For the third time in 10 months, Lucas Pouille has saved match points en route to an ATP World Tour title. The 23-year-old overcame three-time champion Richard Gasquet 7-6(2), 6-4 at the Open Sud de France to win his fifth tour-level title on Sunday.

Pouille saved two match points at 1-6, 3-5 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Saturday’s second semi-final before his compatriot was forced to retire with a left hamstring injury. The No. 17 seized his opportunity in the final with a fine serving performance, scoring an impressive 87-minute win over Gasquet to lift his second title on home soil (Metz 2016).

Pouille also saved one match point against Jan-Lennard Struff and two match points against Jiri Vesely in second round matches en route to titles in Stuttgart and Budapest in 2017.

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Nicolas Jarry and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo are the men’s doubles champions in Quito following a 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow in just over an hour of play.

For their victory in the Ecuadorian capital, Jarry and Podlipnik-Castillo add 250 points to their ATP Ranking and share $27,170 in prize money.

The Ecuador Open marks the first ATP World Tour title in either singles or doubles for the Chilean duo, with Podlipnik-Castillo reaching just one other doubles final (2017 Kitzbuhel w/Vasilevski) and Jarry only one match win in doubles, a round-of-16 victory in Vina del Mar with Christian Garin.

Jarry and Podlipnik-Castillo were dominant on serve all match, winning 91 per cent of their first serves and surrendering a break of serve just once at the start of the second set. 

The first-time doubles champions dropped just one set all week and prevailed over French wild cards Dorian Descloix and former World No. 6 in singles Gael Monfils in the semi-finals.

Serbian tennis has long been lead by a player you’ve probably heard of, but its future is in the hands of one you might not have.

Whenever former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic decides to hang up his racquet, he’ll be happy to know that Miomir Kecmanovic, playing in just his second year on the professional circuit, appears to have things covered for his native Serbia. At just 18 years of age, Kecmanovic made his debut in the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings this week and is the youngest from his country to reach that career milestone since Djokovic first broke through in November of 2004. Now, into the semi-finals of this week’s ATP Challenger Tour event in San Francisco, there is no looking back for the teenager.

“It feels great. It’s an amazing accomplishment and not many people my age have done it,” said Kecmanovic, who is projected to rise to at least No. 178 on Monday. “I’m happy that in such a short amount of time I’ve been able to go from juniors and make the transition. I hope I can continue playing well and moving up.”

A former junior No. 1, Kecmanovic has already experienced a taste of life at the pinnacle of the game, having practised with Djokovic on multiple occasions. He also enjoyed a two-week stay at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, serving as a practice partner for the stars competing in London.

“It’s always good to have someone like [Djokovic] to look up to. He’s been such a great ambassador for the sport in Serbia It’s a shame that he’s now struggling with the elbow injury, but I’m sure he’ll come back,” said Kecmanovic, who cites his legendary compatriot as not only an inspiration but also a mentor.

“He’s given me a ton of advice and we’ve talked a bit. We’ve hung out and practiced too. It’s cool to have someone like him looking out for you. It’s amazing to see the intensity he practices with every single day. Maximum effort. It made me think that if I want to get there, I have to start working hard like that.”

Hard work in the off-season is already paying dividends for Kecmanovic in 2018. Having recently reached back-to-back quarter-finals at the ATP Challenger Tour events in Newport Beach and Dallas, the Serbian is into the semis of the Kunal Patel San Francisco Open this week, defeating fellow #NextGenATP Michael Mmoh in a high-quality three-set match this Friday.

“We’ve worked to be a aggressive with my serve and my groundstrokes and come forward more; quite a bit on my net game,” said Kecmanovic of his pre-season training with coach Miro Hrvatin, with whom he has been working for a year and a half. “We’ve done a good job together and it’s starting to show on the court. Making that transition from juniors to pros wasn’t easy. 

“It’s really different, both mentally and physically,” he added. “The matches are much longer, you don’t get easy points and have to stay focused the entire time. It started off a little tough for me, but I adapted well, playing a few good shots in a row and not just one.”

Read: 10 Players To Watch On The ATP Challenger Tour In 2018

Kecmanovic became the youngest Serbian to lift a trophy on the Challenger circuit since his fellow countryman Djokovic in 2005, when he claimed the title in Suzhou, China in the fall of last season. He did not drop a set all week. The 18-year-old has some big shoes to fill, but they’re starting to fit quite nicely. 

“My first week in China, in Ningbo, I lost 7-6 in the third in the first round. But I stayed there, practiced and worked hard to get ready for Suzhou. I didn’t expect much of myself there and I just relaxed. No pressure. I said to myself ‘who cares what you do’. It started well with the first couple matches and as I played on it got better and better.”

Additionally, Kecmanovic has joined fellow #NextGenATP Felix Auger-Aliassime as the youngest players in the Top 200. The duo faced off in the final of the 2016 US Open boys’ singles tournament, with the Canadian emerging victorious. The Belgrade native would end that season with the top junior ranking and climbed nearly 600 places in the ATP Rankings the following season, as his pro career kicked off with a bang.

“It has come pretty quickly,” he admitted. “It’s true that last year was my first as a professional and I won my first Challenger title in October. I’m happy that I managed to do it so quickly. There are many players who are developing and moving forward fast.”

Kecmanovic is hoping that his second trophy will come just as quickly as the first. One of four unseeded players in the San Francisco semis, he faces Jason Jung in Saturday’s nightcap. A $100,000 indoor hard-court event, the tournament is in its second year on the ATP Challenger Tour.

After reaching his first ATP World Tour quarter-final at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, Michael Mmoh has set his sights on two milestone achievements in 2018. The 20-year-old American took time to address his targets for the season while competing at the ATP Challenger Tour event in San Francisco, this week. 

“One of my goals is to reach the Top 100,” said Mmoh, whose week at the Kunal Patel San Francisco Open culminated with a quarter-final finish. “That is something I am definitely [looking at] to start off with and then I would like to make the Next Gen ATP Finals as well.”

Mmoh watched the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017 on TV, and hopes that this November he’ll be in Milan fighting for the chance to lift the “X” trophy and follow in the footsteps of South Korea’s Hyeon Chung.

“I thought the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals was a cool event and that is why I am targeting it for this year. I want to play there. Being the best 21-and-under player in the world would give you tonnes of confidence, I think you can see in Chung’s game that he has a lot of confidence and believes in his game,” said Mmoh.

As one of five #NextGenATP Americans in the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings, the Florida-based star has a strong group of fellow players around him to push him towards both his goals this year. “It is a friendly competition,” said Mmoh. “We are all pretty good friends but we push each other in a healthy, competitive way. If I see Frances Tiafoe or Taylor Fritz doing well it just motivates me to do the same.”

Mmoh, a two-time winner on the Challenger circuit in Knoxville 2016 and Lexington 2017, is targeting a strong season after struggling with abdominal and shoulder injuries last year. He didn’t wait long for his ATP World Tour breakthrough, streaking to the last eight in Brisbane to start the year behind wins over Federico Delbonis and Mischa Zverev.

“Those were my first two ATP World Tour level wins, so I was super excited to get that,” explained Mmoh. “That was one of my goals in the off-season for 2018. I think it was a big moment for me, stepping up to tour-level and getting a couple of wins. Hopefully I can keep going and get a couple more wins in 2018.”

The three-set victory over Zverev gave the American great confidence moving forwards, and Mmoh revealed he is already seeing the benefits of that newfound belief in his results at the Challenger level.

“That win gave me tonnes of confidence,” said Mmoh. “Even more confidence than if I’d have beaten him 6-2, 6-3. It was the fact that I outlasted him in a way, in a three-set battle. That gave me tonnes of confidence from a fitness and mental standpoint. I was really proud that I pulled that one off.

“I know what I am capable of and going back to the ATP Challenger Tour I have higher expectations and more confidence. I don’t think that if I hadn’t had the week in Brisbane that I had, that I would have beat Cameron Norrie [in Newport Beach]. The extra confidence did me a lot of good.”

That surge in confidence, combined with a newly adapted serve for 2018, gives Mmoh a great chance of rising well above his current ATP Ranking of No. 163 and challenging for a place in both the Next Gen ATP Finals and the Top 100.

“I worked on my serve,” said Mmoh. “I made a couple of changes to my technique and motion and it has really been paying off. This year I’ve been serving really well and after that my whole game just starts clicking and then automatically I’m more aggressive.”

Roberto Carballes Baena is into his first-ever ATP World Tour final, battling back to defeat fellow qualifier Andrej Martin 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in just under two and a half hours at the Ecuador Open in Quito.

It was just the second tour-level semi-final of Carballes Baena’s career (2014 Casablanca), while Martin was looking to win his second semi-final in as many tries (2016 Umag). 

Carballes Baena, a quarter-finalist last year in Quito, shot out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set, before Martin’s heavy groundstrokes off both wings reeled him back in.

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The 24-year-old Spaniard managed to shift the tide of the match at the start of the second set, saving three break points from 0/40 in the first game. With the momentum now firmly in his favour and his forehand firing, Carballes Baena surged to a double-break lead in the decisive set, eventually prevailing over his Slovakian opposition after forcing an error into the net. 

Carballes Baena, who has won three ATP Challenger Tour titles out of seven finals, moves to a 7-2 lifetime record in Quito and gets set for the biggest match of his career on Sunday.

The World No. 107 will play No. 2 seed and compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

Stan Wawrinka was keen to look at the positives after his semi-final loss to Bosnian qualifier Mirza Basic at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open.

At the conclusion of just the second tournament of his comeback after a knee injury that kept him out for six months, the 32-year-old maintains great perspective.

“This week I was trying to be positive, trying to fight, knowing that I am not playing my best tennis but still had a chance to win, to make a final,” Wawrinka said. “I am sad with the result today but there are a lot of positives to take from the week.”

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The 16-time tour-level champion is focussed on returning to the form that saw him finish in the Top 10 of the year-end ATP Rankings in each of the past five seasons, even if he acknowledges there is work to do.

“I knew that it would be difficult but I think that it was a positive to have three matches in a row, to win two matches,” Wawrinka said. “But it cost me more energy because I am not used to playing matches… in general, I am playing every day a little bit better, feeling something new but I still have a lot of work to do to be back to my top [level].”

Despite the straight-set loss in the semi-finals, Wawrinka was pleased with certain aspects of his game.

“There are a lot of things I am doing well, playing well, moving well,” expressed Wawrinka. “But again, it is a part of the process to play my more matches, to get confidence.”

While there was disappointment at missing out on a place in his 29th career final, the Swiss star took a philosophical approach to the loss.

“It was really positive to fight and win two matches,” explained Wawrinka. “To be in the semi-finals today, I would have loved to win one more match… but I need to take the positives for the week.”

The former World No. 3 is the fifth seed at next week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, where he will play wild card Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.

A three-time champion in southern France, Gasquet upset the top seed after one hour, 48 minutes. The 31-year-old will look to clinch his 15th tour-level title on Sunday, in his first final since losing to Alexander Zverev in Montpellier last season.

“I’m very happy to reach my sixth final here,” said Gasquet. “It’s quite amazing for me. I never expected that, to be in the final again. I played four big matches, especially today with one of the best players in the world.”

The opening set was decided by one break of serve, as Gasquet turned the tables on the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up in the seventh game, firing a forehand passing shot to move ahead before serving out the set to move to within a set of the final.

Despite getting broken three times to lose the second set, Gasquet bounced back with the home crowd cheering him on to secure the crucial break in the seventh game of the deciding set. He then broke again to close out the match, guaranteeing the French fans a sixth French champion in eight years in Montpellier.

Goffin’s search for a fifth tour-level crown continues. With a win over Gasquet, the World No. 7 would have advanced to his sixth ATP World Tour final since the start of last season.

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Aiming to win his first title since the 2016 European Open in Antwerp, Gasquet will meet compatriot Lucas Pouille in Sunday’s final, which will be the fourth all-French championship match in eight editions of the tournament.

Pouille moved into the final after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire from their semi-final with a left hamstring injury while leading 6-1, 5-5.

It is the fifth final for Pouille since the beginning of last season (3-1) and he seeks his fifth ATP World Tour title. Pouille leads Gasquet 3-1 in their FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series, with Gasquet’s only win coming en route to his second title in Montpellier three years ago.

Did You Know?
There has been a French champion or finalist at the Open Sud de France every year since its inception in 2010.