Defending champion Gael Monfils made a winning return to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Wednesday, cruising past Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round.

Fresh from his record-tying third title run at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier last week, the World No. 9 claimed his ninth win in 11 matches this season after 70 minutes. Monfils won 68 per cent of service points (34/50) and broke serve on four occasions en route to victory.

“It is never easy to adapt yourself to new conditions, so I was very pleased with my performance today,” said Monfils. “Moving well was the key for me… I am very happy.”

Monfils is aiming to become the first man since Robin Soderling to win back-to-back titles in Rotterdam. The Frenchman beat Daniil Medvedev and Stan Wawrinka in back-to-back three-set matches to claim the trophy last year.

Monfils will meet Gilles Simon in the second round. Making his 11th appearance in Rotterdam, three-time semi-finalist Simon worked his way past Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 over two hours and 41 minutes.

Simon owns a 7-2 ATP Head2Head advantage against third seed Monfils. In their most recent encounter on indoor hard courts, the World No. 57 edged Monfils in a final-set tie-break to lift the 2015 Open 13 Provence trophy in Marseille.

“It is tough. Gilles knows me quite well,” said Monfils. “He is a very tricky player. It is tough to play against him. He is one of my best friends on the Tour… It is always a big challenge for me to beat him.”

David Goffin beat home favourite Robin Haase 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to open his bid for a first trophy in Rotterdam. Goffin saved both break points he faced in the deciding set to record his seventh ATP Head2Head win in eight matches against Haase. The Belgian, who reached the Open Sud de France semi-finals last week, has now won eight of 11 matches this year.

Goffin improves to 7-6 in Rotterdam after his two-hour, 29-minute victory. The World No. 10 reached the championship match at the ATP 500 event in 2017 and also made it through to the semi-finals in 2018.

Goffin will face Jannik Sinner for a place in the quarter-finals. The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion, who was ranked No. 549 in the FedEx ATP Rankings 12 months ago, gained his place in the second round without hitting a ball when Radu Albot withdrew due to illness.

The winner of Goffin and Sinner’s second-round clash will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals. The 28-year-old landed 11 aces and saved seven of nine break points to outlast sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4).

This evening, top seed Daniil Medvedev challenges Vasek Pospisil and Grigor Dimitrov takes on Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert began their bid for a second ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament title as a team on Wednesday, beating Benoit Paire and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-4.

The 2018 champions dropped just four points on serve (40/44) to move through to the quarter-finals after 50 minutes. Mahut and Herbert improve to 7-1 at the opening ATP 500 event of the year, having also reached the semi-finals on their tournament debut as a team in 2017.

Mahut, a three-time champion in Rotterdam, and Herbert will meet Fabio Fognini and Robin Haase as they bid to reach their third semi-final in as many team appearances in Rotterdam. Fognini and Haase edged past Rolex Paris Masters finalists Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 7-6(1), 7-6(11) on Monday.

In the final first-round match, Raven Klaasen and Oliver Marach will meet Dutch wild cards Sander Arends and David Pel. Klaasen and Marach are searching for their second team victory of the year, following a second-round loss at last month’s Australian Open.

Brian Shi left the New York Open venue on Tuesday evening with memories to last a lifetime. An unranked player who won entry into the main draw through a collegiate wild card event, the 19-year-old pushed World No. 59 Cameron Norrie in a tight two-setter, with the Brit ultimately winning 7-5, 6-3.

Some fans in the Long Island crowd might have known Shi is a Harvard University sophomore. But they didn’t know he is travelling more than 200 miles tonight to make a 9am macroeconomics class in Massachusetts.

“It’s kind of fun,” Shi told ATPTour.com, cracking a smile.

But not quite as fun as competing in his first ATP Tour event.

“It felt amazing. Coming on court, as soon as I saw my teammates and my parents, all the nerves went away. The atmosphere was amazing,” Shi said. “It was such an incredible experience, even though I didn’t get the win. Definitely a great learning experience for sure. It’s going to give me way more motivation coming back to school to train harder for next time.”

Shi may not own a FedEx ATP Ranking, but he wasn’t unfamiliar with the players he was seeing around the hallways. The New York native, who grew up just a 15-minute drive away in Jericho, has watched everyone in the tournament on television.

“Just seeing my name in the draw next to all these big time players was surreal,” Shi said.

But the right-hander didn’t seem out of place when he took a 3-0 lead against Norrie, who has climbed as high as World No. 41. What was Shi thinking during that changeover?

“Not much, honestly. When I go into all my matches — this match was no different — I just try keep my head as empty as possible,” Shi said. “Obviously there are some thoughts in the back of my mind like, ‘Oh wow, I’m up a break against Cameron Norrie, this is frickin’ awesome.’”

Funny enough, Shi’s team got to FaceTime with former World No. 4 James Blake — who played for Harvard — a couple of weeks ago. Blake’s advice applied to that situation.

“I think the best advice that he gave, and it’s the same advice that I’ve heard from many good tennis players throughout the past few years, is to not get too high when you’re playing well and doing really well. Then, when you’re not playing as well, not to get too low to try to keep that equilibrium,” Shi said. “That’s how to stay motivated and not get too discouraged when you’re not doing well.”

Shi didn’t end up getting the win, but he acquitted himself well, breaking serve twice to stay close to the 24-year-old lefty. Only 12 hours stand between the time Shi shook hands with Norrie at the net and when he’ll be sitting in a classroom in a different state. The educational aspect of his life helps, too.

“The biggest thing is the discipline as a student-athlete, not just at Harvard, but any college,” Shi said. “You have to balance playing tennis, balance school work, social life also, so much on your plate.”

Shi is clearly handling that balance well. And after a night he’ll never forget, he’s hungrier than ever to work on his game.

“I definitely have some work I need to get done,” Shi said. “I’m very excited for what’s to come ahead.”

Marcos Giron’s story is an inspiring one. In 2014, he won the NCAA Singles Championship. But on-and-off hip pain made climbing the professional tennis ladder difficult. That pain kept flaring up, leading to right hip surgery in December 2015 and left hip surgery in February 2016 to fix labral tears, in which doctors shaved down the American’s hip bones, which were wearing down cartilage.

Last year, Giron had the best season of his career, winning his first two ATP Challenger Tour titles and reaching the Round of 32 at the BNP Paribas Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event, as a qualifier. In Indian Wells, he beat two Top 50 players, Jeremy Chardy and Alex de Minaur. Now, Giron’s writing a new narrative, and it’s with his on-court accomplishments.

“The more time goes by, the more results he has, it’s a great story. But for us, it’s a distant memory,” said Giron’s coach, Evan Lee. “Certainly you appreciate things a little more. I know he does coming off surgeries like that.”

Giron’s been battling obstacles since he was a kid, so while dealing with his hip was a difficult time for him, he’s never shied away from a challenge. Lee remembers when Giron was 10 years old and he was 14, battling in the California juniors. Giron would “play up” multiple age divisions, no matter the size difference, and do his best against older players. That translated to college, where Lee was a senior and Giron was a freshman at UCLA. Lee remembers his charge starting his career there towards the bottom of the line-up, but being fully focussed on reaching the No. 1 singles spot.

“I think that’s probably one of the best things about him,” Lee said. “He always challenges himself to be better and holds himself to a high standard.”

Giron returned in September 2016 at No. 632 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. At the time, there was a long road ahead, and there was never certainty about how he’d feel on the court. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to push through all those “tough moments” to try to achieve his goals.

“Definitely when you first start playing after your injuries, it’s definitely in the back of your mind and then you lose some close matches and it’s easy to lose confidence and it kind of can spiral,” Giron said. “But the past year I won a lot of matches and the year before wasn’t as good of a year, but there were plenty of good players where I was up against them.

“So the level was there, but it was more mental on the important times that I kind of had to break through. So last year was really good to win a lot of those close matches and I definitely look to build on it this year.”

Giron won 21 three-set matches at all levels in 2019. In his final match of the season, at the Houston Challenger, he saved six championship points to defeat Ivo Karlovic and move to a career-high World No. 102, on the verge of the Top 100.

“It’s definitely something I want to do. I was three points away from being Top 100. I could have gone and played a Futures and maybe won two matches, but ultimately I don’t think that’s necessarily a practical winners’ mentality,” Giron said. “It’s definitely on my mind, but I have bigger goals than just being Top 100 in the world.”

Giron has proven he could compete with world-class players, battling hard against Juan Martin del Potro and Milos Raonic within the past two years. Considering his past hip issues, 5’11” Giron ironically presents problems for his opponents with the physicality he brings to the court.

“He’s a physical kid by nature. He has a really strong lower body and he uses it. I think that’s really something that helped set him apart,” Lee said. “He’s always 100 per cent ready to play the next point.

“I think he’s got a great serve for his size, he’s got a really nice forehand, really solid, his backhand is solid. But I think part of what makes him a tough out is how physical he can be. There are not a lot of players — I’ve watched him play hundreds of matches at this point — I’ve never seen him lose a match because he’s not fit enough. I’ve never seen that. And so I think his physicality and his stamina combined with those weapons, the will to win and really prove to people that he belongs is a dangerous formula. Hopefully he can keep things going and have a good 2020.”

Giron earned his fourth tour-level win on Monday evening by defeating former World No. 8 and 2018 Rolex Paris Masters champion Jack Sock in the first round of the New York Open. This is the first ATP Tour event the World No. 113 has earned direct entry into thanks to his Ranking. The last time Giron and Sock played was in the semi-finals of a national junior event in 2011.

“It’s crazy. He’s obviously had a great career so far. I’m still trying to build on mine,” Giron said. “Different paths and everyone’s got their own path, but I’m enjoying it.”

Eighth seed Kyle Edmund opened his week in style at the New York Open, holding the lead throughout his 7-5, 6-4 victory on Tuesday against Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama.

The Brit won 86 per cent (30/35) of his first-serve points en route to prevailing in one hour and 44 minutes. Awaiting Edmund in the second round is German Dominik Koepfer, who defeated Canadian Brayden Schnur 7-5, 6-4. Schnur finished runner-up last year in New York (l. to Opelka).

Aussie Jordan Thompson weathered a dangerous test by moving past big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-6(2) to reach the second round. Next up for Thompson is another gentle giant on Tour when he meets top-seeded American John Isner, who defeated him in the quarter-finals last year at this event. 

Trailing by a set and 1-4, Italian Paolo Lorenzi rallied to win the last 11 games and prevail 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in his all-qualifier battle with Serbian Danilo Petrovic. The 38-year-old will face another Serbian when he takes on #NextGenATP star and sixth seed Miomir Kecmanovic for a place in the quarter-finals.

South Korean Soonwoo Kwon prevailed in a lengthy 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3 first-round battle with Japanese qualifier Go Soeda. His reward is a clash with second-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic. Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka started his week with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 win over Swiss Henri Laaksonen. The 24-year-old earned the right to meet third-seeded American and defending champion Reilly Opelka in the next round.

Some players look at their draws, and others don’t pay much attention to it. But for Jordan Thompson, his New York Open draw was tough to miss, literally and figuratively. The World No. 63 beat 6’11” Ivo Karlovic on Tuesday 6-3, 7-6(2) and next, he will face 6’10” John Isner, the top seed.

“When I saw the draw I was like ‘Oof, that’s a tough one,’” Thompson told ATPTour.com. “It’s pretty funny when you play a guy 6’11″ and then play a guy 6’10″. It doesn’t happen too often.”

Karlovic and Isner are No. 1 and No. 2 in career aces, respectively. So inevitably, Thompson knew that it would be tough to earn many breaks. He earned five break points against Karlovic, and converted once in his win.

“Serve and return are the biggest parts of tennis, so when you’re playing someone that big, I think you focus just a little bit harder just because it’s the best part of their game and you’ve got to try to diffuse it,” Thompson said. “Against those sort of guys, I’m just trying to focus on making them play and trying to build pressure because building pressure against those types of guys is incredibly tough. So just try to make as many balls as possible… any return in is a good one.”

The obvious challenge is trying to find a way into the service games of players like Karlovic and Isner. But Thompson said that knowing he won’t get many opportunities also adds a small burden during his own service games.

“When you play those sorts of guys you do feel a little bit more pressure because they can race through service games and I’m about a foot smaller than those boys, so I guess there’s a little bit of pressure,” Thompson said. “I’m an all-around player, so I don’t put too much pressure on my own serve because I can try to win points other ways.”

Just because Karlovic and Isner lead the ATP Tour in career aces doesn’t mean they play exactly similar games. According to Thompson, outside of the serve, those men use different strategies.

“Ivo is more of a serve-and-volleyer. John tries to stay back and hunt for forehands. I’d say John is better from the back of the court,” Thompson said. “Both have got a great serve. John is a little bit younger. I don’t know what the difference is between them. I’d say between the serve and volleying and staying back, that’s the only difference.

“It’s coming down from such a height, they’re basically the same height. They’re close to seven-feet tall. I don’t really know if there’s that much of a difference. Maybe Isner has a little bit more spin on his. They’re both pretty similar.”

Thompson will hope that his win against Karlovic will help propel him to victory against Isner, who defeated him in last year’s New York Open. In the quarter-finals, the American struck 16 aces en route to a 6-4, 6-1 triumph against the Aussie.

“I had a pretty tough day at the office because it is indoors and there’s no outside factors that can [affect anything],” Thompson said. “Maybe if there’s a bit of wind it’s a little bit harder to serve but there’s none of that in here. It’s perfect conditions in here, so I guess it’s a little bit tougher to break serve.”

Tennys Sandgren may not have won his opening-round match on Monday against Steve Johnson at the New York Open, but his outrageous tweener winner earned top honours on Tuesday as the No. 1 play on ESPN’s flagship program ‘SportsCenter’.

With Sandgren serving at 4-4, 30/30 in the final set, Johnson tracked down a drop volley and flicked a lob over Sandgren’s head, prompting the Tennessee native to sprint back and hit a tweener passing shot. Sandgren stood in stunned disbelief at his winner as the crowd roared its approval.

The 28-year-old has soared up the FedEx ATP Rankings in the past month, jumping from No. 101 to No. 53. Sandgren kicked off this year by reaching his second Australian Open quarter-final, scoring upset victories against Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini before falling to Roger Federer in a five-set thriller.

Jamie Murray/Neal Skupski were pushed to the limit on Tuesday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, but reached the quarter-finals in Rotterdam with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-7 win over Jurgen Melzer/Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Murray/Skupski held the lead throughout the Match Tie-break to advance in one hour and 54 minutes. The British pair will now face Henri Kontinen/Jan-Lennard Struff.

Rohan Bopanna/Denis Shapovalov prevailed in a tight 7-6(0), 6-7(5), 10-8 battle against John Peers/Michael Venus. Bopanna/Shapovalov couldn’t convert a match point at 5-4 in the second set, but regrouped to win the last three points of the Match Tie-break. Awaiting them in the last eight are fourth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau.

At the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, top seeds Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos converted their fifth match point to move past Ariel Behar/Gonzalo Escobar 7-6(3), 7-5. Third seeds Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen rallied to defeat Andrea Collarini/Federico Coria 4-6, 6-1, 10-2. Jaume Munar/Casper Ruud also reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Facundo Bagnis/Federico Delbonis.

Doubles action at the New York Open saw Steve Johnson/Reilly Opelka outlast Ugo Humbert/Jackson Withrow 6-4, 2-6, 10-8. Nicholas Monroe/Jack Sock scored the lone break of the match in the final game of their 7-6(4), 7-5 upset over fourth seeds Luke Bambridge/Ben McLachlan. Robert Lindstedt/Tennys Sandgren rounded out the first-round matches on Tuesday. by powering past Shawn Jackson/Ostap Kovalenko 6-1, 6-0 in 52 minutes.