Karen Khachanov reached his second ATP World Tour final after beating Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2 at the Open 13 Provence on Saturday.

The World No. 47, competing in his first semi-final of 2018, looked in great form throughout the 74-minute contest, winning 90 per cent of first serve points (26/29) to reach the championship match. Khachanov improved to a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over the Czech No. 1, after winning their only previous encounter last season at Roland Garros.

The ninth seed will face home favourite Lucas Pouille or qualifier Ilya Ivashka in Sunday’s final. Khachanov won his only previous final on tour at the 2016 Chengdu Open (d. Ramos-Vinolas).

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Khachanov proved a constant threat on the Berdych serve in the first set, creating 10 break point opportunities and converting on two occasions. The Russian played well under pressure on his own delivery, saving all three break points he faced to gain a one-set advantage over the 2013 finalist.

The pattern continued in set two, as the 21-year-old controlled the set with five aces and a 100 per cent success rate on his first serve (15/15). Two further breaks of serve sealed the win for the Russian No. 2 who will now wait to see if it is Pouille or Ivashka across the net in the final.

Did You Know?
Khachanov will be aiming to become just the sixth non-French winner in 13 years in Sunday’s Open 13 Provence final. French players have accounted for seven of the past 12 tournament wins.

#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov announced himself to the tennis world last year at the Rogers Cup when he stormed to the semi-finals. And now, after ousting #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4 on Friday evening at the Delray Beach Open, the 2017 Emirates ATP Star of Tomorrow is into his second ATP World Tour semi-final.

“I played really well,” Shapovalov said. “I felt really comfortable from the warm-up. I felt really good with my timing and I returned well when I needed to.”

The World No. 46 is bidding to become the 15th 18-year-old this millennium to win an ATP World Tour crown. The youngest player to achieve the feat since 2000 is Kei Nishikori, who was 18 years, 1 month, 19 days old when he triumphed in Delray Beach 10 years ago this week. The left-hander arrived in Florida having not won two tour-level matches in a row at a tournament since the 2017 US Open, where he advanced to the fourth round. 

The Canadian was one of four #NextGenATP stars to make the quarter-finals in Delray Beach, something that did not go unnoticed by Shapovalov.

“It almost feels like a junior tournament right now. So many young guys in the quarters and going to be in the semis,” Shapovalov said. “It’s really nice to see so many up-and-coming guys doing well. We all get along really well, so we wish the best for each other. It’s good to see a little bit of a new generation of tennis, a new era beginning to happen. I feel like in the near future we’re going to see a lot more young guys coming up and a lot more upsets.”

Shapovalov, who saved both break points he faced against Fritz, will play reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung or another #NextGenATP American in Frances Tiafoe on Saturday.

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In the other half of the draw, Peter Gojowczyk cut down his second tall foe in as many matches by defeating Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 6-3, to advance to the semi-finals. The 6’2” Gojowczyk needed one hour, 17 minutes to take down the 6’11” American in straight sets. In the previous round, the German upset the tournament’s sixth seed, 6’10” John Isner, in three tie-breaks.

Gojowczyk, who was forced to retire last week during a second-round match against Adrian Mannarino at the New York Open due to injury, was satisfied with his victory.

“I’m very happy to have won today,” Gojowczyk said. “I didn’t give him many chances. I was solid and played well from the baseline. I got some small opportunities and I took them. If you return well, it’s tough… I strike the ball early, so maybe it’s harder for them to play me from the baseline.”

Opelka knew he’d have his hands full going into the match against the world No. 64, considering his track record (now 0-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series) and Gojowczyk’s current form. The end result didn’t come as much of a surprise.

“I kind of expected it; he beat me the last time we played,” Opelka said. “I never want to play him again, he’s got my number. He does everything well and he’s a great player.”

Gojowczyk will face another American, Steve Johnson, for a place in the final. Johnson needed one hour, 18 minutes to move past Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-4. It was their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting since a dramatic five-set encounter in the first round of the 2016 U.S. Open, when Johnson came from two sets down to prevail in five sets.

“I had a tough early game today, got out of it and maybe broke his spirit a little bit,” the 28-year-old American said. “I was able to rattle off some games in the first set and plus it was windy today, so sometimes the (wind) gusts go your way.”

Dominic Thiem entered his semi-final at the Rio Open presented by Claro 30-5 on clay since the beginning of last season. Those losses came against Rafael Nadal (3), Novak Djokovic and David Goffin. It didn’t hurt that he was the defending champion in Rio de Janeiro, either, as well as last week’s winner in Buenos Aires.

But the Austrian was shocked by eighth seed Fernando Verdasco, who delivered a blistering performance to oust the second seed 6-4 6-0 on Friday evening. The Spaniard moves into his first ATP World Tour semi-final since 2017 Stockholm as he pursues his first final since losing to Andy Murray last year in Dubai.

It was just the third time that Thiem has lost a set 0-6 on clay at the tour-level, with both of those instances coming last year against Djokovic (Rome) and Nadal (Roland Garros).

Verdasco, who has now won six consecutive sets against Thiem, extends his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against the World No. 6 to 3-0. The left-hander next plays the winner between fifth seed Fabio Fognini and Aljaz Bedene.

Based on the results so far this week it appeared Friday’s second quarter-final at the Rio Open presented by Claro would be a thriller. But sixth seed Diego Schwartzman moved past the dangerous Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4 in just 83 minutes.

“Against Gael it’s never easy,” Schwartzman said. “The match was weird. Sometimes we played bad points, sometimes we played good points. He was a break up both sets and then I came back and I am really happy for that because after that I started to play well in both sets.”

The Argentine is into his first tour-level semi-final since 2017 Antwerp a week after advancing to his first quarter-final of the season in Buenos Aires. Schwartzman is pursuing his second ATP World Tour title (2016 Istanbul).

It was still a strong week for Monfils, who saved a match point in the first round against Horacio Zeballos before moving past top seed and World No. 3 Marin Cilic in a rain-delayed second-round encounter. The Frenchman has made at least the quarter-finals at four of the five events he has played this season, with his lone loss before that stage coming against former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open.

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Schwarztman will face Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who upset seventh seed Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 6-3 to make the first tour-level semi-final of his career. The 22-year-old advanced to his first quarter-final two weeks ago at the Ecuador Open in Quito, where he lost to eventual champion Roberto Carballes Baena.

“This is a great victory for me,” Jarry said. “I played very solid. I stayed very strong with my head…. I’m very happy with the way that I served this match. It’s better than the other ones, so I hope to continue serving like this.”

Jarry saved all four break points he faced in the match, breaking once per set to move past the 2016 champion. It will be his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Schwartzman.

(1) Mats Moraing is the ATP Challenger Tour’s breakout star in 2018
The World No. 155 won his maiden Challenger title at home in Koblenz, Germany last month after reaching the final in Bangkok as a qualifier to open his 2018 season. After the biggest win of his career over former World No. 6 Gilles Simon in Cherbourg last week, Moraing took a moment to address the reasons behind his success, and how he feels about his early form in 2018.

“I have been playing without injury since last year and practising hard. I think that has been the big difference and I’m playing consistently now. It was very special for me to win in Koblenz. It was my first big title and it came on home soil. I will always remember it,” said Moraing.

The first player to win his maiden #ATPChallenger title in 2018 is ?? Mats Moraing. The 25-year-old downs Kenny de Schepper 62 61 at home in Koblenz. Congrats Mats! pic.twitter.com/agoumFilSb

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) January 21, 2018

(2) The 25-year-old is making the transition look easy
The Koblenz champion, who only turned professional four years ago, aged 21, won 46 matches and three titles at the Futures level in 2017. Moraing has continued his progression this year, rising 119 spots in the ATP Rankings already to a career-high No. 155. The Mulheim-native has compiled a formidable 16-5 record on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2018, but was keen to stress the difficulty of success at the Challenger level.

“I think it’s tougher on the Challenger Tour because everyone plays more consistent here. You have to fight for every point and no one is giving you any gifts on court,” added Moraing.

Photo: Andreas Walz

(3) He has a standout weapon
The 6’6” German has a massive serve. En route to the title in Koblenz, Moraing won 83 per cent of all points behind his first serve. The Challenger circuit star navigated a tough path to the trophy, which included Marco Cecchinato, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Kenny De Schepper, hitting 69 aces in 11 sets.

“My biggest weapon of course is my serve. I think it’s dangerous on every surface. And, also, my forehand. I like to play on any surface, especially if it is fast.”

(4) He is inspired by the recent success of his countrymen
A citizen of one of the most famous nations in tennis history, Moraing has many compatriots to turn to for inspiration. After a 2017 season which saw Maximilian Marterer, Oscar Otte and Yannick Hanfmann all break into the Top 150 of the ATP Rankings, the German has plenty of reason to believe he can follow in their footsteps and continue rising further.

“They are all good friends of mine,” revealed Moraing. “I know them from playing Futures. We always talk and when I saw that they did so well last year, I thought that if they could do it, I could do the same. It has helped me a lot.”

(5) The Top 100 is in sight in 2018
In fact, it may be time for Moraing to re-assess his goals. After finding himself outside the Top 400 of the ATP Rankings just one year ago, the World No. 155 is already on the verge of achieving his initial goal for 2018: breaking into the Top 150.

“I wasn’t expecting this great of a start,” admitted Moraing. “My initial goals were to be on the Challenger Tour full time by the end of the year, and be in the Top 150 or close to that. I’m already not far from that now, so maybe I can get to the Top 100. We’ll see how it goes.”