It hasn’t always been easy for Andy Murray during his comeback from January hip surgery. But the Scot is increasingly finding ways to win.

Murray reached his second ATP Tour quarter-final in three weeks on Thursday, defeating Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-3 to make the last eight of the European Open in Antwerp. The former World No. 1 now has a .500 record (7-7) at tour-level for the first time since his singles return in Cincinnati.

The 32-year-old let slip his first seven break point chances of the match, but the Scot kept pushing for a breakthrough. And once he did, he Scot never looked back, triumphing after one hour and 24 minutes.

“I felt a bit better today. I thought I served quite well for most of the match and when I was able to get into the baseline rallies, I felt I was hitting the ball quite clean, which is good,” Murray said. “He served very well, which made it difficult for me to get the breaks, but I thought for me it was a good match.”

With a 5-4 lead in the first set, Murray played aggressive tennis to break through Cuevas’ defences. He attacked the Uruguayan’s backhand, eliciting a slice error into the net to break for the opener.

Cuevas made a big push in the second set, earning the only four break point chances he had in the match in the set’s opening game. But Murray maintained his focus, and he would break for 4-2 when Cuevas pushed an inside-out forehand wide.

Murray leads Cuevas 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, never relinquishing more than four games in any of the seven sets they have played. The World No. 243 will next face Romanian Marius Copil, a qualifier who blasted 13 aces past third seed Diego Schwartzman to upset the Argentine 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(7).

“It’s getting there. It sometimes takes me a little bit longer to get warmed up in the matches and sort of feel confident with my movement,” Murray said of his physical progress. “But today I think from the beginning of the match I started pretty well. It was a good day.”

Murray has won both of his previous matches against Copil, including a three-hour, two-minute triumph last year at the Citi Open that ended at 3:02 am. The Romanian made last year’s Basel final.

“I know him a little bit. He’s had some good wins this week. He plays well on this surface, so I’ll need to be ready for that,” Murray said. “He serves extremely well, so I’ll need to return well.”

This time last year, Jannik Sinner, then No. 778 in the ATP Rankings, was preparing to play a Futures tournament in Tunisia. What a difference a year can make.

The 18-year-old #NextGenATP star earned the biggest victory of his career Thursday, defeating top seed Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last eight of the European Open for his first ATP Tour quarter-final.

Currently at a career-high World No. 119, Sinner has made good use of the wild card he received in Antwerp. The Italian saved the only break point he faced against Monfils, who at World No. 13 is the highest-ranked player Sinner has ever beaten.

Sinner, who has earned all five of his tour-level wins in 2019, had never previously defeated a Top 50 opponent, with his biggest victory before this coming against World No. 59 Steve Johnson at this year’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia. But he showed plenty of maturity against the veteran Frenchman, breaking Monfils’ serve four times in his 61-minute triumph.

Sinner misfired on a return on his first match point. But if he had any nerves, he did not show them, forcing an error off Monfils’ backhand slice to finish off his win. The Italian tried to contain his emotions, barely cracking a smile. After shaking hands with a congratulatory Monfils, though, Sinner let his joy show with a wide smile.

This was a crucial week for Monfils, who is trying to make a push for Nitto ATP Finals qualification. The Frenchman is in 13th place in the ATP Race To London with 2,170 points.

The teen will next face 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Frances Tiafoe, who ousted seventh seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4 in 78 minutes. The American is currently placed fifth in the ATP Race To Milan, as he tries to return to the 21-and-under season finale for the second straight year.

Sinner is also making a late push to try to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals. He began the week in 13th place in the Race.

Pablo Carreno Busta advanced to his seventh ATP Tour quarter-final of the year on Thursday at the Intrum Stockholm Open. The fifth-seeded Spaniard knocked out Gianluca Mager, a lucky loser from Italy, 6-3, 7-6(2) in 87 minutes and now plays American Sam Querrey on Friday. Carreno Busta, who is now 27-19 on the season, captured his first singles title since May 2017 at the Chengdu Open (d. Bublik) three weeks ago.

Japanese lucky loser Yuichi Sugita, competing in his third tour-level tournament since Wimbledon in July, overcame Stefano Travaglia of Italy 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes. Travaglia hit 16 aces and could not convert a set point at 6/5 in the first-set tie-break.

“I am happy to make a quarter-final at tour-level this year,” Sugita, who also reached the 2017 quarter-finals, told ATPTour.com. “I played well, I am solid now and my tennis is back.”

Later today, top-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini, who has reached the semi-finals at the ATP 250 tournament for the past two years, meets Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia. Fognini is currently No. 11 in the 2019 ATP Race To London for one of the three remaining berths at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 from 10-17 November.

The ATP and Cancer Research UK have today announced a new partnership for the final two editions of the Nitto ATP Finals in London (2019-2020) before the season finale moves to Turin, Italy in 2021.

The partnership will see the world’s best eight qualified tennis players and doubles teams come together at the ATP’s prestigious season-ending tournament on a mission to help Cancer Research UK raise money to fund research into beating all 200 types of cancer affecting men, women and children.

To kick start the fundraising, the Nitto ATP Finals has given customers the opportunity to donate to Cancer Research UK when they buy their tickets. Throughout the eight-day tournament, set to take place this year from 10-17 November at The O2 in London, short films about Cancer Research UK’s work, including players and supporters, will be broadcast. Spectators will be encouraged to support by text-to-donate or via bucket collections, with all money raised via the partnership helping to fund life-saving cancer research.

Buy Your Tickets Today

The Nitto ATP Finals and Cancer Research UK will also be working together to show attendees at the tournament how 40 per cent of cancers can be prevented with Cancer Research UK nurses and volunteers on hand at the tournament to answer questions. Making changes such as stopping smoking, keeping a healthy weight, being more active, drinking less alcohol and enjoying the sun safely will all help to reduce risk of cancer.

Caro Evans, Director of Partnerships at Cancer Research UK, said: “Our partnership with the Nitto ATP Finals is really exciting, and we are delighted they’ve chosen to work with us for the next two years. We’re excited to be able to reach tennis fans at the season finale to spread awareness about the causes of cancer and to help raise money to fund more cancer research. With many of the biggest tennis stars in the world, we are aiming to highlight small things all of us can do to help prevent cancer, including keeping an active and healthy lifestyle. All money raised through the partnership will go towards our life-saving work to beat cancer.”

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said: “We’ve all been affected by cancer in some way, shape or form, so we’re delighted to welcome Cancer Research UK on board as our charity partner at our season finale. The aim of the partnership is to help raise as much awareness and money as possible for the incredible life-saving work Cancer Research UK carries out.”

Featuring only the world’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams of the season, this year’s Nitto ATP Finals looks set to provide a thrilling finale to the men’s professional tennis season, giving tennis fans in the UK an unmissable opportunity to watch the world’s best players go head-to-head as they battle for the last title of the season.

Stan Wawrinka’s debut appearance at the European Open got off to a dramatic start on Wednesday, as the fourth seed battled past Feliciano Lopez 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4).

Making his first appearance since reaching the US Open quarter-finals last month, Wawrinka saved all three break points he faced throughout the two-hour, 19-minute encounter. The 34-year-old, who improves to 28-17 at tour-level this year, moves into a 5-3 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Lopez.

Wawrinka will face Gilles Simon for a spot in the semi-finals. The Frenchman defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-5 to snap a four-match losing streak against the 2017 champion. Simon owns four FedEx ATP Head2Head victories from 13 meetings against Tsonga.

Frances Tiafoe improved his chances of qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive year. The 21-year-old American was forced to work hard to beat German qualifier Yannick Maden 7-6(7), 6-3 in one hour and 39 minutes to break a three-match losing streak. Tiafoe will play another German, Jan-Lennard Struff, in the Antwerp second round.

The World No. 53, who has reached four ATP Tour semi-finals this season, recovered from 1-4 down in the first set and saved set points at 4-5, 15/40, then at 4/6 and 6/7 in the tie-break. Tiafoe closed out on his third set-point chance and won the first three games of the second set.

Fifth seed Guido Pella defeated Soonwoo Kwon 7-5, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals in Antwerp for the first time. The 29-year-old fired 12 aces and dropped just four points behind his first serve (37/41) to reach the last eight after one hour and 54 minutes.

Eighth seed Pablo Cuevas beat Hugo Dellien 6-4, 6-3 to book a second-round meeting against Andy Murray. Cuevas won 27 of 28 first-serve points to notch his 24th victory in 44 tour-level matches this year.

Did You Know?
The highest seeded players in action today at each of this week’s three ATP 250 events were all taken to final-set tie-breaks. Alongside Wawrinka’s success in Antwerp, top seed Karen Khachanov saved five match points to triumph at the VTB Kremlin Cup. At the Intrum Stockholm Open, second seed Grigor Dimitrov fell to Sam Querrey.

Sam Querrey needed all his firepower to defeat Grigor Dimitrov 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(3) at the Intrum Stockholm Open on Wednesday.

The World No. 50 recorded his first FedEx ATP Head2Head win in four matches against the Bulgarian after two hours and 14 minutes, landing 25 aces en route to the quarter-finals. Querrey’s win puts 2013 champion Dimitrov’s bid for a 300th tour-level victory on hold. Only 25 active players on the ATP Tour have recorded 300 or more tour-level wins.

“It was a fun match. It was a close match,” said Querrey. “A lot of times in these matches it is just a couple of points here and there. That is what it was today.”

In his sixth quarter-final of the season, Querrey will meet Chengdu champion Pablo Carreno Busta or lucky loser Gianluca Mager. The American is yet to meet either player on the ATP Tour.

Yoshihito Nishioka defeated No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4 to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the year. The 23-year-old, competing at this ATP 250 event for the first time, converted four of five break points to improve to 2-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against the American No. 2. Nishioka will face eighth seed Daniel Evans or Filip Krajinovic for a place in the semi-finals.

“I am playing very good tennis now — I think my best tennis — so I am very happy for that,” said Nishioka.

Swedish wild card Mikael Ymer recorded his second win in five main draw appearances at his home event, beating Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-4. The Stockholm resident broke serve on six occasions to confirm a second-round match against Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany.

Karen Khachanov saved five match points to deny Philipp Kohlschreiber a birthday win at the VTB Kremlin Cup on Wednesday.

”I can’t remember the last time I had a comeback like that,” said Khachanov. “I had to fight and try to find my game. I am really happy that finally I can go through here in my hometown of Moscow.”

The top seed and defending champion recovered from 3-5 down in the deciding set to record a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) victory in front of a passionate home crowd in Moscow. This is Khachanov’s second win in five FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters against 36-year-old Kohlschreiber.

”In my hometown, it is really a great atmosphere,” said Khachanov. “To see so many people here for my second-round match, I didn’t really expect that… I have more drive and more energy when people are cheering for me like that.”

After saving three match points to reach the deciding-set tie-break, Khachanov was forced to save two more at 5/6 and 6/7 with patience from the baseline. The Russian advanced to the quarter-finals on his first match point as Kohlschreiber committed his third double fault of the match.

Khachanov extends his winning streak in Moscow to five matches. At last year’s event, the World No. 8 dropped only one set en route to the title.

Khachanov will face Andreas Seppi for a place in the semi-finals. The 23-year-old defeated the Italian in their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter at the 2016 Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

After saving two match points in his opening match, Seppi was forced to come from a set down to beat Roberto Carballes Baena 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. The 35-year-old Italian earned 72 per cent of second-serve return points (31/43) to advance after two hours and 12 minutes.

Fourth seed Dusan Lajovic recorded his first victory in three FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters against Lukas Rosol, edging the Czech 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 to reach his first quarter-final in Moscow. The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters runner-up landed eight aces and broke serve on three occasions to secure the one-hour, 52-minute win.

Lajovic will meet last year’s runner-up Adrian Mannarino for a semi-final spot. The seventh-seeded Frenchman beat 2013 runner-up Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(4), 6-2 to confirm his place in the last eight.