Jordan Thompson and Roman Safiullin set their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash for the Chengdu Open quarter-finals by each notching comfortable victories Friday at the Chinese hard-court ATP 250.

The World No. 56 Thompson did not face a break point in his 6-1, 7-6(1) triumph against Dusan Lajovic in Sichuan province. Despite letting two match points slip at 6-5 in the second set, the Australian charged through the tie-break to wrap victory in 89 minutes and reach his 17th ATP Tour quarter-final.

“It’s tough, but he played two very good points on them,” said Thompson when asked about the two missed match points. “I felt like I was in front the whole way, I was up 6-1 and also serving to start in the second set. So I always kept in front, but just couldn’t pull through.

“Credit to him because he started playing a lot better and serving well, but in the tie-breaker I just got out to a very big lead and that really helped.”

Following Thompson and Lajovic on Chengdu’s centre court were Safiullin and fourth seed Daniel Evans. The World No. 55 Safiullin wasted little time notching an upset as he converted four of his six break points in a 6-3, 6-3 triumph.

Safiullin takes out the 4th seed, Dan Evans, in straight sets to advance in Chengdu! 😤@ChengduOpen | #ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/GiPFxZTteY

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 22, 2023

With his 83-minute win, Safiullin advanced to his second tour-level quarter-final of the season after his run to the last eight at Wimbledon in July. The 26-year-old is up six spots to No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run in Chengdu so far, just six spots shy of his career high in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Although yet to meet at tour-level, Thompson and Safiullin did meet in January in qualifying at the Adelaide International 2, where Australia’s Thompson prevailed 6-4, 6-4.

In the only other completed match before heavy rain brought a premature end to the day’s play, Christopher O’Connell defeated Taro Daniel 7-6(10), 6-4 to join his fellow Aussie Thompson in the quarter-finals. Top seed Grigor Dimitrov’s opening match against Juan Pablo Varillas did not start due to the rain and will now open the centre court schedule on Saturday, when Dimitrov will look to claim his 400th tour-level win.

Team Europe may count four debutants among its six-strong roster for this year’s Laver Cup, but that does not mean there is any shortage of big-stage experience for captain Bjorn Borg to call upon this weekend in Vancouver.

With 42 ATP Tour titles between them, Borg is excited at the lineup he has to choose from this year as he aims to help Europe reclaim the trophy from Team World at the annual event.

“I’m very happy with my team. We had a good practice the whole week,” said Borg at Team Europe’s pre-tournament press conference. “I think it’s going to be very interesting match. Unfortunately, we lost last year in London. That was a very big disappointment.

“I know that all these six guys are very eager to bring back the trophy to Europe… It’s the best week of the year for me personally, and spend time with these great champions here, it’s such a nice thing. The team we have together, it’s wonderful. It’s a very close team, and it should be in that kind of way.”

Team Europe came to serve 📸 pic.twitter.com/1qI3u1rFhy

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 22, 2023

With Gael Monfils, Hubert Hurkacz, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Arthur Fils set to make their debuts, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev are the Laver Cup veterans aiming to help their teammates settle in quickly to the unique format of the competition.

“Me and Andrey, who has also played before, are going to do our best to help our fellow teammates who are here for the first time, and hopefully that experience can help a little bit,” said Norway’s Ruud. “Just enjoy but give it your all. It’s a trophy worth fighting for. It’s much more fun to hold it than go in the locker room on Sunday not having won. That’s the advice I would give.”

Team Europe’s Laver Cup first-timers include two Frenchmen at different stages of their careers in Gael Monfils and Arthur Fils. The 36-year-old Monfils, who will take on Canadian favourite Felix Auger-Aliassime on Day 1, is hoping his wealth of experience can help his #NextGenATP countryman Fils, as well as the rest of the team, forge a positive result this weekend at Roger’s Arena.

“It’s always great to be in a team,” said Monfils. “Like a little bit different, but the first time also I play with Arthur. We couldn’t manage to play on Davis Cup together. Then with the other guys, we’ve known each other for long time also, and it’s just great.

“As I say to all of them, I’m there, you know, to loosen up everybody and definitely to help them. This competition, it was on my bucket list. It looks great, looks fantastic. Definitely the type of format that I love to play and compete in, with team spirit. I was very flattered when I received a call, and 100 per cent will be ready tomorrow for a good one.”

Regardless of who is on court for Team Europe at any particular time, they will have the support of five other players they normally see as rivals, week-in, week-out on the ATP Tour. For Ruud, it is this dynamic which makes Laver Cup so engaging.

“I think it’s nice to have your typical opponents be teammates for once,” said Ruud. “When you’re playing Davis Cup or United Cup, you have your countrymen as your teammates. But here it’s anyone from Europe can be your teammate.

“You kind of connect or create a connection or a bond that you can kind of use for the rest of the year. The next year it’s easier to know each other, to set up practices. At least I felt like that helped a lot for me when I played my first year [in] Boston. [It] was kind of easier to ask the guys to practice in the future and so on.

“It’s just really fun competition. You have to learn all the good and all the bad sides of your teammates.”

Team World broke new ground at the Laver Cup in 2022, defeating Team Europe for the first time to lift the trophy in London.

Twelve months on and John McEnroe’s side is ready to go in Vancouver, where ATP Tour stars including Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will aim to guide Team World to a successful title defence.

“In the format, how it’s always gone, it always comes down to the wire either way,” Fritz said when looking ahead to the sixth edition of the three-day event. “Europe has always been the favourite, but it’s also been really close almost every year. Maybe we might be the favourites this year with winning last year and we have such a strong team, but we can’t be thinking like that because it’s probably going to come down to the wire either way, so we have to treat it like it’s all the other years.”

Team World possesses Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and alternate Milos Raonic, Argentine Francisco Cerundolo and five Americans: Fritz, Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Christopher Eubanks, who like Raonic, is an alternate.

With seven Americans inside the Top 50 and 20-year-old Shelton fresh off his run to the semi-finals at the US Open, captain McEnroe is excited about the future of the sport in the United States.

“I think it’s a great mix. I think these three [Fritz, Tiafoe and Paul] have shown over the years they have helped each other, gone at it against each other, trained, and have fed off each other, and that’s made them better players,” said McEnroe, who will lead Team World for the sixth time. “They are this close now, making that breakthrough. That’s a great thing. Then bringing Ben in the mix, as a young buck who is going to come with a lot of energy, a lot of ability, keep pushing. We’re heading in a great direction.”

Shelton has enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour, reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and the last four at the US Open. Currently at a career-high No. 19 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the 20-year-old is excited to make his Laver Cup debut.

“Being back in a team environment, I feel really comfortable, really excited to be on this team with these guys,” said Shelton, who plays Arthur Fils on Friday. “The last few years I have been watching them tear it up on Tour, been watching tear it up in this event, so really happy to be here. Excited to be kicking things off tomorrow.”

Auger-Aliassime is preparing to make his third appearance at the event, having earned a vital victory against Novak Djokovic in London in 2022. The Canadian is relishing the chance to compete on home soil and believes the event will provide long-term benefits to Vancouver.

“We are here to compete. We want to win. And to have I think the home crowd and to have the people with us to do that, I think it’s going to be great,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I had a great experience winning last year, but it was away, so to speak. So it would be nice to do it at home and kind of like celebrate with the people here and kind of keep the trophy in our hands. But excited to kick it off tomorrow night. I think it’s going to be a good day.

“The last few years it’s kind of a buzz about Canadian tennis overall, and I think it’s nice to bring this kind of event here, to have all these great players play in Vancouver and also encourage kids,” Auger-Aliassime later added. “This morning seeing kids like from around here that play in different clubs around here to come out and see the event and see us practise, I think it’s great to have that. I would have loved to see that when I was growing up here.”

The Laver Cup will be played over three days, from 22-24 September, across five sessions. Each match win is worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on a high-stakes Sunday. The first team to reach 13 points (out of a possible 24) wins the Laver Cup.

Cameron Norrie is determined to tick off another major career goal by the end of the year. The English star, who is in China for the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships on Saturday, believes he is ‘going to be pretty dangerous’ in the latter stages of 2023.

The 28-year-old is 15th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin. But Norrie is confident he is hitting the ball well enough to make a big leap forward over the next month in Asia and believes he can qualify for the ATP Tour Finals.

“At the start of the year that was a huge goal [but] there were a couple of things that got in the way of that, mostly in the level of my tennis,” Norrie said. “I’ve been really working hard to bring the quality up again in my practice sessions and my team has been great with me and I think I’m ready to have a big week again.

“Honestly, in previous years, I’ve thought I’ve played my best tennis here in Asia, but I never had a really big result. Someone always came up and beat me and played well against me. But I think I’m going to be pretty dangerous these next few weeks. It’s going to take someone very good to stop me.”

Norrie, who rides his bike to the All England Lawn Tennis Club during Wimbledon, was a semi-finalist there last year and also reached the last 16 in New York in a strong season. He emphasized excelling in the majors this year but was only able to reach the third rounds at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open.

Norrie, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz to triumph in Rio during a strong start to the season, said he needs to sustain his form and concentration for longer in Grand Slams.

“I was really going into the season to try to prioritise the Grand Slams and I was not able to play my best at those tournaments and I was very disappointed with that,” he said. “I think I can learn a lot from how I handled those weeks … and I think, over five sets, I should be tougher to beat.

“But I’m going to have to go away and work really hard with my team in the off-season and really embrace the Grand Slams in the future.”

Norrie arrived in Zhuhai after tough singles losses to Stan Wawrinka and Ugo Humbert at the Davis Cup last week. But he said being around his countrymen as Great Britain booked a spot in the Davis Cup Finals with a thrilling victory over France was an ‘insane ending’ to a ‘crazy week’.

“I’ve actually never felt so good after getting chopped, losing two matches. I was able to come away feeling so good and it is not often you have that in tennis,” he said. “It was a huge honor to represent my country again and I definitely took a lot of positives from the week and I was really happy with the way it finished.”

Norrie looked in good form when hitting with Tomas Matin Etcheverry in Zhuhai on Friday ahead of his first match at the tournament against Australian qualifier Marc Polmans. The diligence of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings No. 17 was on display on Thursday as he watched Polmans closely during the Australian’s opening-round win over Dane Sweeny.

“It feels good to be back and I definitely missed this part of the year, because the last few years it was straight into the indoor season. It feels good to be back,” Norrie said.

The photos have been taken and practice is complete. On Friday, Team Europe and Team World will begin the 2023 Laver Cup in Vancouver. 

After taking official photos for the teams event on Wednesday, the stars made their final preparations on Thursday in Canada. The Order of Play for Day 1, when matches will be worth one point each, was also unveiled.

Recent US Open semi-finalist Ben Shelton will try to make a good start for defending champion Team World against fellow Laver Cup debutant Arthur Fils of Team Europe.

“Being back in a team environment, I feel really comfortable,” Shelton said at his team’s press conference Thursday. “Really excited to be on this team with these guys, guys that the last few years I’ve been watching tear it up on Tour and been watching tear it up in this event. So really happy to be here, excited to be kicking things off tomorrow and looking forward [to] the chance to set the tone for the team.”

A series of smiles 😁@LaverCup | #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/sBGq9NRfuH

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 21, 2023

In the day’s other two singles clashes, Francisco Cerundolo (Team World) will play Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Team Europe) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (Team World) will try to defeat Gael Monfils (Team Europe).

Team World’s Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe will take on Team Europe’s Fils and Andrey Rublev in the first doubles match of the competition.

ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2023

ROGERS ARENA start 1 p.m.
Arthur Fils (Europe) vs Ben Shelton (World)

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Europe) vs Francisco Cerundolo (World)

7 p.m.
Gael Monfils (Europe) vs Felix Auger-Aliassime (World)

Arthur Fils (EUR) / Andrey Rublev (Europe) vs Tommy Paul (World)/ Frances Tiafoe (World)

A first-round match on Thursday at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships featured one of the most interesting endings to a match in recent memory.

After Mackenzie McDonald polished off a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over #NextGenATP Chinese star Shang Juncheng, who was struggling physically with cramp, the American jogged to Shang’s side of the court. McDonald put Shang on his back and carried him to his chair.

“I knew he was struggling so I ran to him to shake his hand,” McDonald told ATPTour.com. “He said, ‘Good match’, and he said, ‘Can you help me to the bench?’ I said, ‘Hop on’. So he jumped on my back and I carried him over to the bench and he said, ‘Good match, man.’”

Still friends 🤭@mackiemacster passes a tough test against Shang 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3!@ZhuhaiChampions | #ZhuhaiChampionships pic.twitter.com/kOznQVQJd9

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 21, 2023

The clip of the competitors enjoying a light-hearted moment after a tough battle quickly went viral on social media. McDonald needed two hours and 36 minutes to win the match, but just seconds to earn plenty of fans around the world.

The sixth seed will face Belgian Kimmer Coppejans for a place in the quarter-finals.

Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul booked a quarter-final spot Thursday at the Chengdu Open, but the top seeds were made to battle to the final point by Robin Haase and Bart Stevens in a tense doubles encounter at the ATP 250.

Doumbia and Reboul were two points from defeat at 7/8 in the Match Tie-break but did not face match point as they held firm for a 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 victory in China’s Sichuan province. The French duo’s 89-minute victory was based a solid serving performance, as it won 88 per cent (35/40) of points behind first serves.

Currently 17th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings after reaching one championship match and four other semi-finals at ATP Tour events this year, Doumbia and Reboul will hope a deep run in Zhuhai can kick-start a late charge towards qualification for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Their next test in Zhuhai is a last-eight clash against John Peers and Roman Safiullin, who also enjoyed Match Tie-break success as they downed home wild cards Cui Jie and Wang Aoran 6-0, 4-6, 10-7.

Lammons/Withrow Make Fast Start In Zhuhai
At the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships, Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow maintained their good form with an opening 7-5, 6-4 win against Japanese duo Toshihide Matsui and Yoshihito Nishioka.

The third-seeded Lammons and Withrow won their third ATP Tour title of the year in Winston-Salem last month before reaching the quarter-finals at the US Open. They will next face Anirudh Chandrasekar/Vijay Sundar Prashanth or Arjun Kadhe/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi at the ATP 250.

Marcos Giron bounced back from a tough run of results in style Thursday at the Chengdu Open. The American downed fifth seed and 2019 finalist Alexander Bublik 7-6(6), 6-3 to reach the second round at the Chinese ATP 250.

Faced with fast conditions ideally suited to Bublik’s big-serving, free-hitting game, Giron rallied from 0-2 and then crucially held firm to claim a see-saw first-set tie-break that featured seven mini-breaks. The World No. 64 carried that momentum to an ultimately unassailable 5-0 lead in the second set as he snapped a four-match losing streak at all levels in 101 minutes.

Solid performance 🪨@marcos_giron93 gets the better of Bublik 7-6(6), 6-3 and advances to the second round!@ChengduOpen | #ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/h6d1rOUsAR

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 21, 2023

“Bublik obviously is an incredible player,” said Giron, who now leads Bublik 3-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “He has so much potential, so much weaponry, and you never know really what’s going to come.

“The first set really was a battle. It was so important. He had a lot of break points, but I played well when I needed to. He served well and that’s what he is [always] going to do, so I knew in the breaker he was not going to give it to me, and I’m really happy with that.”

Giron saved five of Bublik’s seven break points as he made the perfect start to defending the 150 Pepperstone ATP Ranking points he earned by reaching the San Diego final this week a year ago. The 30-year-old, who is now 19-22 for the 2023 season, will take on Arthur Rinderknech in the second round after the Frenchman downed lucky loser Tu Li 7-6(5), 7-6(6).

Jordan Thompson also upset a seeded opponent on Thursday. The Australian defeated his countryman Max Purcell 6-2, 7-6(8) after saving four set points in the second-set tie-break. Thompson’s reward for ousting the sixth-seeded Purcell is a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Dusan Lajovic, who moved past Zizou Bergs 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

There was no such trouble for seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic, who eased to a 6-2, 6-3 win against qualifier Benjamin Lock to book a second-round meeting with Corentin Moutet. Christopher O’Connell and Juan Pablo Varillas also enjoyed straight-sets wins in their Chengdu openers. Australia’s O’Connell downed Alibek Kachmazov 7-6(3), 6-4, while Peru’s Varillas saw off home wild card Cui Jie 6-1, 6-3.