Gael Monfils moved inside the Top 10 in the ATP Race To London on Friday, after his 7-5, 6-1 victory against Aljaz Bedene at the Erste Bank Open.

The fourth seed claimed 81 per cent of first-serve points (29/36) to earn his 35th tour-level victory of the season after 70 minutes. Monfils improves to 14-5 at the ATP 500 event, where he reached the championship match in 2008.

The 33-year-old overtakes David Goffin and Fabio Fognini to occupy 10th position in the Race after earning 90 points for the quarter-final victory. Monfils is just 310 points behind Matteo Berrettini, who occupies the eighth and final qualification position. Berrettini defeated Andrey Rublev to reach his eighth tour-level semi-final of the year in the first match of the day on Center Court.

The Frenchman will meet fellow London contender Diego Schwartzman for a place in Sunday’s final. Monfils owns a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Argentine, who beat Karen Khachanov in straight sets to reach the last four.

Monfils is attempting to lift his second indoor ATP Tour trophy of the year this week. The World No. 14 captured his eighth tour-level crown at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in February.

Appearing in his second quarter-final at the tournament, Bedene was aiming to reach the semi-finals in Vienna for the first time. The 30-year-old, who also advanced to the last eight in 2012, reached his first indoor ATP Tour final at the Moselle Open last month.

With two qualifying spots remaining for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, the Rolex Paris Masters will determine who packs their bags for The O2 in London from 10-17 November. Ten players are still in contention, including German Alexander Zverev, Italian Matteo Berrettini and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, but they’ll need to weather challenging draws at the last ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

Zverev, seeded sixth, is in good standing to give himself a chance to defend his title in London. He’s currently in seventh place in the ATP Race to London with 2,855 points, but will need to be in top form in Paris as he starts against Croatian Borna Coric or Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Zverev shares the same quarter of the draw as third-seeded Swiss Roger Federer and a pair of London hopefuls, No. 11 seed Fabio Fognini of Italy and No. 13 seed Gael Monfils of France. Monfils is tenth in the Race with 2,350 points.

View Paris Draw

Tenth-seeded Berrettini has a heathy grip on eighth place in the Race with 2,660 points. The Italian arguably has the most challenging draw of any player in Paris, though. He’ll begin against home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or in-form Russian Andrey Rublev, then could face eighth-seeded Russian and defending champion Karen Khachanov in the third round. Should he escape that treacherous section, a potential quarter-final clash awaits with second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Ninth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, currently ninth in the Race (2,530), also seeks a big week in Paris and will open against #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur or Serbian Laslo Djere. The Spaniard is in the same quarter of the draw as top seed Novak Djokovic, seventh-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and fellow London hopeful Diego Schwartzman. The Argentine is 14th in the Race with 2,040 points.

Belgian David Goffin is 11th in the Race with 2,325 points. The No. 13 seed will need to reach at least the semi-finals in Paris if he wants to return to The O2. His week begins against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov or #NextGenATP Aussie Ugo Humbert, with fourth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev and fifth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem also looming in his quarter.

Swiss Stan Wawrinka, American John Isner and Khachanov must take the title in Paris in order to have a chance at qualifying for London. Isner returns to action for the first time since the birth of his second child last week.

Read More: Isner Welcomes Second Child

Djokovic, seeking his fifth title in Paris, opens against Frenchman Richard Gasquet or fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic. The World No. 1 holds a 32-8 record at this event and has reached the championship match in four of his past five appearances.

Nadal is back in action against a qualifier or Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, then could renew his rivalry with Wawrinka in the third round. Although Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 18-3, Wawrinka’s last win over the Spaniard came four years ago in the Paris quarter-finals.

We could have @rogerfederer versus @RafaelNadal semi-final in Paris ?

Projected quarters (by seeding) for the @RolexPMasters ? pic.twitter.com/mFOLIWv5b1

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 25, 2019

Federer looks for his first title in Paris since 2011. The Swiss plays play Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili or Moldovan Radu Albot in his opening match and shares the same half of the draw as Nadal. The pair have never faced off at this event.

Medvedev aims to continue his winning ways as he begins his campaign against a qualifier or Argentine Guido Pella. The Russian, who captured his second Masters 1000 title this month at the Rolex Shanghai Masters (d. Zverev), is on a nine-match winning streak and has reached the final of his past six ATP Tour events.

How much do you know about the Rolex Paris Masters, the ninth ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament of the 2019 season?

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will return for the 2019 edition, where they will be joined by in-form Russian Daniil Medvedev and defending champion Karen Khachanov, but do you know which player has won the most titles here? The Rolex Paris Masters is also the final battleground in the ATP Race To London. Do you recall which American clinched his spot at the Nitto ATP Finals with his triumph in 2017? We test your knowledge in this quiz!

Need a little assistance? Check out these Paris resource pages:
Tournament Profile | All You Need To Know

Click here to stay informed all year with tennis news from the ATP Tour.

Done with the quiz? Scroll back up to the top to see how you did!

In a meeting of Nitto ATP Finals contenders, Diego Schwartzman defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6(6), 6-2 at the Erste Bank Open on Friday.

Competing in his 60th tour-level encounter of the year (38-22), the Argentine rallied from 0-3 down in the opener and broke serve on four occasions to record his second FedEx ATP Head2Head victory in three meetings against Khachanov. As a result of the quarter-final win, Schwartzman moves into 14th position in the ATP Race To London.

With 1,995 points, the Los Cabos champion is now 665 points behind fellow Vienna semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini in the Race. The Italian currently occupies the eighth and final qualification position for the elite eight-man event to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November.

Schwartzman will meet fourth seed Gael Monfils or Aljaz Bedene for a place in the championship match. The 27-year-old owns one victory from three FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters against both players.

Khachanov overpowered Schwartzman in the early stages, dictating rallies with his forehand to establish a 3-0, double-break advantage. But Schwartzman fought back, ripping a forehand return winner to get on the scoreboard in the fourth game.

With Khachanov serving for the set at 5-4, Schwartzman levelled the set with impressive accuracy. The Argentine fired a series of low passing shots as Khachanov attempted to close the net and eventually claimed the opener in the tie-break after his opponent committed his first double fault.

Schwartzman carried the momentum into the second set, landing another backhand passing shot to break in the opening game. The fifth seed increased his advantage four games later and converted his first match point as Khachanov fired his forehand return beyond the baseline.

“It was really difficult in the beginning, I didn’t feel very well. He was playing good tennis, but I think I was doing many mistakes and many unforced errors,” said Schwartzman. “I started to change my game and then I had one break back at 3-0.

“I was just one break down and when he was serving for the set I had a little bit of luck in a few points and I did the comeback. In the second set, I think my tennis was better than his and I felt really well at the end.”

Khachanov was bidding to become the first Russian semi-finalist in Vienna since Andrei Chesnokov in 1992. The World No. 9 currently sits in 16th position in the Race and will now travel to Paris to defend his Rolex Paris Masters crown.

Fourth seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury continued their winning ways on Friday at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, edging Marcus Daniell/Philipp Oswald 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to reach the final.

Ram/Salisbury also moved closer to making their debut appearance as a team at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, held from 10-17 November at The O2 in London. Their semi-final win pushed them into sixth place in the ATP Doubles Race To London with 3,290 points. Ram/Salisbury will pick up an additional 200 points if they can take the title in Vienna.

The American/British pair look to improve their 1-3 record in ATP Tour doubles finals this year, having prevailed in Dubai and finished runner-up in Brisbane, Queen’s Club and Antwerp. They await the winner of top seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo and third seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut.

At the Swiss Indoors Basel, Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek upset second seeds Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus 7-6(8), 6-4 to move into the semi-finals. They saved set points at 5/6 and 7/8 in the first-set tie-break en route to advancing in one hour and 30 minutes.

Dodig/Polasek, who are in ninth place in the ATP Doubles Race To London, will face fourth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau on Saturday. Rojer/Tecau are in seventh place in the Race.

Reilly Opelka dealt a blow to Roberto Bautista Agut’s Nitto ATP Finals hopes on Friday, serving his way past the Spaniard 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 after one hour and 33 minutes to reach the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Entering the match, Opelka had lost three consecutive matches against Top 10 opposition. But the American crushed 31 aces to upset Bautista Agut, winning 91 per cent of his first-serve points (49/54) in the match and saving three of the five break points he faced.

Bautista Agut, the ninth-placed player in the ATP Race To London, was trying to keep pace with eighth-placed Matteo Berrettini, with both men hoping to earn a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals from 10-17 November. But since Berrettini reached the semi-finals in Vienna on Friday and Bautista Agut crashed out in Basel, the Italian’s lead for the final spot grows to 130 points, and that lead can increase depending on Berrettini’s performance the rest of the week at the Erste Bank Open.

Bautista Agut defeated Opelka 6-4, 7-5 in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting just two weeks ago at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. But in that match, the American won just 70 per cent of his first-serve points.

“I definitely served a lot better today. That court against Roberto, I played him in China, is not an easy one to play him on,” Opelka said. “That day the court was really fast and it was a little chilly out, so it felt pretty much impossible for me to beat him there. Similar today, honestly. If I didn’t make my first serve, [I] didn’t win the point. So he’s a nightmare.”

It seemed the steady Spaniard was biding his time for his opportunities with consistent play despite his opponent’s massive serving at this ATP 500 event. But Opelka, who was broken in his second service game of the match, consistently fell back on his booming first delivery when in trouble.

Entering the week, Opelka overcame a 0/40 deficit just once form 21 tries this season. But the 22-year-old flipped the script in a major way at 5-3 in the opener, when he served for a one-set lead. Opelka hit five consecutive aces from 0/40 to gain the advantage.

And although Bautista Agut dominated on second-serve return — winning 78 per cent of those points, including all seven in the second set — it was not enough. Opelka, who used every opportunity to attack with his forehand during rallies, blasted a forehand down the line to clinch the critical break at 4-3 in the third before serving out his victory. The reigning New York Open champion will face #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur, who battled past German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-6(4), in the last four.

“[Bautista Agut] and De Minaur are two of the guys I always say I don’t want to be anywhere near in the draw,” Opelka said.

Each of the three previous times De Minaur won a quarter-final this season (3-3), he went on to win the title. The Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier takes a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead into his semi-final against Opelka, with all three of those matches coming this year.

Like Opelka, Struff based his game off of his serve and powerful baseline game, striking 12 aces and winning 83 per cent of his first-serve points against the Aussie. But De Minaur played splendid defence throughout, putting up a wall that the German was unable to crack often enough. The 20-year-old broke twice in his one-hour, 43-minute victory.

“Whenever you play Reilly, you don’t know what’s going to happen either way. He’s an incredibly tough opponent. He’s one of the toughest opponents out there,” De Minaur said. “It’s going to be another fun match. We’re really good friends, so I’m really looking forward to just being alive [in the draw] another day and coming back tomorrow and being able to play again.”

Did You Know?
By reaching the semi-finals, Opelka could potentially receive a special exempt entry into the Rolex Paris Masters, and on Monday he will become the No. 2 American, passing good friend Taylor Fritz.

The field for the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals is set. A trio of first-time qualifiers – Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, Ugo Humbert of France and Sweden’s Mikael Ymer – qualified for the award-winning eight-man event. Additionally, 18-year-old Jannik Sinner of Italy completes the field as a wild card for the tournament, to be held 5-9 November at the Allianz Cloud in Milan.

The four players join Australian Alex de Minaur, Canadian Denis Shapovalov, American Frances Tiafoe and Norwegian Casper Ruud at the 21-and-under tournament, which features eight players from eight countries and three continents.

Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas will not compete because of his Nitto ATP Finals participation, at The O2 in London, from 10-17 November, and Canadian qualifier Felix Auger-Aliassime was forced to withdraw (left ankle) from the tournament, which will feature a series of rule changes and innovations for the third consecutive year.

Buy Your Tickets Today

De Minaur climbed 177 spots in the ATP Rankings during his breakout season that ended in the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals title match. The 20-year-old raised his level this year, going unbeaten in ATP Tour title matches at the Sydney International, his hometown tournament in January, the BB&T Atlanta Open in July and the Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships in September.

Shapovalov will be making a return trip to Milan after participating in the inaugural event in 2017. The Canadian reached three semi-finals, including his third at the ATP Masters 1000 level in Miami (l. to Federer), and celebrated his maiden ATP Tour title at last week’s Intrum Stockholm Open (d. Krajinovic).

Tiafoe will look to reach the semi-finals in Milan for the first time after falling short on debut last year. The American made his first major quarter-final in January at the Australian Open and his first Masters 1000 quarter-final in March at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Get To Know The Milan Qualifiers
De Minaur | Shapovalov | Tiafoe | Ruud | Kecmanovic | Humbert

Norway’s Casper Ruud will become the first player from the Nordic nation to compete in Milan. The 20-year-old, who is coached by his father and former World No. 39 Christian Ruud, reached his first ATP Tour final in April (l. to Garin) at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston and made the semi-finals at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo (l. to Garin) in February and the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel in August.

Serbia’s #NextGenATP star Miomir Kecmanovic has climbed 77 spots in the ATP Rankings this year, from No. 131 to No. 54. The 20-year-old made his first ATP Tour final at the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya (l. to Sonego) in June and earned his first Top 10 win in August, at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati against 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev.

Ugo Humbert finished one spot away from qualifying in 2018, but the 21-year-old Frenchman will be competing in Milan next month. The left-hander made the fourth round of Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic) and three semi-finals, at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, the Hall of Fame Open in Newport and the European Open in Antwerp.

Sweden’s Ymer won back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles during the past month to thrust himself into Milan contention. The 21-year-old, who reached the second round of Roland Garros (l. to Zverev), is at a career-high No. 74 in the ATP Rankings and has won four Challenger titles this season.

Watch: Spotlight Series: Jannik Sinner

Sinner is on the cusp of becoming the youngest player inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings, a status currently belonging to Auger-Aliassime. The 18-year-old Italian, who is 373 days younger than his Canadian counterpart, is No. 101 and surged forward 18 spots last week by beating World No. 13 Gael Monfils and making the European Open semi-finals (l. to Wawrinka). The teenager became the youngest ATP Tour semi-finalist in five years (Borna Coric, Basel 2014). Sinner was close to making Milan on his own merit as he is one spot away from qualifying in the ATP Race To Milan.

The third edition of the event in Milan will see the continuation of a number of innovations, including a best-of-five set format, shorter sets to 4 (tie-break at 3-All) and No-Ad scoring. Other innovations include Electronic Line Calling through Hawk-Eye Live, a 25-second Shot Clock, In-Match player coaching via head-sets, Video Review and more.

The tournament’s pioneering role in innovation was recognised at the 2018 Yahoo Sports Technology Awards in London, where ATP & ATP Media won the Most Innovative Governing Body or Rights Holder Award, as well as at the 2018 Leaders Sports Awards, where the tournament was recognised with the award for Best Innovation.

Last year, Mikael Ymer could only watch the Next Gen ATP Finals. But this year, he’ll join some of the world’s best 21-and-under players at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 5-9 November at the Allianz Cloud in Milan.

The 21-year-old Swede is the final direct qualifier for the award-winning event. Here are five things to know about Ymer.

1. He is keenly aware of the sacrifices his family made
Ymer and his brother were born in Sweden to Ethiopian parents. And although they have the pleasure of travelling the world as professional tennis players, they are well aware of the sacrifices their parents made to give them the many opportunities they have had so far. Their parents left war-torn Ethiopia in the 1980s to start a new life in Sweden.

“When it gets tougher, I have that in the back of my head, that people have sacrificed a lot. My family has sacrificed more or less their lives for us to be able to do this. So I’m not only playing for me. Having that in the back of my mind always helps me,” Mikael said. “Sometimes I’m still going to fail, but it definitely helps me to make sure I do the work. It also motivates me.”

2. He loves running
Ymer’s father, Wondwosen, was a professional runner in the marathon and 10K distances. And the plan was for Ymer and his older brother, Elias Ymer, to become professional runners. “It definitely runs in the blood,” Mikael said.

Despite his budding tennis career, he was still running a lot up until two years ago. “Now I have to change a little bit, because of my body, how it’s reacting to it. But every chance I get, I try to run. I enjoy it. I think it’s very good, very good for the head and the body,” Mikael said.

3. Tennis is in the family
Elias, 23, is currently No. 130 in the ATP Rankings. Together, they won the 2016 Intrum Stockholm Open doubles title.

“It’s been unreal,” Mikael said at the time. “We clicked really well and played some great doubles. I’m really happy with this win and I’m excited for our future together in doubles.”

More About Ymer
Ymer Brothers Take Stockholm Doubles Title
Mikael’s Magical Month, Back-To-Back Challenger Titles
Ymer Cracks Top 100
Ymer Wins #NextGenATP Battle In Bastad

4. He enjoyed Grand Slam success in Paris
Ymer checked a couple of career-first boxes at Roland Garros this season. He qualified for his first major and won his first Grand Slam match (d. Rola) before falling to eventual quarter-finalist Alexander Zverev in the second round.

“I’m happy with how I fought. That was one of my main goals before, that I’m going to leave it all out there,” Ymer said of the Zverev match. “I wish I could replay the match, but there are still positive things to bring with me and that I look forward to working on.

“It’s a great first Grand Slam… Four wins here in Paris is not easy at all, of course I bring that with me. I got my first best-of-five match in a big arena, so next time I come out I can be a little more focussed on actually winning the match and not too much about the circumstances.”

5. He is playing the best tennis of his life right now
Ymer has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles in the past month to climb 31 spots in the ATP Rankings, from No. 105 to No. 74. Ymer won the ATP Challenger title in Orleans, beating former World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals. The next week, the Swede took the title in Mouilleron le Captif, France.

“I think I played well from the beginning of the tournament,” Ymer said. “I had some tight matches because my opponents had a very good level in the first few stages. I had to get used to the surface, which is a little different here, with the [orange] colour. But once I took my bearings, I felt better and better.”

For the season, Ymer has won four Challenger crowns, best among the current #NextGenATP group.

2019 #NextGenATP Challenger Title Leaders

Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year. They are the third duo to claim a spot at the 2019 season finale, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London, joining Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah and Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo in the elite eight-team field.

Buy Your London Tickets

The South African and Kiwi tandem have won two ATP 500-level titles this season at the Noventi Open in Halle (d. Kubot/Melo) and at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. (d. Rojer/Tecau). The pair also reached the finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland (l. to McLachlan/Struff) and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (l. to Cabal/Farah).

Last year at the season finale, which has been held at The O2 since 2009, Klaasen and Venus went 1-2 in round-robin play. Klaasen previously qualified with Rajeev Ram on two occasions (2016-17), highlighted by a run to the 2017 final (l. to Kontinen/Peers). Venus teamed up with good friend Ryan Harrison on his debut in 2017.

Klaasen and Venus clinched their spot Thursday night when Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald edged Nitto ATP Finals hopefuls Henri Kontinen and John Peers 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in the Erste Bank Open quarter-finals. Kontinen and Peers, who won the season finale in 2016-17, are looking to return to The O2 for a fourth straight year and are currently eighth in the ATP Doubles Race To London.

Ram/Salisbury Continue London Push In Vienna; Top Seeds Upset in Basel
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in their debut season as a team. And the American-British duo continued on that trajectory on Thursday, as the fourth seeds beat qualifiers Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan 7-5, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open. Ram and Salisbury, who are in seventh place in the ATP Doubles Race To London, will next face unseeded duo Daniell and Oswald.

In the other Vienna semi-final, top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who defeated Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov 6-0, 6-4, will play third seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who ousted Andres Molteni and Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-2.

There was an upset at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where qualifiers Santiago Gonzalez and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi eliminated top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 1-6, 6-2, 18-16, saving five match points. They will battle Americans Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin. 

Fourth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, who are in sixth place in the Race, beat Brits Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski 7-6(7), 7-5.