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.

For the past three seasons, Rafael Nadal’s second-serve performance has elevated to beast mode.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the Spaniard’s second-serve win percentage since he first won an ATP event in 2004 identifies that 2017, 2018, and 2019 occupy three of his best four years on Tour.

Consider the following three second-serve achievements from Nadal:

1. Best Three-Year Streak
Nadal is currently first in second-serve points for the 2019 season at 59.97 per cent (836/1394). Federer is the only player within striking distance of taking year-end honours in this category, as the Swiss currently sits at 59.56 per cent (885/1486) won.

If Nadal does finish first in this category in 2019, it will be the first time in his career that he will have finished first in second-serve points won for three consecutive seasons.

Best Three 2019 Tournaments: Second-Serve Points Won
Rome = 67.44% (58/86)
Acapulco = 67.16% (45/67)
Indian Wells = 66.67% (60/90)

2. 2017 Was The Best
Nadal’s best year since 2004 winning second-serve points was just two years ago in 2017, when he averaged winning 61.17 per cent (1095/1790).

At Roland Garros in 2017, he charged through the draw to win the title without dropping a set. Of the 20 sets he won, opponents won a maximum of two games in 14 of them. He went on a rampage with second-serve points won, winning a jaw-dropping 74.17 per cent (112/151).

His best three tournaments with second-serve points won in 2017:
Roland Garros = 74.17% (112/151)
Shanghai = 66.25% (53/80)
Brisbane = 66.10% (39/59)

3. No One Does It Better
Nobody has a higher win percentage on second serves during their career since statistics in tennis were first kept in 1991. What’s also extremely impressive is that Nadal has been positioned in the Top 10 in this category for the past 16 years.

The top three players in career second-serve points won:
R. Nadal = 57.45% (15006/26122)
R. Federer = 56.85% (24079/42353)
J. Isner = 56.11% (9972/17773)

Nadal’s 2019 US Open title saw him win an impressive 57.02 per cent (138/242) on the hard courts in New York. He is now just 0.03 of a percentage point away from winning 60 per cent or more for the third time in his career.

What will it take to tip the scales to 60 per cent in 2019? Win just one more second-serve point.

2004 – 2017: Rafael Nadal Second-Serve Win Percentage / Second-Serve Position

Daniil Medvedev is human after all. The 23-year-old Russian, who reached his sixth consecutive final on Sunday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters (d. Zverev), withdrew from his home tournament, the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow, on Tuesday, citing exhaustion.

The Russian leads the ATP Tour with 59 wins, including 46 on hard court and 22 at the ATP Masters 1000 level, also both Tour-leading figures. Medvedev won his second Masters 1000 title in Shanghai after winning the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August.

“Nobody knew that I would do so well in Shanghai to reach my sixth final in a row. I just feel that I am physically and mentally exhausted. I can’t be 100 per cent. As a professional, I cannot step on court knowing that I am not 100 per cent ready to play,” Medvedev said.

“On the one hand, it is very sad, because I really wanted to play in Moscow in front of my home crowd. I’ve played for four years in a row in Moscow and each year my results improved. But, on the other hand, this is how it is. It is professional sport, and I must do what is best for my body. In this situation, I had no choice.”

With the Shanghai title, Medvedev passed Roger Federer for third place in the ATP Race To London. The Russian will make his debut at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London.

“I feel amazing and have a great mood. I’ve never dreamed about six finals in a row. One of the finals is at a Grand Slam [US Open], three of them are at Masters. [Pass in the ATP Race To London] Federer? It is also something I’ve never dreamed of,” Medvedev said.

He is next scheduled to compete at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, which begins Monday.

In his first tour-level match in Europe this year, Andy Murray made a winning start to his European Open campaign on Tuesday.

The former World No. 1 converted four of six break points to overcome Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium 6-4, 7-6(4). Murray improves to 5-3 at tour-level since arriving at the Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships last month.

Competing in Antwerp for the first time, Murray was forced to recover from a break down on two occasions in the second set before clinching a one-hour, 44-minute victory in the second-set tie-break. Facing the possibility of a third set, the 45-time tour-level titlist played with patience from the baseline to extract multiple errors from his opponent.

Murray will face eighth seed Pablo Cuevas or Hugo Dellien of Bolivia in the second round. The 32-year-old owns a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Cuevas and is yet to meet Dellien at tour-level.

Jan-Lennard Struff needed just 44 minutes to race past Gregoire Barrere of France 6-2, 6-1. The seventh-seeded German won 23 of 24 first-serve points and converted five of seven break points to record his fifth win in seven matches at the ATP 250 event. Struff has reached the quarter-finals in each of his two previous appearances in Antwerp (2016, ’18).

Gilles Simon also dropped just two games to advance, beating home favourite Steve Darcis 6-1, 6-2. The 2018 quarter-finalist levels his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Belgian at 2-2.

This was Darcis’ last tour-level appearance in Belgium, following his announcement that he plans to retire after next year’s Australian Open. Simon will face 2017 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Soonwoo Kwon rallied from a set down to upset 2016 winner Richard Gasquet 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. The South Korean recorded his seventh tour-level win of the year after one hour and 50 minutes to hand Gasquet just his second loss in eight matches at the tournament. Kwon will meet fifth seed Guido Pella in the second round.

Feliciano Lopez levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Cameron Norrie at 1-1 after beating the Brit 7-6(2), 6-4. Lopez will face fourth seed Stan Wawrinka for a place in the quarter-finals.

Italian wild card Jannik Sinner also booked his place in the second round, breaking Kamil Majchrzak on four occasions to record a 6-4, 6-2 victory. The Next Gen ATP Finals contender will meet top seed Gael Monfils in the second round.

Miomir Kecmanovic marked his VTB Kremlin Cup debut with a victory on Tuesday, beating Russian qualifier Artem Dubrivnyy 6-1, 7-5.

The eighth seed converted six of nine break points throughout the 72-minute clash to record his 22nd win in 40 tour-level encounters this year. Kecmanovic, who reached his maiden ATP Tour final in Antalya in June, will face Jeremy Chardy in the second round.

Making his first appearance at this event since reaching the semi-finals in 2011, Chardy won 90 per cent of first-serve points (27/30) en route to a 6-4, 6-2 win against Nicolas Jarry. The Frenchman owns a 6-3 record at this ATP 250 tournament. 

Home favourite Andrey Rublev edged Alexander Bublik 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to record his first victory at the ATP 250 event. The sixth seed, who entered the match with a 0-4 record in Moscow, broke serve on five occasions and withstood 16 aces to overcome the Chengdu runner-up after one hour and 32 minutes.

Two-time semi-finalist Ivo Karlovic saved one match point to beat Aljaz Bedene 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(6). The first-round encounter featured 58 aces and lasted two hours and 11 minutes, with Karlovic claiming three straight points from 5/6 down in the final-set tie-break to advance. The 40-year-old Croatian will face countryman Marin Cilic for a place in the quarter-finals.

Mikhail Kukushkin defeated Moscow’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 6-3. The 2013 runner-up won 75 per cent of second-serve return points (15/20) to book a second-round clash against seventh seed Adrian Mannarino.

In the bottom quarter of the draw, Roberto Carballes Baena and Philipp Kohlschreiber both earned first-round wins. Carballes Baena defeated Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, while Kohlschreiber moved past Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 7-6(3).

Making his first appearance at the Intrum Stockholm Open since 2015, Pablo Carreno Busta defeated John Millman 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round on Tuesday.

The fifth seed saved all four break points he faced to record his second win in three FedEx ATP Head2Head clashes against the Tokyo runner-up. Carreno Busta, who owns a 26-19 tour-level record this year, is aiming to lift his second ATP 250 title of the season after triumphing at last month’s Chengdu Open.

The Spaniard will be aiming to reach the quarter-finals in Stockholm for the first time when he faces lucky loser Gianluca Mager in the second round. Mager recorded his first tour-level victory after one hour and 40 minutes, charging from a set down to beat Pablo Andujar 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

Stockholm debutant Yoshihito Nishioka recorded his first victory at the Kungliga Tennishallen, beating Radu Albot 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. The Japanese saved 15 of 18 break points to book a second-round meeting against third seed Taylor Fritz.

Sam Querrey will also face seeded opposition in his second match in the Swedish capital. The American fired 20 aces to defeat qualifier Dennis Novak 7-6(6), 6-4. Querrey will face second seed and 2013 champion Grigor Dimitrov for a quarter-final spot. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe also advanced, beating Brayden Schnur 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.