Matteo Berrettini caused an upset at the MercedesCup on Thursday when he beat Karen Khachanov, one week on from the Russian competing in the Roland Garros quarter-finals.

The 22-year-old Italian recorded his second Top 10 win of the year over second seed Khachanov 6-4, 6-2 in 69 minutes. Last month at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Berrettini beat World No. 5 Alexander Zverev 7-5, 7-5 in the second round.

“I played a great match, served really well and did well with my slice,” said Berrettini. “Tomorrow will be a tough match against Denis [Kudla], as he played well today against Gael. I will have to do my best.”

Berrettini, who is now 20-12 on the season, broke Khachanov at 3-3 with terrific anticipation at the net in the first set and then in the first game of the second set when the Russian struck a forehand long of the baseline. Berrettini took a 5-2 advantage with a low forehand volley winner, then closed out the match with a 60-second service hold – finishing with a backhand drop shot winner.

Khachanov, who reached his first Grand Slam championship quarter-final last week in Paris (l. to Thiem), broke into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on Monday at a career-high No. 9. He is now 14-14 on the season.

Berrettini will next face American Denis Kudla, who completed the biggest win of his career over World No. 16 Gael Monfils, the ATP 250 tournament’s fifth seed, 6-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(3) in two hours and 19 minutes.

“I’ve always been comfortable on grass, and to beat Gael on any surface is a big win,” said Kudla. “Today was a really big test physically, mentally and I thought I passed it. I was up a break, but he doesn’t give you any rhythm. It’s very tough to stay focused and it came down to the wire.”

Kudla, who had led by a set and 4-2 before 2010 finalist Monfils fought back, previously recorded his best match win (according to the ATP Rankings) over No. 19-ranked Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-6(5) in August 2018 in the 2018 Citi Open third round.

Top seed Alexander Zverev, who last week advanced to the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the second consecutive year, takes on fellow German Dustin Brown later today.

Get ready to see more of Andy Murray this season. The former World No. 1, who could be spotted practising at The Queen’s Club on Wednesday ahead of his return next week at the Fever-Tree Championships, is planning on playing doubles through Wimbledon and hopes to back in singles action later this year.

“I’d like to try and play every week if I can, but I sort of want to wait and see. I feel good just now. I’ve been practising, playing doubles sets and stuff, and doing fine,” he said in an interview from The Queen’s Club. “But obviously once you get back on a match court, that’s when you can really test yourself. I’d imagine after here I’d get a better idea of where I’m at.

“Providing everything goes fine, I’ll try and play through the grass in doubles. And then after that, I won’t just finish playing doubles at Wimbledon and then [go] straight onto the singles court. I still need time to build up again and do another block of rehab and training to get myself in that position, but I’m looking forward to it.”

The 32-year-old Scot underwent hip resurfacing surgery in late January, following a brave five-set battle against Roberto Bausista Agut in the first round of the Australian Open. Prior to the tournament, an emotional Murray had questioned whether it might be his final event, but now “pain-free”, he is hopeful of returning to singles action again.

“With the way things are progressing just now, I’m optimistic about being able to do that,” he said. “I don’t know when exactly. I’ll just keep doing the right stuff. Doubles is a middle ground between what I have been doing and getting on the singles court, so hopefully things keep progressing the right direction and maybe later this year I’ll get there.”

More On Murray
* Murray’s Fighting Spirit Shines In Emotional Melbourne Exit
* Murray Undergoes Hip Surgery In London
* Murray Set For Return At The Queen’s Club

Murray, a five-time singles champion at The Queen’s Club, will take the first step in his return when he plays alongside 2017 titlist Feliciano Lopez next week at the ATP 500 grass-court tournament.

“I’ve been practising quite a bit, and I’ve been enjoying it. I’m pain-free.”

That’s what we like to hear, @Andy_Murray ☺️#QueensTennis pic.twitter.com/qv2je9TA9d

— Fever-Tree Championships (@QueensTennis) June 12, 2019

If you believe you’ve seen everything on a tennis court, think again.

Sometimes a stroke of luck is greatly appreciated on the ATP Challenger Tour. Look no further than what transpired on Wednesday in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

Fourth seeds Evan King and Hunter Reese benefited from a slice of good fortune in the first set, en route to their first-round victory over Tunisians Malek Jaziri and Skander Mansouri. Leading 4-3 15/40, the Americans secured the decisive break thanks to a freakish ricochet.

When King framed a Monsouri first serve, the return hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity, before somehow descending on the net post. The ball deflected off the Tunisians’ side of the post and dropped back in. The Americans would win the point and eventually the match, but not before a 10-minute delay ensued due to the confusion.

“Possibly the weirdest point I’ve ever been a part of,” Reese posted on Instagram.

King and Reese would advance after taking the first set 6-3, when Jaziri retired due to illness. They are bidding for a third doubles title together, having won on home soil in Sarasota and Cary last year.

What’s the difference between 15/0, 30/15 and 40/30? Essentially nothing…

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the Big Three since the start of the 2015 season up to Roland Garros at these three scorelines identifies that the percentage chance of holding serve varies only by about one percentage point.

You would naturally think there would be a significant increase in holding from 40/30 over 15/0, but it’s simply not the case. The following breakdown for Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer shows a consistent trend with all three point scores.

Percentage Point Range Between 15/0, 30/15 and 40/30
Novak Djokovic = 1.1 percentage point
Roger Federer = 1.0 percentage point
Rafael Nadal = 1.0 percentage point

No. 1 Novak Djokovic / 2015-2019 Holding Serve From Three Point Scores

Djokovic had the highest percentage chance of holding serve of the three point scores at 40/30 (93.1%). You would think being just one point from closing the game would significantly increase his chance of holding serve from a 15/0 position, but the gap between the two is just 0.7 percentage points.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal / 2015-2019 Holding Serve From Three Point Scores

Nadal also held serve the most when leading 40/30, 93.2 per cent (955/1024) of the time. All three of Nadal’s win percentages fall within a one percentage point range, between 92.2 per cent and 93.2 per cent.

World No. 3 Roger Federer / 2015-2019 Holding Serve From Three Point Scores

Federer had the highest win percentages for the Big Three at all three point scores. Surprisingly, Federer had a slightly better chance of holding serve at 15/0 (2183/2278) than he did at either of the other two point scores.

When you drill down into statistics, you often find things can be quite different than you realise. In this case, the change you think is there doesn’t exist at all.

Rohan Bopanna/Denis Shapovalov pulled off the upset of the day on Wednesday at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart. The Indian-Canadian pairing knocked out third seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to make the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event.

The Bryans, who have won 118 doubles titles across 35 different tournaments, were seeking their first MercedesCup title. Bopanna/Shapovalov will next face French wild cards Lucas Pouille/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

In other action, top seeds John Peers/Bruno Soares advanced in straight sets against Denys Molchanov/Artem Sitak 6-3, 7-6(5) to make the semi-finals. Brits Luke Bambridge/Jonny O’Mara also advanced, beating the Italian-Hungarian pairing of Matteo Berrettini/Marton Fucsovics 3-6, 6-3, 10-3. The Brits will next face Aussies Nick Kyrgios/Matt Reid.

At the Libema Open, in the lone doubles match of the day, fourth seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury beat Dutchmen Sander Arends/Matwe Middelkoop 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-5 and will next meet Alex de Minaur/David Vega Hernandez.

In as much time as it takes to read this story, Daniil Medvedev won a service game on Wednesday at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart.

The Russian, down 6-7(6), 6-4, 1-5 against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, hit four consecutive aces. The game lasted 29 seconds.

After each ace, Medvedev did not towel off or walk to the back wall to inspect the balls.

Instead, he simply received another ball, turned to Pouille, bounced the ball a couple times and crushed another ace. Less than half of a minute later, he was walking to the chair and raising his racquet as the crowd cheered for one of the fastest service games in recent memory.

Last year at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Aussie Nick Kyrgios recorded a 37-second service game.

Pouille, however, advanced in Stuttgart 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2 and will next face German Jan-Lennard Struff, who beat #NextGenATP Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-2. Pouille is going for his second Stuttgart title after winning the grass-court crown in 2017.

There are commencement speakers, and then there are commencement speakers.

The 29 students who graduated from the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar on Wednesday afternoon were treated to words of wisdom from two Spanish tennis legends as Rafael Nadal and recently retired David Ferrer spoke to the graduating class, the academy’s third.

Nadal, who won his record-extending 12^thRoland Garros title on Sunday, told the students to surround themselves with the right people. The Spaniard leaned on his inner circle as he recovered from injury to recently win a record-setting 34^th ATP Masters 1000 title in Rome and yet another Roland Garros crown. 

“First thing that I want to do is say congratulations to these 29 students who graduate today. I am not a big fan [of giving] advice, but the only thing that I want to tell you is try to be around good people. That’s the most important thing,” Nadal said.

“When you are around good people, life is happier, life is easier, and for sure you become a better person when you have the right people around you.”

Watch Rafa’s Full Speech To The Graduates

Ferrer, who retired at the Mutua Madrid Open last month, also spoke at the ceremony, which was attended by family, friends and school staff and took place in the centre court of the academy. The students attended the academy’s school, the American International School of Mallorca.

Nadal is next scheduled to compete at Wimbledon, which begins 1 July. The Spaniard is a two-time champion (2008, 2010) at the grass-court Grand Slam, and will be looking to maintain his place atop the ATP Race To London.

See Who’s Chasing Nadal In The ATP Race To London

Watch Ferrer’s Full Speech To The Graduates

Second seed Borna Coric started his grass-court season with a comeback win on Wednesday at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The reigning NOVENTI OPEN champion in Halle (d. Federer) beat American Taylor Fritz 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to make the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event.

Coric, who fell in the third round at Roland Garros (l. to Struff), eventually made inroads on Fritz’s serve after the American won all 12 of his first-service points in the opening set. In the final two sets, Coric, who didn’t earn a break point in the opener, converted all three break points he saw. The 22-year-old will next meet seventh seed Cristian Garin or home favourite Robin Haase. Their second-round match was postponed until Thursday because of rain with Garin leading 7-5, 2-3.

Third seed Alex de Minaur won his second match in the past four months, beating Italian Andreas Seppi 7-5, 6-3. De Minaur has struggled with a hip injury and is 2-5 since March.

The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up will next meet countryman Jordan Thompson, who upset sixth-seeded #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-2. Thompson was 1-11 at tour-level in 2018, but is already 16-11 this season and is into his fourth tour-level quarter-final of the year.