World-class defence. Airborne smashes. Never-say-die attitude.

Gael Monfils had it all working on Wednesday during his 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win against Cameron Norrie at the Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships. The Frenchman started slowly and had to adjust to the conditions in his first match at the ATP 250. But he found a way, and he put on a show in the process. Read Report

Watch Hot Shot: Monfils Goes Airborne For Smash

Watch Hot Shot: How Many Metres Does Monfils Cover In This Point?

Watch Hot Shot: Monfils Shows Off Speed With ‘Outrageous Gets’

Stefanos Tsitsipas finished 2018 with a bang, claiming the Next Gen ATP Finals crown. That helped him finish the season No. 15 in the ATP Rankings, and it didn’t take the Greek star long to dream even bigger.

“My goal was to make it to London and it still is to make it to London,” Tsitsipas said of his 2019 aspirations. “But if you would have told me that I’m No. 6 in the Race… obviously I would be happy to know that I would be in that position. But I have plenty of things to prove until then.”

Tsitsipas arrives at the Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships on a four-match losing streak at tour-level tournaments. So the 21-year-old knows that even though he is in sixth place in the ATP Race To London, he has to finish the season strong, starting here in Zhuhai.

“First I need to do well to qualify. It would mean a lot of things to me if I could qualify,” Tsitsipas said. “I really hope I make it.”

Tsitsipas showed good form to start his North American hard-court summer at the Citi Open, where he made the semi-finals only to lose to Nick Kyrgios in a final-set tie-break. But three-set losses in his Montreal and Cincinnati openers followed by a four-set defeat in the first round of the US Open brought that momentum to a halt.

“I didn’t really have great results since [the]… beginning of August, I didn’t do much,” Tsitsipas said. “I hope to make a few changes and adapt to the new changes that I’ve made in my game in order to perform better and not be so tight and so close with the London entry.”

Tsitsipas is not making any major changes to his game during this Asian Swing. It’s not as if he hasn’t had a strong year: winning titles in Marseille and Estoril, reaching finals in Dubai and Madrid as well as another ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Rome. But the top seed in Zhuhai wants to make slight adjustments to get back on track.

“[I need to make] technical changes and micro-adjustments that might be invisible but it’s also [about] my way of thinking on the court,” Tsitsipas said.

When Tsitsipas competed in China one year ago, a fan gave him what has become a ‘lucky figure’ with his name on it, which he keeps on the outside of his bag. Tsitsipas always feels the love in Asia, and he’s excited to be back in this part of the world again, as well as for the fan support in Zhuhai.

“[I’m going to bring] my best performance, my best behaviour, attitude on the court and the best version of Stefanos,” Tsitsipas said. “So I would appreciate it if this would spread out and have a lot of tennis fans come out to the centre court to back me up.”

France’s Lucas Pouille and Australia’s Nick Kyrgios both made first-round exits on Wednesday at the Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships.

South Korean qualifier Soonwoo Kwon lost six of his first-service points (35/41) to account for fifth seed Pouille 7-6(4), 6-2 in one hour and 32 minutes. Kwon, who broke into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings on 5 August and is now 6-5 on the season, will now play Bosnia and Herzegovina qualifier Damir Dzumhur.

Andreas Seppi avenged February’s Acapulco loss to sixth seed Kyrgios with a 7-6(5), 6-1 win over 64 minutes. Kyrgios led 4-1 in the first set and could not convert three set points at 5-3. Seppi, who hit eight aces and is now 15-21 on the year, will next play Chinese wild card Zhizhen Zhang.

Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas saved four set points in the first set en route to a 7-6(2), 6-3 win over Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia in one hour and 43 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals. Kecmanovic had served for the first set at 5-4, leading 40/0.

Ramos-Vinolas will next play third-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils or Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, who play during Wednesday’s night session.

Nitto ATP Finals Contenders Rojer/Tecau Advance To Quarter-finals
Top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, who have compiled a 19-8 record in tour-level team finals, overcame Kyrgios and Matt Reid 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in 57 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals. Rojer and Tecau are currently in sixth position in the 2019 ATP Doubles Race To London for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 from 10-17 November.

Second seeds Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan beat Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak 7-6(2), 6-4, while third seeds Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald swept past Di Wu and Zhang 6-2, 6-1 in 50 minutes.

Denis Shapovalov saved all nine break points he faced in a solid service performance against Ricardas Berankis on Wednesday at the Chengdu Open. The eighth-seeded Canadian, who struck 16 aces to beat Berankis 6-4, 6-3 in 72 minutes for a place in the second round, is currently in fourth position in the 2019 ATP Race To Milan for a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals in November. Shapovalov will next face American qualifier Bradley Klahn.

Earlier in the day, Portugal’s Joao Sousa worked his way back from a fast start by wild card Hyeon Chung to record a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory. Last week’s St. Petersburg Open semi-finalist will face second-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Chung, the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion, was playing only his second tour-level event since February due to a back injury.

“It was a great match,” said Sousa. “He started very well and very aggressive while I was trying a little bit to get used to the conditions here. I didn’t have much time since arriving from St. Petersburg so it was a little bit tough for me in the beginning. But after that I was able to change a little bit tactically and I was more aggressive and I was able to win.” 

Watch Hot Shot: Athletic Bublik Hits Underarm Serve

Watch Hot Shot: Bublik’s Brilliant Volley At Chengdu 2019

Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik struck 25 aces and won 83 per cent of his first-service points to grind past sixth-seeded American Taylor Fritz, this year’s Nature Valley International champion, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 46 minutes.He will now challenge Australia’s Jordan Thompson, who led Vasek Pospisil of Canada 4-1 in the deciding set before holding on for a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win in two hours and 29 minutes. 

It’s been a long nine months for Andy Murray, but on Tuesday evening the former World No. 1 earned his first tour-level singles win since 1 January. It was the 664th victory of his career, but it was anything but ordinary for the Scot.

“I think that in some ways that it’s one of the best wins that I’ve had, not in terms of just getting through that today, but everything that’s gone into getting back to this point,” said Murray, who underwent hip surgery after this year’s Australian Open. “You don’t necessarily appreciate what it’s like to be healthy at the beginning of your career. It’s something that you take for granted and it’s quite easy, whereas these past few years haven’t been.

“Obviously after the operation in January it’s been difficult and it was undecided at times about whether I wanted to keep going or not and it’s been tough. But I’m really glad that I can actually get the win today and hopefully I’ll be able to keep going.”

The last time Murray completed a full Asian Swing was in 2016, when he eventually won the Nitto ATP Finals to clinch the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking. That year, the Scot won all five of his tournaments after the US Open, so a win was far more expected than it is today, when an individual victory has more meaning.

“[There’s] definitely a bit less pressure on myself probably than at different times,” Murray said. “When I was here for the end of the 2016 season, there was a lot riding on the tournaments and I was trying to finish strong to try and finish No. 1. Whereas, now I’m just trying to win a tennis match. It’s quite different, a lot less, I think, less expectations from myself, less pressure. But also, just generally, I don’t think people are expecting loads from me. So it’s nice just to be able to concentrate on the process a little bit more. I think definitely at times in my career it’s been quite difficult to do that.”

Just about one month ago, Murray lost to Tennys Sandgren at the Winston-Salem Open. And although Murray’s triumph over Sandgren Tuesday was on the other side of the world and in different conditions, emerging on top was a sign of progress nonetheless.

“Tonight my ball striking was, I think, very good. Tonight I was hitting the ball well, movement was I think pretty good. Tonight I served well. Obviously there’s things that I feel I can do better, but it was definitely progress,” Murray said. “I don’t know whether that’s five per cent, 10 per cent, it’s difficult to put a number on it, but I think I did a little bit better tonight than I did when we played a few weeks ago and that’s a good thing.”

And most importantly, Murray is healthy. Although his tennis may not be quite to the level that helped him win three Grand Slams and 45 tour-level titles, the 32-year-old is no longer in pain, and that’s a win in itself.

“If I played that match [against Sandgren] in January, there’s no chance I could compete the following day or even two days later, I would be in a lot of pain and discomfort. Now I’m tired and fatigued and muscles and stuff are tired from playing the match. But in terms of how my hip feels, that feels really good,” Murray said. “So that’s very positive and I’m satisfied with that because, in January, I didn’t, I couldn’t remember what it was like to play tennis and not have the pain in my hip.”

Murray will now face #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur for a spot in his first quarter-final since Shenzhen last year.

Zhizhen Zhang first met Di Wu when he was six years old. The Chinese players competed against one another by the time Zhang was eight and Wu was 14.

“I had no [tools[ to play with him. I lost,” Zhang said.

“I met him when he was very short, just up to here,” Wu said, holding his hand low to the ground and cracking a laugh. “I played junior matches with him in Shanghai, some tournaments, and of course I beat him!”

Little did they know that 16 years later, with Zhang now towering over Wu, they’d both be making history on the ATP Tour. Wu and Zhang both won their first-round matches at the inaugural Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships, becoming the first Chinese pair to advance to the second round of a tour-level event since Shenzhen in 2015.

“It could send a message to all of the [Chinese people] because we are winning now. We have a chance to win and we can do something,” Zhang said. “We are showing that we took the wild cards, but we can win now. We’re taking chances, we’re still trying to win and we can make some results.”

Zhang won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Jinan, China, earlier this month. And now he is sharing a special moment in Zhuhai with one of his closest friends in Wu.

“We have such a long relationship. We do everything for each other,” Zhang said. “I would say not a brother, but he could be the one important man in my life. Maybe I have a lot of important guys in my life, but he’s one of them.”

It’s special for Wu, too. Zhang sat in his box on Monday to watch him defeat Tatsuma Ito, and he returned the favour on Tuesday when Zhang ousted Dominik Koepfer.

“He’s my teammate and we’ve trained together since he’s very young. Also… we’re good friends. Yesterday he watched me play and he was very excited. He played today and I had to watch him play, it’s like teamwork,” Wu said. “This is the first time we won at the same tournament on the ATP Tour. For both of us it’s exciting, and we’re playing doubles together here, too. It’s a good feeling.”

Both players had enjoyed success at this level previously, with each of them entering this week with multiple tour-level victories. Zhang, now 22, was just 18 when he qualified for Shenzhen in 2015 and then reached the second round.

“In that moment I thought I was going to fly, I was going to make it to something. But I got a big injury. I was running and I broke my left foot,” Zhang said. “After that injury I thought it was trouble. I played two or three Futures. The first week I lost right away and said, ‘Okay, no problem.’ The next week I won a round, got a point and was like, ‘No problem, I’ll come back.’ But then I kept falling and falling and falling and falling. In 2017 the beginning of the year was still so bad, but I was trying to be better, practising more to come back again.” 

That hard work paid off when Zhang qualified in Shenzhen that year and carried his momentum all the way to the quarter-finals, where he fell short in a deciding set. That result helped him crack the Top 400 for the second time, but it took him until this July to reach the Top 300.

“I have no idea why. In 2015 and 2017 I had amazing years. Right away after each of those years I disappeared, I dropped,” Zhang said. “It’s a little bit of a different feel when I’m playing on the Tour than Challengers and Futures. The focus is different.”

Wu, who has climbed as high as No. 140 in the ATP Rankings, had not won an ATP Tour match since 2017 Shanghai. He is in good form, though, reaching a Challenger final in Shanghai a little more than a week ago.

“Last night I didn’t sleep good because I was very happy to win at this big tournament,” Wu said. “The Chinese Tennis Association gave me this very important wild card and I won to show them I want to come back… I had a lot of pressure on myself, but I trust myself. I played well last week making the final of a Challenger, so this week I’m playing very well also.”

Now, Wu will try to make his first tour-level quarter-final when he faces St. Petersburg finalist Borna Coric, the fourth seed.

“This is a dream. I never passed the second round,” Wu said. “Coric is pretty strong, he played last week in a final. He’s a tough player. I’ll try to be relaxed. I hope we can keep this level.”