Lucas Pouille has experienced incredible highs and difficult lows this season, but the Frenchman is on another upward swing by reaching the quarter-finals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

His three-set win over Karen Khachanov on Thursday marked his first Top 10 win in nearly three years. The Frenchman’s serve and backhand became more potent as the match wore on, enabling him to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since the 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

“I haven’t played very well in a Masters 1000 for awhile,” said Pouille. “I’m happy to have the chance to play Novak. I’m feeling very well, trying to focus on my game and going step by step.”

See where to watch the Western & Southern Open 

Pouille’s year started out with his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, but wins have been rare since then. He arrived in Cincinnati with a 7-13 record since his magical run in Melbourne and just one other ATP Tour quarter-final to his name.

But even during his rough stretch, Pouille still recorded high-profile wins over Daniil Medvedev and Borna Coric. He credited his coach, former WTA World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, with helping him through challenging weeks and maintaining belief that his flashy game would click for multiple matches in a row again.

“She has the experience and knows how to deal with it,’ he explained. “It’s never easy when you lose some matches in a row, but you just have to keep working hard and keep believing, keep going on the court being sure that one day it will pay off. Even if I lose tomorrow or win tomorrow, you have to go back and practise the next day. Hard work always pays off.”

The hard work is indeed paying off for Pouille, who now faces top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic. When they met this year in the Australian Open semi-finals, Pouille only managed four games. But when they step on Stadium Court, the memories of Melbourne will be erased and Pouille will have belief that he can pull off the upset.

“My part of the draw is not open,” said Pouille, cracking a smile. “But everyone has their chances, I’m just trying to focus on my performance.”

Well-known veterans and the game’s youth both will be looking to book semi-final appearances on Friday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka will try to keep his dream run going when he faces 16^th seed David Goffin of Belgium. Nishioka upset countryman and World No. 5 Kei Nishikori to make the third round, and then took care of #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur to make the quarter-finals.

Goffin is trying to make back-to-back Cincinnati semi-finals. He retired in the second set of his 2018 semi-final against Roger Federer.

In the first men’s match of the day, Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut takes on Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The Spaniard, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon, is looking to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final and first since the 2016 Rolex Shanghai Masters.

All but one of the top eight seeds didn’t reach the last eight in Cincinnati, but top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic remains. The World No. 1, who became the first player to win the Career Golden Masters last year in Cincinnati, takes on France’s Lucas Pouille in a rematch of their Australian Open semi-final, which Djokovic won in straight sets en route to the title.

Russian Andrey Rublev hardly looked nervous serving for the match on Thursday against Federer, the World No. 3 and seven-time Cincinnati champion. The 21-year-old, who twice competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals, will attempt to bring that same calmness against countryman and World No. 8 Daniil Medvedev, the top-ranked Russian.

Medvedev, however, has been having the stretch of his career. The 23-year-old, who played at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017, made the Citi Open final (l. to Kyrgios) and the Coupe Rogers title match (l. to Nadal) last week. This will be the Russians’ first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Kevin Anderson and Andy Murray headline the field at the Winston-Salem Open, an ATP 250 tournament held the week prior to the US Open. Anderson, the 2015 champion, returns to action after being sidelined for the entire clay season due to an elbow injury and since Wimbledon with a knee injury. Former World No. 1 Murray is also on the comeback trail and made his return to singles action this week at the Western & Southern Open for the first time since undergoing hip surgery in January.  

“I’ve taken the wild card to play Winston-Salem. It’ll be my first time playing there. I’ve spoken to quite a few of the players who have played there and have heard they’ve got great facilities there for practice and the matches,” said Murray. “What I need now is matches. I want to get myself back on the singles court and keep testing myself. Winston-Salem is a perfect place for me to do that.”

Anderson and Murray join the likes of Kevin Anderson, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Denis Shapovalov and Tomas Berdych in the field. Here’s all you need to know about the Winston-Salem tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more. 

Established: 2011

Tournament Dates: 18-24 August 2019

Tournament Director: Bill Oakes

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 16 August, 4-6pm 

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday at 12:00pm and Sunday at 3:00pm
* Main draw: Sunday immediately following qualifying, Monday – Thursday at 3:00pm and 7:00pm
* Doubles final: Friday, 23 August at 4:00pm
* Singles semi-finals: Friday, 23 August at 4:00pm
* Singles final: Saturday, 24 August at 5:00pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Wake Forest University
Main Court Seating: 3,600

Prize Money: US $717,955 (Total Financial Commitment: US $807,210) 

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: John Isner (2)
Most Titles, Doubles: Jean-Julien Rojer, Horia Tecau (2)
Oldest Champion: Jurgen Melzer, 32, in 2013
Youngest Champion: Daniil Medvedev, 22, in 2018
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 57 Daniil Medvedev in 2018
Most Match Wins: Yen-Hsun Lu (14)

2018 Finals
Singles: Daniil Medvedev (RUS) d [8] Steve Johnson (USA) 64 64   Read & Watch
Doubles: [2] Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU) d [WC] James Cerretani (USA) / Leander Paes (IND) 64 62  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #WSOpen
Facebook: @WinstonSalemOpen
Twitter: @WSOpen
Instagram: @winstonsalemopen

Did You Know… Held at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex, a newly designed, state-of-the-art tennis facility, it shares the grounds with Wake Forest Athletics.

The all-Murray doubles showdown that fans have been waiting for will finally happen at the Western & Southern Open. Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez sealed the date with their 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 win over Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock on Thursday, setting a quarter-final showdown with Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski.

The Murray brothers have played each other once before at the 2015 Coupe Rogers. Jamie (w/Peers) defeated Andy (w/Paes) 6-4, 7-6(9) in their second-round clash.

“We played loads growing up. I was probably better until I was about 13 or 14 and then he was way better after that,” said Jamie. “It wasn’t weird then because we were playing so often, but now it’s your job and your livelihood at stake.”

Top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah moved into the last eight with a 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 10-8 victory over Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov. The win also made them the first team to qualify for this year’s Nitto ATP Finals, held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. Cabal/Farah will compete in London for the first time since capturing their maiden Grand Slam title last month at Wimbledon (d. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin).

“It’s always nice to qualify to the O2 so early in the year,” said Farah. “It means that we’ve done really well and that shows all the work we’ve put in. It’s a very good feeling.”

Seventh seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers saved a match point at 9/10 in the Match Tie-break of their 6-1, 3-6, 12-10 win over Diego Schwartzman and Horacio Zeballos, setting up a quarter-final showdown with Cabal/Farah. Sixth seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares beat Marcelo Demoliner and Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 7-6(5).

Rounding out the day’s second-round matches were second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who cruised past Cristian Garin and Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-3.

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray has accepted a wild card into the Winston-Salem Open, an ATP 250 tournament that starts Sunday.

Murray began his singles comeback this week at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, falling to Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets. It will mark Murray’s first time playing in Winston-Salem, the ATP 250 Tournament Of The Year in 2016.

Winston-Salem: When Is The Draw & More

“What I need now is matches. I want to get myself back on the singles court and keep testing myself. Winston-Salem is a perfect place for me to do that,” said Murray, who will not play singles at the US Open.

“I know from speaking to players who have played there that the site is great… Good facilities for practice, gym. The weather will be good from what I’ve seen. It’s another step for me in the comeback, and we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully I can have a good run.”

Winston-Salem Open Tournament Director Bill Oakes said: “We’re thrilled that Andy Murray is joining the playing field for next week’s Winston-Salem Open. Andy remains one of the fiercest competitors in tennis. Our playing field for this year’s tournament is phenomenal.”

Murray began the year at the Australian Open and was contemplating retirement after his first-round loss to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut. But the Scot underwent a second operation on his right hip and returned to doubles action in June.

Murray joins Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick as former World No. 1s to have played at the Winston-Salem Open. Hewitt played in 2011, Roddick in 2011 and 2012.

Click here to buy tickets for the Winston-Salem Open.

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will return for the second consecutive year to the Nitto ATP Finals, held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. The Colombians are the first to qualify for the eight-team field, clinching their berth with a 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 10-8 win over Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov on Thursday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

“It’s always nice to qualify to The O2 so early into the year,” Farah said. “It means that we’ve done really well and that shows all the work we’ve put in. It’s a very good feeling.”

“It’s a goal we have in the beginning of the year,” added Cabal. “It’s amazing. It’s great news for Colombia, for us. I hope we do well over there.”

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Cabal/Farah made history this season at Wimbledon by becoming the first Colombians to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles championship title. They have excelled on all surfaces this season, also prevailing on grass at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne (d. Gonzalez/Zeballos); on clay at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Klaasen/Venus) and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The pair also finished runner-up on hard courts at the Sydney International (l. to Murray/Soares).

“Just to win Wimbledon is amazing, and you’ll have that for the rest of your life,” said Farah. “Now you just have to keep working and keep enjoying your matches, competing and giving everything you have. Clearly The O2 is one of those places where you could create very, very good memories and hopefully you can go all the way.”

This is the third trip to The O2 for Cabal and Farah. They were non-playing alternates in 2016 and reached the semi-finals last year.

Cabal, 32, and Farah, 31, first joined forces at the ITF Futures level in 2004 and made their tour-level main draw debut in 2011 at Wimbledon. They have won 15 ATP Tour doubles titles together from 34 finals and prevailed in their past four championship clashes.

All but one of the top eight seeds at the Western & Southern Open didn’t make the quarter-finals in Cincinnati. But top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic remains.

The Serbian won his eighth straight match in Cincinnati and improved to 3-0 against former No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta on Thursday, advancing 6-3, 6-4 to make the last eight at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

“I don’t think the score indicates how tough it was on the court. We battled it out. I think I was serving really well. That was probably the best shot in the game tonight for me, over 70 per cent of first serves in. Got me out of trouble in the second set when I was facing break points,” Djokovic said.

“I thought he was very solid. Played against him a couple of times and have seen him play, and I knew what quality he possesses, but he did surprise me with his aggressiveness from the back of the court. As soon as he got a little bit of a softer ball from my side, he went for it from both forehand and backhand flat coming in.”

Djokovic broke to love in the sixth game of the opener. Carreno Busta had four break points in the second set, but Djokovic saved them all and gained his vital break during the third game, a 13-point affair.

The 32-year-old will next meet Frenchman Lucas Pouille in a rematch of their Australian Open semi-final in January, which was a straight-sets win for Djokovic. Pouille beat eighth seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 to make his third quarter-final – and first at the Masters 1000 level – of the season. It is Pouille’s third Masters 1000 quarter-final and first since 2017 Monte-Carlo.

“It’s been a while… I’m just very happy to be in the form I am right now, to be in the quarter-finals,” Pouille said.

The Frenchman started the year with his best Grand Slam result, but has struggled with consistency since Melbourne. He is 15-15 on the season.

Roger Federer endured one of the most surprising losses of his career on Thursday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, falling to rising Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev in just 62 minutes. But after his outstanding season, the seven-time champion sees little reason to ring the alarms in his first tournament since Wimbledon.

“I played 45 matches this year, so I think I should be fine,” said Federer.

Federer looked out of sorts from the start on Stadium Court, missing shots that would normally be clean winners and converting only seven of his 19 trips to the net. Part of his uneasiness in the match had to do with facing a brand new opponent, a rarity for the Swiss at this stage of his career. But Federer praised Rublev’s clutch tennis as the main reason for the end result.

“If I play Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, I know more or less what they are going to do or can do. That’s different with a player you play for the first time,” said Federer. “It’s maybe a small advantage to have over us, but regardless, you’ve still got to hit the corners, hit the lines, keep it going. He did exactly that. He was really perfect today. It was a great performance.”

After 21 years on the ATP Tour, Federer has a keen eye for which players have the potential to reach the highest levels of the game. He was impressed by what he saw in the 21-year-old Russian, who only lost four points on serve in the second set and dictated the tempo of most of their baseline exchanges.

“You need an opponent that maybe lets you get by some tougher moments, but he didn’t do that,” said Federer. “He was super clean. Defence, offence, serving well. Didn’t give me anything. He was everywhere. It was tough for me, but an excellent match by him. I was impressed… I think I just have to play better overall to hang with him.”

The Swiss will now turn his attention to the US Open, where he looks to win a sixth title and his first since 2008. In a season that has seen him win three titles (Miami, Halle and Dubai) in addition to runner-up finishes in Wimbledon and Indian Wells, he believes an extra few days of rest and recovery could be just as beneficial as match play.

“It’s also very important for me to see that I’m injury-free and I’m feeling good. Regardless of the outcome of this week, I’m happy I came here,” said Federer. “I had good practice sessions. I worked very hard coming into Cincinnati and in that little season we had since Wimbledon, so I can maybe also utilise a couple of days off. I’m going to train, do exactly what I need to do for the US Open and that’s it. It’s fairly simple, but I’ve got to work hard.”