand winners to break to love in the 10th game and seal a famous 78-minute triumph in which he outhit Ruud by 35 winners (including 25 off his forehand) to six.

“I knew that he has a really good forehand, and when he uses his forehand during the point, it’s tough,” said Fils. “He makes you run a lot. My goal was to play a lot of forehands and play a lot on his backhand, and I did it really well today.”

Fils is now 4-0 in tour-level quarter-finals. His run in Hamburg marks the first time he has reached a semi-final outside of France, while it is also his maiden last-four appearance at ATP 500 level. The Frenchman, who lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in Lyon in May, is fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race as he seeks to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals for the first time.

Fils’ semi-final opponent will be Alexander Zverev, after the home favourite denied Fils’ fellow #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche from reaching his maiden tour-level semi-final. The fourth-seeded Zverev prevailed 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to reach the semi-finals in Hamburg for the third time in six appearances.

Zverev held his nerve against Van Assche after the 19-year-old had converted his only break point of the match en route to a 4-1 lead in the second set. The 26-year-old German, chasing his first title since his triumph at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, reeled off five games in a row to seal victory to the delight of his home fans.

A two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion, Zverev has now risen two spots to tenth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as a result of his Hamburg run. The 19-time tour-level titlist is seeking to qualify for the prestigious season finale for the sixth time.

In the bottom half of the draw, Lorenzo Musetti’s Hamburg title defence was ended at the quarter-final stage by the rock-solid Laslo Djere. The No. 57-ranked Serbian overcame Musetti 7-5, 6-3 for his first Top 20 victory since he defeated Ruud in Auckland in the opening week of the 2023 season.

Zhang Zhizhen will be Djere’s next opponent, after the 26-year-old reached his maiden ATP Tour semi-final with a 6-4, 6.4 triumph against home favourite Daniel Altmaier. Zhang has dropped just one set across his first three matches on his second Hamburg appearance, a run which has propelled the 26-year-old 27 spots to No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, level with his career high in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Should he defeat Djere in Saturday’s semi-finals in northern Germany, Zhang is set to rise further still to become the first Chinese player to break the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe arrive at the Mubadala Citi DC Open as Top 10 stars carrying the torch for American men’s tennis. The 25-year-olds are the top two seeds, respectively, at the ATP 500 event and could face early tests in the nation’s capital.

World No. 9 Fritz, who is making his fourth appearance in Washington, D.C, is seeded to meet three-time major champion Andy Murray in the third round. The Scot Murray was a finalist at the hard-court tournament in 2006. Fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz and sixth seed Alexander Bublik are also featured in Fritz’s half.

In a loaded part of the draw, Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks could clash against top seed Fritz in the last eight. Eubanks must first get through his section that features seventh seed Adrian Mannarino, former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori and two-time major finalist Kevin Anderson. Should Nishikori beat Lloyd Harris, he will then meet Eubanks in the second round. 

Home hope Tiafoe may meet 14th seed and #NextGenATP star Ben Shelton in the third round, which would mark their first Lexus ATPHead2Head contest.

Making his seventh appearance at the ATP 500 event and looking to improve on his quarter-final result last year, Tiafoe is in the same half as third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov. The Canadian Auger-Aliassime will open against Wu Yibing or Yosuke Watanuki.

Sebastian Korda, Daniel Evans and last year’s finalist Yoshihito Nishioka round out the Top 10 seeds in Washington, D.C, where main draw action begins Monday, 31 July.

Take notice: Former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori is playing at a high level in his first ATP Tour tournament in 21 months.

The 33-year-old defeated Chinese teen Shang Juncheng 6-4, 7-6(3) on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Open. The Japanese star Nishikori displayed vintage all-court coverage and absorbed the 18-year-old’s firepower to advance. At 5/3 in the second-set tie-break, Nishikori won an exciting 21-shot rally to set up match point before sealing a spot in the last eight with an ace.

“It was a tough battle, but I was very excited on the court,” Nishikori said in his on-court interview. “I felt pretty good, especially playing under [the lights]. I felt very good on the court today.”

Nishikori will next look to extend his 3-0 Lexus ATPHead2Head series record against top seed Taylor Fritz.

The 12-time tour-level titlist Nishikori is competing in his first tour-level tournament since the BNP Paribas Open in October 2021. Nishikori underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery in 2022 and returned to the ATP Challenger Tour last month, immediately winning a title in Puerto Rico. Friday will be his first tour-level quarter-final since August 2021, when he made it to the last four of the ATP 500 event in Washington, D.C.

“It’s always tough coming back from injury, I was out for almost two years,” Nishikori said. “I just came back, played the last couple tournaments and coming into here, I’m feeling pretty good. Luckily I won two rounds here and happy to play another one tomorrow.” 

Shang, who used a medical timeout at 2-3 in the second set to treat a right foot problem, earned his second tour-level victory this week when he upset fourth seed Ben Shelton in the opening round. The Beijing-native is 18th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race.

Taylor Fritz jumped out to an early lead Thursday against Wu Yibing and never looked back to reach the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Open.

The top seed relied on his hefty service delivery in key moments to defeat Wu 6-4, 7-6(5) after one hour, 30 minutes. Fritz started fast, gaining a 4-0 lead to kick off the evening session in Atlantic Station and won 81 per cent of his first-serve points to advance.

“Just a couple points here and there. I had some break chances, he had some break chances,” Fritz said in his on-court interview. “It could have gone either way, I kind of just barely got out of the points I needed to win.”

In the second set, the California-native saved two set points at 4-5. Fritz then fired three consecutive aces from 30/40 to close the game and later closed the match in a second-set tie-break. 

The 25-year-old Fritz avenged this year’s Dallas Open semi-final loss to Wu, who was eventually crowned champion at the ATP 250 for his maiden tour-level title. Their Lexus ATPHead2Head series is now tied at 1-1.

Fritz, who is World No. 9 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, is chasing his second tour-level trophy of the season, having lifted his fifth ATP Tour crown in Delray Beach in February. He will next meet former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori or #NextGenATP Shang Juncheng.

In other Atlanta action, German Dominik Koepfer mounted a comeback to down third seed Daniel Evans 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4. World No. 88 Koepfer saved three match points from 3-5, 0/40 in the second set and then broke Evans’ serve when the Brit served for a quarter-final spot the ensuing game. The 33-year-old Evans is on a seven-match skid at tour-level.

Koepfer will next meet eighth seed J.J. Wolf, who downed countryman Maxime Cressy 7-6(7), 6-3 to book his ticket to the last eight. Wolf saved a set point at 6/7 in the opening-set tie-break before tallying three consecutive points. World No. 46 Wolf is into his fourth quarter-final of the season.

Have you ever sent a direct message to somebody famous? Jiri Lehecka has!

The 21-year-old revealed who it was in the latest edition of ATP Uncovered’s ‘I Am’ series.

“I sent a message to Petra Kvitova when she won her first Wimbledon [in 2011],” said Lehecka, who was a fan of the lefty’s game from a young age.

Kvitova first lifted the Wimbledon trophy 12 years ago. Little did the lefty or Lehecka know they would compete at this season’s United Cup together.

Now Lehecka has fans just like he once was. The Top 40 star hopes to follow in Kvitova’s footsteps and achieve several career ambitions he revealed later in the video.

The Czech also shared more about his life away from tennis including what hockey team he supports, his favourite cheat meal and the music genre he enjoys.

Watch the full video above to find out what three tips he would give to young tennis players, his first tennis memory, how he would describe his off-court personality and more.