Two-time Argentina Open quarter-finalist Federico Delbonis broke five times to advance to the second round in Buenos Aires on Monday. The 27-year-old left-hander, making his eighth appearance at the Argentina Open, beat Germany’s Florian Mayer 7-6(4), 6-4.

Delbonis will next meet Portugal’s Gastao Elias or Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, who won his maiden ATP World Tour title at the Ecuador Open in Quito on Sunday.

In other action, Delbonis’ countryman Guido Pella also moved into the second round, beating countryman Nicolas Kicker 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic knocked out Argentine qualifier Facundo Bagnis 7-6(4), 6-1; Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez swept wild card Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 6-3, 6-3; and Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci dropped only three games against Argentine wild card Pedro Cachin 6-2, 6-1.

Bjorn Fratangelo, the World No. 109 who advanced to the semi-finals at the 2017 Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island, qualified for the inaugural New York Open on Monday with a third-set tie-break victory against #NextGenATP Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

The 24-year-old American spoke to ATPWorldTour.com about his favourite things to do off the court, who he admires most and more:

What’s your biggest passion outside of sport and why?
I would say food. I come from a big Italian family and I actually really enjoy cooking every time I’m back home, which isn’t too often. I always try to work on my cooking skills.

Favourite dish?
Steak and some sort of side.

What was the last book you read?
I would say Rafael Nadal’s autobiography.

Last concert or show you attended?
I was at a concert in Boca Raton a couple years ago. They had a bunch of people: The Fray, Colbie Caillat, the Goo Goo Dolls, it was like a big mix.

Favourite sport to watch besides tennis?
I would have to say basketball or I’m a big Pittsburgh Penguins fan, probably ice hockey.

Outside of your family, whom do you admire most?
If I’m going tennis I’ve got to say Roger Federer. To accomplish everything he has and he still wants to keep going, I don’t know why or how but he still wants to keep doing it and I think that’s pretty admirable.

My tennis career will be a success if ___________
If I just keep working hard and make sure everybody knows that when they play me it’s going to be a tough out and keep getting my feet wet at this level.

After my tennis career, I want to ___________
I think I want to stay in the game. I would like to stay in tennis to do what, I don’t know. But I love the sport. I love everything about it and I definitely want to stay in it.

Alexander Zverev advanced to the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 win over David Ferrer on Monday. The 20-year-old Zverev needed one hour and 24 minutes to dispatch the veteran Spaniard.

“It’s not easy to play Ferrer, especially in the first round of a tournament,” Zverev said. “This is a tough tournament, and I’m happy with the win.”

While Zverev struggled with his serve, he still managed to save nine of 11 break point opportunities. He also converted on five of six break-point opportunities (2/11 for Ferrer). Both committed an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors (Zverev, 26; Ferrer, 31).

“The court is quite quick and the balls are bouncing low. I’m quite tall so a low bounce is difficult but I like quick courts. I’ve won a lot of tournaments on quick courts,” Zverev said. “I want to make my game more dimensional. I felt good returning; I felt well in the long rallies.”

With the win, Zverev moves to 1-2 lifetime in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Ferrer. He’ll next face Italian Andreas Seppi, who beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Tomas Berdych defeated Mischa Zverev 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to secure his place in the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

Berdych, who won the title in 2014 (d. Cilic) and reached the final in 2015 (l. to Wawrinka), won 82 per cent of his first serve points and recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the first set. Berdych will meet the winner of Jan-Lennard Struff and Viktor Troicki’s first-round clash for a place in the quarter-finals.

Earlier in the day, Feliciano Lopez also booked his place in the second-round, with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over 2016 champion Martin Klizan.

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Did You Know?
Tomas Berdych has now won 20 matches at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, including nine consecutive wins from 2014-2015.

Roger Federer has his sights set on overtaking Rafael Nadal at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings this week at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, where he competes for the first time since 2013. A semi-final run would return the Swiss star to the summit of men’s professional tennis for the first time since 4 November 2012.

“I only ever said I would think about the ATP Rankings after the Australian Open was over,” said Federer in Rotterdam on Monday. I did not expect to win the Australian Open again and by not winning the [Nitto] ATP Finals, I never thought it would happen again and it may be out of sight. I played at the Australian Open not thinking about the rankings, but I knew I had the flexibility in February over my calendar.

“After the Australian Open was over, I thought I’d love to play Rotterdam and give it a go. Our team is very excited, that I’m here and that I will give it a go. You have to do it, not because it’s the right thing to do, but you have to be here with all your heart and really go for it. Try my very best. Having the option of getting to No. 1 is highly motivating and very exciting to say the least.”

The 36-year-old would guarantee a return to No. 1 next Monday if he advances to the semi-finals in Rotterdam. If he reaches Friday’s quarter-finals, Federer could meet fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

View The Rotterdam Draw

See Federer’s Career History In Rotterdam

“I would love to be in that position [to attain No. 1] against anybody,” said Federer. “If I get back to that spot you don’t want it to happen in an easy way. The achievement would be quite incredible. It’s exciting to have Stan in my section [of the draw].”

Federer is competing at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament for the first time since capturing his sixth Australian Open crown, and his 20th Grand Slam championship, on 28 January. He opens his ninth Rotterdam campaign Wednesday against 30-year-old Belgian qualifier and World No. 116 Ruben Bemelmans. It will be the first meeting between the players.

When asked about winning three of the past five majors, Federer admitted, “If I would have won one Grand Slam I would be over the moon. In 2016, Novak [Djokovic] and Andy [Murray] were in their prime. Rafa was young enough to come back. I always believed I could do it once, [so] it’s an incredible journey.”

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If Federer does get back to No. 1 on 19 February, the gap of five years and 106 days will be the longest between stints at No. 1. At 36, he would also become the oldest World No. 1, replacing American Andre Agassi (aged 33), who last held the top spot on 7 September 2003.

Two-time former Rotterdam champion Federer is one of seven players in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings competing at the Dutch tournament. Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, last year’s finalist David Goffin, 2015 winner Stan Wawrinka, 2014 champion Tomas Berdych and last week’s Open Sud de France champion Lucas Pouille also feature in the draw.

DID YOU KNOW?
Federer holds the record for most weeks spent at No. 1, with 302 weeks. Pete Sampras is second on the list with 286 weeks. See the full list.