A LOOK BACK
Internazionali di Tennis Citta’ di Vicenza (Vicenza, Italy): The hottest player on the ATP Challenger Tour continued his dominant run of form. Hugo Dellien notched a tour-leading third crown of the year with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Matteo Donati in Sunday’s Vicenza final.

With the partisan Italian crowd firmly in his opponent’s favour in both the semi-finals and final, Dellien earned new fans with his impressive performances. Wins over home hopes Gian Marco Moroni on Saturday and Donati on Sunday vaulted the Bolivian to the winners’ circle at the Tennis Palladio 98.

It has been a rapid rise for the 24-year-old, with all of his three titles – on the green clay of Sarasota and Savannah and red dirt of Vicenza – coming in the past seven weeks. In fact, Dellien has posted an 18-1 record in that span, with his only Challenger defeat to Noah Rubin in the Tallahassee semi-finals.

Dellien, whose triumph in Sarasota made him the first Bolivian winner on the circuit in 35 years, will get a significant boost in his Top 100 pursuit. Having entered the month of April at No. 259 in the ATP Rankings, he is projected to surpass his career-high of No. 129 one week from Monday.

Dellien will look to continue his strong form as he shifts to the clay of Shymkent, Kazakhstan for the $50,000 event. He is seeded second at the tournament, which is in its second edition. Last year’s runner-up Yannick Hanfmann leads the field.

What a run for @hugo_dellien, champion in Vicenza!

✅ Third title in past four #ATPChallenger events
✅ 18-1 since mid-April
✅ Closing in on the Top 100 pic.twitter.com/uglOBrEKil

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 3, 2018

A LOOK AHEAD
The grass season has arrived! The three-week swing kicks off in the London suburb of Surbiton for the 15th edition of the Fuzion 100 Surbiton Trophy. Jeremy Chardy, Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson and Yuki Bhambri lead the singles draw, with former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt teaming with Alex Bolt in doubles. Nick Kyrgios is also competing in the doubles competition, alongside Jackson Withrow.

The Moneta Czech Open, a €127,000 event in Prostejov, celebrates its 25th anniversary this week. Guillermo Garcia Lopez is the top seed, with Pablo Cuevas seeded second and home hope Jiri Vesely a three-time champion. Vesely has won three of the past four editions (2014-15 & ’17).

In Poznan, Poland, Alexey Vatutin looks to defend his title. He is joined by an impressive field that includes Taro Daniel, Miomir Kecmanovic, Martin Klizan and Victor Estrella Burgos.

A certain 10-time champion continues his quest, while giants collide on Court Suzanne-Lenglen and a 5’7″ Argentine eyes another Grand Slam breakthrough. It’s all happening on Day 9 at Roland Garros. 

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Maximilian Marterer (GER)
First FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting
The quest for La Undécima rolls on. Nadal blasted into the Round of 16 without dropping a set and has endured little resistance thus far. But that could all change against Germany’s unseeded star Maximilian Marterer, who is hoping his fairytale run on the terre battue has another moment of magic in it.

While Nadal will certainly be the favourite as they take to Court Philippe-Chatrier, Marterer will be eager to carry the momentum from his second-round upset of Denis Shapovalov and dominant display against Jurgen Zopp on Saturday. Having never won a Grand Slam match entering the year, the 22-year-old followed up a third round result at the Australian Open with an appearance in the second week in Paris.

Despite Marterer’s strong run of form, Nadal will have history on his side when they meet for the first time. The Spaniard has reached the quarter-finals in 11 of 13 appearances at Roland Garros and owns a perfect 17-0 mark against German opponents on clay. In fact, he has lost just two sets in total – to Daniel Brands at Roland Garros in 2013 and to Alexander Zverev two weeks ago in Rome.

[5] Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) vs. [9] John Isner (USA)
Del Potro leads FedEx ATP Head2Head 6-4
It will be a clash of giants when 6’6″ Del Potro duels with 6’10” Isner on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The Argentine and the American have combined to launch 111 aces thus far in Paris and the fireworks will continue to fly as they resume their rivalry.

Champions at the March Masters events this year, with Del Potro taking his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown in Indian Wells and Isner following suit in Miami, the pair are set to battle for the 11th time. In April, the North Carolina native prevailed in straight sets en route to the title at the Miami Open presented by Itau. But while Isner has reeled off consecutive wins over Del Potro, the Argentine will be buoyed by a 6-4 overall edge in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

There is plenty at stake in the first clay-court meeting between the Top 10 stars. Del Potro is seeking his first trip to the Roland Garros quarter-finals since 2012, as he continues his push towards a Top 5 return. Isner, meanwhile, has appeared in the last eight at a Grand Slam just once in his career (2011 US Open) and will be eager to earn a significant breakthrough.

[3] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. [18] Fabio Fognini (ITA)
Cilic leads FedEx ATP Head2Head 2-1
It’s an Italian renaissance in Paris. On Sunday, Marco Cecchinato stunned David Goffin to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros. And on Monday, Fognini will have a chance to join his countryman in the last eight.

The spotlight will be shining bright on the 18th seed, who takes on Cilic on Court Philippe-Chatrier to conclude Day 9 action. Fognini will face a tall order against the 6’6″ Croatian, as he seeks his first Top 5 win at a major (0-6) and second appearance in the Roland Garros quarter-finals (2011). The only other occasion in which multiple Italians appeared in the last eight at a major was in Paris in 1973 (Bertolucci & Panatta).

But as eager as Fognini will be to spring the upset, Cilic is poised to continue his march towards a momentous Roland Garros final, which would see him complete the set of reaching all four major championships. The third seed has turned in an impressive run to the second week, dropping just one set along the way.

While the pair have met on three previous occasions, they are completely different players now. Their last encounter came seven years at the China Open in Beijing, after splitting clay-court clashes in Monte-Carlo in 2009 and in Umag in 2011.

[6] Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs. [11] Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
Anderson leads FedEx ATP Head2Head 2-0
“What makes him so good is he’s one of the best returners in the game. He’s one of the best movers in the game. He’s one of the best fighters in the game. He’s a great ball striker from the baseline.”

Anderson has done his homework. The sixth-seeded South African will face Schwartzman on Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Monday, and he knows very well the threat the Argentine poses. It will be a great contrast in styles, as the powerful 6’8″ Anderson battles the agile 5’7″ Schwartzman for a coveted spot in the quarter-finals.

One of just two players to reach the fourth round without dropping a set (also Nadal), Schwartzman has been a dominant force throughout his stay in Paris. A 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 dismissal of an in-form Borna Coric secured his best result at Roland Garros and third straight appearance in the second week of a Slam. 

On the other side of the net, Anderson will be buoyed by a 2-0 edge in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. He took their lone previous major meeting at the 2015 Australian Open and only clay-court encounter, two years ago in Nice. Also in search of his first appearance in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, Anderson would become the first South African in the Open Era to achieve the feat.

Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic have had a sensational season, winning four tour-level titles and reaching two additional finals. And based on their efforts thus far at Roland Garros, the Austrian-Croatian pair shows no signs of slowing down.

Marach/Pavic overcame a second-set hiccup to beat Salvadorian Marcelo Arevalo and American Jamie Cerretani 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Sunday in Paris to advance to the quarter-finals. They are now 34-6 on the season and are currently No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Race To London. They will get a chance to improve that record against fifth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who battled from a set down to defeat Dutch/Australian duo Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 

The Colombians, who captured the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title in Rome two weeks ago and reached the Australian Open final earlier in the year against Marach and Pavic, needed just more than two hours to book their place in the next round.

Marach and Pavic are the highest seeds remaining in the draw after Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin upset top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 7-6(1) in the Round of 16.

Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry moved past Frenchmen Calvin Hemery and Stephane Robert 7-5, 6-3. A day earlier, the Argentian-Chilean team knocked out fourth seeded Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Gonzalez and Jarry will either meet Pierre-Herbert Hugues and Nicolas Mahut, or Americans Steve Johnson and Jack Sock. The sixth-seeded Frenchmen defeated Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop 7-5, 7-6(6) in the previous round.

Before arriving in Budapest at the end of April for the Gazprom Hungarian Open, Marco Cecchinato had won just five of his first 34 tour-level matches. Little did the Italian know that he would go on to capture his maiden ATP World Tour title on the red clay as a lucky loser.

“Maybe it is a dream,” Cecchinato told ATPWorldTour.com at the time.

Little did he know what would come in the weeks ahead. When the World No. 72 began his Roland Garros campaign, he had never won a Grand Slam main draw match. But after defeating reigning Nitto ATP Finals runner-up David Goffin in four sets on Sunday, Cecchinato advanced to the quarter-finals.

“This is the best moment of my life,” Cecchinato said. “Maybe it’s a dream, because now I’m very, very happy for this match.”

Amazingly, the 25-year-old has quadrupled his tour-level win total this year. And now he has made history, by becoming just the second Italian man to reach a major quarter-final since Davide Sanguinetti did so at Wimbledon in 1998. So what has been the difference for the Cecchinato this season?

“Now I start the match every time focused…. I am more aggressive during the match, and so I stay focused every point,” Cecchinato said. “I feel very good, because every match I’ve played very well. Now I beat David Goffin, who is one of the best players in the world.”

And now, after earning his first win against a player inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, Cecchinato takes on someone who will be competing in his ninth consecutive Roland Garros quarter-final: Novak Djokovic.

“It’s amazing,” Cecchinato said. “It’s a pleasure playing against Novak in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.”

And while this will be the first match in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, they are plenty familiar with one another.

“I have known of him for many years. I have practised with him many times in Monte-Carlo,” Djokovic said. “He trained a lot where I reside, where I live. We trained a lot on hard court, clay courts. And we actually trained this year before the Monte-Carlo tournament.

“For sure, he’s playing the tennis of his life. He won his first title recently… To pull out a big upset for Marco is quite impressive. Congratulations to him for a great tournament. And even though he’s not a seeded player, he’s still in the quarter-finals. He deserves respect and he’s got nothing to lose in our next match. So I’ll approach it very seriously.”

Cecchinato has nothing to lose — he’s just living a dream.

If you’re going to break through to your first Grand Slam quarter-final, you might as well do it in style, right?

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev came back from two sets to one down for the third consecutive match on Sunday, defeating Karen Khachanov to set a blockbuster quarter-final against two-time Roland Garros semi-finalist Dominic Thiem. And in doing so, Zverev joined an elite group.

The German 21-year-old is the eighth player in the Open Era to survive three consecutive five-setters in Paris, and the first since Tommy Robredo in 2013. He is also the first to win three five-setters in a row at a major since Sam Querrey at Wimbledon last year.

It was a long time coming for Zverev, who despite having won three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles out of five finals, had never advanced past the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam in 11 previous appearances.

“I know who I am. It’s not about learning anymore. It’s about trying to find a way and trying to win,” Zverev said. “I’m very happy about being in the quarter-finals here with going the hard way, going the long distance every single time and showing myself, showing everybody that I can play for as long as I need to.”

Players To Win Three Consecutive Five-Setters At Roland Garros (Open Era)

It won’t get any easier for this year’s Madrid and Munich champion, who next faces No. 7 seed Thiem. The Austrian is the only player to beat top seed Rafael Nadal on clay in the past two years, and has lifted trophies this year in Buenos Aires and Lyon, although Zverev did beat him to triumph in Madrid.

“I’m expecting another five-set match,” Zverev said with a smile. “I’ll get myself ready for that.”

FedEx ATP Performance Zone: Fifth-Set Records

And if he should defeat Thiem in five sets, he would become the first player in tennis history to triumph in four straight five-setters at a Grand Slam championship. Only four players have won four non-consecutively at a major, the last being Albert Costa at Roland Garros 15 years ago. The Monaco resident is not worried about the number of long matches adding up — he has spent 11 hours and 56 minutes on court through four rounds. 

“I’m not concerned,” Zverev said. “If you’re mentally fatigued, then something is wrong with you. Physically, obviously it’s not easy to play back-to-back-to-back five-set matches. But I will manage it, somehow. I will do everything I can to recover, as I said after the last match. I will make sure to be ready in two days’ time.”

Zverev, who was 4-5 in five-setters before this tournament, is not content to just break through. Three players in the Open Era have won three five-setters on the Parisian terre battue and gone on to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires. The German wants to become the fourth.

“I’m happy. But this is not the end,” Zverev said. “This is the quarter-finals. It’s not [championship] Sunday.”