Novak Djokovic was made to work hard once more at the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open on Thursday as the World No. 1 fought back from a set down for the second day running. Twenty-four hours after a comeback win over Marton Fucsovics, the 2016 and 2017 champion knocked out fifth-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Djokovic, who clinched year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for the fifth time last season, will next challenge seventh-seeded Spaniard Roberto-Bautista Agut for a place in Saturday’s final. Djokovic leads Bautista Agut 7-1 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“I thought Basilashvili was playing terrific from the beginning. I expected him to,” said Djokovic on court of the Georgian, who won his first two ATP Tour titles in 2018, both at ATP 500 events. “I knew that he’s playing probably the tennis of his life in the past 10 months, and he’s definitely one of the greatest hitters in the game.”

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Basilashvili made an immediate impact against the Serbian with his aggressive style of play, breaking in the first and fifth games en route to a 4-1 lead, prior to remaining cool under pressure with pinpoint accurate groundstroke winners.

Djokovic regrouped by absorbing the pressure to open up a 3-0 advantage in the second set. And as Basilashvili came close to recovering to 4-5, the Serbian gained the crowds support with scintillating defence. Both players put everything they had into long, punishing rallies at the start of the decider, which was highlighted by back-to-back service breaks. But Djokovic ultimately was too solid for the up-and-down Basilashvili, triumphing after one hour and 56 minutes. 

“I feel I have a gear or two up still. I can still get to one or two levels up, but I thought under the circumstances I managed to find a way to win against a player that is hitting the ball very fast and just being very aggressive. It’s hard to predict where the ball is going to go with a player like him,” Djokovic said. “So you kind of have to be alert at the same time when the chances present [themselves] to take control. Easier said than done because he was really hitting the ball fast from back of the court, so he was not giving me a lot of time to manipulate, maneuver from back of the court. So many times I found myself in defence. I managed to get a win, which is what matters.”

Djokovic has now won 13 consecutive matches in Doha, and is 15-1 overall at the tournament. The World No. 1, owner of 72 tour-level titles, is trying to lift a trophy for the 14th consecutive season, and continue the momentum of his impressive finish to 2018 in which he reached the final in his last five tournaments, winning three of them.

Seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut also played with great poise from the baseline on Thursday to outlast 2008 finalist Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4.

“I think Stan is a really good player. He is really a tough opponent to beat and we knew each other very well,” Bautista Agut said. “Today I was very consistent and played with a lot of rhythm. I think I did a very complete match.”

The Spaniard got off to strong starts by breaking Wawrinka in the first game and clinched the 48-minute opener on his fourth set point chance. He broke immediately at the start of the second set and put Wawrinka under pressure in the fifth and seventh games. At 5-4, Bautista Agut recovered from 15/40 to complete victory in one hour and 45 minutes.

Last year, the Spaniard lifted the biggest title of his career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Pouille), an ATP 500-level tournament.

“Tough opponent for sure. He hasn’t dropped a set this week. He played great today against Stan. I saw the match. Just very consistent. Doesn’t miss much. In conditions like this, it’s quite suitable to him,” Djokovic said. “He gets to many balls and he makes you play. That’s his strength. He always puts an extra ball in the court.”

On the other half of the draw, Czech wild card Tomas Berdych, competing in his first tournament since the 2018 Fever-Tree Championships, beat Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 6-4 in 71 minutes. It is Berdych’s first tour-level semi-final since February 2018 in Marseille, and he will play fourth seed Marco Cecchinato, who beat Dusan Lajovic 7-6(2), 6-2.

Did You Know?
Djokovic also competed in doubles on Thursday, falling short with brother Marko Djokovic in a Match Tie-break against David Goffin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Djokovic/Djokovic, who had lost their five previous matches together before this week, held three match points. Read Report

Fourth seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury worked hard to reach the Brisbane International semi-finals on Thursday with a 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 victory over Austin Krajicek and Artem Sitak in 78 minutes. Ram and Salisbury came back from 3/6 down in the Match Tie-break.

The pair will next face Australian wild cards James Duckworth and Jordan Thompson, who were solid on serve in beating Robert Lindstedt and Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-5 in 67 minutes. Thompson partnered Thanasi Kokkinakis to the 2017 doubles crown (d. G. Muller/Querrey).

Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof will challenge John Millman and John-Patrick Smith in the other semi-final at the ATP 250 hard-court tournament.

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As the calendar flips to 2019, it signals a new era for players fighting to make their mark in professional tennis. The landscape is set for a significant transformation, with wholesale changes being implemented.

Not only are players poised to benefit from a more defined pathway from the bottom up, but also increased prize money across all levels. The new structure is designed to encourage a more efficient and streamlined progression from one stage to the next, with a larger number of players earning a greater amount of prize money.

Those competing at both the ATP 500 and ATP Masters 1000 levels will see a significantly greater prize money distribution in qualifying and the early rounds. This allocates more of the overall pot to the lower-ranked players, with an average increase of more than 80 per cent to those competing in qualifying at that level.

The financial benefits extend to the ATP Challenger Tour as well, improving the viability of fostering a professional career at the lower levels. In addition to overhauled prize money, players will incur less expenses with all Challengers providing hospitality to all main-draw players. As part of the enhancements, the ATP will provide travel grants for singles players ranked between No. 150-300 and for doubles players ranked between No. 75-150.

The revamped ATP Challenger Tour serves as a critical stage in the progression to the upper echelons of the sport. The changes also establish a clear progression path for all players by providing adequate stepping at each stage of a player’s development. After competing in the ITF Juniors circuit, players will test their abilities on the newly formed ITF World Tennis Tour (formerly known as Futures). And as their success increases, they will begin their professional careers in ATP Challenger Tour qualifying, Challenger main draw, ATP Tour and Grand Slam qualifying and ultimately the main draw of ATP Tour and Grand Slam events.

The new structure is designed to increase mobility for players who are winning matches, as well as reducing player stagnation in the ATP Rankings. The ranking points and prize money on offer will incentivise players to compete upwards through the system by entering tournaments reflective of their ranking.

“The opportunity to progress from the juniors through the correct pathway into the professional game is critical, and the changes implemented at the ATP Challenger Tour will bring significant enhancements to the overall professionalisation of the sport at that level,” said ATP Chief Player Officer Ross Hutchins.

With all tournaments at the level now featuring 48-player draws (increased from 32), there will be approximately 2,400 additional available professional job opportunities with prize money and hotel accommodation included at the first rung of professional tennis throughout the season. Tournaments will span seven days with qualifying held on Mondays, greatly assisting player scheduling. No longer will a player miss the chance to play qualifying in the coming week of a neighbouring Challenger event because he has made a deep run at a Challenger in the current week.

In total, the number of players in the ATP Rankings has decreased from 2,042 to 679 as the new ranking structure debuts this week. The remaining players will fall under the ITF World Tennis Ranking and compete at ITF events. The best at this level will eventually use their ITF ranking to play up and enter Challenger tournaments.

At lower-level Challengers, there will be four spots in the qualifying draw. Three will be reserved for players based on their ITF World Tennis Ranking plus one wild card. At the higher-level Challengers, there will be two spots reserved for players based on their ATP Ranking and two wild cards. In both instances, two players will advance from qualifying to the main draw.

Hutchins added, “These new changes to the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Rankings have been carefully considered over a long period and I’m confident they will lead to a clearer, fairer pathway for players. We will of course continue to carefully measure job opportunities and rankings mobility under the new structure, along with ensuring the pathway into and up and down the rankings continues to serve the sport in an optimal way.”

In 2019, reduced ATP Rankings points will be offered at $25,000+H ITF events. No ATP Rankings points will be awarded at any ITF events from 2020 onwards.

The ATP is also working to increase the number of Challengers and the number of physiotherapists at events. Additional ATP staff will attend the tournaments, helping to educate younger players about life on the Tour.

In a move to enhance the status of the Challenger Tour, the ATP also has a goal to stream all matches from all events. This will increase exposure of players and tournaments at the level, shining a brighter light on those striving to establish a successful professional career.

Challenger Category & Prize Money Breakdown

View complete ATP Rankings points breakdown

Novak Djokovic remained on course for a third Qatar ExxonMobil Open title after rallying from a set down to beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday.

The two-time champion, who improves to 14-1 in Doha, was tested throughout the opening two sets, but managed to win 67 per cent of second-serve return points in the final set (14/21) to book his place in the quarter-finals. Djokovic’s only loss in Doha came on his debut in 2015, falling in three sets to Ivo Karlovic in the quarter-finals.

In 2016, Djokovic did not drop a set en route to his maiden crown in Qatar, beating Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal in back-to-back matches to clinch the title. The following year, Djokovic retained the trophy with hard fought three-set wins over Fernando Verdasco and Andy Murray.

Djokovic will meet 2018 runner-up Andrey Rublev or fifth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili for a place in the semi-finals. The World No. 1 owns a 1-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Basilashvili and has never met Rublev at tour-level.

In a tense opening set, Fucsovics started with confidence before making the decisive move at 4-4. The Geneva champion pushed Djokovic to the limit in extended rallies, with the World No. 1 needing all his defensive skill and variety to keep pace. But, after saving two break points, Djokovic was unable to contain his opponent much longer. Fucsovics eventually broke serve on his third break point of the game with a driven backhand up the line before holding his nerve to serve out the set to love.

Fucsovics maintained his level in the second set, trading blows with Djokovic in baseline rallies and finding success on his forehand side. But Djokovic managed to raise his level when it mattered most. The 72-time tour-level titlist found his range on his forehand side, earning two set points with a sharp-angled forehand winner before clinching the set in dramatic fashion as Fucsovics made an ill-judged Hawk Eye challenge on a Djokovic forehand which clipped the baseline.

Djokovic rode the momentum into the third set, holding serve comfortably to 15 before capitalising on back-to-back forehand errors from his opponent to break for a 2-0 lead. A second break soon followed after a confident love service hold and, despite surrendering one of his service breaks, Djokovic immediately regained his double-break advantage before closing out the match. The Serbian converted his first match point with a backhand winner up the line.

Kevin Anderson returned to the Tata Open Maharashtra quarter-finals on Wednesday, overcoming the challenge of Laslo Djere 7-6(3), 7-6(6).

The top seed, who reached the championship match on his Pune debut last year (l. to Simon), saved one set point at 5-6 (30/40) in the second set before closing out the match on his second match point. Anderson fired 20 aces en route to victory after two hours and eight minutes.

Anderson will face Jaume Munar in the quarter-finals. The seventh seed raced into the last eight after a tough opening set, beating Simone Bolelli 7-5, 6-0.

Ernests Gulbis booked his place in the quarter-finals after beating second seed Hyeon Chung 7-6(2), 6-2 in one hour and 38 minutes. The 2018 Intrum Stockholm Open runner-up landed eight aces and converted five of eight break points to overcome Chung, who was contesting his first match of the 2019 ATP Tour season.

Gulbis will meet Ivo Karlovic for a spot in the semi-finals. The 39-year-old Croatian won 86 per cent of service points to overpower Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 7-5.

Fifth seed Benoit Paire moved one win away from his fourth straight Tata Open Maharashtra semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jiri Vesely. The 29-year-old Frenchman dropped just two points behind his first serve (20/22) throughout the 71-minute contest. Paire will meet defending champion Gilles Simon in the quarter-finals.

Simon, who lifted the trophy on his tournament debut last year, recovered from a set down to beat Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-1. The Frenchman saved all six break points he faced to improve to 6-0 in Pune.

Malek Jaziri defeated Indian wild card Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals. The fourth seed recovered from a set down and a 0/3 deficit in the second-set tie-break to advance after two hours and 46 minutes. Jaziri will meet Steve Darcis in the last eight. Darcis also came from behind, beating Michael Mmoh 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Bambridge/O’Mara Reach Semi-finals
Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara captured a tight opening set before racing to a 7-6(5), 6-1 win over N. Sriram Balaji and Arjun Kadhe. The British duo needed just 68 minutes to reach the semi-finals, winning 67 per cent of service points (43/64) en route to victory.

Bambridge and O’Mara, who captured titles in Eastbourne and Stockholm in 2018, will meet Gerard Granollers and Marcel Granollers for a place in the championship match. The Spanish pairing beat Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay 6-4, 6-7(3), 10-6 in 87 minutes.