Dustin Brown is racking the up Hot Shots in 2016. After his stunning behind-the-back volley winner this February at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bergamo, the German followed it up on Wednesday with a tweener winner in his opening around against No. 2 seed Rajeev Ram at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester.

With Ram serving at 2/2 in the second-set tie-break, the American approached the net with a low-bouncing slice backhand. Brown was forced to react and flicked a forehand between his legs for a passing shot winner, raising his arms in celebration.

“A lot of it (the entertainment) is how I am and how I learned to play tennis. It’s intuition and when the balls go in, everyone’s happy. I was on the wrong side of the court, so I ran and in my head I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ said Brown. “If I make it, everyone says ‘Great.’ If I hit the house behind the court, everyone says ‘What an idiot, how can he do that at 2/2 in the tie-break?’ The most important thing I’ve learned over the years is to come to terms with my tennis and how I can be dangerous, especially with these surfaces.”

Rewind: Watch Brown Hit Behind-The-Back Hot Shot In Bergamo

Brown went on to score the upset over Ram, 7-6(3), 7-6(3). He next plays fellow German Mischa Zverev in a second-round match on Thursday.

Two Top 10 veterans and a pair of rising ATP stars will play for the final spots in the Roland Garros semi-finals on Thursday.

The 26^th meeting between Novak Djokovic against Tomas Berdych is the first scheduled match on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The World No. 1 leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 23-2 and has won their past 10 meetings. But Berdych’s last win did come on clay (Rome 2013) and the Czech has won at least a set against Djokovic the three times they’ve played on the red dirt.

Djokovic, who has won every Grand Slam except Roland Garros, will be trying to reach his 30^th Grand Slam semi-final, including his sixth consecutive in Paris. Berdych, meanwhile, has reached the last four at Roland Garros once before, in 2010.

A trip to the semi-finals and entry into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings will be on the line when David Goffin and Dominic Thiem meet. Their quarter-final match is the first scheduled contest on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Goffin, the 12^th seed, has won four of their six FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. On clay, they’re even 1-1. But Thiem, the 13^th seed, won their most recent contest on clay, a 7-5, 6-2 victory last year in the Gstaad final.

Whoever wins will crack the Top 10 for the first time and could rise as high as No. 7 on Monday if Berdych falls to Djokovic. The loser of the Goffin-Thiem match will still rise to a career-best No. 11 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Stan Wawrinka, the defending Roland Garros champion, powered to a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(7) over unseeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas in quarter-final action on Wednesday. The 2015 champion is on track to defend his Roland Garros crown and will face Andy Murray in his next match.

“I didn’t want to give [Ramos-Vinolas] anything to use against me, so I hit the ball heavy. Then I was able to get into the court and vary the pace,” Wawrinka said. “In general, I quite like the conditions here in Paris. I am still able to hit through the ball and make some winners.”

Murray leads 8-7 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Wawrinka and is into his fourth semi-final at Roland Garros. The 31-year-old Wawrinka has reached the semi-finals in four of his past six Grand Slams. Both players are seeking to capture their third Grand Slam title.

“Well, we haven’t played that much in the past few years,” Wawrinka noted. “[Murray]’s improved a lot on clay. He’s playing so well, especially if you look at this year. He won Rome, made the final in Madrid and made the semi-finals in Monaco.

“So it’s going to be an interesting match. We’ve had good battles in the past, so I’m quite happy to play him. I think it’s going to be a great challenge.”

Wawrinka started the match in imperious form. He saved two break points in the opening game of the match and raced to a 3-0 lead, before he secured another service break to end the set. The Swiss struck three aces and won six of seven points when approaching the net and overwhelmed Ramos-Vinolas with power, hitting 17 winners in the opener. He would finish the match with 49 winners to Ramos-Vinolas’ 10.

Ramos-Vinolas was coming off an upset win over No. 8 seed Milos Raonic in his previous match, but was unable to find solutions against Wawrinka in the first 90 minutes of play. The Spanish left-hander, who was contesting his first Grand Slam quarter-final, fell behind by two sets and a break before making a late charge and forcing a third-set tie-break.

The Spaniard’s bid to extend the encounter was helped by a flurry of uncharacteristic misfires from his opponent. Wawrinka made 43 unforced errors during the match, with more than half (24) coming in the third set.

Faced with the unattractive prospect of a fourth set, Wawrinka dug himself out of trouble with well-placed first serves and sensible shot selection. He saved a set point at 7/6 in the third-set tie-break by winning a long rally, then swept the next two points to advance.

“Frankly, I’m not very happy. I could have done better during the first two sets. It took me time to react [to Wawrinka’s level],” Ramos-Vinolas said. “I hope that later on I’ll be quite satisfied with what I’ve done during this tournament, and that I’ll play even better in the future. [This run] gives me reasons to work, to move forward, and to improve my game.”

Fifth seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan saw off Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes 7-6(12), 6-3 to advance to the semi-finals of Roland Garros on Wednesday. The 2015 finalists, who saved five set points in a long first-set tie-break, are still on track to capture a third title at the second Grand Slam event of the season (2003, 2013).

In the next round, the Bryans will face the winner of the quarter-final clash pitting Lukasz Kubot/Alexander Peya against Pablo Cuevas/Marcel Granollers. Cuevas won the 2008 Roland Garros doubles title alongside Luis Horna, while Granollers was runner-up in 2014 (w/ M. Lopez).

Defending champions Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, who defeated the Bryans for the title 12 months ago, are also into the semi-finals after defeating Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea 6-4, 6-4. They will either take on 15^th seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, who upset top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 7-6(7), 6-1 on Wednesday, or 2014 champions Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Julien Benneteau.

Ninth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the first set to lead second seed Andy Murray 7-5 on Wednesday in their Roland Garros quarter-final. Gasquet is appearing in his first last-eight match on Parisian clay.

Murray capitalised on the lack of French supporters on Court Philippe Chatrier in the early stages of his 11th meeting with Gasquet by taking a 3-0 lead. Gasquet looked pensive, but began a remarkable comeback – underpinned by fluent groundstroke winners – from a 2-5 deficit. Murray lost his serve in the ninth and 11th games as Gasquet took a 6-5 lead. Under the gaze of Rod Laver, the 1962 and 1969 Grand Slam champion, Murray kept his emotions in check. Serving at 6-5, Gasquet saved three break points and finally clinched the 66-minute opener on his fourth set point opportunity.

Murray, who is attempting to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals for a fourth time, leads Gasquet 7-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Several players competing this week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester visited a different patch of green grass before their first-round matches. Americans Denis Kudla and Dennis Novikov, Britons Alexander Ward and Brydan Klein, and Australian John-Patrick Smith enjoyed a tour of the world-renowned Etihad Stadium, home of the Manchester City Football Club.

The three players and their coaches got a behind-the-scenes look at the stadium and Etihad Campus, which houses the training facilities for Manchester City’s young academy players. For Klein, whose mother is from Manchester, the experience was particularly memorable.

“My family follows City,” said Klein. “The stadium was amazing, one of the biggest I’ve ever seen…I’ve played tennis in some big stadiums, but nothing compared to that. This is a city which just really loves sports.”

More: Players Visit Manchester United Football Stadium

Smith, top seed Kudla and wild card Ward all play their first-round matches on Wednesday. Kudla takes on Eduardo Struvay of Colombia, Ward plays another Colombian in Alejandro Falla and Smith faces No. 5 seed Benjamin Becker of Germany.