Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek reached their third straight ATP Tour final with a Saturday win at the Swiss Indoors Basel to continue their late surge in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. Chasing a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 13-20 November in Turin, the Croatian-American pair defeated the Kazakhstani duo of Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 6-4 at the ATP 500.

Dodig and Krajicek have moved up one place to ninth in the Doubles Race this week, but will likely need to pass Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in seventh place to guarantee qualification for the season finale. A title in Basel would lift them to eighth, just 50 points shy of the Aussies.

Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin will provide the opposition in Sunday’s championship match after their 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-6 win against Maxime Cressy and Botic van de Zandschulp. The veteran team defeated Dodig/Krajicek in the Florence final two weeks ago, but the Croatian-American team bounced back to lift the trophy in Naples last week.

Gonzalez/Molteni Into Vienna Final
Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni defeated the Argentine team of Francisco Cerundolo and Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the final at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. The Mexican-Argentine duo saved all three break points against them in the semis and claimed both sets behind a single break.

They will meet home favourites Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler in the final after the Austrians earned a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) win against Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen on Friday at the ATP 500.

Daniil Medvedev will compete in the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year.

The 26-year-old is the sixth player to earn his spot in Turin, joining Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic. The season finale will be played at the Pala Alpitour from 13-20 November.

Medvedev will try to claim his second title at the year-end championships after lifting the trophy in 2020. The 2021 finalist owns a 9-4 record at the prestigious event.

Medvedev lifted his 14th tour-level title this season in Los Cabos. He also reached his second consecutive final at the Australian Open and advanced to the championship match at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Halle.

On 28 February, Medvedev climbed to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time. At 6’6”, he became the tallest World No. 1 in history and the first player outside the Big Four of Nadal, Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray to hold top spot since Andy Roddick in February 2004.

Down 2/6 in a second-set tie-break, Holger Rune could have turned his attention to a decider on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. But the #NextGenATP Dane instead won the final six points of the match to defeat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(1), 7-6(8) and advance to his second straight ATP Tour final.

By stretching his winning streak to nine matches, Rune also set himself up for his Top 20 debut in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Entering the ATP 500 at a career-high of World No. 25, last week’s Stockholm champion has moved up an additional seven places in the Live Rankings to No. 18, and could rise as high as No. 16 by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s final.

“It was brutal. It was a very tough match and really long rallies,” the 19-year-old said after two hours on court. “He played some very solid tennis, very aggressive with his forehand. I just tried to play as aggressive as I could, take every chance I got to follow [my shots] forward to the net and just focus on my serve.

“I think I managed the nerves well, especially the second set was super tough. I thought we were going to three sets but I’m happy that I managed to stay focused.”

Rune fired 46 winners and 11 aces as he continued his blistering form, and saved seven break points to maintain his perfect record on serve this week. He has saved 11 break points in Basel across 41 service games.

The victory against the Spanish sixth seed sets up a mouthwatering final between two of the hottest players on the ATP Tour. Auger-Aliassime, who scored a convincing win against World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz earlier on Saturday, has also been perfect on serve in Basel. He seeking his third straight title and 13th consecutive match win after triumphs in Florence and Antwerp.

“I guess one of us will be broken tomorrow,” Rune said with a laugh, looking ahead to his first ATP Head2Head meeting with the Canadian. “We’ll see. I hope it’s not going to be me. I’m just trying to focus. Felix has been playing some great tennis, not just behind serve, but in general. He played great tennis today as well. I’m super excited for another great final and hopefully it will be very good tennis.”

While Rune cannot quite match Auger-Aliassime’s consecutive titles entering the match, he is 13-1 since late September, reaching the Sofia final before winning the second title of both his season and career by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas last week in Stockholm.

The in-form Felix Auger-Aliassime passed his biggest test yet on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where the Canadian delivered a stunning all-around performance to defeat World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2.

Auger-Aliassime kept Alcaraz constantly under pressure with some blistering hitting from the baseline throughout the pair’s semi-final clash, while also demonstrating some of the huge serving that has defined his European indoor hard-court season so far.

“So far it has been very close to perfect [in Basel]”, said Auger-Aliassime, who has dropped just one set this week, in his on-court interview. “I’ve been serving amazing, not getting broken once yet. There’s still one match to go, but it’s been a fantastic week, [I have] played some great tennis, and again today against the best player in the world. It’s an amazing win, so I’m really happy with my level and hopefully I can go all the way.”

The win bolsters Auger-Aliassime’s seventh-place position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. The Canadian (3,435 points) is now just five points behind sixth-placed Andrey Rublev as he bids to qualify for November’s Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The 22-year-old can leapfrog Rublev on Sunday by defeating Roberto Bautista Agut or Holger Rune to claim the title in Basel.

After a cagey start to the match from both players, Auger-Aliassime took control in the eighth game, when he broke Alcaraz to love. The Canadian stayed solid to polish off the first set before two further breaks in the second sealed the win and improved Auger-Aliassime’s ATP Head2Head record against the Spaniard to 3-0.

“I played great again,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Showing up and taking care of my serve, game after game. I think it was kind of a nervous start for both of us, but I think I was able to put a lot of pressure on [with my] second-serve return, and I think he felt that.

“From that point I was able to get a lot of opportunities. [In the second set] I got a few free points, and was able to really use them well. In [World] No. 1 fashion, he came back with some great points, had a break point [in the final game] to come back a little bit. It was 0/30 on my serve, so those are good games to win.”

Auger-Aliassime’s 82-minute triumph, in which he struck 23 winners to Alcaraz’s eight, extended his winning streak to 12 matches. That run includes titles in Florence and Antwerp, and he will next bid for a third consecutive ATP Tour crown in Sunday’s championship match against Bautista Agut or Rune.

“It’s amazing,” said Auger-Aliassime later. “I never expected it, when I was in Florence three weeks ago, or after the US Open. I’m just really happy that all my work is coming together.

“I’ve always believed that I can play this way, that I can be consistent in that way, but one thing is to believe and the other is to actually do it. It’s nice to feel that way, it’s nice to come out on the court and win that many matches in a row… So hopefully this is just the beginning of seeing me play this way.”

For the second day in a row on Saturday at the Erste Bank Open, Daniil Medvedev came up against a confident opponent striking the ball cleanly. For the second day in a row in Vienna, the top seed had all the answers.

Medvedev was imperious in downing Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 in the pair’s semi-final clash at the ATP 500 event in the Austrian capital. Just as it had against Jannik Sinner in Friday’s quarter-finals, the 26-year-old’s relentless retrieving and precise serving proved the difference as he charged to a 85-minute victory to reach the championship match in Vienna for the first time.

Medvedev, who is yet to drop his serve this week across four matches in Vienna, will face Denis Shapovalov or Borna Coric In Sunday’s final as he chases his second tour-level title of the season.

More to follow…

Nick Bollettieri has always relished a challenge.

In more than 60 years as a coach, the American has thrived on accomplishing what others said could not be done. From honing talents such as Jim Courier, Andre Agassi and Monica Seles, to founding the world’s first major tennis boarding academy, Bollettieri is one of tennis’ true pioneers.

Now a TopCourt ambassador, Bollettieri opens up to fans on the fundamentals of his coaching philosophy, offering key insights that will last them a lifetime. He also reveals how his humble beginnings as the son of Italian immigrants in New York have driven his self-belief over the decades, and how he has embraced the unique playing styles of some of his most successful charges.

Instruction: Bollettieri introduces three building blocks that he teaches to all tennis players, starting with one simple skill that he believes is crucial in developing an early enjoyment of the sport. He then shares his philosophy on how and when a player should move forward in his ‘Learning How To Attack The Net’ class, before using a real life example of two players playing a few points to immediately demonstrate areas of potential improvement.

Drills: Bollettieri brings six of his favourite drills to TopCourt, ensuring there is something for players of all levels. For beginners, ‘The Alley Drill’ shows how to make solid and consistent contact with the ball. More confident players can try Bollettieri’s ‘Box Drill Intervals’ exercise, which he introduced to Mary Pierce before she won the 1995 Australian Open.

Follow Bollettieri’s Tutorials at TopCourt.com.

Rafael Nadal, who at the Rolex Paris Masters will compete for the first time since the Laver Cup, faces a tough path at the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event following Friday’s release of the draw, when it was revealed the Spaniard is in the same half of the draw as six-time champion Novak Djokovic.

Nadal, who will pursue his first title at the indoor hard-court event, will begin his run against former Top 10 player Roberto Bautista Agut or American Tommy Paul, who has enjoyed the best season of his career. The first seeded opponent Nadal could face is this year’s Montreal champion, 14th seed Pablo Carreno Busta. Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is also in his quarter.

The lefty Nadal has advanced to at least the quarter-finals of the tournament in his eight previous appearances. He has tallied a 22-6 record at the event. 

Sixth seed Djokovic will open against serve-and-volleying American Maxime Cressy or former Top 10 player Diego Schwartzman. The Serbian arrives on a nine-match winning streak after lifting trophies in Tel Aviv and Astana, tournaments that are also played on indoor hard courts. Djokovic owns a record 38 Masters 1000 crowns.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will start his chase for a third Masters 1000 trophy this season against Aslan Karatsev or Yoshihito Nishioka. The Spaniard could play 13th seed Matteo Berrettini in the third round. Nitto ATP Finals contenders Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz are also in the first quarter.

With the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin heating up, one potential match in the second quarter of the draw could prove critical. Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is seventh in the Live Race, is projected to meet Taylor Fritz, who is eighth.

They are both in Daniil Medvedev’s quarter of the draw. The fourth seed will play the winner of Alex de Minaur and Sebastian Korda in the second round, with US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe a potential third-round opponent.

The Rolex Paris Masters will be the final tournament of Gilles Simon’s career, and the Frenchman will play former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the first round. Another intriguing matchup will see in-form Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Holger Rune face former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.