Rising teenager Taylor Fritz will make his Top 100 debut in the Emirates ATP Rankings after upsetting No. 8 seed Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the opening round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel event in Acapulco on Tuesday. The victory marked the 18-year-old American qualifier’s second Top 30 win in two weeks, having defeated 29^th-ranked countryman Steve Johnson en route to his first ATP World Tour final in Memphis last week.

“Yeah, it feels amazing to have that consistency, to show I didn’t just do it that one time, to come back and do it again,” Fritz said. “I felt like the first set I played a really great game in the very first game to break. He has a really big first serve and I made a lot of solid returns that game and kind of caught him a little off guard. I was able to serve well enough to hold serve throughout the set.

“Second set, I definitely had my chances to break but didn’t come up on the big points. He did … And the third set, I played about the best game I possibly good to get the early break. I played a lot of good shots.”

Fritz withstood 12 aces from the Frenchman but was more effective on break points, landing four of his five opportunities. He will face Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominic Republic next, a player 17 years his senior.

Fritz will surpass fellow 18 year old, Alexander Zverev, as the youngest player in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings by six months.

“It’s amazing. I’ve wanted to be a tennis player my whole life,” he said. “Being in the Top 100 puts things in perspective. I’m here and I only want to keep going up. This is a huge milestone for me.”

Fritz’s countryman, fellow qualifier Ryan Harrison, also pulled off an upset in his first-round clash, taking down No. 3 seed Marin Cilic 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in one hour and 46 minutes. Harrison clinched four of his five break point opportunities to see off the World No. 12. Cilic led the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0 and was coming off a runner-up appearance in Marseille where he fell to Nick Kyrgios. 

Russian Dimitry Tursunov had a narrow 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Sam Groth in just under two hours. The 33 year old withstood 24 aces from the Australian, but managed to break four times.

He will next meet fourth seed Dominic Thiem, who posted a 7-6(3), 6-3 win over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur. The Austrian, making his tournament debut, broke on five of 16 opportunities in the one-hour, 37-minute clash.

Alexandr Dolgopolov edged past Steve Johnson 7-5, 7-6(4) in one hour and 24 minutes. The Ukrainian had lost his only prior FedEx Head2Head meeting with the American but landed 11 aces and saved all five break points he faced to reach the second round. Dolgopolov awaits the winner of top seed David Ferrer and Australian John Millman next.

Brit Aljaz Bedene advanced 6-4, 1-2 after Croat Ivo Karlovic retired at the 48-minute mark. Bedene will face Robin Haase in the second round.

Roger Federer has ventured back onto the practice courts for the first time since undergoing right knee surgery just three weeks ago. The Swiss great tweeted the image of an indoor hit-out, stating that he had “rarely felt so happy to be back on a practice court”.

Rarely felt so happy being back on a practice court ? pic.twitter.com/2BJTqLqhTW

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 23, 2016

Federer went under the knife in Switzerland for arthroscopic knee surgery on February 3, to repair a torn meniscus that occurred the day after his Australian Open semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic, according to his agent Tony Godsick. He was forced to withdraw from the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai.

Federer fans were quick to wish Federer well after he made his social media post.

“Roger, we always feel pure happiness in our hearts seeing you back on any kind of court. Keep practising, champ, we miss you so much,” Veronika Tuckova said.

“Roger not seeing you on a tennis court is like seeing a fish out of water,” Elton Engstrom said.

“Keep on getting stronger, recover fully, king of the tennis court! You don’t just play tennis Mr Federer, you are tennis!” Elizabeth Butler said.

“Happy that you are back on the practice court. Keep practising, we just love to see you out there competing and making tennis such an awesome sport to watch,” Rita Gaitskell.

Facundo Bagnis defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-1 Tuesday at the Brasil Open to set a second-round clash with third seed and defending champion Pablo Cuevas, who is fresh off a title win at the Rio Open. It will be the third meeting between the two; Cuevas leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 2-0.

Brazilian wild card Thiago Monteiro continued his impressive run on home soil, backing up his upset of World No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last week in his ATP World Tour debut at the Rio Open with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over three-time champion Nicolas Almagro in the first round in Sao Paulo.

At 21, Monteiro is the youngest player in the draw, while seventh seed Almagro had only just returned to the Top 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (at No. 50) this week for the first time in more than a year after reaching the final at Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem) and the second round in Rio de Janeiro (l. to No. 5 Nadal).

Top seed Benoit Paire will open his Sao Paulo campaign against Dusan Lajovic, who beat last year’s runner-up Luca Vanni 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes on Tuesday, while Blaz Rola battled to oust sixth seed Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(5). The Slovenian capitalised on four of his five break chances to advance to the second round in two hours and 44 minutes.

Rola will next face Inigo Cervantes, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers. Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta also advanced after knocking out fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(2). The Gijon native will next face countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Gastao Elias and Diego Schwartzman both advanced to the second round after their opponents retired, eighth seed Pablo Andujar (right shoulder injury) and Horacio Zeballos (dehydration), respectively. Schwartzman will next face fourth seed Federico Delbonis, while Elias will face Santiago Giraldo, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Marco Cecchinato.

In doubles, Julio Peralta and Horacia Zeballos beat Mateusz Kowalczyk and Andreas Siljestrom 7-6(3), 7-5 to set a quarter-final meeting with Rogerio Dutra Silva and Joao Souza. Argentines Guillermo Duran and Andreas Moteni took down Brazilians Thomaz Bellucci and Marcelo Demoliner 6-4, 6-2.

Stan Wawrinka was on the verge of a third first-round defeat in three visits to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday evening, but held on for a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky.

The Swiss was two points from defeat as he trailed 4-5, 0/30 on serve in the deciding set. But he reeled off four straight points to hold serve before immediately breaking Stakhovsky. Wawrinka served out the hard-fought victory to love in just over two hours. Last week in Marseille, Wawrinka saved two match points as he edged Stakhovsky in a third set tie-break.

“It’s good for my confidence but it was a tough first match,” said Wawrinka. “I was hesitating, always being behind, staying aggressive. And it’s tough to play especially against Stakhovsky, who doesn’t give you too much rhythm.

“But it’s a great win for me. Not playing well, still winning, still fighting, still finding a way. I was playing a little bit better at the end, trying to be the aggressive player on the court. It’s good to have a chance to play better tomorrow.”

The 30-year-old Wawrinka is playing at this ATP World Tour 500 tournament for the first time since 2008. The right-hander captured his 12^th tour-level title at the start of the season in Chennai (d. Coric) and has a 9-2 record in 2016.

Doubles: Rojer/Tecau Win Opener

Top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau reached the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Viktor Troicki. The Dutch/Romanian duo, who finished as the year-end top team last season, are chasing their first title of 2016 this week.

Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez opened their title bid with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt. Lopez and Lopez were victorious in the first week of the season, beating Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya in the Doha final.

Hyeon Chung and Jiri Vesely sprung a surprise as they upset third seeds Vasek Pospisil and Nenad Zimonjic, 6-4, 6-4.

Third seed Tomas Berdych marked the start of his 10th appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Joao Sousa.

The Czech is a two-time runner-up at this ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tournament, reaching the final in 2013 (l. to Djokovic) and 2014 (l. to Federer), and has a 21-9 event record.

The 30-year-old Berdych notched his 10th win of the season as he prevailed in 70 minutes, converting four of his five break points.

“I think he struggled in the first set, so he could get only better,” said Berdych. “I think he just started to play a little bit more solid, played a little bit more aggressive from his forehand side, which is his stronger side. He pushed me a little bit more. But I think overall it was quite good.”

Berdych goes on to face qualifier Thomas Fabbiano, who defeated Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-4.

Fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut set a second-round clash with Korean teenager Hyeon Chung after dismissing Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-4 in 85 minutes. The 27-year-old Bautista Agut has enjoyed a career-best start to the season, winning titles in Auckland (d. Sock) and Sofia (d. Troicki), and improved to a 15-3 match record.

“I served really well. I think I played very solid during all the match,” said Bautista Agut. “I was returning well and putting a lot of pressure on him and returning everything. It was the best start of the season for me, so I have to be confident for sure. I feel great on the court, and I feel I have a lot of rhythm. I played a lot of matches. So it’s good, to win matches and to be with confidence.”

Next Generation star Borna Coric advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jiri Vesely. The 19-year-old Croat, who lives and trains in Dubai, reached his first ATP World Tour final in Chennai at the start of the season (l. to Wawrinka).

Coric goes on to meet eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 7-5.

Croatian qualifier Frank Skugor notched his first tour-level win in six years – and just the fourth of his career – as he defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 6-3. The 28 year old could face second seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round, should the Swiss beat Sergiy Stakhovsky.