Before the 2018 season, Ilya Ivashka had never competed in an ATP World Tour main draw. But this week, the 23-year-old has played the best tennis of his career to advance to the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. The World No. 193 not only qualified, but ousted Laslo Djere, was leading second seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 1-1 when the Swiss retired due to a knee injury, and then held on to defeat home favourite Nicolas Mahut in three sets on Friday evening.

“It’s a very good feeling,” Ivashka told ATPWorldTour.com after beating Mahut in the quarter-finals. “It was a tough match today and I’m happy that I’m in the semi-finals and that I’ll play tomorrow.”

What makes his run even more special is that Ivashka is the first Belarusian to make the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour event since Max Mirnyi at 2005 Nottingham — better yet, it is only the third tour-level event of his career (2016 US Open, 2018 Pune).

“It means a lot because I didn’t know that he was the last player,” Ivashka said of Mirnyi. “I knew that he won the title in Rotterdam [in 2003]. I knew he was the last one who won an ATP [World Tour] title, but I didn’t know about the semi-finals. It’s a great feeling and I enjoy representing my country and I’m very proud of that.”

In fact, 11 of the right-hander’s 17 tour-level matches have come in Davis Cup competition for Belarus. However, Ivashka has been training in Barcelona, Spain for more than a year. Why did he make the decision to work on his game away from home?

“It’s quite tough to say, but it was very good conditions for me,” Ivashka said. “I had a coach there who I really liked to work with and I decided to go there.”

But last November, the Belarusian made a coaching change and began working with former World No. 230 Jose Checa-Calvo. And while it would have been tough to envision such a massive success this quickly, the semi-finalist is not shocked.

“I was not thinking about this, but maybe I would believe [in a big result] because I’m working really hard and I have a lot of goals,” said Ivashka, who captured his lone ATP Challenger Tour title last June in Fergana, Uzbekistan. “So maybe I would believe it, but not this soon.

“It’s a great feeling because before I didn’t play a lot of ATPs… I didn’t have a lot of experience, but now it feels good to be here and win matches here, so I really enjoy it.”

Ivashka is not done yet, as he looks to spring another upset on Saturday against third seed and recent Open Sud de France winner Lucas Pouille. 

“I just go day-by-day and I try to work hard every day, do my routines and it helps me to be focused,” Ivashka said. “Every day is another day and I need to keep working and keep playing.”

Karen Khachanov reached his second ATP World Tour final after beating Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2 at the Open 13 Provence on Saturday.

The World No. 47, competing in his first semi-final of 2018, looked in great form throughout the 74-minute contest, winning 90 per cent of first serve points (26/29) to reach the championship match. Khachanov improved to a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over the Czech No. 1, after winning their only previous encounter last season at Roland Garros.

The ninth seed will face home favourite Lucas Pouille or qualifier Ilya Ivashka in Sunday’s final. Khachanov won his only previous final on tour at the 2016 Chengdu Open (d. Ramos-Vinolas).

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Khachanov proved a constant threat on the Berdych serve in the first set, creating 10 break point opportunities and converting on two occasions. The Russian played well under pressure on his own delivery, saving all three break points he faced to gain a one-set advantage over the 2013 finalist.

The pattern continued in set two, as the 21-year-old controlled the set with five aces and a 100 per cent success rate on his first serve (15/15). Two further breaks of serve sealed the win for the Russian No. 2 who will now wait to see if it is Pouille or Ivashka across the net in the final.

Did You Know?
Khachanov will be aiming to become just the sixth non-French winner in 13 years in Sunday’s Open 13 Provence final. French players have accounted for seven of the past 12 tournament wins.

#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov announced himself to the tennis world last year at the Rogers Cup when he stormed to the semi-finals. And now, after ousting #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4 on Friday evening at the Delray Beach Open, the 2017 Emirates ATP Star of Tomorrow is into his second ATP World Tour semi-final.

“I played really well,” Shapovalov said. “I felt really comfortable from the warm-up. I felt really good with my timing and I returned well when I needed to.”

The World No. 46 is bidding to become the 15th 18-year-old this millennium to win an ATP World Tour crown. The youngest player to achieve the feat since 2000 is Kei Nishikori, who was 18 years, 1 month, 19 days old when he triumphed in Delray Beach 10 years ago this week. The left-hander arrived in Florida having not won two tour-level matches in a row at a tournament since the 2017 US Open, where he advanced to the fourth round. 

The Canadian was one of four #NextGenATP stars to make the quarter-finals in Delray Beach, something that did not go unnoticed by Shapovalov.

“It almost feels like a junior tournament right now. So many young guys in the quarters and going to be in the semis,” Shapovalov said. “It’s really nice to see so many up-and-coming guys doing well. We all get along really well, so we wish the best for each other. It’s good to see a little bit of a new generation of tennis, a new era beginning to happen. I feel like in the near future we’re going to see a lot more young guys coming up and a lot more upsets.”

Shapovalov, who saved both break points he faced against Fritz, will play reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung or another #NextGenATP American in Frances Tiafoe on Saturday.

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In the other half of the draw, Peter Gojowczyk cut down his second tall foe in as many matches by defeating Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 6-3, to advance to the semi-finals. The 6’2” Gojowczyk needed one hour, 17 minutes to take down the 6’11” American in straight sets. In the previous round, the German upset the tournament’s sixth seed, 6’10” John Isner, in three tie-breaks.

Gojowczyk, who was forced to retire last week during a second-round match against Adrian Mannarino at the New York Open due to injury, was satisfied with his victory.

“I’m very happy to have won today,” Gojowczyk said. “I didn’t give him many chances. I was solid and played well from the baseline. I got some small opportunities and I took them. If you return well, it’s tough… I strike the ball early, so maybe it’s harder for them to play me from the baseline.”

Opelka knew he’d have his hands full going into the match against the world No. 64, considering his track record (now 0-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series) and Gojowczyk’s current form. The end result didn’t come as much of a surprise.

“I kind of expected it; he beat me the last time we played,” Opelka said. “I never want to play him again, he’s got my number. He does everything well and he’s a great player.”

Gojowczyk will face another American, Steve Johnson, for a place in the final. Johnson needed one hour, 18 minutes to move past Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-4. It was their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting since a dramatic five-set encounter in the first round of the 2016 U.S. Open, when Johnson came from two sets down to prevail in five sets.

“I had a tough early game today, got out of it and maybe broke his spirit a little bit,” the 28-year-old American said. “I was able to rattle off some games in the first set and plus it was windy today, so sometimes the (wind) gusts go your way.”