#NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud picked up his first win at an indoor ATP Tour event on Wednesday at the St. Petersburg Open. The eighth seed held off a stern challenge from Kazakh Alexander Bublik to advance 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2.

“Sascha is a good friend among the other guys on Tour. He hits a lot of fast serves and big shots, so I just tried to be ready for that,” Ruud said. “You have to take it match by match because it’s a very strong competition here, but I’ll try to win every match I play.”

Ruud raced through the last five games of the match to advance in two hours and two minutes. Awaiting him in the second round is Salvatore Caruso, who prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an all-Italian battle with Thomas Fabbiano.

Portuguese Joao Sousa didn’t drop serve in a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over Slovakian Jozef Kovalik, setting him up for a second-round clash with second-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov. Hungarian Marton Fucsovics rallied from 1-5 in the opening set and saved five set points en route to a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Russian qualifier Alexey Vatutin. Next up for Fucsovics is fourth-seeded Croatian Borna Coric, who won their lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting this year at the Australian Open.

In a battle of former St. Petersburg champions, 2010 winner and sixth seed Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan defeated 2017 champion Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 7-6(2), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals. The other second-round match on Wednesday saw Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov score the upset of the day against seventh-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-1. The 26-year-old’s most recent ATP Tour quarter-final also came on Russian soil last October in Moscow.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are teaming up again at the 2019 Laver Cup, which starts Friday in Geneva. And Nadal can’t wait to get started.

“He couldn’t be more pumped up for this event,” Federer said on Wednesday. “He just won the US Open. It would have been so easy for him to say, ‘Look, I need a break.’ But he said, ‘No, my break’s coming afterwards. I push it all aside, and I’m doing this because I really believe in the concept of the Laver Cup. And I believe in you guys.’”

The players were welcomed and made a public appearance on the balcony of the Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the third edition of the Laver Cup, which pits the best of Team Europe against the best of Team World.

“It’s been energetic, it’s been thrilling, it’s been exciting. The two teams have finally clashed and seen each other. We are all ready to go,” Federer said.

He and Nadal combined forces for Team Europe during the inaugural Laver Cup, in Prague in 2017. The two all-time greats played doubles together, beating Team World members Sam Querrey and Jack Sock 6-4, 1-6, 10-5.

Expect Federer/Nadal to take the court together again as the two practised doubles together on Wednesday against teammates Alexander Zverev and Fabio Fognini. The team competition gets underway on Friday.

This is what the ATP Challenger Tour is all about. On Sunday, in front of thousands of passionate fans at the Real Club de Tenis Betis, native son Alejandro Davidovich Fokina celebrated his maiden title in Sevilla.

The local Sevillanos filled the club, with a capacity crowd on hand to watch the 20-year-old battle countryman Jaume Munar. And with 400 more on line outside, in search of a coveted seat inside the historic venue, the atmosphere was electric and the drama palpable.

2019 #NextGenATP First-Time Spotlights: Ymer | Sinner | Ruusuvuori

The oldest tournament in Spain celebrated its 29th edition, welcoming a third #NextGenATP champion in the past four years. Casper Ruud (2016) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (2017) would go on to crack the Top 100 and beyond, a milestone that is now well within reach for Davidovich Fokina. The Malaga native is up to a career-high No. 108 in the ATP Rankings and moves to 12th in the ATP Race To Milan.

Davidovich Fokina has been on fire in September, halting a 1-6 mid-summer stretch with an impressive 12-2 run that also included a semi-final finish in Mallorca and final run in Genova. The 20-year-old continues to build off his breakthrough moment from earlier in the year, when he stormed to the semi-finals at the ATP Tour stop in Estoril as a qualifier. There, he upset World No. 18 Gael Monfils to reach the last four.

The Spaniard spoke to ATPChallengerTour.com following his maiden triumph in Sevilla…

Alejandro, congrats on winning your first Challenger title. How does it feel to lift the trophy?
I have been supported all this week by my family, by the team and by my friends. I am very happy to raise this title in front of them. I think it is well deserved, since last week I lost in the final, but this time I could get it.

The final against Munar was very close. Did you feel nervous today?
Yes, with Jaume there are always those nerves because I know he is a very consistent player. He doesn’t miss any shots. I started a little more nervous, but in the second set I was more explosive and aggressive. I have relied much more on myself and I also wanted to not lose a fourth final.

Recent #NextGenATP Spanish Champions

Winning your first Challenger title is not easy. What do you think were the keys during the week?
I have been for three weeks at a very good level. I looked to win the tournament from the beginning. In every game, at every point I went to the maximum. In addition, the confidence I brought from the previous matches carried into the final.

As you say, you had three finals in which you didn’t get the trophy. What did you learn from those experiences?
There were many emotions and I had a lot of pressure. But I prepared for this match very well with my coach Jorge [Aguirre] and I think I solved it very well. We knew there would be a lot of emotion, because we played in Andalusia, very close to home in Sevilla. And also the public would be on my side, which was very important.

You defeated two strong players – Salvatore Caruso and Jaume Munar – in the semis and final. How much confidence do those victories and this trophy give you?
First of all, I’d say not to lose your mind with these victories, because on Wednesday I will start competing in another Challenger. So I’m going to celebrate with my family, I’m going to enjoy my first victory and tomorrow it’s time to go back to work.

To win your first #ATPChallenger title is a big deal.

This is how much it means to @alexdavidovich1, champion in Sevilla. ??? pic.twitter.com/xijUOYNbU3

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 15, 2019

It has not been an easy summer for you. How did you prepare yourself to put aside those struggles and have such a successful month?
After Estoril, I did not have it very easy. There were matches that I should not have lost, where I was playing very poorly. In tennis there are always streaks and I know there will be ups and downs. The goal was to move on, never give up.

What have you enjoyed most of your time in Sevilla? It is such a historic tournament and very close to home for you.
Of course not the heat! (Laughs). The people here supported me a lot and the atmosphere is spectacular. Being able to play in Andalusia gives my whole family and my friends the opportunity to come. It is a plus to play in front of them all.

For those of us who don’t know much about you, what do you enjoy doing off the court?
I am a very hyperactive guy, who likes to do many things away from the court. I am very simple, very sociable. In the end, I am from Malaga. I grew up there and I my attitude is like the people there. I just like to have fun with friends and enjoy life.

The ATP today announced that the 2020 grass-court swing in the lead-up to The Championships at Wimbledon, will feature a new ATP 250 tournament in Mallorca, replacing the event previously held in Antalya, Turkey, from 2017-2019.

The Mallorca Championships, offering €900,000 in prize money, will be held at Santa Ponca from 20-27 June 2020, in partnership between the AELTC and e|motion sports.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said: “Spain remains a key market for the ATP Tour and we are delighted to see the return of an ATP 250 tournament to Mallorca. The Spanish island has contributed so highly to the history of tennis, notably producing two ATP World No. 1 players, Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal.

“Bringing a grass court tournament to Spain is an exciting development in the ATP Tour calendar, and we’d like to thank the AELTC [All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club] for their continued investment in the grass court season. The ATP has a longstanding relationship with e|motion, as ATP event owners in Vienna and event Promoters in Stuttgart, and we are pleased to expand our association with them and the AELTC through this new venture in Mallorca. We have no doubt the event will be a success from the outset.”

Event organisers, elmotion sports, also run the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, which switched surfaces from clay to grass courts in 2015, the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, and a WTA event in Berlin.

Edwin Weindorfer, CEO e|motion sports, said: “By organising three tournaments in as many weeks we are facing a big challenge, which we gladly accept. We will continually develop the tournament in Mallorca in the coming years and Santa Ponca is the perfect setting for that. I want to thank Wimbledon for their great support of our tennis commitment in Mallorca and also thank Toni Nadal, who has done great work as tournament director for the women’s tournament. A position he will also assume for the men’s tournament.”

It will be the first time that an ATP Tour tournament has been contested in Mallorca since 2002. Spain currently hosts two clay-court events, the Mutua Madrid Open (ATP Masters 1000) in May and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (ATP 500) in April.

Toni Nadal, Tournament Director of the Mallorca Championships, said, “I am very proud, that there will be an ATP tournament in Mallorca after so many years again. We expect to offer the fans a strong line-up in the final week before Wimbledon. After four successful women’s tournaments we are now starting a new, exciting tennis era in Mallorca with this men’s event.”

Philip Brook CBE, All England Lawn Tennis Club Chairman, commented: “The AELTC is pleased to continue the work it began several years ago with e|motion sports in Mallorca as they take on the new ATP 250-level tournament sanction. A strong and successful grass court season is absolutely critical to the future of grass court tennis and thus the future success of The Championships. Having worked to expand the grass court season to create a meaningful gap between Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, we are pleased to be making significant further investments into ensuring that quality grass court tournaments can be provided at all levels of the game with the best interests of the players and the broader tennis family in mind.”

To view the updated 2020 ATP Tour calendar, click here.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer headline the third edition of the Laver Cup, to be held 20-22 September in Geneva, Switzerland. The Laver Cup field includes three other Top 10 players — Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas — who will join Nadal and Federer on Team Europe. John Isner, Milos Raonic and Nick Kyrgios lead the charge for Team World

The teams will be welcomed in Geneva on Wednesday, at a public appearance on the balcony of the Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, at 12:00pm.

Team Europe won the inaugural tournament in Prague, 15-9, with Federer prevailing 4-6, 7-6(6), 11-9 over Kyrgios to prevent Team World from forcing a decisive, winner-take-all doubles set. Last year in Chicago, after Isner and Jack Sock put Team World up 8-7 to start Day 3, Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev rallied for wins in their singles matches to clinch the victory for Team Europe.

Here’s what you need to know about the Laver Cup: what is the schedule, where to watch, who is playing and more.

Established: 2017

Tournament Dates: 20-22 September 2019

Who Is Playing
Team Europe: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Fabio Fognini, Roberto Bautista Agut (alternate)
Team World: John Isner, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov, Jack Sock, Taylor Fritz, Jordan Thompson (alternate)

Schedule (View On Official Website)
Friday, September 20: 1pm Match 1 (singles) followed by Match 2 (singles)
Friday, September 20: 7pm, Match 3 (singles) followed by Match 4 (doubles)
Saturday, September 21: 1pm, Match 5 (singles) followed by Match 6 (singles)
Saturday, September 21: 7pm, Match 7 (singles) followed by Match 8 (doubles)
Sunday, September 22: 12pm, Match 9 (doubles) followed by Match 10 (singles), Match 11 (singles), Match 12 (singles). If points are even, then there will be a one-set doubles decider.

How To Watch
TV Schedule

Venue: Palexpo
Surface: Indoor Hard

Scoring
Both singles and doubles are best-of-three sets with ad scoring. The third set is a 10-point Match Tie-break.

Points
Each match win will be worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday. If points are tied at 12-all on Day 3, a doubles set with ad-scoring and a tie-break will decide the Laver Cup champion. The winning team must reach 13 points.

Players
Each player will play at least one singles match during the first two days. No player will play singles more than twice during the three days. At least four of the six players must play doubles. No doubles combination can be played more than once, unless for the Decider on Day 3, if points are 12-all. Match-ups will be determined prior to the first match each day through the exchange of lineup cards by the captains.

2018 Laver Cup
Team Europe d Team World 13-8
Clinching result: Match 11 – Alexander Zverev d Kevin Anderson 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-7

Social
Hashtag: #LaverCup
Instagram: @lavercup
Twitter: @LaverCup

Andrey Rublev was forced to work hard for his place in the St. Petersburg Open second round on Tuesday, recovering from a set down to defeat Ilya Ivashka 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Appearing for the first time since reaching the US Open fourth round, the fifth seed claimed three straight games from 3-4 down in the third set to improve to 23-14 at tour-level this year. After avoiding a third first-round defeat in four appearances at the ATP 250 tournament, Rublev moves on to face Ricardas Berankis for a place in the last eight.

Berankis claimed 81 per cent of first-serve points (22/27) to defeat Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-0 in 62 minutes. It will be his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Rublev, who defeated Roger Federer in Cincinnati and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Flushing Meadows.

St. Petersburg debutant Roberto Carballes Baena defeated 2012 champion Martin Klizan 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the second round. The 26-year-old became only the second player to defeat Klizan in 11 matches in St. Petersburg after 89 minutes, converting five of eight break points en route to victory. Carballes Baena will face US Open semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Evgeny Donskoy will face top seed and fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev in the second round. The 29-year-old wild card cruised past lucky loser Matteo Viola of Italy 6-2, 6-1. Egor Gerasimov also advanced, beating fellow qualifier Lukas Rosol 7-5, 6-2 to book a meeting with seventh seed Adrian Mannarino.

Daniil Medvedev’s recent run on the outdoor hard courts of North America has catapulted the 23-year-old to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP Rankings and earned the Russian a maiden spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

But before claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Cincinnati, Medvedev’s two most recent tour-level trophies had been lifted on indoor hard courts, proving that the US Open finalist can be just as dangerous with a roof above his towering 6’6” frame.

Eleven months ago, the Moscow-born star lifted his maiden ATP 500 title indoors at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Medvedev dropped one set in seven matches from qualifying in the Japanese capital — defeating three Top 20 players — including two-time titlist and home favourite Kei Nishikori in the final.

The five-time tour-level titlist, who has already lifted indoor silverware this year at the Sofia Open in February, owns a Tour-leading 22 victories over the past 52 weeks on the surface according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. The Russian will be hoping to add to that tally at the St. Petersburg Open, where he will be competing for the first time since reaching his first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

Most Indoor Victories Over Past 52 Weeks

With ATP 250 indoor hard-court events in St. Petersburg and Metz this week and a further seven indoor events through the Rolex Paris Masters, the ability to earn victories indoors could prove crucial in the ATP Race To London.

In fact, the three players who own the best winning percentages indoors over the past 52 weeks (after 10 or more matches) are all in contention for a spot at the elite eight-man event at The O2 in London.

Best Indoor Win Percentage Over Past 52 Weeks (Played 10+ matches)

With a 14-3 record over the past 52 weeks, Gael Monfils owns the best indoor winning percentage according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. The Frenchman has lifted five of his eight ATP Tour titles indoors, including his most recent crown at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in February. Monfils currently occupies 12th position in the ATP Race To London after reaching the quarter-finals at the US Open.

Monfils is closely followed by Alexander Zverev, who currently sits at 10th place in the ATP Race To London. The 22-year-old has not played indoors since stunning Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in back-to-back matches to lift the Nitto ATP Finals trophy last November.

In third and fourth place are the Russian duo of Karen Khachanov and Medvedev. Both players will be aiming to improve their winning percentages in front of home fans at the St. Petersburg Open this week, with 19th-placed Khachanov eager to make up ground on his rivals in the ATP Race To London. As the top two seeds at the event — with a combined four indoor trophies over the past 52 weeks — the pairing will try to set the first all-Russian final in the tournament’s history.

French men have won eight of the past 10 Moselle Open titles. And on Tuesday, home favourites made a good start towards improving that.

Former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet was under plenty of pressure from Marcel Granollers in the first round of this ATP 250 tennis tournament, but the Frenchman rallied to defeat the Spaniard 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. The 33-year-old, who made the final in Metz in 2004 when he was 18, triumphed after two hours and 35 minutes.

Gasquet has won five of his 15 ATP Tour crowns in France. And the World No. 41 arrived to this event with momentum after making the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The only break of the decider came at 3-3. Granollers stood on the baseline, aggressively trying to move Gasquet around. But the Spaniard’s approach shot allowed too much time, as Gasquet flicked a backhand passing shot down the line for a clean winner. Two service holds later, Gasquet moved through to face third seed Benoit Paire, who has lifted two of his three ATP Tour trophies this year.

Wild card Gregoire Barrere caused the upset of the day, cruising past sixth seed and 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-2. The Frenchman saved all five break points he faced in his 60-minute victory.

Barrere, who is at a career-high No. 98 in the ATP Rankings, has earned all five of his tour-level wins in 2019. The 25-year-old will next face countryman Antoine Hoang, who advanced on Monday.

Another Frenchman, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, withstood 14 aces to defeat German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(3), 6-4. Herbert struck eight aces of his own and won 81 per cent of his first-serve points to set a second-round clash against compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who rallied past Spaniard Pablo Andujar 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 after one hour and 53 minutes.

The former World No. 5, who emerged victorious in Montpellier earlier this year, blasted 10 aces and saved four of the six break points he faced. Tsonga has won this title three times, most recently in 2015.

The only player who defeated a Frenchman Tuesday was Slovenian Aljaz Bedene, who ousted 19-year-old wild card Rayane Roumane 6-4, 6-4 after one hour and 15 minutes.

Earlier this month, Matteo Berrettini made his major breakthrough at the US Open, becoming just the second Italian man to reach the last four in New York after Corrado Barazzutti in 1977.

The 23-year-old’s run that was ended by eventual champion Rafael Nadal, earned Berrettini a career-high No. 13 ATP Ranking and was the latest success in an impressive 2019 campaign. The Rome-born star advanced to three ATP Tour championship matches in the opening six months of the season, lifting titles in Budapest (d. Krajinovic) and Stuttgart (d. Auger-Aliassime) alongside a runner-up finish in Munich (l. to Garin).

But the confidence to achieve those results came from a breakthrough week at last year’s J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad. Just 14 months ago, Berrettini entered the clay-court ATP 250 event aiming to reach his first tour-level quarter-final with no doubles victories on the ATP Tour to his name.

Ranked No. 84 in the ATP Rankings, Berrettini arrived without his coach, who had taken a vacation week. But that didn’t stop the Italian from producing his best tennis, defeating three consecutive seeded players to take the singles trophy, before adding the doubles title to his collection later in the day.

“[Gstaad was an] unbelievable week. I won singles and doubles there and I had never won an ATP Tour doubles match, so it was all in a rush,” said Berrettini. “I will never forget that week. I was really enjoying it. Of course, I liked the city and the crowd. A lot of Italians came to watch the matches, so it was really fun.

“I enjoyed playing there. I liked the conditions, altitude and the clay courts. It was an unbelievable week. I look back and I smile a lot.”

It took some time for Berrettini to process what he had achieved during his week at the ATP 250 event. But the Italian’s success in the south west of Switzerland proved the springboard to a stellar 2019 season on the ATP Tour. Berrettini has already compiled a 34-16 tour-level record this season, eclipsing last year’s personal-best 19-19 mark.

“It was an unbelievable feeling [to win the title]. My family were watching the match and all my friends, my coach from Italy,” said Berrettini. “I was just really enjoying the moment and then, after a few weeks, I realised what I did.

“That week I really realised that I had the level to play against the best guys in the world. That is, for sure, an important thing to a young guy that is growing up.”

As the 6’5″ right-hander prepares to return to action at the St. Petersburg Open, ranked 49 positions higher than his 2018 debut appearance at the Russian event, Berrettini is thankful for the support of his family as he continues to climb the ATP Rankings.

“My family never pushed me, but they put the racquet in my hands,” said Berrettini. “They always helped me a lot during these years. I have to say thanks to them.”

Arriving in Russia in ninth position in the 2019 ATP Race To London, Berrettini has the confidence and added motivation needed for a successful week in St. Petersburg. Having learned many lessons since his 2018 success in the Swiss alps, can the Italian make another move in his rapid climb to the top of the game this week?