Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas could face Jannik Sinner in a second-round showdown at the ABN AMRO Open, where the Greek is looking to clinch his maiden title at the indoor ATP 500 event in Rotterdam.

View Draws: Singles | Doubles

Tsitsipas, who reached the final in Rotterdam last year before falling to Felix Auger-Aliassime, takes on World No. 53 Emil Ruusuvuori in his first ATP Tour outing since reaching the Australian Open championship match last month. Should he defeat the Finn in his opener, the Greek could meet Sinner in a rematch of the pair’s five-set fourth-round Australian Open clash.

The World No. 17 Sinner opens his campaign against Benjamin Bonzi, while 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, seventh seed Pablo Carreno Busta and Auckland champion Richard Gasquet are potential quarter-final opponents for both him and Tsitsipas.

A stacked draw brimming with quality also features fourth seed Holger Rune and eighth seed Alexander Zverev in its top half. Rune plays a qualifier on his event debut, while his potential quarter-final opponent Zverev meets Adelaide International 2 champion Soonwoo Kwon first up in the Netherlands.

Auger-Aliassime returns to the scene of his maiden ATP Tour triumph, but the defending champion will have to plot his way through a heavy-hitting third quarter if he wants to repeat his 2022 title run. The Canadian won four indoor titles last season, more than any other player on Tour, but his first-round opponent Lorenzo Sonego also has recent pedigree on indoor hard courts — the Italian did not drop a set en route to his third tour-level title last September in Metz.

If Auger-Aliassime can advance to the Rotterdam quarter-finals this week for the third time in five appearances, his potential challengers include sixth seed and 2019 semi-finalist Daniil Medvedev. The 26-year-old opens against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with Botic van de Zandschulp or Borna Coric next for Medvedev if he can find a way past the Spaniard.

Second seed Andrey Rublev and fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz bookend a high-powered bottom quarter. The 2021 champion Rublev will look to improve upon his 12-3 winning record in Rotterdam but faces a stern opening test in Alex de Minaur. Home favourite Tim van Rijthoven and Montpellier finalist Maxime Cressy are potential second-round opponents.

Hurkacz has not been past the second round in three appearances at Rotterdam Ahoy, and 11-time tour-level champion Roberto Bautista Agut presents a tough first-round challenge for the World No. 10. Bautista Agut carries a 3-0 ATP Head2Head series lead into their encounter.

Argentine Federico Coria advanced to his second tour-level final on Saturday when he battled past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 7-6(2) at the Cordoba Open.

Competing on home soil, the sixth seed continued his impressive week as he outlasted defending champion Ramos-Vinolas in a series of brutal baseline exchanges to advance after two hours and 32 minutes.

The 30-year-old Coria, who has dropped just one set en route to the final, rallied from a break down in the second set, hitting with consistency in the second-set tie-break to earn victory in his first ATP Head2Head meeting against Ramos-Vinolas.

Coria lost in the championship match in Bastad in 2021, but he will try to go one step further to his maiden ATP Tour crown when he plays Hugo Dellien or Sebastian Baez on Sunday. Coria is up to No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Jannik Sinner reached his eighth tour-level final and the first of the season on Saturday when he defeated #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils 7-5, 6-2 at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier.

In a hard-fought clash, the second seed saved two set points on serve at 4-5 in the first set before he upped his intensity and aggression from the baseline in the second set to advance after one hour and 34 minutes.

“I am very happy to be in my first final of the season,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “We practised very hard to play some big matches. It doesn’t matter what kind of tournament, every tournament when you go far is very good. I am very happy to be in the final here.”

The 18-year-old Fils has enjoyed a dream run in Montpellier at his second tour-level event, defeating Richard Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut and Quentin Halys in straight sets. However, after starting well, he never recovered from squandering set points in the opener, misfiring more as the match went on.

“He [Fils] beat incredible players at this tournament so I knew I had to play at a very high level today,” Sinner said. “He is very strong and has great groundstrokes. Maybe I had a bit of experience on him in the first set and I got a bit lucky.”

Sinner, currently No. 15 in the Pepeprstone ATP Live Rankings, now holds a 18-5 career tour-level record against Frenchmen. The 21-year-old Italian will compete for his seventh tour-level title on Sunday when he faces #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune or American Maxime Cressy.

Sinner, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open last month, has won five of his six tour-level crowns on hard courts. His other triumph came on clay in Umag.

Fils, who was the youngest Frenchman to reach the semi-finals at a tour-level event since Richard Gasquet in Metz in 2004, is up to No. 117 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his standout week.

A three-tournament week on the ATP Tour sees a host of Top 10 stars in action across three continents.

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime returns to the ABN AMRO Open, an ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, while Taylor Fritz is the top seed at the Delray Beach Open, an ATP 250 hard-court tournament. Carlos Alcaraz competes for the first time this year and headlines the field at the Argentina Open, a clay-court ATP 250.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch at each event.

View Draws: Rotterdam | Buenos Aires | Delray Beach

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ROTTERDAM
1) Tsitsipas Top Seed: World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas will aim to continue his strong start to the season when he headlines the field in Rotterdam. The Greek, who reached his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open last month, has performed well at the ATP 500 event, reaching the semi-finals in 2021 before he advanced to the championship match last year. Tsitsipas opens against Emil Ruusuvuori and could play Jannik Sinner in the second round.

2) Defending Champion Felix: Auger-Aliassime broke new ground in Rotterdam last year when he defeated Tsitsipas to lift his first ATP Tour trophy. The 22-year-old Canadian entered the match holding a 0-8 record in tour-level finals, but quickly came out firing to improve on that record. The third seed is competing for the first time since he reached the fourth round at the Australian Open.

3) Seeded Threats: Second seed Andrey Rublev and fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz have both tasted success at ATP 500 events. Rublev has lifted five trophies at this level, including the Rotterdam title in 2021, while Hurkacz triumphed at Halle last year. Rublev opens his campaign against Alex de Minaur with Hurkacz facing Roberto Bautista Agut.

4) Can Sinner & Rune Maintain Momentum?: Sinner and Holger Rune arrive in Rotterdam off the back of deep runs in Montpellier. Rune advanced to the semi-finals, with Sinner competing in the final on Sunday. Sinner reached the quarter-finals at the indoor hard-court event in Rotterdam in 2020, while fourth seed Rune is making his debut.

5) Koolhof/Skupski Lead Doubles Field: Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski captured seven tour-level titles in 2022 but are still searching for their first crown this year. The Dutch-British tandem faces competition from second seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek and fourth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN DELRAY BEACH
1) Fritz Headlines: Taylor Fritz will make his sixth appearance at the ATP 250 event in Delray Beach when he headlines the field as the top seed. The American, who is still alive in Dallas this week, has never been beyond the quarter-finals at the tournament. He will be aiming to change that record starting against Emilio Gomez or a qualifier.

2) Paul & Shapovalov In Action: Tommy Paul arrives in Delray Beach high in confidence after soaring to the semi-finals at the Australian Open. The second seed, who reached the semi-finals at the ATP 250 in 2022, will be seeking his second tour-level title. Third seed Denis Shapovalov is making his second appearance in Florida, having advanced to the semi-finals in 2018.

3) Shelton In Action: #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton caught the attention of the tennis world in January when he reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open on his first trip outside of the United States. Back on home soil this week, the eighth seed begins against Marcos Giron at the hard-court tournament.

4) Americans Pack Field: There are 11 American men in the draw in Florida, not including qualifiers. Seventh seed John Isner plays countryman J.J. Wolf, with 2017 champion Jack Sock receiving a wild card. Sixth seed Jenson Brooksby opens against Ilya Ivashka.

5) Arevalo/Rojer Reigning Champs: Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer return to Delray beach as defending champions. The top seeds are joined in the draw by second seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BUENOS AIRES
1) Alcaraz Returns: World No. 2 Alcaraz will compete for the first since November when he leads the field as the top seed at the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires. The 19-year-old, who missed the Australian Open due to a leg injury, is making his debut in Buenos Aires. The Spaniard tasted success on clay in 2022, clinching crowns in Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona and Madrid.

2) Norrie Makes Debut: Cameron Norrie will make his debut in Buenos Aires this week, after competing in Colombia for Great Britain in the Davis Cup earlier this month. The second seed arrives holding a 10-2 record on the year, earning Top 10 wins against Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz at the United Cup.

3) Returning Champions: Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem have both tasted success in Buenos Aires. The Argentine Schwartzman lifted the trophy in 2021, while Thiem won the title in 2016 and 2018. Schwartzman is the fourth seed at the clay-court event, with Austrian Thiem receiving a wild card.

4) Home Hopes: Alongside Schwartzman, Francisco Cerundolo and Sebastian Baez will fly the flag for Argentina. Cerundolo came through qualifying to reach the final in Buenos Aires in 2021, while Baez made the quarter-finals on debut last year.

5) Granollers/Zeballos Top Seed: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are the top seeds in the doubles draw, with Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez seeded second. Singles stars Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem are joining forces.

Top seeds Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez were one of two teams to win Match Tie-breaks in Friday’s quarter-finals at the Cordoba Open.

The Brazilian-Spanish team defeated Nicolas Barrientos and Ariel Behar 6-4, 3-6, 13-11, saving a match point at in the Match Tie-break 9/10 before clinching victory on their third match point. They will meet third-seeded Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the semis after the home hopes saved a match point of their own in a Thursday quarter-final win.

The second Cordoba doubles semi-final will see second-seeded Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni take on Kazakhs Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

Gonzalez/Molteni defeated Bolivians Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos 6-2, 6-4 on Friday, while Golubev and Nedovyesov beat Argentines Guido Andreozzi and Guillermo Duran 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.

Haase/Middelkoop Upset Top Seeds In Montpellier

The Dutch duo of Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop knocked off top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 on Friday at the Open Sud de France — Montpellier. It was the second consecutive Math Tie-break win for the fourth seeds, who also came from behind in their quarter-final victory. 

They await the winner of Saturday’s semi-final that pits Dutchmen Sander Arends and David Pel against Maxime Cressy and Albano Olivetti.

Dalls SFs Set

Three of the four Dallas Open quarter-finals required Match Tie-breaks, with three of the tournament’s top four seeds advancing to the semis.

Top seeds Michael Venus and Jamie Murray were 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-5 winners against William Blumberg and Miomir Kecmanovic. They will meet fourth seeds Ben McLachlan and Andre Goransson in Saturday’s semis after the Swedish-Japanese pair’s 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 win against Serbian brothers Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov.

In the lone upset of the day, Indians Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni defeated third-seeded Britons Julian Cash and Henry Patten 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. Their semi-final opponents will be second seeds Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons. The Americans scored a 6-3, 6-2 win against Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Treat Huey on Friday.

Playing in his own backyard at the Dallas Open, John Isner made ATP Tour history by becoming the first man to win 500 tour-level tie-breaks. 

The milestone moment came in Friday’s quarter-finals, during a 7-6(8), 7-5 win for the American against Emilio Gomez. He had to work hard for No. 500, saving a set point at 6/7 with a second-serve ace down the T before converting on his third set point of the tie-break.

“I’ve won a lot of tie-breaks in my career, and in the first set I won a big number of them: 500 of them,” he said in his on-court interview in Dallas, drawing cheers from his home crowd. “I’m very glad I didn’t have to win 501.”

Isner’s 500 tie-break wins put him 34 ahead of Roger Federer on the Open Era list, with Pete Sampras (328), Andy Roddick (303), Novak Djokovic (299) and Rafael Nadal (263) also in the Top 10.

Asked to explain his success in tie-breaks, Isner put it down to experience. No one has played more tie-breaks than him, with 819 contested in his career.

“It just comes with a lot of experience, being in that situation. I would love to win matches like Novak does, 6-,1 6-0, but it’s just not my style,” he said with a smile. “A lot of times I live by the sword, like I have this week, and a lot of times I die by the sword. I take the good with the bad.

“I think something about being at home is calming my nerves in those big situations,” he added, alluding to his perfect 4-0 tie-break record this week. “I’m very happy, very lucky to have this tournament here.”

No stranger to history-making statistics, Isner became the ATP Tour’s undisputed ace king last July at Wimbledon, when he passed Ivo Karlovic for the most aces. He has continued to add to his tally since then, and has now hit more than 14,000 aces.

Novak Djokovic proved once again that he is the master of Melbourne when he won his ninth Australian Open title last month. While the Serbian said he was far from confident in his title chances at times due to his hamstring tear, several of his ATP Tour colleagues had no problem correctly picking him to reclaim the crown at the year’s first Grand Slam.

Denis Shapovalov, Jack Draper, John Isner and Thanasi Kokkinakis were among those to correctly predict Djokovic’s triumph when we sat down with some of the game’s biggest stars to get their thoughts on how the 2023 season will unfold. The expert panel also included Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.

Djokovic was also the popular pick for the player to win the most ATP Masters 1000 titles. The Serbian is a natural choice with his record 38 trophies at that prestigious level, including two Career Golden Masters.

“Just because he’s so strong,” said Medvedev, who joined Isner, Kokkinakis and Draper in selecting the Serbian. “When he plays, he wins a lot of tournaments.”

There was also a lot of love for Jannik Sinner with three players—Nadal, Draper and Kokkinakis—tipping the Italian to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title this season. Sinner has reached one ATP Masters 1000 final, in 2021 in Miami, where he lost to Hubert Hurkacz.

“He was close, he’s young, he’s growing,” said Nadal. “He has the right potential. Why not?”

J.J. Wolf entered the Dallas Open at a career high of World No. 43. Now into his second-career ATP Tour semi-final, the American is up even higher at No. 37 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

The 24-year-old upset second seed Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Friday’s quarter-finals, earning the best win of his career by measure of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

After dropping serve twice on nine break chances for Tiafoe in the opening set, the sixth-seeded Wolf did not face another break point until he served out the match. Down 15/40, he used an ace and a line-clipping inside-out forehand to force deuce, then finished the job with his 11th ace on his second match point.

“I usually don’t think about the outcome, so I was just feeding off the energy of the fans and playing every point as hard as I could,” Wolf said of his methodical comeback, donning a Southern Methodist University cap for his post-match interview in honour of the tournament’s host site.

The American finished the match with 26 winners and 10 unforced errors, tightening up his game in the second and third sets.

While Wolf was out-aced by Tiafoe, 14 to 11, the former Ohio State star won 82 per cent of his first-serve points, seven percentage points higher than his opponent’s mark. Wolf made 60 per cent of his first serves in the contest, at times trading power for placement.

“I’ve just tried to create a little more consistency,” he said of his serve. “The fans might not like it when I’m not putting up 140 [mph] serves, but my coaches like it.”

Wolf will meet another countryman in the semi-finals, with fifth seed John Isner awaiting after his 7-6(8), 7-5 win against Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez.

Isner saved a set point at 6/7 in the first-set tie-break with a second-serve ace down the T, then clinched victory with the first break for either man in the match’s final game. The American saved four break points, escaping a 15/40 hole once in each set.

In returning to the Dallas semi-finals for the second straight year, Isner also made some personal history: He won the 500th tie-break of his career, improving his tie-break record to 500-319. Those 500 wins are the most in the Open Era, with Roger Federer’s 466 second on the list.

Gomez, the son of former World No. 4 Andres Gomez, was playing in his first tour-level quarter-final.

Jannik Sinner moved to within two wins of capturing his sixth tour-level title on Friday when he moved past Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-2 at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier.

The 21-year-old Italian, who had never been beyond the first round in his two previous appearances at the ATP 250, overpowered his countryman throughout their one-hour, 34-minute encounter. Sinner stepped inside the baseline to push Sonego back, hitting an array of winners off both wings to improve his tour-level record against Italians to 6-0.

“I know him very well,” Sinner said about Sonego. “Playing Davis Cup together. He is a very nice person, very humble. We practised together at the beginning of the tournament, so it was bad luck to play already in the quarter-finals but I am very happy to be here.”

The second seed is now 7-2 on the season, having reached the quarter-finals in Adelaide and the fourth round at the Australian Open. Sinner will face #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils in the semi-finals on Saturday.

“I have seen him [Fils] play here at this tournament,” Sinner said. “He is very strong physically already. He understands the game very well. He started off the year very well, so it is going to be an interesting match for sure.”

Earlier, Fils continued his dream run when he defeated countryman Quentin Halys 7-6(3), 6-3. The 18-year-old is the youngest Frenchman to reach a tour-level semi-final since Richard Gasquet in Metz in 2004.

Fils, who has yet to drop a set at the ATP 250, won 82 per cent (37/45) of his first-serve points and saved the one break point he faced to advance after 83 minutes. With his victory, the 18-year-old has rose to No. 117 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Halys was aiming to reach his first tour-level semi-final, having also advanced to the quarter-finals in Auckland last month.

Top seed Holger Rune also progressed to the semi-finals with a 7-6(2), 7-6(5) victory against Frenchman Gregoire Barrere. The Dane has now won all three tie-breaks he has played in Montpellier to advance to the last four without losing a set.

Rune is competing in France for the first time since the biggest victory of his career at last year’s Rolex Paris Masters, where he upset Novak Djokovic to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 crown. The 19-year-old is trying to secure his first title of the season this week.

Next up for the teen star will be third seed Borna Coric or serve-and-volleying American Maxime Cressy.

The Cordoba Open continues to be a happy hunting ground for Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who advanced to his third straight semi-final at the ATP 250 on Friday. The third-seeded Spaniard — champion in 2022 and finalist in 2021 — defeated Joao Sousa 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the quarters, his second three-set win of the week in Argentina.

Ramos-Vinolas also won the first and third sets against Dusan Lajovic on Thursday before repeating the feat against Sousa.

“I think I just played a little bit better in the third set,” he said after improving to 6-2 in his ATP Head2Head against the Portuguese. “I missed a little bit less and I was a little bit more controlling the ball, and because I controlled more the ball I was able to be a little bit more offensive with my forehand.”

In a match full of break chances, Ramos-Vinolas was an efficient five-of-nine on his opportunities, while Sousa could only convert on four of 10 break points. Ramos-Vinolas faced just one break point in the deciding set, which he saved at 4-1.

The 35-year-old will next face sixth seed Federico Coria in Saturday’s semis after the Argentine moved past countryman and second seed Francisco Cerundolo, who retired with a leg injury while trailing 3-6, 0-3.

In the draw’s top half, fourth seed Sebastian Baez defeated Chilean wild card Tomas Barrios Vera 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the Cordoba semi-finals for the first time in two appearances. It is the 22-year-old Argentine’s first ATP Tour semi-final since he reached the title match in Bastad last July.

He will next face Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien, who advanced to the semis with a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-0 win against Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo.