After all four of the other Top 5 seeds fell victim to first-round upsets at the Cinch Championships, defending champion Matteo Berrettini restored order at The Queen’s Club in London on Tuesday.

The second-seeded Italian, fresh off winning his sixth ATP Tour title in Stuttgart, defeated home favourite Daniel Evans, 6-3, 6-3, on centre court. The Briton — who won an ATP Challenger Tour title last week in Nottingham — created seven break chances, but Berrettini erased each one to escape in straights.

“We both won a tournament last week so we were feeling confident and I think we showed it on the court,” Berrettini said post-match. “That’s why I’m even happier for my win.”

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Both sets included late drama. In the first, Berrettini broke in the eighth game and then saved two break points in serving for the set. But that paled in comparison to the close of set two.

Leading by an early break, Berrettini battled through four deuces at 4-3, saving three break points to extend his lead behind clutch serving. The ensuing game went eight deuces, with Berrettini ultimately converting his fourth match point.

“The last two games were really long,” he assessed. “But thats the beauty of tennis. We were fighting really hard.”

The 26-year-old improved to 5-0 following surgery on his right hand, all on grass. Prior to his Stuttgart triumph, he had not competed since Indian Wells in March.

“I love to play on grass. I love to play here,” he said. “I got a surgery a few months ago and I didn’t know if I was able to play this grass season so I’m really thankful to be here. Obviously every match is important for me. Now it’s time to think about the next match. Of course the goal is to win again.”

The Italian claimed the 2021 Queen’s Club title before reaching the Wimbledon final, finishing the grass season with an 11-1 record. He will look to extend his perfect grass-court record this year against qualifier Denis Kudla, who closed play on Court 1 with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego.

The American reached the Surbiton final on the ATP Challenger Tour two weeks ago, beating Andy Murray in the semis, but lost to Alexander Bublik in the opening round last week in Stuttgart.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios both advanced Tuesday in Halle to set up their fourth ATP Head2Head meeting in the second round of the the Terra Wortmann Open.

Second seed Tsitsipas was a 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3 winner over France’s Benjamin Bonzi, with his match immediately following wild card Kyrgios’ 6-3, 7-5 win over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in OWL Arena.

“I can say playing him on grass for sure is going to be quite difficult,” Tsitsipas said of Kyrgios, against whom he holds a 1-2 record with one hard-court match in each of the past three years. “I’m just going to go out there and enjoy myself. Let’s see what that brings.

“He’s fired up playing on the grass-court season. I’m fired up too. I really hope to have a great match against him and be able to really sustain the level at its very highest.”

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The Greek found a high level at the key moments of his opening match against World No. 52 Bonzi, dominating the opening tie-break and regrouping for a strong final set after dropping serve three times in the second. After fighting off two break points to start the third set — denying Bonzi a fourth straight break of serve — Tsitsipas rediscovered his rhythm on serve and used three love holds to help close out the match behind a mid-set break.

Tsitsipas fired 14 aces in the match and saved seven of 10 break points while converting on two of his four break chances. 

“It’s one of those matches where I said to myself just go out and enjoy it… It was very spontaneous and very free-spirited. Thats the right way to put it. It really brought something different out there today.”

It was the second grass win of the season for Tsitsipas, who fell to Andy Murray in the Stuttgart quarter-finals last week. Kyrgios made the semi-finals in Stuttgart but was also beaten by Murray.

The Aussie improved to 4-1 this grass season and was pleased with his performance in his Halle debut against home favourite Altmaier.

“I felt pretty good,” said Kyrgios, who did not face a break point in the victory. “It’s a great court, indoors.

“I felt like I didn’t have my best serving day. But from the back of the court I did everything I could. Obviously it’s grass. And he’s a German, playing pretty free… he really started to get the crowd involved, got himself going. So I’m pretty happy with the way I closed that out.”

Eighth seed Karen Khachanov also advanced on Tuesday in Halle, getting past Aslan Karatsev, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-2. Khachanov reached the quarter-finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week before a loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime. He next faces Laslo Djere.

Stan Wawrinka will compete at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019 after receiving a wild card, the tournament announced on Tuesday.

The former World No. 3, a two-time quarter-finalist at the event, will play in the main draw at the grass-court major for the 16th time. The 37-year-old recently returned after undergoing two left foot surgeries last year.

The other players who have received men’s singles wild cards are Tim Van Rijthoven of The Netherlands and Britons Liam Broady, Jay Clarke, Alastair Gray, Paul Jubb and Ryan Peniston. There is one main draw wild card still to be announced.

Van Rijthoven enjoyed a dream run to the title last week at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The 25-year-old, who was World No. 205, upset three players in the Top 15 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev — en route to the trophy. The Dutchman climbed to a career-high World No. 106.

Four men’s doubles team wild cards, all going to British duos, were also announced: Broady and Clarke, Julian Cash and Henry Patten, Gray and Peniston, and Jonny O’Mara and Ken Skupski.

Legend Serena Williams was among the six women who received a main draw singles wild card on Tuesday.

The past few years have been filled with success for Daniel Evans. The Briton defeated Dominic Thiem to earn his first Top 10 win in 2017, captured his maiden ATP Tour title in Sydney in 2021 and then rose to a career-high No. 22 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last September.

However, the path to the top has been anything but easy. With five of the Top 10 aged 25 or younger, many players are achieving their dreams at a young age. However, it was a different story for Evans, who only cracked the Top 100 for the first time when he was aged 25 in 2016, before he dropped outside of the Top 1000 in April 2018.

Now aged 32, Evans has found greater consistency, becoming a fixture of the Top 50 since 2019. The World No. 31 puts his improvement down to hard work and admires his fellow professionals who have done the same.

“I think you get to an age when you need to put the work in and try and fulfil what you think you have got,” Evans told ATPTour.com. “It comes hand in hand when you start working a bit harder, you get more success and you start to realise this is the right time to go after it.

“There are a lot of sacrifices being away from home, being away from family. I admire everyone who is out on the Tour putting the work in. Everyone who puts themselves on the line in front of a crowd to go out and perform and lose and then come back and do it all again. It is not easy.”

The work Evans puts in is there for all to see when he is on court. The 32-year-old possesses great tenacity when on court, scampering around the baseline to hang in points, frustrating opponents with his effective backhand slice.

Fighting hard and playing in electric atmospheres are aspects of the sport Evans loves the most. He smiles while reflecting on a recent match in Madrid, where he felt like he was facing both Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and the home crowd at the same time.

“The match against Bautista Agut in Madrid was one of the highlights of the year. It was against him, who I really like, and we had a really good hard battle and I managed to get on top of it. The atmosphere in the arena was amazing.

“I do a good job of appreciating what is happening in moments. Win or loss, it is something pretty special to be involved in when competing in electric atmospheres. For example in Spain, playing a Spaniard in Spain in a full house going crazy for him is pretty cool. If you don’t appreciate it, you miss out on an experience.”

Evans, who beat Bautista Agut en route to the third round in Madrid in May, is competing on home soil this week at the Cinch Championships in London. The Briton will play reigning champion Matteo Berrettini in the first round on Tuesday and arrives in form after triumphing at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Nottingham last week.

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The 32-year-old is excited to be back on the grass and is looking forward to having the crowd behind him at the ATP 500 event in a period of the season he loves.

It was really nice to win in my home country last week. It is a great time of year where we get treated really well with amazing tournaments,” Evans said when discussing the grass swing. “When I think about the grass, the tradition comes to mind. It is an amazing surface to play on. Some of the most iconic matches have been on the grass, so it is great.”

Playing on the English lawns has often led to success for Evans. The Briton reached the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club and has won five titles on the surface across all levels.

Competing in the UK also comes with the perks of spending time with friends at home, providing a good opportunity to switch off when not on court.

“I play a lot of golf when I am back in England,” Evans said. “I have a handicap of three and there is a good group of us who like to go out and play. I

haven’t played with Casper [Ruud] before but he owes me a round because I beat him in practice.

“Then with food in England, my go-to would actually be a decent Italian! Caprese and bruschetta, so I would have two starters. And then Spaghetti Bolognese and if I have a week off I love a Chinese.”

Evans will hope that home comforts can help lead to success on court over the next month, with the Briton ready for an action-packed period as he competes at The Queen’s Club, in Eastbourne and then Wimbledon.

Just more than 24 hours after Marcelo Arevalo claimed his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros alongside Jean Julien-Rojer, he was already back in his home country of El Salvador to receive a range of accolades. The Salvadoran visited the Presidential House, the Legislative Palace and the national tennis federation, all of which honoured him for his achievement in Paris.

Arévalo, who is up to a career-high No. 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, was welcomed on Thursday by Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador. “For me it was very emotional to see that the president of my country wanted to meet me and recognise the biggest triumph of my career,” Arévalo told ATPTour.com. “It’s a sign of his commitment to our Salvadoran sport.”

Bukele congratulated Arévalo on the victory that lifted him and Rojer up to No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings and made him the first Central American doubles player in history to win a Grand Slam title. The message was clear on the president’s social media: “Thank you for the joy and pride you gave all of us Salvadorans. I’m sure there will be more success in your career and we’ll always be there to support you.”

The leader also personally referenced a couple of moments from the Paris final. “He told me he’d seen the match and mentioned two points that we won. One where I hit it from on the ground and another where I dived for the ball,” Arevalo said. “It was a wonderful experience and we chatted a bit about everything.”

In addition to the praise at the presidential residence, Arévalo was also named a Worthy Son of El Salvador by the president of the Legislative Assembly, Representative Ernesto Castro, who said, “I’m happy to be here to honour the career of an exceptional man, who has given us one of the most important gifts in our sport.”

The 31-year-old, who was born in Sonsonate, spoke of his immense gratitude during the ceremony at the Legislative Palace. But the homages did not end there. The previous day, he had received recognition from the National Sports Institute (INDES). “We high-performance athletes have been supported in recent years thanks to the management of this institution,” Arevalo said.

Before leaving on Friday for the ATP Tour’s grass swing, Arévalo visited the Salvadoran Tennis Federation, presided by his brother Rafael, where he finished his tennis training. There he received a commemorative trophy, signed autographs and promised, before a crowd of children, to help more compatriots follow in his footsteps as a professional tennis player.