Frances Tiafoe’s home will always be the tennis court, but the American star had a blast on the basketball court Friday evening in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.

Tiafoe, the No. 15 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, made two shots to help NBA legend Dwyane Wade’s team to victory. 

 

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Tiafoe made a teardrop shot from close range in the early going to settle the nerves and early in the third quarter, he knocked down a midrange jumpshot over 2016 NBA champion Richard Jefferson. That bucket thrilled Team Dwyane coach Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player.

It was not just about the basketball, though. Tiafoe met several superstars, from current NBA players like Pascal Siakam to other players in the game such as teammates DK Metcalf and Janelle Monae.

Tiafoe worked hard on his game leading up to his big moment, spending “a couple of hours a day” on the court. 

“I think [I will] just go out there and have fun. I mean I don’t want to look dumb, that’s why I’ve been training the past couple weeks,” Tiafoe said. “But [it is about] just having fun and obviously All Star [Weekend] everyone is there, you meet so many cool people and people that I’ve been fans of forever.”

Carlos Alcaraz’s comeback continues to gain steam in Buenos Aires.

The World No. 2 advanced to the Argentina Open semi-finals on Friday evening when he defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-2. The Spaniard will next face fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo or Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

“I think I played really, really well from the beginning until the last ball, the last point,” Alcaraz said. “I knew that it was going to be really, really difficult. Dusan is playing great on clay, [he is] a great player, a really tough one.”

Entering the week, Alcaraz had not played a match since last year’s Rolex Paris Masters because of an internal oblique muscle tear. But he has shown no signs of discomfort in Argentina. To the contrary, he is improving by the game.

“I had to be really, really solid from deep in the court,” Alcaraz said. “My second match of the year and I’m really happy with my performance.”

Alcaraz used a little bit of everything in the match, from impressive backhand passing shots to his typically devastating drop shots. He played his best tennis towards the end of the second set, showing enough confidence to increase the aggression against the Serbian.

Lajovic is an experienced clay-court opponent who made an ATP Masters 1000 final on the surface at the 2019 Rolex Monte Carlo Masters. But the 32-year-old was unable to find ways to make Alcaraz uncomfortable on Court Guillermo Vilas.

The top seed was not perfect in his performance, but Alcaraz used his wide range of skills and competitive spirit to apply constant pressure, winning 53 per cent of his return points and converting five of 10 break points to triumph after one hour and 34 minutes.

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek have had a solid start to the 2023 season. The Croatian-American duo, which reached the final at last month’s Adelaide International 2, is looking for a fourth team title this week.

On Friday, the pair earned a razor-thin 7-6(5), 7-6(5) quarter-final victory over Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

When Dodig and Krajicek made a run to the Adelaide-2 final earlier this year, misfortune struck them before the championship match. Dodig suffered an injury that forced them to give a walkover to Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.

After a disappointing first-round exit at the Australian Open, Dodig and Krajicek are hoping to make a statement at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, where they are the only seeded team remaining. They will next meet Belgian qualifiers Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in the semi-finals.

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over fourth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara. The Indian-Australian pair will face Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz on Saturday.

Home Favourites Upset In Buenos Aires
Nicolas Barrientos and Ariel Behar rallied from a set down to defeat home hopes Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 in the semi-finals of the Argentina Open.

While the Uruguayan Behar is a three-time doubles titlist, Barrientos is aiming to collect his first ATP Tour title. Their championship match opponent with be either Italian duo Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini or Marcelo Demoliner and Andrea Vavassori.

Mexican Pair Advances To Delray Beach SFs
Hans Hach Verdugo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela took down Nuno Borges and Andre Goransson 7-5, 7-5 in Friday’s doubles action at the Delray Beach Open. They will next meet Australian-American duo Rinky Hijikata and Reese Stalder.

Miomir Kecmanovic is inching closer towards his first ATP Tour title since September 2020.

The Serbian, who last triumphed three years ago in Kitzbuhel, downed Marcos Giron 7-6(5), 6-3 to open Friday’s quarter-final action at the 2023 Delray Beach Open. The World No. 33 saved five of six break points faced during his one-hour, 34-minute victory, which was halted by rain on several occasions.

Moldova’s Radu Albot upset second seed Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-2 to score the seventh Top-20 win of his career. The 33-year-old stayed steady from the baseline and won 32 of 40 points off his first serve to defeat the American.

Albot, who won the Delray Beach Open in 2019, advanced to his first semi-final since Singapore in 2021 (l. Bublik). Friday’s victory lifted Albot to No. 99 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He will next meet Kecmanovic in Saturday’s semi-final.

In an all-American contest, Mackenzie McDonald survived Michael Mmoh 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Despite being a break down in each set, the 27-year-old McDonald kept battling. Trailing a set and 1-3, McDonald rallied to win five straight games and send the match to a decider. In the final set, McDonald was trailing 2-4 before making another comeback to close out the match in two hours, 10 minutes.

The California native, who is No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, is one spot shy of tying his career-high which he reached last August. McDonald is set to play in his second Delray Beach semi-final (2019).

Top seed Taylor Fritz was tested in two tight sets to close out Friday’s quarter-final action. The American prevailed against Adrian Mannarino 7-6(8), 6-4 to reach his second semi-final of the season (Dallas).

Mannarino, who was a quarter-finalist at last week’s ATP 250 event in Dallas, had two break points to secure a 4-1 lead in the opening set. However, World No. 7 Fritz overcame the slow start and captured the first-set tie-break, in which he fended off a set point before converting his fourth set point.

The 25-year-old will next clash with countryman McDonald, whom he lost to in their only tour-level meeting in the first round of the Delray Beach Open in 2019.

The fast-paced nature of the ATP Tour leaves little time to savour success. Just three weeks have passed since Tommy Paul’s run to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, but moving on quickly has been no problem at all for the American.

“I’m not really looking back at it too much,” Paul told ATPTour.com when asked about how he is reflecting on his Melbourne run. “I’m kind of trying to look forward, you know? I’m pretty focused on this week and the rest of the year.”

While proud of becoming the first American man to reach an Australian Open semi-final since 2009, the 25-year-old is unwilling to let it define his season with so much tennis left to play.

“I think it’s pretty easy to put it behind you, because it’s not going to win me the next match that I play,” he said. “I’ve got to win the next match that I play anyway. The rest of the year is really important to me, and I want to keep getting better. I wasn’t perfect in Australia, and I want to be better than I was in Australia.”

That’s not to say Paul hasn’t taken the opportunity to relax away from the court. After guiding the United States to victory against Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Qualifiers in the wake of his Melbourne exploits, he travelled to his girlfriend’s house in Connecticut to turn his attention to two off-court passions — horse-riding and his favourite NBA team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

“My girlfriend is a lot better at riding horses than I am,” said Paul. “She’s been trying to teach me. We just do trail rides, or I’m mostly doing lessons and she’s doing trail rides.”

His trip to Connecticut coincided with a visit to the Boston headquarters of his clothing sponsor. While there, the World No. 18 took the chance to watch the 76ers on the road against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden.

“The timing couldn’t have worked better with the Sixers,” said Paul. “I’m a big Sixers fan. We got to sit on the floor, Sixers versus Celtics. Unfortunately, the Sixers did not win, but it was still a cool experience. It’s one of the most legendary arenas in sports, so to sit on the floor there was pretty cool.”

Paul got back to business in style on Thursday at his home tournament, the Delray Beach Open, with a 6-3, 6-4 opening victory against countryman Denis Kudla. Despite hitting a career-high No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last Monday, that ability to refocus and reset will be crucial in his bid to rise further.

“Top 10 is a goal overall, but I think, right now, I’m still not Top 15,” said Paul. “So when I reach that, I’ll focus on Top 10. I think there’s a lot of sharpening of all the tools that I need to do for the rest of the season, and probably a lot of mental stuff that I want to work on. Just being more consistent on court and winning the matches that I’m supposed to win every time, showing up every match.”

Despite several challenges in Friday’s rain-hindered quarter-final in Buenos Aires, second seed Cameron Norrie prevailed to book his ticket into the Argentina Open semi-finals.

The World No. 12 had to rally from a set down against home hope Tomas Martin Etcheverry to claim a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 victory. After the Argentine grabbed the opening set, rain halted play for a brief period before Norrie won 12 of the next 15 games to advance.

“I knew it was going to be difficult, he came out and played really well,” Norrie said. “It was so different today than the other day when I played Facundo [Diaz Acosta] when it was boiling. Today was freezing. Probably a bit warmer in London today than here in Buenos Aires!

“He played a really good first set and served well. I came out really strong after the rain delay and again after the second rain delay. I managed to scrape through in a pretty difficult match.”

The 27-year-old, who saved five of seven break points faced, turned the match around by adjusting his court positioning, taking a more aggressive stance to dictate play from the baseline. Despite another rain delay occurring with Norrie serving at 3-1 in the deciding set, the British No. 1 held his nerve in the closing stages to advance to his second semi-final of the season [Auckland].

The lefty will next take on Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas, who upset third seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-4. Varillas, 27, earned the second Top-20 win of his career [’19 Gstaad d. Bautista Agut] to advance to his first Tour-level semi-final. Following Friday’s victory, the Lima native is at a career-high No. 81 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

On a roll on European indoor hard courts, Jannik Sinner will be tough to oust this week at the ABN AMRO Open.

The day after he dispatched top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets at the ATP 500 event, the World No. 14 returned to down Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 and reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam for the first time.

Sinner raced through the first set in Friday’s clash with 2015 champion Wawrinka and, despite the Swiss showing some late resistance to reclaim a break and level at 3-3 in the second, the 21-year-old Italian’s combination of consistency and power proved key as he frequently outlasted his more experienced opponent from the baseline.

Top-level Returning & into the Semi-finals for @janniksin

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The 72-minute victory extended Sinner’s winning streak to six matches, with Rotterdam victories against Benjamin Bonzi, Tsitsipas and Wawrinka backing up his run to his seventh tour-level title last week in Montpellier.

“I just try to play every match with a high intensity, try to play my game, try to adapt myself,” said Sinner, when asked about his good form. “The first round match here was very important for me, then I try to keep going, to get more rhythm. Today I think it was also a good match. It’s never easy playing against him, so I’m very happy.”

A lightning-fast start set from Sinner set the tone in the quarter-final clash. He broke Wawrinka’s serve in the opening game and then fended off three break points for the Swiss to move 2-0 ahead. Those proved to be the Italian’s most vulnerable moments in a first set in which he converted three of five break points.

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Wawrinka appeared dispirited after dropping serve again in the fourth game of the second set but the former World No. 3 dug deep, deploying some heavy hitting of his own to level for 3-3. He was unable to cope with the relentless Sinner in the latter stages of the set, however, and the Italian broke again in the eighth game before holding serve to level his ATP Head2Head series with the Swiss at 2-2.

“It was for sure a tough match,” said Sinner. “We know each other quite well, we practise a lot together… I’m very happy to be in the next round. I tried to push him a lot, he defended very well. He made a couple of unforced errors in the first set, I tried to get the momentum going, then I made a couple of unforced errors at 3-1… [Overall] I think it was a good performance today.”

Sinner’s opponent in his first semi-final above ATP 250 level since October 2021 will be Tallon Griekspoor. The 26-year-old prevailed 6-4, 6-4 against countryman Gijs Brouwer to become the first Dutch player to reach the semi-finals at the Rotterdam Ahoy since Igor Sijsling in 2014.

Griekspoor hit 21 winners to Brouwer’s 26 in the pair’s 78-minute encounter, but he was clinical in converting both break points he had en route to a 78-minute win against his fellow wild card. With the win, the 26-year-old advanced to his maiden ATP 500 semi-final and just his second overall, after he lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in Pune in January.

Now up to 21 spots to No. 40 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Griekspoor is set to reach a new career high on Monday regardless of his result against Sinner.

Lorenzo Sonego lost in the first round of this week’s ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam. But off the court, the Italian won big.

The song ‘Un Solo Secondo’, which Sonego created in collaboaration with friend ‘AlterEdo’, soared past the one-million listen mark on Spotify.

 

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“We did some songs together when we were young for a hobby,” Sonego told ATPTour.com last year. “And then, we tried to do something together for enjoyment in the summer and only to enjoy the moment and do something different, not always [focus on] tennis.”

‘Un Solo Secondo’ is not the only song they have created together. They also published ’Swing’ last year. Would Sonego ever collaborate with one of his ATP Tour colleagues?

“One day, if Matteo Berrettini wants we could do something together,” Sonego said cracking a laugh. “Only with Matteo, because he’s my best friend on the Tour for sure.”

Matteo Berrettini is well accustomed to taking on the world’s best players on some of the most iconic courts in the world. Yet even after lifting seven ATP Tour titles, surging to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and reaching a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, the Italian sometimes still wonders how it all came about.

“My whole family plays tennis. They always told me, ‘Do what you love, and give your best’,” Berrettini said recently in an interview with the ATP Tour. “Growing up, I never thought about it. I was dreaming about playing maybe [in] Rome, [but] I was more like a child that is dreaming and saying, ‘I want to go to the moon’… And then it happened. Everything [happened] so fast.”

 

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Netflix’s Break Point followed Berrettini’s stellar run to the semi-finals at the 2022 Australian Open in the second episode. Despite that Melbourne campaign ultimately ending in disappointment with a four-set defeat to legend Rafael Nadal, the 26-year-old remains grateful for every experience he has in his life as a pro. Berrettini believes that the more he gives, the more he gets back, no matter the result on court.

“It teaches you a lot about who you are,” said Berrettini of competing on the ATP Tour. “[When] I was a kid, I had idols. I want to be one of those players. I would like to have kids that are looking and are like, ‘I’m going to decide to play tennis or I’m going to improve this thing because I saw that Matteo is doing it’.

“When you think about that stuff, you just think that it’s worth it.”