Richard Gasquet is through to his second ATP World Tour final of the season at the Shenzhen Open. The Frenchman was leading 6-2, 4-1 when Janko Tipsarevic was forced to retire from their semi-final clash with a groin injury.

“Tennis is a tough sport,” said Gasquet. “It’s difficult to have no injuries, especially at this time on the year. Our matches are very tough, physically everyone is getting better and better. The game is more and more demanding. He’s had injuries in the past, same as me, and I hope he will recover well.”

Competing in his 26^th ATP World Tour final, Gasquet will look to win his 14^th title when he faces either Tomas Berdych or Thomaz Bellucci. The right-hander lifted his 13^th trophy in February in Montpellier (d. Mathieu), making him one of four Frenchmen to win an ATP World Tour title this season.

After reaching the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the first time (l. to Murray), Gasquet endured a frustrating summer, missing the Rogers Cup due to an abdominal injury, falling second round in Cincinnati (l. to Anderson) and suffering his first first-round loss at a major since 2010 when he was beaten by Kyle Edmund at the US Open.

The 32-year-old Tipsarevic was appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final since winning the 2013 Chennai title, after missing much of the past three years due to foot and knee injuries. The Serbian, a former World No. 8 who has clawed his way back up to No. 224 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after falling to No. 1027 two years ago, was trying to reach his 12th ATP World Tour final (4-7).

“It’s my right groin, which I’ve struggled with a few times in my career,” explained Tipsarevic. “It happened at the beginning of the match and as the match went on, I just felt really, really uncomfortable in moving and running. I was playing my toughest opponent yet (this week) and the only way for me to beat Richard is to engage in these tough rallies from the baseline where both of us had to run. I just wasn’t able to do that today. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

A third #NextGen star could be in line to win his first ATP World Tour title in 2016 after Karen Khachanov reached the Chengdu Open final with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over sixth seed Viktor Troicki on Saturday.

Nick Kyrgios (Marseille, Atlanta) and Alexander Zverev (St. Petersburg) are both #NextGen first-time ATP winners this season. Taylor Fritz (Memphis) and Borna Coric (Chennai and Marrakech) have also reached their first finals in what has been a breakout season for the Next Generation on the ATP World Tour.

The 20-year-old Khachanov has taken down three seeded players to reach the final of this ATP World Tour 250 tournament, also upsetting seventh seed Joao Sousa in the first round and fourth seed Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals.

“It feels great for me to be in the final,” Khachanov said. “Dreams are coming true, to be playing in my first ATP World Tour final tomorrow. Of course it gives me confidence. In the first round I also beat the seventh seed and yesterday I beat the fourth seed. It gave me confidence going into today’s semi-finals. I will just try to focus on my game and follow the plan I have with my coach. If it goes well, it goes well. If not, I’ll change it during the match. The mental aspect is one of the most important and that’s why you have to be focused.” 

The Russian maintained his rich vein of form as he broke Troicki three times from six opportunities and lost just seven points behind his first serve, claiming victory in 82 minutes.

In the final, Khachanov will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas, whom he has played twice before, with the Spaniard winning their most recent contest on clay in Istanbul this year. 

Fourth Seeds Reach Final

Fourth seeds Pablo Carreno Busta and Mariusz Fyrstenberg reached the Chengdu Open doubles final as they defeated Adil Shamasdin and Andreas Siljestrom 7-6(4), 6-3 in 75 minutes.

The Spanish/Polish duo will face Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contenders Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the final. Carreno Busta is chasing his second ATP World Tour doubles crown, after lifting the Quito trophy with Guillermo Duran in February, while Fyrstenberg is chasing his 19th title.

Kei Nishikori, a two-time champion in Tokyo, will face an experienced opponent in the first round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016. The 2012 and 2014 winner will take on Nicolas Almagro, a Spaniard who reached No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2011 and beat Nishikori 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3 in the Tokyo quarter-finals in 2013.

A deep run in Tokyo will help the Japanese star’s qualification bid for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but first he will need to work his way through a difficult section of the draw. David Goffin and Kevin Anderson are possible quarter-final opponents, while a meeting with Marin Cilic, who topped Nishikori in the 2014 US Open final, could occur in the semis. Winning the Tokyo title for the third time will go a long way in ensuring a third straight year-end championship appearance for Nishikori.

Gael Monfils, who sits one spot behind Nishikori at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, will kick off his Tokyo campaign against home favourite Yuichi Sugita while No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych will meet fellow big hitter Gilles Muller. #NextGen stars Nick Kyrgios and Taylor Fritz drew qualifiers for their first-round matches.

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Tomas Berdych began to close the gap on Rafael Nadal in the Emirates ATP Race To London on Friday as he defeated Jiri Vesely 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-2 in the Shenzhen Open quarter-finals.

The Czech is now 490 points behind eighth-placed Nadal in the year-to-date standings, with the Top 8 at the end of the regular season qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Berdych will look to make up yet more ground on the Spaniard when he faces Thomaz Bellucci in the semi-finals of this ATP World Tour 250 tournament. Berdych has a 3-1 record over Bellucci in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

The last match Berdych played against the No. 52-ranked Vesely was an epic in the fourth round at Wimbledon, and he was made to work hard once again by his younger countryman.

After losing his serve in the opening game of the match, Berdych hit back to steal the opener in a tie-break. Vesely drew level in the contest with a service break in the fourth game of the second set, but it was Berdych who took command of the decider, breaking three times after initially dropping his serve to seal victory in two hours and six minutes.

“You don’t play at your best level in every match,” said Berdych. “I also played a very tough match this year against Jiri at Wimbledon, which went to five sets. But I’m happy with the way I played today. It’s good to be on court, to be playing some matches. I’m having a good time.

“I’m going to try to take all the positives I can from tonight’s match to get ready for tomorrow. Bellucci’s playing great tennis this week. I’m going to go out there and take my game to him, and try not to give him too many easy balls.”

Berdych is bidding to reach his first ATP World Tour final of the season after semi-final showings in Doha, Marseille, Wimbledon and St. Petersburg. The Czech is the defending champion in Shenzhen, after beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in last year’s final.

World No. 81 Bellucci earned his semi-final spot with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over fourth seed Bernard Tomic. The Brazilian fired 14 aces and converted four of his seven break points as he cruised through in 61 minutes.

Bellucci is looking to reach his second final of the season, having finished runner-up in Quito in February (l. to Estrella Burgos).

Fognini/Lindstedt To Face Second Seeds In Final

Fabio Fognini and Robert Lindstedt are through to the Shenzhen doubles final after beating third seeds Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 7-6(2), 6-3. The Italian/Swedish duo will face second seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin, who are going for their third title of the season after beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-1. 

Third seed Grigor Dimitrov rallied from a set and a break down to reach the Chengdu Open semi-finals on Friday, battling past Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours.

Since the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where he joined forces with coach, Dani Vallverdu, Dimitrov has gone 11-4 on the ATP World Tour, enjoying a resurgence in form that has seen him reach the semi-finals in Cincinnati (l. to Cilic) and the fourth round of the US Open (l. to Murray).

Dimitrov, who clinched his 200^th tour-level win on Wednesday, will now look to reach his third ATP World Tour final of the season, but it was not without a fight that he got by Schwartzman.

The Bulgarian was in trouble as he trailed by a set and 3-1 in the second set, but broke back in the eighth game before breaking again in the 10^th game to force a decider. After relinquishing an early service break in the third set, Dimitrov broke decisively in the fourth game and went on to seal victory.

For a place in the final of this inaugural ATP World Tour 250 tournament, Dimitrov will face either top seed Dominic Thiem or fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

After being hampered by an elbow injury for several months, American teenager Michael Mmoh is finally healthy and producing the high quality tennis he’s capable of.

Competing at this week’s $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Tiburon, California, the 18 year old is into his first Challenger quarter-final of 2016. Mmoh ousted sixth seed and fellow American Stefan Kozlov in a second-round clash on Wednesday.

The match was mentally difficult for both because they’re close friends off the court, with Kozlov even recently beating Mmoh in a game of fantasy football. Kozlov said they had to “put the friendship aside and do their best” before walking on court, but Mmoh said playing a familiar face can sometimes provide an extra edge.

“It’s always tough because we’re such good friends off the court,” said Mmoh. “But sometimes I have even more motivation to win when I’m playing a friend.”

Mmoh started his year off strongly by qualifying for his first ATP World Tour main draw at the Memphis Open in February. But just as he was beginning to reach a new level, his elbow injury forced him to sit out for more than two months beginning in April. Although it took time to get his top form back, he’s now “feeling really good about my game [and] it’s showing this week.”

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The American has long been heralded as one of the world’s top junior players, peaking last year at No. 2 in the ITF Junior Rankings, but has been focusing almost exclusively on pro events this year. Mmoh closed out his junior career last month by winning the Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo, which gave him a wild card into the main draw of the US Open.

“All the players are good in the pros, so you don’t get many easy rounds,” said Mmoh. “But in the juniors, you should get a win pretty easily if you play up to your standard. The junior events don’t take as much of a toll on the mental side.”

Mmoh plays second seed and fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo in a quarter-final match on Friday. With so many young American players climbing up the Emirates ATP Rankings, Mmoh is eager to follow in their footsteps and join them on the world’s biggest stages.

“It’s been extremely important to see that,” said Mmoh. “I look at the way Tiafoe goes deep in these tournaments and it’s motivating. You want to do better than your peers every day. It’s just great motivation for all of us.”