Roger Federer announced on Wednesday that he will return to ATP World Tour action at the Mercedes Cup, held 11-17 June.

The 36-year-old will appear in Stuttgart for the third time in his career, after falling in the first round in 2017 (l. to Haas) and reaching the semi-finals in 2016 (l. to Thiem). Federer won two titles on grass in 2017 (Halle, Wimbledon) and will be bidding for an 18th title on the surface in Stuttgart, which will mark the beginning of his grass-court schedule leading towards The Championships at Wimbledon.

Federer shared the news with more than 15 million fans on Facebook on Wednesday morning. “Excited to announce that I will be coming back to Germany for the Mercedes Cup in June,” said Federer. “Looking forward to seeing you at the grass courts in Stuttgart!”

The Swiss star holds a 164-24 FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record on grass, winning 87.2 per cent of matches on the surface. Federer will be joined in Stuttgart by defending champion Lucas Pouille, Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic and reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung.

Following on from Stuttgart, Federer will travel to Halle in search of a record 10th title at the Gerry Weber Open, having triumphed for a ninth time at the event in 2017 (d. Zverev).

Kyle Edmund booked his place in a fourth tour-level quarter-final of the year on Wednesday at the Millennium Estoril Open. The third-seeded Briton proved to be too strong for 19-year-old Australian wild card Alex de Minaur 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 37 minutes.

De Minaur worked his way back from a 2-4 deficit in the second set, but had his serve broken in the 11th game when he hit a backhand slice wide at 15/40. Edmund calmly closed out to love for his 12th match win of 2018, which includes a runner-up finish at the Grand Prix Hassan II (l. to Andujar) and an Australian Open semi-final exit (l. to Cilic).

Edmund will next face Joao Sousa, who saved two match points at 4-5 and 5-6 in the second set to beat World No. 143 Pedro Sousa 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-5 in two hours and 25 minutes. Pedro Sousa lead 5-3 in the deciding set, but Portuguese No. 1 Joao Sousa won four straight games — including a 22-point final game, which he clinched on his fifth match point.

Two days after saving three match points against Tennys Sandgren, #NextGenATP star Frances Tiafoe overcame a tense second set to eliminate fourth seed Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-5. The 20-year-old American clinched the first set 6-4 but Muller, a finalist in 2017, raced out to a 4-1 lead early in the second.

Tiafoe broke back in the seventh and 11th games of the set, then closed out the match with an ace to secure his place in the quarter-finals, where he’ll face Simone Bolelli. The Italian qualifier battled from a set down to defeat Federico Delbonis 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the last match of the day.

Serbia’s Laslo Djere reached the BMW Open by FWU quarter-finals for the second successive year on Wednesday, defeating third-seeded Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes.

Djere trailed by two breaks of serve in the first set, before securing six straight games to take a one-set lead. The Italian levelled the match, winning a tight second set, but Djere regained control with a crucial break of serve in the eighth game of the decider. The World No. 110 entered Istanbul on a 10-match losing streak, with his last win coming in the opening week of the season at the Tata Open Maharashtra against Marius Copil.

Djere will meet qualifier fifth seed Paolo Lorenzi for a place in the semi-finals. Lorenzi defeated qualifier Marco Trungelliti of Argentina 6-2, 7-6(5) in one hour and 57 minutes.

Like Seppi, fourth seed Aljaz Bedene also crashed out at the second-round stage after reaching the semi-finals in Budapest last week.

Japan’s Taro Daniel dropped just four games to beat the Bedene 6-2, 6-2. The 25-year-old broke his Slovenian opponent on four occasions, winning 68 per cent of second-serve return points throughout the 80-minute contest. Daniel progresses to the quarter-finals where he will meet Rogerio Dutra Silva. The Brazilian stunned sixth seed Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3.

Did You Know?
Andreas Seppi and Aljaz Bedene both reached the Gazprom Hungarian Open semi-finals last week. Seppi and Bedene both led by a set in their semi-final encounters before losing in three sets to eventual champion Marco Cecchinato and Australia’s John Millman respectively.

Marin Cilic makes his return to the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open this week with fond memories to fuel his campaign, not least from having won the title in 2017 as a wild card. It marks the 29-year-old’s first tournament as a married man.

It was only last weekend the Croatian wed his long-time girlfriend Kristina Milkovic in a ceremony in Dubrovnik. Now he sets about re-igniting his season at the same tournament which kick-started an impressive 2017.

“It was not easy to find a date [for the wedding],” Cilic said. “I said after the wedding, ‘OK I’m going to Istanbul, I’m going to go on my own.’ She said, ‘You can’t go alone for the first week [of married life].’ So she was coming. 

“[Kristina] is always great support, standing by my side. That is something that has given me a lot of strength and inner peace. So for here, we’ll see… whether I’ll have more strength, more motivation, hopefully yes.”

After reaching the Australian Open final in January, where he fell to Roger Federer in five sets, Cilic rose to a career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings. The Croatian has made no secret of it since he holds high hopes of ascending to the top.

“Yes, my ultimate goal is to reach No. 1,” Cilic said. “I feel at the moment I’m in a great position. I started the year with a nicely played final at the Australian Open, played the final at Wimbledon last year, also. This gives me the confidence that I know I have those abilities to be in the Top 5 in the world. That’s the goal for this year, to stay in the Top 5 and, also, to win another Grand Slam. 

“I know that it’s also very challenging. The competition is very strong, and also very demanding. It’s not easy to keep your focus, your level of play for every single tournament. Roger and Rafa are showing they are playing to win every single tournament. I’m working for that every single day and hopefully I’ll make it.”

Cilic is back in Istanbul as the top seed. He did not drop a set on his way to the title last season, with victories over this year’s No. 2 seed Damir Dzumhur, last year’s top seed Milos Raonic and 2016 champion Diego Schwartzman. Victory ensured he had won an ATP World Tour title for 10 straight seasons. He opens his 2018 campaign against Tunisian Malek Jaziri on Thursday.

“If we go back this time last year, Istanbul was [the start of] my great form that I built up at the French Open [Roland Garros] and later to Wimbledon,” Cilic said. “Even though clay and grass are very different, if you are playing well on clay it gives you that good confidence for Wimbledon and for grass tennis. So that’s also one of my goals this year, to keep that good form, to try to play well here and to continue to have good tournaments until the French Open and beyond.” 

Portugal’s Joao Sousa secured his first win in four visits to the Millennium Estoril Open on Tuesday, defeating eighth seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6(1), 7-5.

The World No. 68 recovered from a break down in the first set, before reeling off six consecutive points from 1/1 in the tie-break to establish a one-set lead. Once more, the Guimaraes-born star encountered similar issues early in the second set. Sousa fought back from behind twice, before breaking for a 6-5 lead in the 11th game and comfortably serving out the win. The 29-year-old has now won 11 of his past 15 tour-level matches, which includes a run to the Grand Prix Hassan II semi-finals (l. to Andujar). Sousa will meet Portuguese wild card Pedro Sousa for a position in the quarter-finals.

Federico Delbonis also produced an upset in Estoril, beating fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-4 in 85 minutes. The 27-year-old won 65 per cent of second-serve return points (17/26) and broke the Spaniard on six occasions to set a meeting with Simone Bolelli. The Italian saw off the challenge of home qualifier Joao Domingues 6-3, 6-2.

#NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his fine form, defeating Grand Prix Hassan II champion Pablo Andujar 7-6(2), 6-3. The 19-year-old, who became the first Greek in history to rank inside the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings on Monday, traded breaks with the Spaniard early in the first set before dominating a crucial tie-break to secure a lead. The Barcelona Open finalist was clinical from that moment onwards, dropping just five points on serve and converting both his break point opportunities to move into the second round.

Chile’s Nicolas Jarry saved six match points to upset Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4. Mayer led by a set and 6-5 (40/0) before Jarry battled back, saving four match points to break and a further two in the tie-break, to force a decider. The 22-year-old held his nerve in the third set, saving three break points to reach 3-3 before breaking in the ninth game and serving out the match.

Ecuador Open champion Roberto Carballes Baena took one hour and 37 minutes to get past American Bjorn Fratangelo 7-6(1), 6-3. The 25-year-old recovered from 0-4 down in the opening set and saved two set points at 5-6 before dominating the tie-break and comfortably securing the second set. Carballes Baena will meet Cameron Norrie in the next round. The Brit defeated sixth seed Robin Haase 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Argentina’s Nicolas Kicker set up a second-round encounter with defending champion and second seed Pablo Carreno Busta, after beating qualifier Tim Smyczek 6-2, 6-2. The World No. 93 saved all five break points he faced to advance after just 67 minutes.

Did You Know?
Defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta holds an 11-2 record at the Millennium Estoril Open. The Spaniard has improved his result at the event in each of the past three editions, having reached the semi-finals in 2015 (l. to Kyrgios) and the 2016 final (l. to Almagro), before lifting the trophy 12 months ago (d. Muller).

Lleyton Hewitt made a winning start to his latest return to the ATP World Tour at the Millennium Estoril Open on Tuesday.

The former World No. 1, alongside countryman Alex de Minaur, defeated second seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals in Portugal. Hewitt is appearing for the third time in doubles action this season, after appearances at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp and the Australian Open.

Hewitt and De Minaur conceded just three points behind their first serves in the first set and converted their only break point of the second set to clinch victory in 66 minutes.

The Aussie duo will face Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie for a place in the semi-finals. Edmund and Norrie defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis and Nicolas Kicker 6-4, 6-0 on Monday.

Top Seeds Survive In Munich
Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo were forced into a Match Tie-break before eventually overcoming Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Diego Schwartzman 7-6(3), 3-6, 10-4 at the BMU Open by FWU.

Melo and Kubot won 77 per cent of return points in the first set, but were taken to a decider after conceding the only break of the second set. The top seeds rediscovered their returning powers in the Match Tie-break however, winning five of their seven return points to book a last eight clash with Mirza Basic and Marton Fucsovics.

Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram also needed a Match Tie-break to reach the quarter-finals. The second seeds came from a set down to defeat Fabrice Martin and Purav Raja 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 in 89 minutes. Dodig and Ram won 83 per cent of first-serve points throughout the tense first-round match.

Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya defeated Munich residents Matthias Bachinger and Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals. The No. 3 seeds converted six of their nine break point chances to set up a meeting with a second all-German pairing in as many rounds; Kevin Krawietz and Maximilian Marterer.

Matkowski/Sharan Safely Through
Second seeds Marcin Matkowski and Divij Sharan defeated Radu Albot and Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5, 6-3 to move into the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open quarter-finals. The Polish-Indian duo twice failed to consolidate breaks of serve in the opening set before eventually taking a one-set lead with a third break in the 12th game. The second set proved a much tighter affair, with a single break of serve in the eighth game for Matkowski and Sharan proving the difference.

Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys defeated third seeds Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Andrei Vasilevski 6-2, 6-4. The duo broke Podlipnik-Castillo and Vasilevski on four occasions to book its place in the quarter-finals after only 63 minutes.

Open Sud de France champions Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski also advanced in Turkey, recovering from an early break down in the first set to beat Cem Ilkel and Bernard Tomic 7-5, 6-1.

Did You Know?
All three of Lleyton Hewitt’s ATP World Tour doubles titles were won in the United States. The Australian lifted the 2000 US Open (w/Mirnyi) and Indianapolis (w/Stolle) titles before his most recent success at the 2014 Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open (w/Guccione).