Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram continued their quest for the Chennai title with a 7-5, 7-6(5) win over Lukas Rosol and Igor Zelenay on Thursday. The tournament is a meaningful one for Ram, as his parents were born in India and the American captured his maiden ATP World Tour doubles title in Chennai seven years ago (w/ Butorac).

In the bottom half of the draw, second seeds Marcel Granollers and Indian doubles legend Leander Paes were forced to withdraw against Austin Krajicek and Benoit Paire due to Granollers’ illness, giving the American-French duo a free pass into the final four.

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Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, the No. 1 team in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, were upended 7-6(5), 6-2 by fourth seeds Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya. Facing the German-Austrian tandem in the final will be third-seeded Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, who needed a Match Tie-break to overcome Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.

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No. 4 seeds Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt ended the run of Aussie wild cards Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith 7-6(0), 6-2. The locals broke serve in the opening game of the match, but dropped serve while serving for the first set and were unable to make further inroads against the British-Swedish team. The winners will face Finn Henri Kontinen and Aussie John Peers in the semi-finals.

Rafael Nadal will meet Ilya Marchenko for a place in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final on Friday after the second seed came through a three-set battle.

Nadal, the 2014 champion, converted five of his 10 break point opportunities in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over No. 79-ranked Andrey Kuznetsov in a two-hour and eight-minute encounter.

“Kuznetsov played some amazing shots, so it was difficult to control the match,” Nadal said. “It’s true that I missed my serve more than I wanted to, but I really only played one bad game, at 4-3 in the second set. His returns were amazing and his level was very high. Fortunately I played a great third set, with a lot of intensity.”

Marchenko withstood 12 aces to beat seventh seed Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6(3) in one hour and 35 minutes for a place in his third ATP World Tour semi-finals. Marchenko, who beat World No. 7 David Ferrer, is through to the last four of a tour-level event for the first time since 2010 St. Petersburg (l. to Kukushkin).

Afterwards Marchenko admitted, “The most important match after you beat David is the next one. It’s really difficult to handle the stress. Honestly, it was bad night for me. I couldn’t sleep much.”

Joining Nadal and Marchenko in the semi-finals is World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who was made to work against Leonardo Mayer before winning 6-3, 7-5. The Argentine broke the Djokovic serve in the first game of the second set and served for it at 5-4, but the Serb swept the last four games of the match to advance. He will face Tomas Berdych, who defeated Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-2, in the semi-finals.

“[Mayer] started better in both the first and second sets,” Djokovic said. “He was going for his shots and he’s a very complete player. The second set was close. It could have gone either way, but I stayed tough and fought through it. It was a good test and I’m glad to get through in straight sets.”

Benoit Paire, the 2015 ATP Comeback Player Of The Year, kicked off his 2016 campaign with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Lukas Rosol at the Aircel Chennai Open on Thursday. The third seed secured the victory in one hour, 24 minutes and improved to 2-1 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against the hard-hitting Czech.

“I was moving well, which is very important because Rosol hits the ball very flat and I have to cover the court against him,” said Paire, who made the semi-finals in 2013. “My backhand is one of my best shots and I did a good job of varying it today.”

Though Paire and Rosol combined for 12 aces, the match was decided by the return of serve. The Czech broke three times on eight occasions, but the Frenchman went five for 13 to find the winning margin in both sets. He moved on despite only landing 50 per cent of first serves and winning 44 per cent of second serve points.

Next up for Paire, No. 19 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is No. 157 Thomas Fabbiano, who survived 14 aces to upset sixth seed Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-5 in 77 minutes. The 26-year-old Italian now has consecutive ATP World Tour match wins after an eight-year drought and will take part in his first tour-level quarter-final.

Also in second round action, Indian wild card Ramkumar Ramanathan was slated to meet second seed Kevin Anderson, but saw the latter pull out with a left knee injury before their match. Anderson was replaced by lucky loser Alexander Kudryavtsev, ranked No. 164.

Ramanathan made the most of his opportunity, moving into the quarter-finals with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win in just under two hours. His next opponent will be Britain’s Aljaz Bedene, who needed over two hours to complete a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 comeback against Luca Vanni.

Roger Federer began his 2016 ATP World Tour season on Thursday night by beating qualifier Tobias Kamke 6-2, 6-1 in just 55 minutes at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp.

Top seed Federer, who beat Milos Raonic in last year’s final, is attempting to capture his 89th tour-level title this week. He is also bidding to lift his ninth trophy in the month of January (also 2002 Sydney, 2005-06, ’11 Doha, 2006-07, ’10 Australian Open and 2015 Brisbane).

Federer has a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against his quarter-final opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Viktor Troicki earlier in the day. Federer beat Dimitrov in last year’s semi-finals.

More to follow…

The ATP has announced the Tournaments of the Year in the 2015 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, with the BNP Paribas Open and Aegon Championships joined by the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and St. Petersburg Open as the most favoured ATP World Tour events in their respective tournament categories.

The Tournament of the Year awards, voted annually by ATP players, recognise the leading standards set across the three tournament categories on the Tour. Indian Wells repeats at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level, while The Queen’s Club in London wins in its first year as a 500 tournament. In the 250 category, first-time winners Doha and St. Petersburg share honours.

Visit the official ATP World Tour Awards section on ATPWorldTour.com

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “Many congratulations to these four tournaments for setting the standard in their respective categories in 2015. They are each outstanding events in their own right, and this is a fitting recognition, as voted by the players, for all the hard work and dedication that goes into putting on these world class tournaments.”

The BNP Paribas Open retains its title as the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year. The tournament received the distinction for the first time in 2014, following the debut of its state-of-the-art Stadium 2, additional practice courts and a new shade structure.

In 2015, the BNP Paribas Open continued its on-site improvements, unveiling a newly renovated player restaurant with expanded dining options and free Wi-Fi throughout the site. The tournament welcomed more than 450,000 fans through the gates over the fortnight.

“It is very rewarding for the BNP Paribas Open to be recognised as the 2015 Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year,” said Tournament Director Raymond Moore. “Our event is focused on improving each and every year in all areas and aspects, and receiving this award for the second year in a row is another validation that our actions – such as providing Hawk-Eye electronic line calling technology on every match court – are being appreciated by the players. It only intensifies our desire to reach new heights in 2016 and ensure that the experience at the tournament is nothing short of exceptional.”

The Aegon Championships receives a Tournament of the Year award for a third straight season. It won at the 250 level in 2013-14 before its re-categorisation as an ATP World Tour 500 event for 2015. The Aegon Championships ends Dubai’s seven-year reign at this level.

“To win ATP World Tour 500 tournament of the year in our first year in the category is a huge thrill, a magnificent achievement, and a credit to our tournament team, The Queen’s Club, our sponsors – particularly Aegon, and our broadcast partners,” said Tournament Director Stephen Farrow. “We were up against some of the finest and most popular tournaments on the ATP World Tour, and I am immensely proud that our efforts have been recognised by the players in this way.”