The unseeded duo of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul upset top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski on Wednesday at the Erste Bank Open, where the all-French pair clinched a Match Tie-break opening-round.victory.

Despite not creating a break chance in the match, the Frenchmen pulled out a 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-4 win by owning the crucial moments of the one-hour, 47-minute match. Doumbia and Reboul stayed within touching distance by saving nine of 11 break points they faced, and made their move late to earn the upset.

Fourth-seeded Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen were also knocked out at the ATP 500, with Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow scoring a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Lammons/Withrow face a crucial week in their quest to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. They are currently 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, just 25 points behind ninth-placed Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer and 35 points behind eighth-placed Jamie Murray and Michael Venus.

Arevalo and Rojer maintained their Turin push after they avoided becoming the third seeded pair to fall on Wednesday in Vienna. They defeated Nikola Mektic and John Peers 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-8 to set advance to face home wild card pair Sebastian Ofner and Philipp Oswald.

Murray/Venus Back From The Brink In Basel
The fact that their closest Nitto ATP Finals qualification rivals had won in Vienna made Murray and Venus’ dramatic late-night victory against Alexander Bublik and Adrian Mannarino at the Swiss Indoors Basel all the more important.

The fourth-seeded British-Kiwi duo rallied back from the brink in remarkable circumstances to reach the second round in Switzerland, saving three match points when Bublik and Mannarino led 6-4, 6-5 and 40/0 on serve, before prevailing 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-6.

Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski also advanced with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win against Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Robin Haase, while Alex de Minaur and Max Purcell beat Lloyd Glasspool and Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 7-6(5).

Carlos Alcaraz announced on social media on Wednesday that he is fit to play the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals.

“I have good news!” Alcaraz posted. “I am feeling better every day and I will play Paris-Bercy and be in Turin for the ATP Finals! Excited to finish the year on a high!”

I have good news! 🙌🏻 I am feeling better every day and I will play Paris-Bercy and be in Turin for the ATP Finals! 😍 Excited to finish the year on a high! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/RC1pCzr237

— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) October 25, 2023

The Spaniard withdrew ahead of the Swiss Indoors Basel due to a left foot injury and muscle fatigue to his lower back. He most recently competed in Shanghai, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 16.

Alcaraz will hope to find his form immediately in Paris, where he will resume his battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone with Novak Djokovic. The Serbian currently leads the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, a good barometer for the year-end No. 1 battle, by 500 points with a maximum of 2,500 points up for grabs in Paris and Turin.

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s most recent title came in Basel one year ago. Based on his form Wednesday, the Canadian is keen to add another Swiss Indoors Basel trophy to his collection.

The defending champion eliminated Swiss wild card Leandro Riedi 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round. The sixth seed will next play Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, who ousted Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets.

“I thought he was playing well and I think he can be proud of himself because I played a great match. I think I showed up with a good level today,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. “He still showed very good things, so I think he’s got a great future. But on my part I’m happy to get through to the second round here.”

All aboard the Felix Express 🚂🇨🇦

The 2022 champion @felixtennis eases past Riedi 6-3 6-2 🙌#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/KCedaHX1yS

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 25, 2023

The 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime stayed out of trouble on his service games for the most part, relinquishing just one break in the match. He consistently challenged his opponent’s serve, winning 50 per cent of his return points and earning four breaks in the 75-minute match.

Auger-Aliassime has long thrived indoors, winning all four of his titles in such conditions. This is his first indoor appearance outside of Laver Cup since Rotterdam in February.

Now 18-18 this season, the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals qualifier will hope to use the indoor stretch to regain confidence leading into 2024.

In the last match of the day, Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry battled past former World No. 1 Andy Murray 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 after thee hours and eight minutes to reach the quarter-finals.

In the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting this year at Indian Wells, Murray triumphed in three hours and 12 minutes. On this occasion, Etcheverry saved five of the six break points he faced, including all five he confronted in the second set.

Etcheverry will next play top seed Holger Rune or countryman Sebastian Baez for a place in the semi-finals. The 24-year-old is pursuing his first ATP Tour title this week.

Did You Know?
According to Infosys ATP Stats, Auger-Aliassime’s winning percentage indoors is 67.9 per cent (57-27) compared to 56.3 per cent (121-94) outdoors.

Jannik Sinner held firm for victory in a hard-hitting opening-round clash against Ben Shelton on Wednesday at the Erste Bank Open.

The Italian prevailed 7-6(2), 7-5 in Vienna by striking 28 winners and offering just six unforced errors across the one-hour, 44-minute encounter. With his win, Sinner avenged his defeat to Shelton in the Shanghai fourth round two weeks ago.

Although Shelton, who flew straight to Austria after winning his maiden ATP Tour crown on Sunday in Tokyo, understandably showed some signs of fatigue in the second set, he pushed Sinner all the way inside the Wiener Stadthalle. An intense first set was only settled when Sinner raised his level in the tie-break and the Italian was forced to fend off four break points overall during his win.

Sinner produced plenty of razor-sharp returning and particularly capitalised when given a look at his American opponent’s second serve. The Italian won 53 per cent (18/34) of return points against second deliveries, and Shelton’s lack of first serves proved crucial as Sinner clinched the only break of the match at 5-5 in the second set.

The 22-year-old Sinner, who has already secured direct qualification for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, will take on countryman Lorenzo Sonego next in Vienna. He holds a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against Sonego, with all three victories coming earlier this season.

Daniil Medvedev is a 20-time tour-level singles champion, but he has yet to win a single event more than once. If his opening performance at the Erste Bank Open is any indication, Medvedev could put an end to that statistical anomaly this week in Vienna.

The top seed earned a dominant 6-4, 6-2 win against #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils on Wednesday in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. In a masterful performance, Medvedev lost just five points on serve and recorded a clean stat line of 16 winners and eight unforced errors.

“I was a little bit nervous coming into the match,” Medvedev said, explaining that he took a week off from practice following Shanghai, during which time he celebrated his daughter’s birthday. “Arthur wants this top win and he’s going to get it one day. But luckily I managed to serve well, play well, kind of work him out during the match and it worked, so I’m very happy.”

“Mesmerising Medvedev” 😲

Top seed @DaniilMedwed bringing top drawer tennis up a set and break on Fils@ErsteBankOpen | #erstebankopen pic.twitter.com/wNdEpK98MH

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 25, 2023

Medvedev was clinical in all aspects of his game in the 75-minute match, using his forehand to do the most damage with seven winners off that wing. His relentless yet steady game drew 31 unforced errors from Fils, who made the final in Antwerp last week.

Following the victory, Medvedev was full of praise for his opponent, who began the season outside the Top 250 and now sits at a career high of No. 38 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“He’s super young, a big jump in the rankings. Usually when we see guys like this, sooner or later he’s going to get in the Top 10,” Medvedev said after denying Fils his third Top 10 win and what would have been the biggest victory of his career by ranking. “Then the question is, does he stay there for 10 years or he just comes there and drops out? We never know, but he has big potential and hopefully he can realise it.”

After defeating the 19-year-old Fils, Medvedev will next meet 32-year-old Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. The Bulgarian entered Vienna after a run to the Shanghai semi-finals in his last event.

“I don’t expect myself to do well on any tennis trivia when we are taking it back before I played!” Taylor Fritz joked in the latest edition of ATP Uncovered’s Test The Tour series. The American was one of five ATP Tour stars to be quizzed on their Nitto ATP Finals knowledge.

Former champions Andy Murray, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev were also among the panel.

“I know nothing about it!” Medvedev joked. But would the World No. 3 surprise himself as he was asked who the youngest champion in event history is, which country has the most Nitto ATP Finals titlists and more?

“I remember it! I’m kidding, I wasn’t even born then,” Tsitsipas said, while cracking a smile.

Watch the full video below to find out which of Fritz, Medvedev, Murray, Casper Ruud and Tsitsipas answered the most questions correctly.

Since reaching the US Open quarter-finals, Taylor Fritz went 2-2 on the Asian swing before heading to Europe for the Swiss Indoors Basel. On Wednesday, the American survived a stern opening test from Max Purcell to continue his chase for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals.

Sitting ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Fritz’s bid to leapfrog Holger Rune for the crucial eighth position received a timely boost with his gritty 7-6(6), 7-6(4) win at the ATP 500.

“As far as where I’m at in the Race, I think I’m in a good spot,” Fritz said post-match. “I have a pretty decent chance if I can come up with a big result one of these next two weeks [in Basel or Paris].”

Fritz marches 🔛

The American with a 7-6 (7) 7-6(4) win over Purcell #SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/hS5zLEFigs

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 25, 2023

The American trailed Purcell 1/5 in the opening tie-break and saved two set points before he snatched the set with a three-point surge. He twice surrendered a break lead in set two, including an unsuccessful attempt to serve out the match at 5-4, but recovered to close out the second tie-break on his third set point.

“I was lucky to win the first set. I played some really big points really well in important moments in the tie-break,” Fritz said. “I came up pretty clutch in the first set to take it. The second set I was serving well, I was returning better, and I just kind of got in my own way and made it pretty complicated. But I was lucky to refocus and play a good tie-break.”

Fritz, who turns 27 on Saturday, improved to 22-2 in opening rounds this season with the result, including a perfect 14-0 mark on hard courts. He was out-aced 13 to 12 by Purcell, but the Aussie was made to pay for his six doubles faults, including several at crucial moments late in the second set.

Next up for Fritz is qualifier Alexander Shevchenko.

Casper Ruud also made a successful start in Basel with a 7-6(5), 6-2 win against Alexander Bublik, who lifted the Antwerp title on Sunday. Ruud is in 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and, like Fritz, is in search of a late charge to return to the Nitto ATP Finals. Fritz reached the semi-finals last year at the season finale, while Ruud enjoyed a run to the championship match.

Ruud’s win against Bublik improved him to 6-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head. The Kazakhstani is the first opponent against whom he has recorded six victories (Ruud is 5-1 against Rune and 5-0 against Roberto Carballes Baena.).

In a dramatic opening set, both Ruud and Bublik fought off three break points in their final service game before the tie-break, which the Norwegian clinched on his third set point. Bublik responded by taking a 2-0 lead in set two — despite a brilliant tweener lob from his opponent to start the set — but Ruud raced through the finish by winning six straight games.

Not everything has gone the way Cameron Norrie might like in terms of results during the 2023 ATP Tour season. Yet all players, even the very best in the world, go through tough stretches, and the Briton is not one to let a few lean months stop him believing in his own ability.

“I started the year winning [lots of] close matches, and that’s kind of how tennis goes,” Norrie, who is 36-23 for the year, told ATP Tennis Radio on Saturday at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. “You win or lose close ones all at once, and I think it just becomes automatic. I’ve had a couple of tough losses recently, but I think that’s tennis and that’s just how you can learn from it and respond from it.”

Even if things don’t always go to plan on the court, the lifestyle and friendships Norrie enjoys on the tennis merry-go-round are more than enough to keep him positive day-to-day. The World No. 18 believes that those constants are the foundation for him to rediscover his best form.

“Luckily I have a really good team around me to push,” said Norrie, who arrived in Vienna having gone 1-6 since the US Open. “For me, I’m really still really enjoying the Tour, enjoying the travel, and going to new places still. It’s definitely been an interesting year, but I need to stay patient.”

Norrie applies his calm approach to practice as much as he does matches. The five-time ATP Tour champion believes it helps him stay positive even when he is struggling to close out wins.

“The big question is to build confidence and I think there are two ways, either on the match court or on the practice court,” said Norrie. “If you’re working as hard as you can on the practice court, trying to bring as much quality as you can, not really being too tough on yourself in the practice and really trying to stay fresh for the matches, I think that’s one way.

“Then obviously going out in the matches and the tough moments and going out and playing to win. I think a couple of times recently I was playing for the other guy to miss in the bigger moments. That was the difference, especially playing with some of the best guys in the world. The margins are so small, and I think the smallest difference can sometimes be a big difference.”

Norrie made a red-hot start to the season, and in mid-March was the owner of a 21-3 record. His highlights in those early months included beating Alex de Minaur, Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz at the United Cup, championship-match runs in Auckland and Buenos Aires, and defeating Carlos Alcaraz to claim his maiden ATP 500 crown in Rio de Janeiro.

Although he has struggled to match those highs since then, the 28-year-old Norrie fought hard on Monday to hold off home wild card Filip Misolic in Vienna and now faces a second-round test against the fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev. The German is the sort of top-quality player that Norrie relishes facing.

“I know I have the level,” said Norrie, who will be chasing his 11th victory against a Top 10 opponent, and his fifth of this year, on Wednesday night against Zverev. “I know I’ve got it in me to play with some of the best guys in the world and [I’ve had] some big results already.

“I think it’s how I can implement my game and play my tennis in the bigger moments. I think recently I haven’t done that. I think there’s obviously a lot of new younger players coming up. They’re playing well, they’re playing fearlessly, and that’s something to learn from those boys… I know how to play, and I just need to compete as hard as I can. I think I’m one of the best competitors in the world when I’m at my highest, so knowing I’ve got that in my back pocket is always nice.”