Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni captured their first tour-level title as a team on Sunday at the Gijon Open, where they edged Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-7(8), 7-6(4), 10-5.

The Argentines, who did not drop a set en route to the final, held their nerves in the key moments, striking returns with great depth and closing the net effectively to triumph after two hours and 21 minutes at the ATP 250 event in Spain.

“We played amazing,” Gonzalez said. “We were about to lose the match but managed to turn things around. This result gives us some confidence, even if we don’t play together on Tour.

“This is the first tournament we played as a team this season, but we were teammates during the ATP Cup. We know each other really well, have played together in the past and share practice sessions from time to time. All those things help to feel good on court.”

In a tight second set, Gonzalez and Molteni recovered from squandering a break advantage, before they pulled away from 4/4 in the Match Tie-break to clinch the crown. The pair has now won three titles together across all levels, having won trophies on the ATP Challenger Tour as a team in 2014 and 2017.

“I had never visited the north of Spain,” Molteni said. “We had this opportunity here in Gijon. I arrived last Friday so I spent more than a week here. We enjoyed the food, the beach,… We made the most of it.”

The 39-year-old Gonzalez improved his tour-level doubles finals record to 12-6 with the victory, while the 34-year-old Molteni is now 11-6 in championship matches. Earlier this season, Molteni captured titles with Santiago Gonzalez in Cordoba and Buenos Aires.

Americans Lammons and Withrow were aiming to win their second tour-level title as a team, having tasted success in San Diego last month.

Losing sleep over an urgent report you have to submit on Monday? Stuck in one of those endless work meetings and running out of patience? Have you ever thought seriously about changing companies because of your boss?

None of these questions would have to be asked if Rafael Nadal was at the helm of the company. According to a survey by a Spanish employment portal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, who is one of the best sportsmen of all time, is also the ideal boss for most of his countrymen.

In a study that surveyed almost 5,000 people, the 22-time Grand Slam champion was the favourite choice of his compatriots to take the reins in the office. The Mallorcan’s virtues extend beyond the tennis courts and the people of Spain consider him ideal for successfully running a working environment.

Fifty-eight per cent of those surveyed pointed to his humility, while 50% trust the honesty he projects and 48% of respondents value the passion he transmits at work. In total, 45% of participants chose Nadal as their first choice to lead any project.

The former No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings topped a list of names that are hugely influential in Spanish society. Nadal beat virologist Margarita del Val (33%) and epidemiologist Fernando Simón (23%), both figures who had a significant public presence during the COVID-19 pandemic, businessman Jeff Bezos (24%), the founder of Amazon, and Ibai Llanos (19%) a Spanish internet celebrity.

The winner of 90 ATP titles is clearly still highly regarded in his home country and frequently comes out on top of these types of surveys. In the 2017 season, he received similar recognition from a poll run by an employment agency, which in 2019 also put him among the favourites for Spanish children aged between four and 16.

Felix Auger-Aliassime will have a shot at his second ATP Tour title – and a return to the World’s Top 10 – after dismissing #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-3 in the UniCredit Firenze Open semi-finals Saturday.

The Canadian, who has already climbed two places this week to No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, will reclaim a coveted spot in the Top 10 if he beats first-time finalist J.J. Wolf Sunday (5pm CEST, See Broadcasters).

Significantly, Auger-Aliassime has the opportunity to extend his lead over Taylor Fritz in seventh place in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Turin to 180 points, as both players fight to make their debut at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be played 13-20 November.

In the early stages of the semi-final, Auger-Aliassime displayed strong firepower to hit through Musetti, racing off to an early lead. The Canadian remained flawless from the baseline, firing 21 winners to only six unforced errors, dispatching the Italian in one hour, 27 minutes.

“We started the match really good, at a very high level,” Felix said. “He was playing amazing tennis and I thought, ‘I’m going to need to play my best tennis in order to win’. I think that’s what I did tonight, I played very complete tennis, a very solid performance. I’m really happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”

When Musetti was trailing 2-5 in the opening set, the #NextGenATP youngster called for the physio to address discomfort in his abdominal region. But Felix never let the Italian back into the match as he advanced to his third final of the season, all of which have come on indoor hard courts (Rotterdam and Marseille).

“A final is always difficult,” Felix said. “You have to play your best tennis because it’s the two best players of the week. J.J. [Wolf] has been playing very good, serving strong. I think if we both serve the way we’ve been serving this week, it’s going to be very tight, a very close match. I’m going to work on my returns and be ready for a good battle tomorrow.”

Musetti, who won an ATP 500 title in Hamburg during the clay season, has already qualified for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, to be played in Milan 8-12 November. The 20-year-old climbs to a career-high No. 24 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his run to the semi-final this week.

American duo Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow advanced to the Gijon Open final Saturday, when they ousted Sander Gille and Fabrice Martin 6-4, 6-4.

Lammons and Withrow, who claimed their first team title in San Diego last month, look to continue their hot streak Sunday, when they face Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the championship match. The Americans are also two-time Challenger champions this season (Cary and Salzburg).

In Florence doubles action, third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek fended off two match points to survive Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori 6-2, 3-6, 12-10. The Croatian-American duo, who won the ATP 250 event in Lyon earlier this season and are 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Teams Rankings, will face Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in Sunday’s final.

Mahut and Roger-Vasselin took down countrymen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4, 7-6(4) Saturday to advance to their first Tour-level final of this season.

The French duo, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this summer, look for their first team title since 2019 Tokyo.

American J.J. Wolf has charged into his first ATP Tour final after a power-hitting 6-4 6-4 win over Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer at the UniCredit Firenze Open in Florence.

Rising to a career-best No. 56 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, the 23-year-old will play the winner of top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and third-seeded home favourite Lorenzo Musetti.

“I definitely had to keep my nerve and wait for my chance,” Wolf said. “He’s sneaky aggressive and can turn defense into offense in a second. I’m not sure what to expect tomorrow as I haven’t been in a final before. I’m just going to keep working on the things I’ve been working on and not worry about the result.”

Wolf, who upset fourth-seeded countryman Maxime Cressy in the second round and seventh seed Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals, improved to 16-16 on the year.

Wolf began the year ranked outside the Top 150.

Andrey Rublev extended his winning streak against Dominic Thiem to four matches Saturday after defeating the Austrian 6-4, 6-4 to charge into the Gijon Open final in Spain.

Playing an ultra-aggressive brand of tennis, Rublev firmed up his hold on sixth position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin, as he looks to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the third consecutive year.

Rublev, who has now won eight straight sets against the 2020 US Open champion, battled his inner demons after being broken when attempting to serve out the first set. The 24-year-old, who has spoken candidly about difficulties in controlling his on-court frustrations, exploded in rage after dropping serve but regained composure to break in the next game to close out the set.

“When I was winning 4-1 with a break point for 5-1 it looks like the match is going my way and then I am at 5-4 with him serving,” Rublev said. “That’s not easy to accept, but I was lucky I played a really good game and Dominic helped me out a little bit.

“Then I felt more confident and I was able to win in two sets, which was the most important thing. This week I have been playing really well and I’ll try to show my best tennis of the week tomorrow.”

The former junior World No. 1 attacked Thiem’s first and second serves to seize momentum early in points and also broke Theim in the final game of the match to seal victory. He won 33 per cent of first-serve return points and 53 per cent of second-serve return points. He also looked comfortable when moving forward to net to pressure his opponent.

Rublev is chasing his fourth title of the year, having already triumphed in Belgrade, Dubai and Marseille. In Sunday’s final he will play the winner of American Sebastian Korda and Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who saved nine match points to deny Pablo Carreno Busta 18-16 in a third-set tie-break on Friday.

Thiem who would have returned to the Top 100 had he beaten Rublev, continues to lay the foundation for a successful 2023 season after a spotty start to 2022, when he lost his first six tour-level matches.

This week in Gijon the former World No. 3 has hit his signature one-handed backhand with authority, showing no signs of lingering problems with his right wrist following a tear in June 2021 that forced him to miss the second half of the 2021 season. He has played 28 tour-level matches this season for a 14-14 record and is No. 132 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

This past week, American teenager Zachary Svajda staked his claim as the latest #NextGenATP star to watch on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The 19-year-old rallied from a set down to capture his maiden Challenger title in Tiburon, California, defeating countryman Ben Shelton in the final 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Svajda is the youngest American in the Top 300 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The two-time USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships titlist joins fellow San Diego native Brandon Nakashima (Quimper-2, February 2021) as the only American teenage Challenger champion in the past five years.

Following his title on home soil, which propelled him to a career-high No. 255, ATPTour.com spoke with the California teen.

Zachary, congratulations on winning your first Challenger title. Can you describe your emotions?
It feels great to get my first Challenger title. The hard work has been paying off. I could’ve been out in the first or second round, I was down 1-5 in the third against Mmoh in the second round. I just came back, it definitely feels good and really special.

Sunday was your first Challenger final. Were you nervous?
Yeah, I was very nervous. I came out in the first set and Ben was playing lights out, it was really good from him. I knew I had to step it up and the nerves started to calm down.

Did the title come as a surprise to you?
It was a little surprising to myself. It didn’t really kick in until the next day, I was like, ‘Wait, I just won Tiburon, my first Challenger final!’ As the tournament went on and I got to the quarters and semis, I started to feel much more confident.

Zachary Svajda is crowned champion at the Tiburon Challenger. Credit: Natalie Kim Photography

There are a lot of young Americans that are doing well right now on the ATP Tour and the Challenger Tour. Will you talk about how promising the future of American tennis looks?
The future is looking really good. There’s a lot of guys in the Top 100, and even outside the Top 100, on the Challenger Tour, guys like me, just building up. We kind of put each other up after a good win, we congratulate and say ‘Let’s keep it going!’ I’m close with Emilio Nava, Ben Shelton, and Brandon Holt. Every American, we put each other up, everyone is nice.

You played Ben Shelton in the 2021 USTA Boys 18s National Championship final. Is it fun to watch you and Ben’s growth and now 14 months later, competing in the Tiburon Challenger final?
It’s fun to see what Ben has done in the past year. He’s close to the Top 150. I knew Sunday was going to be much tougher than Kalamazoo, especially with the success he’s had in the past year. It’s cool to see two Next Gen Americans coming up in a Challenger final, you don’t see that too much.

You had a unique upbringing, where you didn’t play junior tournaments for four-and-a-half years and then won your first of two Kalamazoo titles at 16. Why do you think that path worked so well for you?
I took ages 10-14 off from tournaments. My parents didn’t really see the value of playing so much junior tennis. We were focussing on the process, getting better. The one thing I was kind of lacking was match play but other than that, it was an everyday process to get better. It looks like it’s starting to pay off for me.

How would you describe your game?
I feel like I’m a good ball-striker, good mover. Just solid from the ground, usually if I’m playing at my best, I don’t miss a whole lot. I’m still working on a lot of things, coming into the net, being more aggressive but I try to stay solid from the ground.

In your opinion, what’s the importance of the ATP Challenger Tour?
For me, getting a lot of matches. Especially like in Tiburon, where I was down in my first couple matches. Getting a lot of repetition in and also travelling, seeing new parts, all of it helps. Also, you see the ranking points start to really add up in the semis and finals.

How did you get into tennis? Is there a moment you look back on where you realised you wanted to be a professional tennis player?
I started when I was two. My dad got me into tennis. He played a couple of tournaments in college. I was always dreaming about being a professional. When I got my first ATP point at age 15 in Claremont, CA, beating the one seed at a Futures tournament, I was like, ‘Wow, I can hang with this guy!’ He was like Top 400 at the time, that’s kind of how it all started.

What is your biggest passion outside of tennis?
Growing as a person. Meeting new people, working on my social skills. Trying to learn off the court things, not just always tennis.

Who is your tennis idol?
Unfortunately he retired, but Roger Federer.

Were you able to watch Federer’s last match at the Laver Cup?
Yeah, I did, I watched all of it. It was very emotional. It felt like the world stopped for like a day or two.

Roger and I have some cool stories the past couple years. My first practice with him was at Indian Wells in 2019. I was super nervous, like the most nervous I’ve ever been. We practised that day, and then he asked me to warm him up for the round of 16, quarters, semis, and final, the year he played Thiem. It was amazing that he was requesting me.

When I won Kalamazoo in August, a couple months later, I went to the US Open and he remembered me. I was telling my parents, ‘I wonder if Roger will remember me!’ Sure enough, my first day walking on site, he was like, ‘Hey, Zach! Congrats!’ It was just cool that he saw my result at Kalamazoo and we hit a couple times. I remember that’s when I lost to [Paolo] Lorenzi in five sets when I was 16. One of the coolest things I’ll always remember was after my match, I was cramping, so tired. I went to the locker room and Roger just patted me on the shoulder and was like, ‘Good try, buddy. So close, keep it going!’ That felt so good coming from him.

#NextGenATP youngster Timofey Skatov made his ATP Challenger Tour breakthrough this past week, when he lifted his maiden Challenger trophy in Parma, Italy.

The 21-year-old defeated Slovakian Jozek Kovalik 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-4 in the Parma Challenger final to become the first Kazakh Challenger champion this season. Skatov has reached at least the semi-finals in four of his past five Challenger tournaments and the title in Italy launched him to a career-high No. 152 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

ATPTour.com spoke to Skatov following his title to learn more about the rising star.

Timofey, congratulations on winning your first Challenger title. Can you describe your emotions?
I was really happy when I won the tournament, I didn’t even expect to win it. I played just one Challenger final before and I lost it. This one was a bit surprising for me. Maybe because of that, I was more happy because when you are having tough times and then finally you win a Challenger, it feels good.

The final was just over three hours long, were you nervous?
I was more or less okay, I was feeling nervous but I was also feeling confident because the past few matches I was playing well. I was comfortable on court. There were some tough moments, especially in the first set, I was 5-0 up and then suddenly it was 5-4. For sure I was nervous though, in a three-hour match, you get tense.

What is the biggest thing you’ve learned stepping up to the Challenger level?
Hard work always pays off. Especially this summer, it was tough for me, I was losing many first rounds. But I was always believing in myself. But then I got some wins which gave me some confidence and I just know you have to work, whatever it takes, doesn’t matter if you’re winning or losing, you have to always keep the same attitude.

Has your success come as a surprise to you at all?
I was feeling that I was playing well and I was getting close to a final. A few times in the semi-finals, I was like, ‘Okay, this is really good’. But in my last semi-final, I said, ‘Now, the semi-final is not enough! The goal is to go full!’ In the end, I was playing really well for a month and at the end of those few tournaments, I got the win.

Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov is crowned champion at the Parma Challenger. Credit: Daniele Combi

You’re approaching the Top 150, was that a goal at the start of the year?
When I started the season, I didn’t think anything about that. Suddenly, two months ago, I said to myself, ‘It would be nice to finish the season in the Top 150!’ I was kind of thinking about it and I think it also helps me realise what I have to do to get to this point. It’s kind of funny that I’m at 152, the jump is near and I have many more tournaments to work.

How would you describe your game?
Before I started to practice at the Lozano-Altur Tennis Academy in Valencia, Spain, I was practising in Russia, playing with Russian players and we were playing crazy, where you do whatever you have in mind. Then I moved to Spain, where I started working with my coach, Jose Altur. He gave me some rules, like basics that I have to use, and the past three years I’ve really been learning about them.

Now, I’m trying to mix what I had from my youth and what I’ve learned in Spain, with a bit more control. Many times I play kind of different, I run a lot, I like it, sometimes it’s funny. It’s a mix of everything but for sure I’m not a big server.

In your opinion, what’s the importance of the ATP Challenger Tour?
It’s kind of a transition tour, from ITF to ATP. First, you get the experience, and then also you see how strong you are. The Challenger Tour is kind of like university, if you pass it, then you go to ‘real life’.

What is your biggest passion outside of tennis?
Before I would say football but now I don’t have much time, it’s really tough to say. I like fashion things, like clothes and shoes. If I have the opportunity in big cities, I like to go shopping.

Is there a moment you look back on where you realised you wanted to be a professional tennis player?
First, when I was like 12 years old, it was time to choose between more school and tennis. And then my first time I went to the USA to play the Orange Bowl junior tournament, I was really surprised to see many players playing much better than me. After that, I sat with my parents and my coach and I said, ‘Okay, I like tennis and I don’t like school!’

When I moved to Spain at 17, this was the point where I had to go away from home and become more like a man, and take more responsibility myself, like start practising and working harder than I was.

You’ve said that Roger Federer is your idol. What was your reaction to his retirement and did you watch his last match at the Laver Cup?
I didn’t see the match but I think everyone was expecting it when he didn’t play for more than one year. I was on Instagram and I suddenly saw a post from Roger and I saw, ‘To my tennis family…’ I was like, ‘Okay, he is saying bye-bye.’ It’s kind of sad but he played as long as possible.

When you’re at Challenger tournaments, do you get much time to sightsee? And if so, what’s a memorable spot you’ve been to while on the road?
When I played at the Seville Challenger, Sevilla FC was playing Barcelona and we went to see the match. Then a couple days later, on Tuesday, they were playing a Champions League game against Manchester City. So, I watched more football in two days than I have in the past three years.

Felix Auger-Aliassime boosted his Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances on Friday in Florence, where he moved past #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4.

In a dominant display, the Canadian fired 23 winners and won 90 per cent (35/39) of his first-serve points to set up a semi-final meeting with #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti at the UniCredit Firenze Open.

“I am very pleased with my level,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. “It was a great two sets of tennis. I think I served well. I could have been better on the second serve, he was winning a lot of points. I had to stay very focused until the end because you never know, matches can change quickly.”

With his 89-minute victory, Auger-Aliassime has climbed one place to seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, moving past American Taylor Fritz, who lifted the trophy in Tokyo last week.

“There is still a lot of work to do to qualify for Turin,” Auger-Aliassime said. “The race is still very close, very tight. I am going to try my best to go all the way this week. But tomorrow already it will be another tough opponent. It won’t be easy to win any match. But with the way I am playing now I have more chances of qualifying [for the Nitto ATP Finals].”

The 22-year-old is aiming to make his debut at the prestigious end-of-year event, to be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 13-20 November. Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic have all already qualified.

The top seed has now advanced to five tour-level semi-finals this season following his 42nd tour-level win of the year. Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Oscar Otte in his opening match at the ATP 250 event in Italy, lifted his maiden tour-level trophy on hard in Rotterdam in February.

Nakashima leaves Florence in sixth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan. The 21-year-old is looking to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive season after reaching the semi-finals last year.