In 2015, Denis Istomin became the first player from Uzbekistan to lift an ATP World Tour trophy, when he prevailed in Nottingham. On Sunday, he added a second crown.

Istomin kicked off the Asian swing in strong fashion, emerging as the champion of the Chengdu Open. The final concluded in unfortunate circumstances, as opponent Marcos Baghdatis was forced to retire with a back injury during the first set. Istomin was leading 3-2 when Baghdatis fell to the court and was unable to continue.

“I know his situation, because I’ve had a lot of injuries,” said Istomin. “I know the feeling and we are good friends, so my first thought was to help Marcos when I saw him go down. Of course I want to win the title, but not this way. I hope he gets better and will be okay for the rest of the season.

“I feel great and especially today I was feeling better than the other matches. I think I’m in the same condition as I was in Australia at the beginning of the season. My next tournament will be a Challenger in my hometown of Tashkent and then the ATP events in Stockholm, Basel and Paris. I’m feeling fine now and will try to finish the year as best as I can.”

The 31-year-old Uzbek capped an impressive week in Chengdu, having defeated #NextGenATP stars Karen Khachanov and Jared Donaldson, before toppling an in-form fifth seed Yuichi Sugita in Saturday’s semi-finals. He is projected to rise to No. 53 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, earning 250 points and $183,435 in prize money.

Istomin, who entered the week at World No. 78, is the 10th player outside the Top 50 to win an ATP World Tour title this year. He is picking up momentum as the 2017 season nears its conclusion, also registering a quarter-final finish at the Moselle Open (l. to Basilashvili) last week.

Baghdatis, meanwhile, was appearing in his 14th tour-level final. Despite the retirement, the Cypriot will return to the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, rising to a projected No. 84. Baghdatis was a warrior all week in Chengdu, rallying from a set down in three of his four victories. He takes home $55,730 in prize money.

“I was feeling a bit of pain in my back during the week, but late after my match last night I felt some spasms,” admitted Baghdatis. “This morning I woke up a bit the same. After my warmup, it got worse. The ATP physio worked on me for an hour and a half. I was okay for three or four games and the spasms came back. I’ve had back issues before, but not like this.

“It’s a bit disappointing to finish this way, but it’s true that it’s always positive to be in the final of a tournament. I have to thank all the people that made this event possible. They do a great job here. I love this place and I’ll hope to come next year too.”

Marin Cilic might feel like he’s playing himself again and again and again this week at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017 in Tokyo. The top seed is slated to meet a number of players whom, like Cilic, prefer to serve big and dictate play immediately after the first ball.

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The 6’6” Croatian, who will be going for his second title of the season (Istanbul), opens against a qualifier but could face 6’8” Kevin Anderson in the quarter-finals. The South African is coming off his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open earlier this month (l. to Nadal).

Anderson, like Cilic, will also be looking to strengthen his spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London, which determines the Top 8 who play at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 12-19 November at The O2 in London.

The 31-year-old Anderson is currently in 11^th place; Cilic is in seventh place. Fifth-placed Stan Wawrinka and ninth-placed Novak Djokovic have ruled themselves out of the season-ending tournament.

In the semi-finals, if the seeds hold, Cilic could meet 6’5” Milos Raonic, who’s seeded third and is returning after a seven-week absence because of a left wrist injury. The Canadian last played at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal in mid-August. Raonic withdrew from the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and the US Open.

Six-foot-six Sam Querrey rounds out the big servers populating the Tokyo draw. The sixth seed opens against French veteran Richard Gasquet. Fourth seed David Goffin, eighth seed Diego Schwartzman and second seed Dominic Thiem are the other seeds in the bottom half.

Goffin is playing Alexandr Dolgopolov in the Shenzhen Open final on Sunday. Thiem faces Steve Johnson of the U.S. in the first round and will look to rebound after losing his Chengdu opener to Argentina’s Guido Pella earlier this week.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal could face No. 4 Alexander Zverev in what would be a can’t-miss China Open final in Beijing next weekend. The top-seeded Spaniard is returning to tour-level action this week for the first time since winning his third US Open earlier this month.

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He and Zverev have faced off three times in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with Nadal taking their trio of tangles, including a five-setter at the Australian Open earlier this year in which Zverev led two sets to one.

But that’s not to say Nadal or Zverev has an easy path to the ATP World Tour 500 title match. The 31-year-old Nadal opens against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who outlasted the Spaniard the last time they played, during the fourth round of the 2016 US Open. From there, Nadal could face #NextGenATP Russian Karen Khachanov, No. 32 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Sixth seed John Isner of the U.S. could await in the quarter-finals.

Third seed Grigor Dimitrov, wild card Juan Martin del Potro and fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut are the favourites to face Nadal in the semi-finals. The Spaniard is going for his second China Open title, his first since 2005 when he beat Argentine Guillermo Coria.

Dimitrov opens against the red-hot Damir Dzumhur, who won his maiden ATP World Tour title in St. Petersburg and reached the semi-finals in Chengdu (l. to Dolgopolov) earlier this month. Del Potro faces Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, and Bautista Agut will meet Chinese wild card Ze Zhang, who reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final at the Shenzhen Open.

On the bottom half of the draw, Zverev will try to bounce back from his quarter-final loss against Dzhumur in Shenzhen. The #NextGenATP German is going for his sixth title of the season. He opens against Brit Kyle Edmund and could face seventh seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals, with a semi-final match-up against eighth seed Nick Kyrgios or fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta looming.

David Goffin advanced to his third final of the season by defeating Henri Laaksonen 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-3 at the Shenzhen Open on Saturday.

After cruising to a straight-sets victory over eighth-seeded Donald Young in the quarter-finals, Goffin was forced to dig deep against the No. 107 Laaksonen.

Goffin clinched the first set in a tie-break, then dropped the second after sailing a forehand wide at 6-5. The second-seeded Belgian immediately broke to open the third and broke again at 5-3 to earn the victory in two hours and 16 minutes.

“I’m feeling a little tired; I’ve never played him before but he’s a tough fighter,” Goffin said. “It was a tough battle, especially in the second set. I’m happy with the way I started the third set but it was a fight until the end.

“I’ve won three matches already in Shenzhen; I’m going to rest tonight to be ready for tomorrow.”

Goffin moves a step closer to his first title of the season. The World No. 12 failed to lift a tournament trophy in his two previous attempts this season. In February, Goffin fell to Grigor Dimitrov at Sofia and to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Rotterdam.

Laaksonen, the Swiss No. 3 behind Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, was playing in his third straight three-set match and his first ATP World Tour semi-final.

In the previous round, Laaksonen outlasted Chinese qualifier Zhizhen Zhang 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in two hours and five minutes. In the Round of 16, the 25 year old battled from a set down to rally past Marius Copil 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.