No. 6 seed Viktor Troicki came from a set down to beat Australia’s Bernard Tomic 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open on Monday.

The Serbian, who reached the semi-finals in 2017 (l. to Raonic), hit 13 aces and broke Tomic on five occasions to emerge victorious after one hour and 49 minutes. Competing for the first time on the ATP World Tour since the 2017 Erste Bank Open 500 (l. Herbert), Tomic served for the match at 5-4 in the final set, but Troicki won four straight games to reach the second round.

Troicki takes a 3-2 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Tomic and moves into a second-round encounter against Moldova’s Radu Albot or Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil.

Serbian Laslo Djere snapped a 10-match losing streak to upset Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 7-6(5), 7-6(6). The 22-year-old saved a set point at 5/6 in the second-set tie-break before booking his place in the second round after two hours and four minutes. The 2017 quarter-finalist (l. to Troicki), will meet Gazprom Hungarian Open semi-finalist Andreas Seppi for a place in the quarter-finals.

Did You Know?
Viktor Troicki and Bernard Tomic’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter on a clay court also went to three sets, with Troicki defeating the Australian 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 7-6(4) at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

No. 59 (Career-high) Marco Cecchinato, +33
Having lost to Jurgen Zopp in the Gazprom Hungarian Open qualifying round, the Italian gained a lucky loser spot and bounced back to capture his first ATP World Tour trophy after beating fellow first-time finalist, John Millman, 7-5, 6-4. As a result, the 25-year-old Cecchinato jumped 33 places to a career-high No. 59 in the ATP Rankings. He began the year at No. 109. Read & Watch Highlights

No. 44 (Career-high) Stefanos Tsitsipas, +19
The Greek rose 19 places to a career-high No. 44 in the ATP Rankings after becoming the first player from his country to reach an ATP World Tour final since Nicholas Kalogeropoulos at Des Moines, Iowa on 4 February 1973 (l. to Clark Graebner). In beating Dominic Thiem in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell semi-final, it was his second Top 10 victory of his career (d. No. 10 David Goffin at 2017 European Open). Coming into last week’s ATP World Tour 500-level tournament, Tsitsipas had won only one clay-court match. Read & Watch Highlights

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No. 48 Andreas Seppi, +7
Former World No. 18 Andreas Seppi continued his run of form by advancing to Gazprom Hungarian Open semi-finals, losing to fellow Italian Marco Cecchinato. The 34-year-old broke back into the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings (at No. 48), with a seven-place rise, for his highest position since 27 June 2017 (No. 45).

No. 69 John Millman, +25
The Australian earned the biggest win of his career by beating World No. 14 and defending champion Lucas Pouille in the Gazprom Hungarian Open second round and used that confidence to progress to his first ATP World Tour final. In moving up 25 spots to No. 69, Millman is now nine positions off his career-high (No. 60 on 16 May 2016). The 28-year-old was ranked as low as No. 235 (on 28 August 2017), but won an ATP Challenger Tour title in Hua Hin, Thailand, last November and another in Kyoto, Japan earlier this year.

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Other Notables Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 35 Borna Coric, +3
No. 75 Nikoloz Basilashvili, +4
No. 78 Malek Jaziri, +10
No. 94 Jordan Thompson, +4

A LOOK BACK
Internazionali d’Abruzzo (Francavilla al Mare, Italy): Welcome to the winners’ circle, Gianluigi Quinzi! Five years after ascending to junior No. 1, the Italian celebrated a breakthrough at the pro level, claiming his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on Sunday. Quinzi defeated Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-1 in just 71 minutes on home soil in Francavilla al Mare to lift the trophy.

The win comes six months after Quinzi earned a coveted spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, having won a qualifying competition for the eighth and final berth. The 22-year-old has carried the momentum into 2018, also notching a pair of Futures titles early in the year. He will jump 82 spots to No. 265 in the ATP Rankings on Monday.

Torneo Challenger Leon (Leon, Mexico): From one first-time winner to another. As Christopher Eubanks blasted a service winner on his first championship point, the elated American fell to the court at the Club Campestre de Leon. The celebration was on. 

One week after finishing runner-up in his first Challenger final  in Guadalajara, Eubanks went one step further in Leon. The former Georgia Tech University star edged John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) in two hours and seven minutes for his maiden crown on Sunday. Eubanks, who turns 22 in one week, kicked off his pro career in November and is already inside the Top 200, rising to a career-high No. 184 with the title.

Kunming Open (Anning, China): If two first-time winners aren’t enough, India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran is here to join the party. The 28-year-old rallied past Mohamed Safwat 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 for his maiden ATP Challenger Tour crown on the clay of Anning. Gunneswaran, who is also pursuing a degree in business in Germany, was all business in beating Safwat, converting seven of 13 break points for the title.

Safwat, meanwhile, was bidding to become the first Egyptian to win a Challenger title since Tamer El Sawy in 1996. 

What a week for Prajnesh Gunneswaran in Anning, taking his maiden #ATPChallenger ?

The ?? completes a 57 63 61 comeback over Mohamed Safwat for the title pic.twitter.com/wxRx0VPFme

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 29, 2018

Tallahassee Tennis Challenger (Tallahassee, Florida, USA): In one of the more thrilling finals on the ATP Challenger Tour, Noah Rubin survived a stern test from #NextGenATP Aussie Marc Polmans on Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee. Rubin prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to take the fourth title of his young career and first on clay.  

The New York native joins Marcelo Arevalo and Quentin Halys as players to win on both clay and hard this year. With the win, he also celebrates a return to the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings. Read more about Noah’s victory.

A LOOK AHEAD
The ATP Challenger Tour welcomes five events on three continents this week. In the Korean capital of Seoul, top seed Vasek Pospisil bids for a tour-leading third title of the year. Go Soeda, the 2015 champion, is seeded sixth. Meanwhile, Noah Rubin looks to lift consecutive crowns in Savannah and is joined by #NextGenATP stars Michael Mmoh, Reilly Opelka, Jay Clarke, Akira Santillan and Marc Polmans.

In Ostrava, Czech Republic, Ruben Bemelmans and Sergiy Stakhovsky lead the pack, while a pair of tournaments celebrate their inaugural editions in Glasgow, UK and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Lukas Lacko is the top seed at the Glasgow Trophy, while Christopher Eubanks looks to continue the momentum on Mexican soil in the resort town of Puerto Vallarta.

The ☀ sets on the eve of main draw play in Puerto Vallarta. Mariachi music and ?.

View Monday OOP ➡ https://t.co/BSGzRUzoZi pic.twitter.com/bkKMLPCSUP

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 30, 2018

Players competing at the Millennium Estoril Open this week will be sliding on the red clay, battling for a coveted ATP World Tour title. But before the main draw begins, some competitors were sliding around something else — a surfboard.

Portugal’s own Joao Sousa and British No. 1 Kyle Edmund took time out to learn how to catch some waves with a special instructor — world-class surfer Frederico ‘Kikas’ Morais, ranked No. 14 in the World Surf League.

“It’s not easy to get the time to do this kind of thing normally. It’s a great activity and to be with Frederico, it’s nice,” said Sousa. “He’s one of the greatest in the world. It’s a bit windy, which makes it difficult. But hopefully we’ll have some fun. It’s gonna be tough, but we’ll give our best.”

The players certainly enjoyed the experience at Carcavelos Beach, even if they might not be joining a professional surfing circuit any time soon.

“He gave us some tips to make it a little bit easier,” Sousa said. “But I’m not sure our physical condition is perfect for this kind of sport.”

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Edmund, who advanced to the Australian Open semi-finals before reaching the championship match in Marrakech, enjoyed his time on the water as well, saying that Morais had the pair practising getting up on the surfboard and settling into their stance.

“I’ve never surfed before, only done stuff like jet skis in the water before. So it’s my first time, but I’ve got no excuses because I’ve got a pretty good instructor,” Edmund said. “I’m pretty good with adventure sports. I like motorbiking, and loved the jet skiing. It’s a bit cold, that’s my only excuse! But I’m excited to give it a go and to try something out of my comfort zone.”

To start the day, the pair also played mini tennis at the brand new Nova School of Business and Economics. But after some pre-tournament fun, Edmund is excited to head back to the tennis court, where he looks to maintain the momentum he gained in Marrakech.

“It’s one of my aims, to get my first title. So it was great to reach a first final,” Edmund said of his run in Morocco. “I obviously wanted to go one step further, but the experience will serve me well. The next time I’m in a final, I’ll hopefully be able to use that loss to my benefit.”

It’s an especially important week for Sousa, who is playing in his home country of Portugal.

“It’s always a special week for me, playing at my home and in front of my people,” said Sousa, who made the semi-finals of Marrakech. “It’s been a good season so far and hopefully I can play a good level and play good matches.”