Sam Querrey and David Ferrer are the first and fourth seeds, respectively, at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open this week in Switzerland. But before they begin their campaigns at the ATP World Tour 250-level event, the pair took to a smaller court for some pre-tournament fun.

Querrey and Ferrer played mini-tennis at the Cité du Temps, a square in the centre of Geneva that offers a view of Lake Léman, a jet d’eau and the Rhône River. The American is playing in Geneva for the third time, and he says that the decision to return was an easy one.

“I love this city and the tournament. The conditions are perfect here and I always enjoy playing here,” said Querrey, who faces Guido Pella in the second round. The Argentine beat him in Houston earlier this year in a third-set tie-break.

“My fiancée is coming in today because I’ve told her so many good things about Geneva.”

After Querrey hit with some ball kids, Ferrer — who plays German Peter Gojowczyk on Tuesday — jumped on the court for a doubles exhibition with tournament director Thierry Grin against the top seed and tournament sponsor Eric Sturdza.

“I’m happy to be back in Geneva,” said Ferrer, who welcomed his first child, Leo, earlier this month. “It’s a very nice tournament and I’m looking forward to playing here again.”

Two down, one more to go.

Rafael Nadal may have stumbled in his bid to sweep all four “Big Titles” on clay, a feat he accomplished in 2010 when he won the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the Mutua Madrid Open, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and Roland Garros. Nadal fell to Dominic Thiem in the Madrid quarter-finals earlier this month.

But the 31-year-old Spaniard has still added two more Big Titles – a combination of Grand Slam, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and Nitto ATP Finals crowns – to his haul as the European clay-court season enters its final three weeks.

Winning Two Out Of Three Masters 1000 Titles On Clay

*Madrid transitioned from hard court to clay in 2009

Nadal won Masters 1000 title No. 31 in Monte-Carlo last month, and on Sunday, the Spaniard celebrated his 32^nd Masters 1000 crown, beating Alexander Zverev in the Rome final 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Nadal’s eighth Rome crown further padded his lead against Novak Djokovic (30) and Roger Federer (27) on the all-time Masters 1000 titles leaderboard. Before the clay-court swing began, Nadal and Djokovic were even at 30 all.

Nadal also has snuck ahead of Djokovic in two other areas: his overall Big Title count and his improved Big Title conversion rate. Nadal now has 48 Big Titles to Djokovic’s 47, and the Spaniard has won one Big Title every 3.47 opportunities, while Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in the Rome semi-finals, has won an average of one Big Title every 3.51 chances.

“It means a lot to win in Rome here again,” Nadal said.

Both Nadal and Djokovic remain ahead of the all-time Big Titles leader, Roger Federer, with their superior conversion rates. Federer has won one Big Title every 4.1 opportunities.

Current and Former Champions’ Big Titles Won (Records Since 1990) 

* Becker’s four other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
** Edberg’s three other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.  

The next – and final – Big Title up for grabs on clay this year will be Roland Garros, which begins Sunday. Nadal will be going for his 11^th Roland Garros title and his 17^th Grand Slam crown.

But don’t count out Djokovic, who won Roland Garros in 2016 to become the eighth man to win the career Grand Slam and the third man to hold all four major championships at once. The Serbian reached his first quarter-final and semi-final of the season in Rome before falling to Nadal 7-6(4), 6-3 during their 51^st FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Read & Watch: Nadal Survives Battle Against Djokovic

“I don’t think that there was too much of a difference, which is great news for me. Because Rafa is, of course, the best player ever to play tennis on clay courts. And he’s in great, great form,” Djokovic said after losing to Nadal in Rome.

“I’ve played four matches here. I didn’t really expect anything coming into this tournament, when it comes to results, because I didn’t have many great results in the last period. So I’m pleased with how I’ve played the last three days, very pleased. And hopefully Roland Garros can be just a continuation of this run.”

Joran Vliegen has seen it happen in practice, but never in an actual match.

Competing in the doubles semi-finals at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Heilbronn, Germany, with Sander Gille, the Belgian pulled off a magical act of improvisation. Facing eventual finalists Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, Vliegen hit one of the rarest shots in tennis, bringing the crowd at the Neckarcup to their feet.

The 24-year-old’s fast hands were on full display, as a Mies stab volley struck the net twice before Vliegen’s quick instincts took over. As the ball – laden with backspin – hit the net on his side of the court, he incredibly carved it cross-court before it could bounce twice. Vliegen hit a terrific short angle to keep the point alive, all with the presence of mind to avoid scraping the net with his racquet.

“I didn’t really think about it, I just wanted to get the ball back over the net,” Vliegen said. “I’ve never seen this before in an actual match, but it often happens in those mini tennis games you play with four people. I guess playing those finally paid off! Honestly, after watching it again I thought the point was over when the ball hit the net on my side. I didn’t know about the rule, but I definitely learned something that day!”

And the point wasn’t over! Krawietz sprinted to retrieve Vliegen’s shot, scooping the ball over the net with the smallest of margins. The German’s winner was just as stunning as the improbable shot that preceded it. Krawietz and Mies would win the point and the match 6-1, 7-6(6), before finishing runner-up in Sunday’s championship.

Gael Monfils arrived in Lyon attempting to get back on track following consecutive 3-6, 1-6 losses in Madrid and Rome. 

But the No. 6 seed let slip a 6-2, 4-3 lead in his debut on Monday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon. German Maximilian Marterer eliminated the Frenchman 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting after one hour, 50 minutes. It is the second year in a row that Monfils has lost three consecutive matches ahead of Roland Garros. In 2017, the former World No. 6 advanced to the Round of 16 in Paris before falling in straight sets against Stan Wawrinka. 

Marterer, whose only previous win against a player sitting higher in the ATP Rankings than Monfils came against World No. 16 Diego Schwartzman in Munich this year, impressively won 42 per cent of first-serve return points in the second and third sets to advance to the second round. The 22-year-old will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who beat Dominican Jose Hernandez-Fernandez 7-6(5), 6-1 in a battle between two former college tennis players.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez notched his 10th tour-level win of 2018, upsetting fifth seed Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Garcia-Lopez, who reached the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro on clay in February, converted six of his 18 break point chances to advance after one hour, 51 minutes.The 34-year-old will face France’s Calvin Hemery, who earned his second tour-level win on Sunday, for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Ecuador Open champion Roberto Carballes Baena took three hours and five minutes to book his place in the Round of 16, edging Laslo Djere 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 6-3. The Spaniard won 77 per cent of first-serve points and saved seven of eight break points en route to the triumph, earning him a second-round meeting against top seed Dominic Thiem.

Lucky loser Federico Coria came from a set down to secure his first ATP World Tour win in his first tour-level match, defeating compatirot Nicolas Kicker 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. The World No. 335 was just 2-5 on the ATP Challenger Tour this season. But nevertheless, the Argentine won 73 per cent of second-serve return points and broke his 25-year-old compatriot on six occasions to clinch his milestone victory.

Did You Know?
Federico Coria owned just one Top 100 triumph before beating Nicolas Kicker on Monday, which came against World No. 100 Renzo Olivo at the Campinas Challenger in October 2016.

Stan Wawrinka has won back-to-back titles at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. But a 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier will look to knock the home favourite off his throne in the second round this year.

Jared Donaldson ousted Uzbek Denis Istomin 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 in one hour, 48 minutes, snapping a five-match losing streak to set a clash against the Swiss superstar, who is the No. 3 seed. The American pushed Wawrinka to three sets two years ago in Cincinnati in their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, and will look to even the series for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Speaking of young Americans, Donaldson was not the only one to move on in Switzerland. This time last year, #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe had just two tour-level wins on the season, and four in his career. But the 20-year-old notched his 16th victory of 2018 on Monday, coming back to defeat compatriot Ryan Harrison 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Tiafoe trailed 2-5 in the second-set tie-break, but reeled off five consecutive points to force a decider. He will face No. 5 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics as he seeks his fourth quarter-final of the season.

Another American, Tennys Sandgren, raced into the second round after a slow start, beating Andreas Haider Maurer 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 to snap a five-match losing streak of his own. The Houston finalist (l. to Johnson) hit 11 aces and, after dropping the first set, won 91 per cent of his first-serve points (20/22). 

Spanish qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles needed just 55 minutes to clinch a win in his first tour-level match, upsetting Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-2. The 21-year-old will meet seventh seed Andreas Seppi in the second round.

Did You Know?
Bernabe Zapata Miralles was one of two players to clinch a win in his first tour-level match on Monday. Federico Coria also accomplished the feat in Lyon.

Mate Pavic was going through final match preparations with his Austrian partner Oliver Marach on Friday, stretching his muscles, with one eye on a nearby television screen, when he learned — below ground level at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, prior to competing on the picturesque Pietrangeli court — that he had achieved one of his long-time goals.

In officially becoming the 52nd player since March 1976 to rise to No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings today, replacing Poland’s Lukas Kubot in the top spot of tennis’ team discipline, the 24-year-old Croatian has become the youngest player for 22 years to fulfill a dream that every child, who picks up a racquet, nurtures.

“It means a lot for sure,” Pavic told ATPWorldTour.com at the historic clay-court tournament in Rome. “I believed that I could do it one day, but honestly I didn’t think that it could happen that fast, considering that last year — at this time — I was ranked around No. 30.”

Twelve months ago, the sport’s youngest doubles No. 1 since Australia’s Todd Woodbridge, aged 24 years and 10 months, was in his seventh stint at the summit in February 1996, could be found at No. 31 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, with a 6-10 record in finals. Having first broken into the Top 100 four years earlier, at No. 99 on 24 June 2013, Pavic was searching for a route further up the food chain.

It is a remarkable journey to No. 1 for Pavic, who, as a four-year-old, first looked out of his mother’s kindergarten window onto a tennis court, as his father, Jakov, coached his older sister, Nadja, a future pro before injury curtailed her career. “I was always on the courts,” Pavic told ATPWorldTour.com. “I also played basketball for a few years and did other sports, but tennis is something I enjoyed and I was always good at it.”

Growing up, Pavic mainly trained in his hometown of Split, but also went to Bob Brett’s San Remo Academy for a few years, Vienna — where he hit with Dominic Thiem and Jiri Vesely — and also Barcelona, under the guidance of Felix Mantilla. Early on in his fledgling career, he travelled with his older sister, Nadja and then his father. Having played singles and doubles initially, following his junior doubles success at 2011 Wimbledon (w/George Morgan), Pavic naturally drifted towards the team game by learning and watching the best.

“I had good singles victories and tournaments, particularly on grass, but 18 months to two years ago, when doubles qualifying event were introduced, that new rule helped me to get into ATP tournaments and I was forced to decide,” admitted Pavic. “I had a pretty good ranking back then in doubles, so I kept playing more doubles to compete at the best tournaments in the world. I kind of feel sad, because I didn’t play singles enough, in order to really see where I could get to in the ATP Rankings.

“When Michael Venus and I started playing together, we both were trying to play singles too. We won a couple of Challenger titles in 2015, plus one ATP [Nice] and some finals [Bogota and Stockholm], but we never played well. In 2016, we had a great year, with four titles and five finals, but we couldn’t break through and rise up the rankings in the big tournaments.”

In regular practice sessions, particularly with Ivan Dodig, whom he reached his first ATP World Tour finals at 2012-13 Zagreb, then the recently retired Andre Sa and Nenad Zimonjic, Pavic learned a great deal about constructing points and court positioning.

His union with the experienced Marach, a pro for 20 years ago, came about by accident in Miami, 14 months ago.

“We arranged to play in Miami, only for that week, but afterwards we found that we didn’t have any partner moving forwards,” remembers Pavic. “We decided to play the clay and grass swings. It didn’t go the way we wanted or expected it to. Towards the end of the clay swing, we said we’d split up after the grass swing…”

Marach and Pavic gelled. Each player has an ability to play on both sides of the court, and they possess excellent return of serves, but it was subsequent improvements in their net games that helped them to reach three straight grass-court finals — at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, the Antalya Open and at Wimbledon, where they lost 13-11 in the final set to Kubot and Marcelo Melo.

“We saw that we could play well and we’d improved in the ATP Race To London,” said Pavic. “We then won our first title at Stockholm [in October 2017] and from there everything changed. [As alternates] we beat the Bryans in London [at the Nitto ATP Finals in November 2017] and that helped us believe we could be a good team… We’ve become very consistent.”

During the off-season, Marach and Pavic worked hard to develop their weakness and the results showed straight away in 2018 as they went on a 17-match winning streak, including three titles – the Qatar ExxonMobil Open (d. J. Murray/Soares), the ASB Classic (d. Mirnyi/Oswald) and the Australian Open (d. Cabal/Farah), their first Grand Slam championship crown. “I also won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open (w/Gabriela Dabrowski) and whatever I played, I was winning matches non-stop,” said Pavic. “We did have some tough matches in Australia, but we won and that helped us grow in confidence.”

Marach and Pavic’s winning run came to an end at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, in their fourth straight final, when they lost to French pair Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 2-6, 6-2, 10-7. Since February, the pair has also reached the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final, and now trail the team they lost to – Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan – by just 55 points in the ATP Doubles Race To London. “Doubles these days is very close, because of the system of scoring – the Match tie-break, No-Ad scoring – so it’s down to how you play the big points,” said Pavic. “Fighting with the Bryans for No. 1, means a lot.”

Having risen four positions this week to attain No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, Pavic isn’t resting on his laurels, as he is playing with Marach at this week’s Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. Although he did admit, “I will celebrate a little bit, because I guess this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day!”