There is a new star emerging in Australian tennis. After reaching the semi-finals in just his fourth ATP Challenger Tour event, at the Shimadzu Kyoto Challenger, 19-year-old Blake Ellis has plenty of cause for optimism.

The Brisbane native showcased his fighting quality in Kyoto, with three consecutive three-set wins over Japanese opposition before falling to top seed John Millman in the last four. Ellis is now one of four Aussie teenagers inside the Top 600 of the ATP Rankings, having risen 164 spots to a new career-high No. 510 in the ATP Rankings on Monday. 

But don’t let that ranking fool you. Embarking on what he hopes to be his first full season as a professional, he is ready to take the next step on the Challenger circuit.

“It was an amazing week,” Ellis told ATPWorldTour.com. “I had a great week with some great wins, so I really enjoyed it. It was my first tournament I’ve played indoors as well. 

“It gives me a great deal of confidence, to match up with those players who are in the Top 200. I have to take that into next week in Yokohama and throughout the year.”

The young Australian has great support as he continues his quest to climb up the ATP Rankings, with former World No. 11 doubles player Wayne Arthurs in his corner. Arthurs won 12 ATP World Tour doubles titles between 1994 and 2005 before retiring two years later.

“We started working together a couple years ago and he’s been trying to implement his great serve-and-volley skills into my game,” Ellis added. “We’ve been working a lot on my forehand and serve and volleys. Now, it’s just trying to take that from the practice court and use it on the match court.” 

Aussie Teens In The Top 600

The Australian, who enjoys watching football and NBA basketball away from the court, can also count on the advice of another compatriot: 2018 breakout star Alex de Minaur. 

“We are really good mates. It’s great to see that he’s doing well and I’m really proud of him. He’s setting a good benchmark for other Aussies to follow. Definitely pushes me on the court to see guys my age like De Minaur, Shapovalov and Moutet all doing well. It sets a high standard for me to follow. I’ll take one tournament at a time and see if I can get there.”

Ellis is all too aware that the road to the top of the sport will not be easy. He has already noticed significant differences between the Futures level and competing on the Challenger circuit.

“The depth of the players is the main difference,” said Ellis. “In Futures, you get a few easy rounds, but in Challengers everyone is difficult to beat. Even in qualifying. That is the big difference, the depth and quality of the players.”

Ellis’ short term goal is to establish himself on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, to progress up the ATP Rankings ahead of what appears to be a very bright future. 

“Hopefully this year I’ll play a few more Challengers than I did last year,” said Ellis. “I hope to get my ranking up a bit higher than what it is at the moment. That’s the first big goal, but we’ll take it one step at a time.”

Nitto ATP Finals champion and World No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov leads the field at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in a draw that is guaranteed to produce just the second first-time winner of the event since 2009. 

The prestigious Middle Eastern tournament, which has been voted Best ATP World Tour 500 event 11 times in its history, boasts a diverse and competitive field of players looking to add their name to the list of champions.

Dimitrov, playing his first event since the Australian Open in January, opens against Tunisian veteran and wild card Malek Jaziri. One-handed backhands are out in full force in Dimitrov’s quarter of the draw, which features fellow single-handed players Philipp Kohlschreiber and #NextGenATP Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Rounding out the top half of the draw are 2018 ASB Classic champion Roberto Bautista Agut and former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet, who are seeded No. 3 and No. 5 respectively this week in Dubai. Bautista Agut will play Florian Mayer in the first round, while Gasquet takes on Borna Coric. 

The bottom half of the draw features an in-form Lucas Pouille as the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The Frenchman is coming off a title in Montpellier and a final last week in Marseille. He faces a tricky test in his opening match, where he’ll play former World No. 10 Ernests Gulbis in the first round. 

Karen Khachanov, who was last week’s champion in Marseille, could set up a possible rematch of that final with Pouille should he navigate his way past Denis Istomin. Additionally, Ilya Ivashka, who was a surprise semi-finalist last week in Marseille, drew No. 8 seed Yuichi Sugita, and will look to continue his own run of form as he takes on the field in Dubai.

Elsewhere in the draw, No. 4 seed Damir Dzumhur plays qualifier Yannick Maden, while Filip Krajinovic opens his Dubai campaign against Italian Thomas Fabbiano, with the winner to play either 2016 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, who was awarded a wild card into the main draw, or fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki.

The doubles draw features Henri Kontinen and John Peers as the tournament’s No. 1 seeds, with Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau seeded second. The top seeds face Dzumhur and Troicki in the first round, while the Dutch-Romanian team of Tecau/Rojer open against Marcus Daniell and Dominic Inglot.

For the first time this ATP World Tour season, there will be two 500-level events in the same week. World No. 2 Rafael Nadal looks to better his runner-up finish from last season at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco, Mexico, and the two-time winner will be joined by defending champion Sam Querrey and five more players who are inside the Top 12 of the ATP Rankings.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov leads a strong field at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where Marseille finalist Lucas Pouille is the second seed. There is also an ATP World Tour 250 event in Sao Paulo, Brazil: the Brasil Open, where three-time defending champion Pablo Cuevas will attempt to earn a four-peat. 

View Draws: Acapulco | Dubai | Sao Paulo

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN ACAPULCO

1) XXV Anniversary: This is the 25th anniversary of the popular ATP World Tour 500-level event, which features a tournament record six of the Top 10 players in the ATP Rankings. Leading the way is World No. 2 Rafael Nadal along with Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Jack Sock, Kevin Anderson and Juan Martin del Potro. Last year, Sam Querrey beat Nadal to become the tournament’s first American winner.

2) Former Champions: Querrey is one of four former Acapulco champions in the draw, including four-time winner (2010-12, 2015) David Ferrer, Nadal (2005, 2013) and Thiem (2016).

3) Rafa Returns: Nadal is playing his first tournament since retiring down 0-2 in the fifth set vs. Cilic on 23 January in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Nadal is 14-1 in Acapulco, with his only loss coming against Querrey last year. Nadal cannot regain the No. 1 ATP Ranking if he wins the title, since he is dropping 300 points.

4) Querrey Reigning Champion: Last year, Querrey came in ranked No. 40 and he posted four straight Top 20 wins en route to his biggest career title, beating No. 11 David Goffin, No. 9 Thiem, No. 17 Nick Kyrgios and No. 6 Nadal. A year later, Querrey comes in a career-high No. 11 (as of 26 February).

5) Anderson Newest Top 10: Anderson is playing his first tournament ranked in the Top 10 since 12 October 2015 at Shanghai (QF). He moved to No. 9 on 19 February after winning his fourth title at the New York Open (d. Querrey). Anderson, who reached the Acapulco final in 2014 (l. to Dimitrov), comes in a career-high No. 8 (as of 26 February).

6) Ferrer 30 Wins Club: Ferrer has 30 career wins in Acapulco, which is one of seven tournaments he has won 30 or more matches: Roland Garros (44), Australian Open (42), Valencia (32), US Open (32), Auckland (31), Miami (31) and Acapulco (30).

7) Rio Repeat: The Rio Open presented by Claro final on Sunday between Diego Schwartzman and Fernando Verdasco will be the first of two matches between the pair in three days. They meet Tuesday in the first round in Acapulco. Prior to Rio, Schwartzman won their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting in the first round at 2016 Nice.

8) #NextGenATP Trio: The #NextGenATP trio of Andrey Rublev, Denis Shapovalov and Alexander Zverev along with last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung and qualifier Jared Donaldson are all making their Acapulco main draw debut.

9) Kokkinakis is Back: Thanasi Kokkinakis, who reached his first ATP World Tour singles final in Los Cabos last August, is one of three wild cards (Leo Gomez, Sock). The young Aussie lost in the first round at the Australian Open and has been sidelined with an abdominal strain. He returned this week at the Morelos, Mexico, ATP Challenger Tour event and reached the semi-finals, where he withdrew due to an ankle injury.

10) Strong Doubles Draw: The top four seeds are Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, current ATP Doubles Team Rankings leaders Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, reigning champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, and Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.

THINGS TO WATCH IN DUBAI

1) Grigor Leads Field: World No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov is the top seed and he is making his first appearance in Dubai since 2011 when he came in ranked No. 81 as a qualifier. He is 10-3 this season with a runner-up finish in Rotterdam, semi-final in Brisbane and quarter-final at the Australian Open.

2) Pouille Quick Starter: No. 2 seed Lucas Pouille is coming off a runner-up finish on home soil in Marseille (l. to Khachanov). Earlier this month, the Frenchman won his fifth career ATP World Tour title in Montpellier. He is 3-3 in Dubai, reaching the semi-finals last year (l. to eventual champion Murray).

3) RBA Back Again: No. 3 seed Roberto Bautista Agut is making his sixth straight appearance in Dubai (6-5 record) and his best result is a quarter-final showing in 2016. Last month, the Spaniard won the Auckland title (d. Del Potro), but since then has lost three matches in a row.

4) Special K Time: Karen Khachanov enters Dubai fresh off his second career ATP World Tour title in Marseille (d. Pouille). The 21-year-old Russian, who played in the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals last year, is off to a 10-4 start this season. Last year, he didn’t win his 10th match until May in Lyon.

5) French Connection: There are a tournament-high six Frenchmen in the main draw, led by Pouille and No. 5 seed Richard Gasquet, who is 8-5 in Dubai with a semi-final showing in 2009 and 2011. The last Frenchman to win the Dubai title was Fabrice Santoro in 2002 (d. El Aynaoui).

6) Belarusian Breakthrough: Belarus native Ilya Ivashka advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final in Marseille (l. to Pouille) to earn a special exempt into Dubai. The 24-year-old is the first player from Belarus to reach the semi-finals in singles on the ATP World since Max Mirnyi at 2005 Nottingham.

7) Nishioka Returns: Yoshihito Nishioka, who suffered an injury to his left ACL last March in Miami, makes his Dubai debut.with a protected ATP Ranking of No. 66. He reached a career-high No. 58 on 20 March. This is Nishioka’s second tour-level event of the season after a second-round showing at the Australian Open.

8) Gulbis Eyes Win: Ernests Gulbis qualified into his second ATP World Tour event of the season (Sofia) and is looking to win his first tour-level match since last year’s US Open (d. Giannessi, l. to Anderson).

9) Wild Cards: Marcos Baghdatis, who reached the final in his last Dubai visit two years ago (l. to Wawrrinka), is one of three wild cards. The Cypriot is 8-7 in Dubai. The other wild cards are #NextGenATP Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas and Tunisian Malek Jaziri, who is making his sixth straight main-draw appearance (3-5).

10) Strong Doubles Draw: The top four seeds are Henri Kontinen and John Peers, reigning champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram and Marseille champions Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN SAO PAULO

1) Clay Court Season Finale: This is the last of four weeks of clay-court action in South America with the Brasil Open. This is also the only indoor clay court tournament on the ATP World Tour. Pablo Cuevas is the reigning three-time champion and the other former winner competing is Federico Delbonis (2014).

2) Ramos-Vinolas Leads Field: The top seed is Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who reached last year’s final and is making his seventh Sao Paulo visit (9-6). The Spaniard is playing his fourth straight week and he opened the clay-court swing with a runner-up in Quito (l. to Carballes Baena). In 2017, he finished a year-end best No. 23 in the ATP Rankings and also was runner-up at Monte-Carlo.

3) Fabio a Favourite: No. 2 seed Fabio Fognini, who reached the semi-finals in Rio (l. to Verdasco), has a 9-7 record in Sao Paulo. His best results are the semi-finals in 2008 and the quarter-finals three other times.

4) King of Sao Paulo: No. 3 seed and three-time reigning champion Cuevas comes in with a 13-match Sao Paulo winning streak. Overall, Cuevas has a 16-5 record at the event. He also won the Rio title in 2016. His last four ATP World Tour titles have come on Brazilian soil.

5) Monfils Strong on Clay: No. 4 seed Gael Monfils is playing his fourth straight week on clay and thus far he is 6-3 with a quarter-final showing in Quito, semi-final appearance in Buenos Aires and another quarter-final in Rio, where he beat No. 3 ranked Cilic in the second round. He opened the season with his seventh career ATP World Tour title in Doha (d. Rublev). He won his first and only ATP World Tour clay court title in Sopot, Poland, in 2005.

6) Brazilian Title Hopes: There are five Brazilians in the draw, including one qualifier. Leading the way are the top Brazilian trio (as of 2/26) of Rogerio Dutra Silva, Thiago Monteiro and Thomaz Bellucci. The youngest player in the draw, 17-year-old wild card Thiago Seyboth Wild, makes his ATP World Tour debut. The last Brazilian to win the Sao Paulo title was Gustavo Kuerten in 2004.

7) Jarry Breakthrough: Nicolas Jarry comes into Sao Paulo after advancing to his first career ATP World Tour semi-final in Rio (l. to Schwartzman). The 22-year-old Chilean is the top player from his country and he is projected to climb to a career-high No. 73 in the ATP Rankings.

8) Argentine Assault: There are a tournament-high six Argentines in the draw (with two in the final round of qualifying). No. 5 Leonardo Mayer is the highest Argentine seeded in the draw. Delbonis is the last Argentine winner in 2014.

9) Andre Bids Farewell: Reigning doubles champion Andre Sa is playing in his final ATP main draw. The 40-year-old, who is coaching and playing with Bellucci, enjoyed an outstanding career with 11 doubles titles in 30 finals. He reached a career-high No. 55 in singles and No. 17 in doubles.

10) Doubles Draw: The top seeds are Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos, who are 0-2 in ATP doubles finals. The No. 2 seeds are Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Andrei Vasilevski, the No. 3 seeds are Guillermo Duran and Andres Molteni and No. 4 are Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak.

Diego Schwartzman is the champion at the Rio Open presented by Claro, easing his way past Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-3 to claim the biggest title of his career and first ATP World Tour 500 crown. The 5’7” Argentine, who didn’t drop a set all tournament, will make his Top 20 debut in the ATP Rankings next week (No. 18).

Schwartzman got off to an inauspicious start, as he was broken in the opening game of the final by an aggressive Verdasco, whose signature forehand appeared to be firing on all cylinders. However, the Spaniard, who just yesterday claimed the doubles title with partner David Marrero, quickly dropped serve himself, allowing the Argentine back on level terms. 

As both players settled into the match, Schwartzman was able to counter Verdasco’s aggressive hitting with sublime clay-court counterpunching tennis and eventually sealing the first set 6-2.

The second set was a tighter affair with Verdasco generating five break points on Schwartzman’s wavering serve. Yet the dogged defense and pinpoint accuracy of the 25-year-old Schwartzman proved too much for the left-hander, who was unable to break serve despite his many opportunities. Showing few signs of nerves and steely determination in his final service game, Schwartzman sunk to his knees in celebration following a final Verdasco return error into the net after 83 minutes.

For his win in Brazil, the Argentine claims 500 ATP Rankings points and pockets $365,560 in prize money. The title is just his second at the tour-level, following his maiden crown two years ago in Istanbul (d. Grigor Dimitrov). Schwartzman improved to 2-2 at ATP World Tour finals, having succumbed in 2016, 2017 Antwerp (l. to Gasquet, l. to Tsonga).

Meanwhile, Verdasco falls to a 7-16 record in ATP World Tour finals, and remains in the hunt for his first title since 2016 as he continues his 2018 season. The Spaniard celebrated big wins in Rio, including an emphatic victory against two-time defending champion Dominic Thiem and former finalist Fabio Fognini.

Next up for Schwartzman is the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where his first-round opponent will be a familiar one: He and Verdasco are slated for a rematch next week in Acapulco, Mexico.

First final nerves? Not for Frances Tiafoe. The 20-year-old American coasted to his first ATP World Tour title on Sunday, beating German Peter Gojowczyk of Germany 6-1, 6-4 at the Delray Beach Open. Tiafoe becomes the youngest American to win an ATP World Tour title since 19-year-old Andy Roddick at 2002 Houston, and his maiden crown caps off the best two weeks of his career.

Before last week’s New York Open, Tiafoe had won nine tour-level matches (9-31) and had never reached a tour-level quarter-final. But after reaching the last eight in New York (l. to Anderson) and triumphing in Delray Beach, Tiafoe almost doubled his tour-level win count (16) in two weeks.

“I just can’t believe it. A lot’s going through my mind. If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I was going to win a title at 20 years old, I probably would have laughed. It’s unbelievable,” Tiafoe said.

In South Florida, the #NextGenATP American had to beat World No. 10 Juan Martin del Potro and Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung, who is the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion. In the semi-finals, Tiafoe knocked out #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who was also seeking his first first tour-level final.

Gojowczyk, however, had been a tricky opponent for Americans all week. The German had beaten a trio of Tiafoe’s compatriots – John Isner, Reilly Opelka and Steve Johnson – to make his second ATP World Tour final (2017 Metz, d. Paire).

But the German was slow to start on Sunday. Tiafoe rattled off his service games with ease, and he smacked a forehand return winner to gain a double-break lead at 4-0. Gojowcyzk had his left hamstring wrapped during the 5-0 changeover, but Tiafoe didn’t slow down, taking the first set after 25 minutes when Gojowcyzk slapped a forehand return long.

The 28-year-old German improved his level in the second set, keeping more balls in play. But almost every time Tiafoe faced pressure on his serve, he was brave and earned the reward for it: his first ATP World Tour title. The 20-year-old fell to the court after a second-serve ace on match point.

He’s the first among a heralded class of #NextGenATP Americans, which includes Opelka and Taylor Fritz, to win an ATP World Tour title. Tiafoe will receive 250 ATP Rankings points and is projected to rise to No. 61 in the ATP Rankings, just one spot off his career high, on Monday. He will also receive $94,280 in prize money. Gojowczyk will receive 150 ATP Rankings points and $49,650 in prize money.

Karen Khachanov lifted his second ATP World Tour title on Sunday, beating home favourite Lucas Pouille 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 at the Open 13 Provence.

“It is the second title in my career, so I am extremely happy. I just need to keep working and keep going,” said Khachanov. “I felt I was playing good here from the first day. It’s nice to play on a full court in the final, and I hope to come back next year.”

Between his maiden ATP World Tour title at the 2016 Chengdu Open (d. Ramos-Vinolas) and this week in Marseille, Khachanov’s best result was a semi-final appearance at the 2017 Gerry Weber Open (l. to Federer) last July. But the Russian turned that around in impressive fashion, earning victories against World No. 17 Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals and Pouille (No. 16). It is the first time that Khachanov has defeated two Top 20 players in the ATP Rankings in the same week, and he did not drop a set before the championship match.

The ninth seed notched his 10th win of 2018 to earn the trophy in the port city, remaining undefeated in tour-level finals (2-0). The Russian hit 16 aces in the one-hour, 49-minute clash to win his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with the recent Open Sud de France champion, who was bidding to win a second title in three weeks in southern France.

Watch Live On TennisTV

Watch Full Match Replays

It was Khachanov who began the final on the front foot, securing the first break of the match in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. But, after three service holds from both men, Pouille fired a backhand down the line to get back on level terms as the Russian failed to serve the set out at 5-4. Not to be deterred, the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier went back on the offensive in the next game, re-establishing his break advantage with a strong forehand approach up the line before serving the set out at the second time of asking.

Pouille survived an early attack from Khachanov to hold serve in the second set, and secured the only break of the set in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. The Frenchman levelled the match at a set apiece three games later with another solid backhand up the line, much to the delight of the French crowd.

The final set proved a tight affair, with both players holding serve with reasonable comfort before Khachanov pounced at the most crucial of moments. With Pouille serving to force a final-set tie-break, the 21-year-old reached championship point. A missed overhead gave Pouille a reprieve, but Khachanov would not be denied. The Frenchman double faulted for the fourth time to hand the World No. 47 a second opportunity, which he took as Pouille dumped a forehand into the net to end the match.

Pouille fell just short of winning his second title of 2018 in front of home support, after triumphing in the nearby city of Montpellier just two weeks ago. The Frenchman was aiming to win his fifth title in 10 months.

“It was a good week. Karen is a young player who will be Top 20 soon. Congrats to him. Overall it was a great match,” Pouille said. “Another final is always positive. I hope that I can continue to play well in the next few weeks.”

Khachanov earns 250 ATP Rankings points and €115,150, while Pouille will take away 150 points and €60,645 for his runner-up finish.

Did You Know?
Khachanov is the first player who competed in last year’s inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan to win two ATP World Tour titles.