Dino Prizmic might only be 18, but he showed Monday he is ready to compete against some of the best players in the world.

The #NextGenATP star defeated sixth seed Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-5 to reach the second round of the BNP Paribas Nordic Open. It was the Croatian’s third tour-level victory.

“I’m very happy about my performance today,” Prizmic said in his on-court interview. “I just want to say thanks to everyone who came here and supported this match because it means a lot to players. Thanks to everyone.”

WHAT A WIN ⚡️

Dino Prizmic earns the biggest win of his career after defeating Jiri Lehecka 6-3 7-5 in Stockholm! 👏#StockholmOpen

pic.twitter.com/GlLJWcHzCe

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 16, 2023

Prizmic successfully neutralised one of the most powerful baseliners on the ATP Tour, winning 41 per cent of his return points and breaking the Czech’s serve three times. He will next face former Top 10 player Roberto Bautista Agut or home favourite Elias Ymer.

“I will try just to play my best tennis and try to enjoy every match,” Prizmic said. “I don’t want to give to myself big pressure. I just want to play my best tennis and enjoy every moment.”

Italian Lorenzo Sonego won a tight battle against Serbian Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after two hours and 19 minutes. The 28-year-old now leads Lajovic 3-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and has won three consecutive meetings against the 33-year-old. It was their first clash since 2020.

Did You Know?
Prizmic is 18th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The Croatian can move into contention for a place at the Next Gen ATP Finals with a deep run in Stockholm.

When packing his bags to travel on the ATP Tour, Cameron Norrie includes items for both fashion and function. The Briton recently invited ATP Uncovered into his hotel room, where he shared the ins and outs of his travel habits.

Norrie does not go anywhere without the Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt his coach, Facundo Lugones, gifted him. “I think I’ve taken it every week with me for the last year and a half,” he said.

Among the more practical items Norrie travels with are journals and a recovery boot, which help keep his mind and his body right, respectively.

When it comes to chill time, Norrie stays stylish in sunglasses, which he can pair with some personalised flip-flops. A gift from the Rio de Janeiro ATP 500 tournament, where he was champion in February, has become a footwear staple.

“They have my ugly face on them,” Norrie joked. But his constant use of the flip-flops has created one unflattering issue, as he explains in the video below.

Flavio Cobolli was an alternate at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2021 but never took to court at the 21-and-under event. Two years on and the Italian boosted his chances of making his debut in Jeddah following his run to the title at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Lisbon earlier this month.

The 21-year-old is up two spots to ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah after backing up his title triumph in Portugal with a quarter-final appearance at a Challenger event in Malaga last week.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah

American Zachary Svajda has also strengthened his hopes after soaring 12 spots to 13th following a standout month. The 20-year-old has won three of the past four Challengers that he has played in, with his latest victory coming in Fairfield, California. Svajda is aiming to compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals for the first time.

Italian Luca Nardi, who will play at the ATP 250 in Antwerp this week, has jumped two places to 12th. The 20-year-old defeated fellow Next Gen ATP Finals hopeful Dominic Stricker en route to the semi-finals at a Challenger Tour event in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The Next Gen ATP Finals will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 28 November – 2 December.

With four weeks until the Nitto ATP Finals, the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin continued to heat up at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Italian Jannik Sinner qualified after winning his second-round match in China, while Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev boosted their chances. ATPTour.com looks at the key movers as of Monday, 16 October.

11th (2,775 points) – Hubert Hurkacz
The Pole has jumped six spots to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin after winning his second ATP Masters 1000 crown and first of the season in Shanghai. The 26-year-old saved one championship point in the final against Rublev before converting on his fourth opportunity to improve to 7-1 in tour-level finals. Hurkacz is 335 points behind Holger Rune, who currently occupies the final qualification spot in eighth. Hurkacz competed at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2021, falling in the round-robin stage.

Fifth (4,275 points) – Andrey Rublev
Rublev has consolidated his fifth-placed position in the Live Race To Turin after collecting 600 points by reaching his sixth final of the season. The 25-year-old is chasing a fourth consecutive appearance at the prestigious year-end event, with his best result a semi-final run in 2022.

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Sinner have all qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Felix Auger-Aliassime earned a confidence-boosting win on debut at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships on Monday when he downed Australian Aleksandar Vukic 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 6-2.

The Canadian entered the matching having earned just two wins in his past 11 outings, but he stepped up when needed in the deciding set against Vukic to advance to the second round in Shanghai.

“It is a big relief,” Auger-Aliassime said. “There have been tough times lately where I was wondering what to do. I have to keep on training and believing and hope my level will come back. I am happy to get the victory today. It is a positive.”

The World No. 17 won 80 per cent (8/10) of points on Vuckic’s second serve in the third set and converted all three of his break-point opportunities in the decider to set a second-round meeting against Sebastian Ofner after the Austrian defeated Christopher O’Connell 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-5.

In other action, Jordan Thompson dealt a blow to Alexander Zverev’s Nitto ATP Finals hopes. The Australian overcame the German 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round at the ATP 500 hard-court event.

“He is a quality player,” Thompson said. “You can see what he has done in his career and I have not done nearly as much as him. But when I get on a court with those guys I believe I can win. If you don’t believe you can win you may as well not be there. I enjoyed the challenge.”

World No. 60 Thompson has now earned two Top 10 wins this year, also defeating then-World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in Indian Wells. He will next meet Ben Shelton or Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel.

Zverev is seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 450 points ahead of ninth-placed Taylor Fritz. The Top 8 players qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held in Turin from 12-19 November. Zverev, who has won two titles this season, has triumphed at the prestigious year-end event twice.

Argentine Mariano Navone and American Zachary Svajda continued their standout seasons this past week on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 22-year-old Navone won his fourth Challenger title of the season while Svajda, 20, secured back-to-back titles in California.

Navone won on home soil at the Challenger de Buenos Aires, where he rallied past top seed Federico Coria 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Now at a career-high No. 146 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Navone joins Thiago Seyboth Wild atop the season leaderboard as the only players with four ATP Challenger Tour trophies.

“I feel very good. I’m very happy to win this title here. I won three matches in three sets so I’m very happy and tired,” said Navone. “I’m a guy who needs support and it’s fun to see me shouting, ‘Vamos!’ with the crowd and today was very special to win on Mother’s Day in Argentina. I enjoyed the tournament and the crowd. This is the most special Navone, Svajda Earn Challenger Titles To Continue Career-Best Seasons.”

This year also marks the third straight season with an Argentine winning at least four ATP Challenger Tour titles (Pedro Cachin won four in 2022, Sebastian Baez earned six in 2021.)

“Total surprise,” Navone said. “The fourth is the most important for me because it’s the tournament I hoped [to win] all year. I prepared with great intensity for two weeks for this tournament.”

Navone’s countryman Francisco Comesana enjoyed a quarter-final run in Buenos Aires to become the first player to win 40 Challenger matches this year. The 23-year-old, who has captured two Challenger titles this season, is at a career-high No. 117.

Svajda is enjoying a career-best season, including two consecutive titles in his home state California. After winning the Tiburon Challenger last week, Svajda was crowned champion at the Taube – Grossman Pro Tennis Tournament, where he defeated 18-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy 6-4, 6-1 to earn his fourth career ATP Challenger Tour title.

“It’s so important to keep going. I feel like last year I would do well, have a good tournament and then the next couple weeks I would be tired or not fully there mentally,” Svajda told commentator Mike Cation. “I just feel more mature right now, stronger, and mentally better. Backing up [the title in Tiburon] means a lot to me.”

At 13th in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Jeddah, Svajda has a chance to make a late-season push to earn his maiden qualification into the Next Gen ATP Finals, which showcases the world’s best 21-and-under players. Svajda has won 16 of his past 17 Challenger-level matches and is just the second #NextGenATP player with three titles at that level in 2023, alongside Hamad Medjedovic.

This year marks the third straight season an American aged 20-and-under has won three Challenger titles. Ben Shelton did so last year and Jenson Brooksby conquered the feat in 2021. Svajda triumphed in Cary, North Carolina last month before winning in Tiburon and Fairfield the past two weeks.

“I knew my hard work was going to pay off somewhere and I didn’t know when,” said Svajda, who is at a career-high No. 139. “It feels nice and I want to keep it going. It feels awesome but I’m not satisfied with this. I’ll celebrate some but this is important to keep backing up weeks and keep getting on a good run.”

In Fairfield doubles action, Evan King and Reese Stalder claimed their fifth doubles crown of the season, joining Hendrik Jebens and Constantin Frantzen as the only teams with five Challenger titles in 2023. The Germans Jebens and Frantzen have won a season-leading six team titles.

Two former college stars also claimed ATP Challenger Tour titles Sunday. American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who graduated from the University of Illinois in 2021, did not drop a set all week en route to winning the Shenzhen Longhua Open, where he downed Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the final.

Aleksandar Kovacevic wins the Challenger 100 event in Shenzhen, China.” />
^{Aleksandar Kovacevic wins the Challenger 100 event in Shenzhen, China. Credit: Shenzhen Longhua Open}
Kovacevic captured his maiden Challenger crown in January in Cleveland, Ohio and the ensuing month returned to the winners’ circle in Waco, Texas. Following his triumph in China, Kovacevic climbed 34 spots to No. 112, just 11 spots shy of tying his career high, which he reached in April.

Former University of Kentucky standout Gabriel Diallo earned his second ATP Challenger Tour trophy and first of this season at the Peugeot Slovak Open. The 22-year-old defeated Belgian Joris De Loore 6-0, 7-5 to become the youngest Canadian to win two Challenger titles since his fellow Montreal native Felix Auger-Aliassime (2018).

“I’m pretty happy that I got the job done, it wasn’t easy,” said Diallo, who is at a career-high No. 130. “He had chances in the second set but I’m happy that I stayed calm to get my first title of the year. It’s an individual sport but we also have so many people in the background, so I’m really happy for my team as well.”

Gabriel Diallo wins the Challenger 125 event in Bratislava, Slovakia.” />
^{Gabriel Diallo wins the Challenger 125 event in Bratislava, Slovakia. Credit: Peugeot Slovak Open}
A pivotal moment for Diallo came in the second round, when he survived top seed and former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in a third-set tie-break to keep his title hopes alive. Diallo stayed steady to become the 15th different former collegiate player to win a Challenger title 2023, tying the single-season record previously set in 2022.

Frenchman Ugo Blanchet earned his maiden Challenger title in Malaga, Spain, where he advanced through qualifying and won seven matches across eight days to triumph. The 24-year-old did not drop a set all week and overcame Italian Mattia Bellucci 6-4, 6-4 in the Malaga Open final.

Players from France have combined for a record-breaking 25 ATP Challenger Tour trophies this year, with Blanchet becoming the 17th different champion from his country this season. Blanchet is at a career-high World No. 209.

Ugo Blanchet wins the Challenger 125 event in Malaga, Spain.” />
^{Ugo Blanchet wins the Challenger 125 event in Malaga, Spain. Credit: Julio Salcedo}

Holger Rune is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as he tries to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. But this week with three tournaments — the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, the BNP Paribas Nordic Open and the European Open — being played, the battle for a spot at the season finale could drastically change.

Rune is currently 145 points ahead of ninth-placed Taylor Fritz. The Dane will focus on what he can control in Stockholm, where he is the top seed and defending champions. The 20-year-old would add 250 points to his total with a title.

“Definitely one of the goals is to be able to get into Turin, the Finals, at the end of the year,” Rune told the media at the China Open in Beijing. He later added: “I’m going to try to focus on what I do instead of what everybody else is doing.”

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin Standings

From sixth through 18th place in the Live Race, 12 of the 13 players are in action this week. The only exception is 16th-placed Grigor Dimitrov, who made the Shanghai semi-finals.

Every player from ninth through 15th place is competing in Tokyo, where the champion will add 500 points to his tally. If Fritz wins the title, he will leapfrog Rune in the Live Race no matter how the Dane performs in Stockholm.

Fifth-placed Andrey Rublev, who is not in action this week, built a 660-point advantage over sixth-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas by advancing to the Shanghai final. Tsitsipas can claw closer to Rublev and further secure his standing with a deep run at the European Open in Antwerp, where he is the top seed.

Seventh seed Alexander Zverev, a two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion, is playing in Tokyo. The German is 305 points ahead of Rune and could extend his advantage this week. He is trying to qualify for the season finale one year after suffering a severe ankle injury at Roland Garros, which kept him out for the rest of the season.

“It’s good to be back in the Top 10. It’s good to be back in contention for Turin as well,” Zverev told ATP Media. “If I continue playing the way I was playing the past few months I think I have great chances.

“Coming back from an injury like that where I was out for seven months, where I didn’t know what my level would be coming back, being in contention for Turin and making Turin, that would be a great achievement.”

Hubert Hurkacz and Novak Djokovic are the only two players in 2023 to save a match point en route to an ATP Tour title in two separate tournaments.

Hurkacz joined Djokovic on the exclusive list when he saved one championship point in the Shanghai final against Andrey Rublev. It was the second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 event at which the champion saved match point during his title run, after Novak Djokovic did so in Cincinnati against Carlos Alcaraz.

The Polish star also saved a match point in February at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. He saved a match point in the quarter-finals against Mikael Ymer and did not lose a set the rest of the week.

Djokovic accomplished the feat in his first tournament of the season, the Adelaide International 1. He was on the brink against Sebastian Korda before rallying for the victory.

The Serbian also saved championship point against Alcaraz in the final of the Western & Southern Open. The three-hour, 49-minute battle was one of the best matches of 2023.

Eight times in 2023 a champion has triumphed after saving match point en route to the title. On six of those occasions, the champion saved match point in the final.

The stars have enjoyed their time off court in Tokyo — Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Zverev made sushi on Saturday. But they will now turn their attention to the ATP 500 action on the court at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Fans in Tokyo will be treated to tantalising encounters from the first round, headlined by a Top 20-showdown between top seed Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie.

The headlining battle between two former ATP Masters 1000 champions is for more than just a place in the second round. The result will have major ramifications in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Fritz is in ninth place, 145 points behind Holger Rune, who currently holds the final qualifying spot. Norrie, who is 17th in the Live Race, will try to damage the top seed and defending champion’s Turin pursuit. The pair has split 12 previous Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes, eight of which have gone to a deciding set.

Third seed Zverev, who is seventh in the Live Race, will begin his tournament against Jordan Thompson while eighth seed Auger-Aliassime will face Aleksandar Vukic.

Shanghai champion Hubert Hurkacz will try to maintain his momentum against Zhang Zhizhen and second seed Casper Ruud will try to hold off Japanese wild card Yosuke Watanuki.

Other matches to watch include fourth seed Alex de Minaur taking on British qualifier Jack Draper, and sixth seed Frances Tiafoe playing Aslan Karatsev in a battle of former major semi-finalists. In a generational clash, Argentine No. 1 Francisco Cerundolo will face former Argentine No. 1 Diego Schwartzman.

Did You Know?
Eight of the Top 15 players in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin are competing this week in Tokyo. 

Hubert Hurkacz has his eyes on the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

The Pole captured his second ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and has now climbed to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 335 points behind Holger Rune, who currently occupies the all-important eighth spot.

“Coming to this couple of weeks starting here in Shanghai I knew I [had] to give myself a chance, I need to be winning tournaments, so that’s a pretty good start,” Hurkacz said of his Turin hopes. “I mean, just an amazing week here in Shanghai. I really enjoyed it here with the team, but ultimately, we just want to get better every single day and improve, enjoy those moments, but we’re just going to try our best and then just keep fighting and keep competing.”

The 26-year-old, who competed at the prestigious year-end event in 2021, battled hard against Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final, saving one match point en route to his seventh tour-level crown. Hurkacz holds a 7-1 record in tour-level finals.

“Andrey was playing some really good tennis, and I knew I had to produce the shots, so I was just trying to stay out there and compete as hard as I could and to keep positive self-talk and then keep the belief until the end,” Hurkacz said. “At the end of the day, it’s a final, and you want to just give it all you got out there.”

Watching the final in the stands was two-time champion Roger Federer. Hurkacz is pleased to have joined the Swiss legend as a title winner in Shanghai.

“There’s so many champions who won it in the past and so many amazing players and in my speech I was trying to thank everyone. I forgot to mention Roger, thanks for coming. Hopefully, he won’t take it personally,” Hurkacz said, cracking a smile. “But definitely fun to play in front of him. Hopefully he enjoyed it a little bit.”

Hurkacz now holds a 39-20 record on the season. He captured his maiden Masters 1000 title in Miami in 2021.