#NextGenATP star Alex de Minaur carries plenty of momentum into the inaugural Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships having won his second ATP Tour title at the BB&T Atlanta Open and earned his first Top 10 win at the US Open, where he reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

But that wasn’t why the 20-year-old cracked a wide smile at Saturday’s draw ceremony. De Minaur found out he will be playing friend and countryman John Millman for the first time in their opening match at Zhuhai.

It’s an important week for 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier De Minaur, as he continues his push for a spot at the 21-and-under season finale for the second consecutive year. The Aussie is currently in third place in the ATP Race To Milan with 1,170 points. If he advances, the seventh seed could face former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the second round.

Murray will try to avenge a defeat from the Winston-Salem Open against Tennys Sandgren in his opener. In August, the American battled through a 75-minute first set to eventually claim a 7-6(8), 7-5 victory against the 45-time tour-level titlist.

Murray is seeking the first tour-level singles win of his comeback from hip surgery. The Scot won two matches at an ATP Challenger Tour event last month, and he also won the Fever-Tree Championships doubles crown alongside Feliciano Lopez in his return event in June.

Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas is the top seed at this ATP 250 event, where four of the Top 15 players in the ATP Rankings are competing. The three-time ATP Tour titlist, who has a first-round bye, will play Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or Chinese wild card Ze Zhang in the second round. Third seed Gael Monfils and fifth seed Lucas Pouille are on his half of the draw.

Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who is pushing for his first berth at the Nitto ATP Finals, will play American Steve Johnson or countryman Pablo Andujar in the second round. Aussie Nick Kyrgios, the sixth seed, looms in his quarter.

Fourth-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille reached his first tour-level semi-final in eight months at the Moselle Open in Metz, rallying from a set and a break down on Friday to defeat Serbian Filip Krajinovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Krajinovic broke at 3-3 in the second set and appeared poised for victory, but Pouille responded by breaking back in the next game. The Frenchman rifled a backhand winner on set point and motioned for the Court Central crowd to get out of their seats. Pouille went on a four-game run at 1-1 in the final set before cracking a forehand passing shot to wrap up the win in exactly two hours. He remains unbeaten (3-0) in their FedEx ATPHead2Head series.

Pouille struggled after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at this year’s Australian Open, but has shown improved form in recent weeks. He advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in two years at the Western & Southern Open in Augustt and has won seven of his past nine matches.

Next up for Pouille is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who advanced when second-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili retired due to a right shoulder injury with the Frenchman leading 5-7, 6-3, 4-1. Pouille and Tsonga are tied 2-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, but the Frenchman has won their past two matches.

Basilashvili saved two set points at 4-5 in the opening set, but Tsonga responded with a break at 1-0 in the second set and rode the slight advantage to level the match. After dropping four consecutive games in the decider, Basilashvili took a medical timeout before conceding defeat.

Tsonga continues to thrive on home soil. He prevailed this February in Montpellier (d. Herbert) and is a three-time champion in Metz (2011-12, 2015), with nine of his ATP Tour singles titles coming in France.

Roger Federer/Alexander Zverev doubled their pleasure on Friday at the Laver Cup in Geneva, saving six set points in a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Denis Shapovalov/Jack Sock to give Team Europe a 3-1 lead over Team World after Day 1.

“It was a great atmosphere. There’s nothing like playing at home. Sascha carried me in the second set and it was great fun out there,” Federer said. “My back has recovered (since the US Open) and I’m ready to go for more tomorrow.”

Federer improved to 6-2 in Laver Cup play and Zverev is now 5-1. Sock dropped to 6-4 and Shapovalov seeks his first win at this event (0-3).

“I had two great coaches, one on the court and one (Rafael Nadal) on the sidelines,” Zverev said. “I could just shut off my brain and do whatever they told me to do.”

Federer/Zverev delighted the crowd at Palexpo by breaking Shapovalov for a 3-1 lead in the opening set and rode that momentum to an early advantage. A strong return from Zverev led to an immediate break of Sock’s serve in the opening game of the second set.

Shapovalov/Sock struggled on break points and missed their first nine opportunities, but Shapovalov made good on their 10th chance by ripping a backhand return to break Federer and level the set at 4-4. But with Zverev serving at 4-5, the Canadian-American pair were unable to convert on six set points.

A costly double fault from Shapovalov at 5-5 handed a critical break to Federer/Zverev. The Swiss took advantage of the opportunity and served out the match after 97 minutes, marking the longest doubles match in Laver Cup history.

In the first match of the night session, #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas made his Laver Cup debut a memorable one by overcoming an equipment malfunction and a determined Taylor Fritz to prevail 6-2, 1-6, 10-7. Tsitsipas’ shoelace broke at 2/2 in the Match Tie-break, but the 21-year-old made the surprising decision to continue playing.

”I didn’t want to stop the match. That was quite tough because I was scared I was going to lose my shoe during the point,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “The momentum changed in the tie-break. I found my rhythm again and had a clear mind on the court.”

Tsitsipas raced to a 5/2 lead in the Match Tie-break, but Fritz responded with a series of aggressive forehand runs to go on a four-point run. The American hit his first double fault of the match at 7/7 and Tsitsipas, No. 7 in the ATP Rankings, fired two big serves to give Team Europe a 2-1 lead.

The day session saw Dominic Thiem save three match points to defeat Denis Shapovalov and give Team Europe their first point, but Jack Sock responded for Team World by beating Fabio Fognini for his first singles win of the season.

Read More: Sock Draws Team World Level

Daniil Medvedev showed no signs of slowing down on Friday as he made his fifth consecutive tour-level semi-final at the St. Petersburg Open. The 23-year-old Russian hit 12 aces and won 70 per cent of his second-serve return points to beat fifth-seeded countryman Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-5.

The top-seeded Medvedev improved to 2-0 against Rublev after also beating him in Cincinnati en route to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title. Medvedev won 20 of his 23 matches during the during the North American hard-court swing and made four consecutive finals in Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open.

He will try to reach a fifth consecutive title match on Saturday when he meets qualifier Egor Gerasimov of Belarus at the ATP 250. The 26-year-old upset US Open semi-finalist and Nitto ATP Finals hopeful Matteo Berrettini of Italy 7-6(5), 7-6(3) to make his first ATP Tour semi-final.

The win against No. 13 Berrettini is Gerasimov’s best by ATP Ranking, and the World No. 119, a career-high for Gerasimov, improved to 7-4 at tour-level this season.

Berrettini is currently in ninth place in the ATP Race To London. The top eight in the Race will compete at the season-ending championships, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London.

Robert Lindstedt and Jan-Lennard Struff scored their second upset of the week at the Moselle Open in Metz, advancing to the doubles final on Friday with a 6-4, 7-6(2) victory over fourth seeds Santiago Gonzalez/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

The unseeded pair only lost five points on serve in the second set (28/33) en route to prevailing in one hour and 26 minutes. Lindstedt seeks his first ATP Tour doubles title of the season, while Struff started his year with a title in Auckland alongside Ben McLachlan (d. Klaasen/Venus).

Awaiting Lindstedt/Struff in the championship match are top seeds Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin or Sander Arends/David Pel.

Third seed Benoit Paire continued his outstanding season on Friday at the Moselle Open in Metz, marching into his fourth ATP Tour semi-final of the year with a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over fellow Frenchman Gregoire Barrere.

The veteran showed impressive resilience on Court Central. He fought back from a 1-4 deficit in the opening set and also rallied from being down a mini-break in the first-set tie-break. The 30-year-old scored the lone break of the second set in the final game to advance in 79 minutes.

Paire has lifted titles this year in Marrakech (d. Andujar) and Lyon (d. Auger-Aliassime), in addition to finishing runner-up in Winston-Salem (l. to Hurkacz). He now looks to reach his second Metz final, having finished runner-up in 2017 (l. to Gojowczyk).

Awaiting him on Saturday is Slovenian Aljaz Bedene, who reached his first ATP Tour hard-court semi-final since 2016 Chennai by defeating Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 7-5. Bedene scored the lone break in each set and didn’t drop serve, winning 93 per cent (38/41) of his first-serve points.

The 30-year-old Bedene is 2-4 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Paire, but defeated him last month in a fifth-set tie-break at the US Open.

Following in the footsteps of Prague and Chicago, Team Europe and Team World wasted no time bringing the drama to Geneva in the opening session of this year’s Laver Cup.

Jack Sock became the first player from Team World to win an opening day Laver Cup singles match on Friday, defeating Fabio Fognini 6-1, 7-6(3) in front of a packed crowd at Palexpo. The American, who missed six months of the season with a broken thumb, saved all six break points he faced to claim his first singles victory of 2019 and draw his side level with Team Europe at 1-1.

“I’m sure everyone here is surprised I won a singles match. It has been a while,” said Sock. “I had thumb surgery in February and I was out for six months with it. There have been few tournaments and few matches this year, but for some reason the Laver Cup seems to bring the best out of everyone here.”

Sock needed just 89 minutes to earn his sixth win in nine Laver Cup encounters. The 26-year-old, who owns a combined 18 tour-level trophies in singles and doubles, fired 10 forehand winners and won 11 of 18 net points in an attacking display against the reigning Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters titlist. After a clinical serving performance in the second set, Sock claimed victory on his first match point at 6/3 in the tie-break as Fognini failed to control his service return.

“I came out with a lot of energy, stuck to my game,” said Sock. “I’ve played great singles before, so I know it is in me. It is an amazing feeling to bring it out for these guys today, not just myself.”

The 2017 Rolex Paris Masters champion will return to court in the final match of the opening day. Following Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz’s singles clash, Sock and Denis Shapovalov will take on Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev in the first doubles match of the tournament.

Sock’s victory was a much-needed boost for Team World following Dominic Thiem’s dramatic Match Tie-break victory against Shapovalov in the opening match of the tournament. Thiem saved three match points to overcome the Canadian 6-4, 5-7, 13-11 and improve to 2-0 in the team event.

In Thiem’s only previous Laver Cup match, the Austrian also needed a Match Tie-break to defeat John Isner in Prague.

“It’s a really special thing with the tie-break in the third,” said Thiem. “It creates lots of close moments and match points on either side. It’s also a little bit of luck at the end.”

Thiem started the contest in fine form, dropping just two points behind his first serve (16/18) and claiming nine of 13 points behind his second serve return to take a one-set lead after 35 minutes. But Shapovalov responded well, moving up the court in the second set to impose his game on the BNP Paribas Open champion and force a Match Tie-break.

Shapovalov rallied from 5/7 down to earn two match points at 9/7, but it was Thiem who played the pressure points with the greater conviction. The World No. 5 stepped inside the court to navigate his way out of trouble, attacking short balls before saving a third match point at 10/11. On his second match point, Thiem sealed the win as Shapovalov fired a cross-court forehand into the net.

Throughout the match, both players were well supported by their teammates at the side of the court. After claiming victory, Thiem acknowledged fellow Team Europe members for their support and helpful advice in crucial moments.

“I guess there is some tennis knowledge behind my bench,” said Thiem. “It is a great honour to be with them, to receive hints from them [about] how I can do better in the match.”

#NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas made his Laver Cup debut a memorable one by overcoming an equipment malfunction and a determined Taylor Fritz to prevail 6-2, 1-6, 10-7. Tsitsipas’ shoelace broke at 2/2 in the Match Tie-break, but the 21-year-old made the surprising decision to continue playing for the remainder of the game.

”I didn’t want to stop the match. That was quite tough because I was scared I was going to lose my shoe during the point,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “The momentum changed in the third-set tie-break. I found my rhythm again and had a clear mind on the court.”

Tsitsipas raced to a 5/2 lead in the Match Tie-break, but Fritz responded with a series of aggressive forehand runs to go on a four-point run. The American hit his first double fault of the match at 7/7 and Tsitsipas, No. 7 in the ATP Rankings, fired two big serves to give Team Europe a 2-1 lead.

Did You Know?
The Laver Cup will leave a legacy in Geneva, with the donation of 100,000 CHF contributing to the development of a new rehabilitation facility for children.

Fourth-seeded Croatian Borna Coric booked a place in his third ATP Tour semi-final of the year on Friday with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory against eighth seed Casper Ruud of Norway.

Prior to this week, the 22-year-old Coric had not won consecutive matches since June. But he broke three times and improved to 25-15 on the year. Coric also reached the last four at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (l. to Federer) in February and at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Mannarino) in June.

“I didn’t start very well. I thought he was playing much better than me,” Coric said. “But then I started to play much better, also much more aggressive, and I think in the end, that paid off.”

Ruud, despite falling short of his first Top 30 win (0-12), bolstered his chances of qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 5-9 November in Milan, by making his first non-clay ATP Tour quarter-final of the season. Ruud is currently in sixth place in the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players at the 21-and-under event.

Coric will next play Joao Sousa of Portugal, who beat sixth seed and 2010 champion Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(8), 6-2. Sousa saved all four break points to make his second ATP Tour semi-final of the season (Gstaad). In their only FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, Coric beat Sousa in three sets in June at the grass-court NOVENTI OPEN in Halle.

“Today was another great day for me. I was able to play good tennis. I’m working very well with my slice. I was able to connect and to be comfortable with this shot, ” Sousa said.