Taylor Fritz already has one title on an American hard-court this season. Now he is one win away from a second at the Atlanta Open. The Delray Beach champion defeated countryman J.J. Wolf 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday at the ATP 250 to advance to his 11th tour-level final. 

“It was really solid. I served well the whole match,” said Fritz, who saved both break points against him. “Whenever I was in trouble I played a lot of good points. I just did what I was supposed to do and didn’t really give him much.”

Both players thrilled the crowd with power tennis, with both eager to take the initiative in points with first-strike tennis. But on a hot day in Atlanta, it was Fritz’s consistency and his performance on the big points that made the difference.

With a win in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Wolf, Fritz improved to 17-9 against Top 50 players this season. He will bid for his sixth ATP Tour title — and his fourth on hard courts — on Sunday against  seventh seed Ugo Humbert or Aleksandar Vukic.

Regardless of the opponent, Fritz will be counting on the backing of the American fans to help him over the line.

“It’s been great having all the support this week,” he said during his on-court interview. “It’s so hot, so it’s such a good effort for all these people to come out and support, even in this heat. So I appreciate all the love and I hope we’ll bring it in the final.”

Before their respective battles on the court this week at the Hamburg European Open, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Daniel Altmaier made some time to compete in a different sort of competition in the German city.

In the very first Lexus ATP Head2Head Scavenger Hunt, the ATP Tour players cruised through the streets of Hamburg testing their skills and their wits in a range of fun contests, with the winner ultimately being crowned at the tournament site. From gripping racquets to artistic adventures, the pair were neck-and-neck until the end, when a slew of athletic challenges decided the winner.

Watch the video below to find out who earned the victory and who needs a day off to recover from defeat.

There was more than pride on the line, with the loser suffering a humourous punishment, much to the delight of the other man.

Blaz Rola and Nino Serdarusic capped a dream first tournament as a duo with a hugely dramatic final victory Saturday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag.

The Slovenian-Croatian wild cards saved three championship points in a thrilling Match Tie-break before prevailing 4-6, 7-6(2), 15-13 against top seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. Rola and Serdadusic had led the Match Tie-break 8/4 but then lost five points in a row to stand on the brink of a heartbreaking defeat. They held their nerve at 8/9, 10/11 and 11/12 to thrice deny their Italian opponents victory, however, before sealing a two-hour, seven-minute win.

“Unbelievable, crazy week,” said Rola, who shared that the team received its wild card just before the draw was made. “I never thought that we would end up at the final day, at the ceremony with the trophy in our hands.

“We played really well and what a match today. I think we were a little bit lucky, you could say that.”

It was a third Match Tie-break win of the week for Rola and Serdarusic, who also defeated second seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in straight sets in the semi-finals. Both were competing in their maiden tour-level final, and neither player had competed at a 2023 ATP Tour event prior to this week.

The narrow defeat meant Bolelli missed out on a third Umag title. The 37-year-old, an 11-time tour-level doubles champion, lifted the trophy at the clay-court ATP 250 in both 2011 and 2022 alongside Fabio Fognini.

It has been a long road, but Alexander Zverev has that final feeling once again on the ATP Tour.

The fourth seed powered past Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the championship match at the Hamburg European Open. Taking on a 19-year-old opponent who was full of confidence after taking out top seed Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals, Zverev offered Fils few chances to settle in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with a hard-hitting, big-serving display on the German clay.

“I knew that me and Casper have very different gamestyles,” said Zverev, when asked how he had approached the match. “Casper plays with a lot more spin and a lot higher, something that Arthur maybe likes. I knew that I had to take the time away, I knew that I had to play a lot quicker and a lot flatter in a way. I did that well today, I feel like.”

Zverev will take on Laslo Djere in Sunday’s final as he looks to claim the title at his hometown ATP 500 event for the first time. It will be a first tour-level championship match since Madrid in May 2022 for the 19-time tour-level titlist, and his first since he suffered a serious ankle injury at 2022 Roland Garros.

“It’s always the nicest at home, but at the end of the day it’s a very difficult match and I’m just looking forward to it,” added Zverev.

Super Sascha! ⚡️

Incredible point from home hope @AlexZverev on his way to securing the first set 6-2 against Fils!@hamburgopen | #HamburgOpen pic.twitter.com/GlaLtlVSCy

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 29, 2023

The 26-year-old Zverev is chasing his first title since his triumph at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, and he is up two spots to 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as a result of his Hamburg run as he looks to qualify for the prestigious season finale for the sixth time. In Hamburg, he is bidding to become just the second German man, after Michael Stich in 1993, to lift the trophy since the Open Era began in 1968.

Zverev raced to a 4-0 lead against Fils as his #NextGenATP opponent struggled for consistency from the baseline early, and rarely looked like letting that early advantage slip en route to a one-hour, 32-minute triumph. He was clutch in key moments throughout, converting three of four break points he earned as well as saving the three he faced against his own delivery.

Zverev is now 32-18 for the 2023 season, having also reached semi-finals in Dubai, Geneva, at Roland Garros, and in Halle. He rose two spots to No. 17 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his semi-final victory against Fils.

The World No. 57 Djere earlier delivered a near-flawless semi-final display to ease past Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-2 and reach his first tour-level final of the season.

Serbia’s Djere sealed the only break of the opening set in this eighth game before accelerating away in the second for a comfortable one-hour victory. The 28-year-old did not face a break point against Zhang as he charged into his first ATP Tour final since Winston-Salem in August 2022.

“I’m extremely happy the way I played. Everything went my way today,” said Djere. “I think this was my best match this year, at least on the clay. I didn’t give much chance to him today, luckily for me. He’s a great player, he has a huge serve. I also surprised myself a bit today, how I played.”

Sunday’s championship match clash will be Djere’s fifth on the ATP Tour, and his second at ATP 500 level after he claimed his maiden tour-level title in Rio de Janeiro in 2019.

“I will try to look at the final as any other match,” said Djere, whose only other ATP Tour title also came on clay in Sardinia in 2020. “I think that is key, not to make a big deal out of it. Obviously, there is a lot at stake, and the nerves might kick in at some point, but I think the key will be to stay calm and focused and relax like in [my previous] matches. Hopefully I will be able to manage it.”

Alexis Galarneau lifted his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title last week on home soil in Granby, Canada. While fans may see the 24-year-old strike a fuzzy yellow ball, they may not know his off-court routine that includes daily meditation and speaking to a sports psychologist.

A former North Carolina State University standout, Galarneau departed Raleigh with an all-time school singles record (65-36) and a Bachelor’s Degree in finance. The two-time ITA All-American then transitioned to the pros and made a commitment to work with a sports psychologist. Galarneau has continued those meetings on a near-weekly basis for two-and-a-half years.

“I thought coming out of college, it would be a great opportunity to talk to someone,” Galarneau told ATPTour.com. “When you’re on the road, it can be lonely sometimes, and keeping track of things that you’re doing well, things that you’re not doing as well.

“It’s important to really take your mental health [seriously] and also prepare yourself for your best performances. I think everyone should use it.”

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A post shared by Alexis Galarneau (@alexis.galarneau)

This year, Galarneau became an ambassador for Tennis Canada’s Mental Timeout Intivative, alongside WTA star Bianca Andreescu and Canada’s top-ranked wheelchair player Rob Shaw. The goal of the initiative is to be a leading voice for mental wellness in sport through awareness, promotion and education.

Galarneau even curated a Spotify ‘Mental Timeout’ playlist that features 10 songs, starting with Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Everywhere’, he listens to when he needs to calm his mind. Andreescu and Shaw also constructed a playlist.

Another way Galarneau quiets his thoughts is by drawing. At a career-high No. 162 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Galarneau recently started carving out time to enjoy the new hobby he discovered when he bought an iPad.

“I’ll just take pictures from my phone that I took and try to recreate the canvas,” Galarneau said. “Lately, it’s been a lot of pictures from my room window. It kind of reminds me of home as well. It’s a cool little time off. You put on a little bit of music and you’re not really thinking, just drawing on my iPad. I’ll take 30, 45 minutes a day to try and put in my sort of little meditation.”

Drawing may bring the Laval-native memories of home, much like how he will remember his first ATP Challenger Tour title. Galarneau became the first Canadian Challenger champion of 2023, triumphing in Granby, just 90 minutes from his hometown.

Alexis Galarneau the Challenger 100 event in Granby, Canada.” />
^{Alexis Galarneau the Challenger 100 event in Granby, Canada. Credit: Sarah-Jäde Champagne}

Galarneau is one of five Canadians to win the Granby Challenger, joining Frank Dancevic, Vasek Pospisil, Peter Polansky and Gabriel Diallo.

“It felt amazing. I visualised this moment a tonne of times growing up, watching past Canadian champions win it,” Galarneau said. “I felt like it’d be a great achievement and a great feeling for me to go on and do the same thing they did. I felt really proud of that and having my whole family there was a really special moment for me.”

When Galarneau made his ATP Tour debut last August at the National Bank Open, he sported long hair in a ponytail and pushed 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov to two tight sets in the opening round.

This year, Galarneau will aim for his maiden tour-level victory when he once again competes at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Canada as a wild card. But there will be no ponytail this time. Galarneau first showcased a fresh haircut in May and despite lifting his first Challenger title in short hair, he stated that there is nothing superstitious about the change.

“I thought it was time. It was just a lot,” Galarneau said. “It took a lot of time to wash and prepare. I just wanted to keep it simple. It feels cleaner. I think there was a wild side to the long hair.”

Alexis Galarneau in action at the 2022 National Bank Open.” />
^{Alexis Galarneau in action at the 2022 National Bank Open. Credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images}

Stan Wawrinka held his nerve to break his 2023 semi-final duck on Friday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, where the former World No. 3 reached the last four by downing Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 7-5.

In the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head clash in the space of 11 days, Wawrinka improved to 2-0 against Carballes Baena by prevailing in a tense quarter-final clash of narrow margins. A late break of serve in each set ultimately proved decisive for the sixth-seeded Swiss, who wrapped a one-hour, 44-minute win to reach his first tour-level semi-final since Metz in September 2022.

“He’s a really tough player, I expected a tough match,” said Wawrinka in his on-court interview. “I think tonight I was playing well. It’s slow conditions so it’s not easy to get through, to be aggressive, but my game is there and I’m enjoying my time here. I’m happy to be in the semi-finals tomorrow.”

STAN. THE. MAN. 🤩 @stanwawrinka is semi-final bound in Umag after getting past Carballes Baena 6-4 7-5.@CroatiaOpenUmag | #ATPUmag pic.twitter.com/7q7OfLh7tt

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 28, 2023

Wawrinka has impressed so far this week on his first appearance in Umag since 2007. He has now won all six sets he has played at the clay-court ATP 250 as he looks to clinch his first tour-level title since Geneva in 2017. His next opponent in Croatia will be Lorenzo Sonego, who earlier defeated Jaume Munar 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” said Wawrinka, who lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in Umag in 2006. “He’s a great player. He’s a big fighter with some amazing shots, so I expect a really tough battle. But hopefully I can keep playing that well and keep winning.”

There had been Italian joy in Umag on Friday prior to Sonego’s win as Matteo Arnaldi also booked his semi-final spot on the Croatian clay.

In his maiden ATP Tour quarter-final, Arnaldi recovered from a difficult start in style to upset top seed Jiri Lehecka 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. In a clash between a pair of 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals competitors, Arnaldi converted three of his nine break points to wrap a two-hour, four-minute victory under the Croatian sun.

Since notching his maiden ATP Tour win against Munar in Barcelona in April, Arnaldi has made steady progress. He reached the third round as a qualifier at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, defeating Casper Ruud en route, and is now 9-7 for the season, with his run to the last four in Umag so far propelling him 15 spots to No. 61 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

The 22-year-old will face Alexei Popyrin in the semi-finals, after the Australian downed home #NextGenATP star Dino Prizmic 7-6(2), 7-5.