Dominic Thiem took time out from his preparations for the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships to visit a Tokyo sushi restaurant and the Odaiba-Ferris wheel on Monday.

The Austrian, who is making his first appearance in Tokyo since 2014, served and ate sushi dressed in traditional sushi chef uniform and then enjoyed the cityscape from the ferris wheel.

Thiem, 24, is currently No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Race To London for one of the six remaining berths at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. He takes on American Steve Johnson in the Tokyo first round on Tuesday.

Already one of the marquee events on the ATP Challenger Tour, the Open d’Orleans continues to raise the bar.

The hard-court perennially boasts one of the most competitive draws on the ATP Challenger Tour, which this year included seven Top 100 players and two formerly ranked in the Top 20 in the ATP Emirates Rankings: Ernests Gulbis and Jerzy Janowicz. The tournament saw a flurry of competitive three-set matches in the historic French city, culminating in a high-quality final with 2016 finalist Norbert Gombos of Slovakia overcoming crowd-favourite Julien Benneteau in three sets.

Gombos not only walks away with a hefty prize cheque from the $150,000 indoor tournament (the only indoor tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour of that level), but also with a painting crafted by a local artist in lieu of a trophy, one of the Open d’Orleans’ many unique touches.

This year, former ATP World Tour stars Sebastien Grosjean and Nicolas Escude were brought on board by the prominent French event as ambassadors.

Grosjean reached a career-high ranking of No.4 in the world back in 2002, claiming the Rolex Paris Masters title in Paris-Bercy the year prior and reaching four Grand Slam semi-finals throughout his career. Escude peaked at No.17 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and is a former Australian Open semi-finalist with four titles to his name. 

The duo hopes that their representation continues to raise the profile of the Open d’Orleans and other ATP Challenger Tour tournaments in France.

 “Orleans is 13 years old and everybody, especially in France, knows this tournament. It’s a great event,” said Escude. “The quality of the people here and the courts and the city are amazing. That’s why Orleans is a very popular tournament.”

“The Challenger Tour is very important because it’s where all the young players start to win matches and get [Emirates ATP Rankings] points. It’s such a high level,” he added. “To use these tournaments to be stronger on the ATP World Tour, makes the Challenger Tour so important. To be in the main draw of an tournament like here in Orleans or in Brest where I am, really helps the young players. It helps them grow step by step.”

But at the Open d’Orleans it’s more than simply world-class tennis. Tournament director Didier Gerard wanted to integrate French gastronomy, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage item, into the heart of the event.

Each day of the tournament saw a different chef take to the kitchen to provide the tennis-goers with creative and top-quality French cuisine. Chef Bernard Vaussion, a former executive chef of the Elysee Palace and who served under all six French Presidents from 1969 to 2017, highlighted the culinary endeavour at the Open d’Orleans.

“People can watch tennis but also share quality time together,” said Gerard. ‘Conviviality’ is the key ingredient to the success story of Open d’Orleans. People sitting together around a table enjoying great tennis, food and excellent wine – that’s what characterises the French culture. 

“This week has been a tremendous success – we have served 3,500 meals in three different restaurants and are fully booked for the week. For me, it is a great pleasure and honour to bring great players, renowned chefs and great painters to the city of Orleans, to give it a cosmopolitan character.”

A LOOK BACK
Open d’Orleans (Orleans, France): Last year, Norbert Gombos finished runner-up to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Orleans final. On Sunday, the fourth seed went one step further, claiming the title at the prestigious $150,000 event with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over another Frenchman – Julien Benneteau. Gombos will rise to a career-high No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, having notched his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title and first in nearly one year.

BFD Challenger (Rome, Italy): The 2017 season has become the year of the Serbian on the ATP Challenger Tour. Filip Krajinovic secured a tour-leading 10th title for the European nation with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver in Rome. Krajinovic, who did not drop a set all week, claimed his fourth title of the year, joining only countryman Janko Tipsarevic as players with at least four crowns in 2017. Also the winner on the German clay of Heilbronn and Marburg and in Italian mountain town of Biella, he is up 10 spots to No. 95 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Filip Krajinovic picks up his fourth #ATPChallenger ? of the season, defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 64 63 in Rome. Joins fellow ?? @TipsarevicJanko as lone players with four titles in 2017. pic.twitter.com/z4KYU9qlqh

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 1, 2017

Tiburon Challenger presented by Wells Fargo (Tiburon, California, USA): Cameron Norrie entered the final week of July at No. 275 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. What the Brit has done since is nothing short of remarkable. Norrie clinched his second ATP Challenger Tour crown on Sunday in Tiburon, soaring to a career-high No. 136. He has now won 21 of his last 25 matches, including a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tennys Sandgren for the title. The former Texas Christian University standout had won his maiden title in Binghamton two months ago.

Take a bow, @cam_norrie! Champion at @TiburonChallngr with a 62 63 win over Tennys Sandgren. Second #ATPChallenger ? for the ??. pic.twitter.com/7MWMZv0LPH

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 2, 2017

A LOOK AHEAD
There are five tournaments on the calendar, including 2015 Tournament of the Year in Monterrey, Mexico. Victor Estrella Burgos, finalist in 2015, and defending champion Ernesto Escobedo lead the field. Also in North America, the event in Stockton, California, features #NextGenATP stars Michael Mmoh, Stefan Kozlov, Elias Ymer, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Noah Rubin.

In Asia, Jordan Thompson is the top seed in Kaohsiun, Taiwan, while Laslo Djere leads the pack at the inaugural Almaty Challenger, in Kazakhstan. The ATP Challenger Tour also returns to Brazil, where Federico Delbonis is the lone Top 100 player in Campinas. Chile’s Gonzalo Lama is the defending champion.

With the competition as fierce as ever, the ATP Challenger Tour demands countless hours on the court and in the gym, week in and week out. Any small reprieve is a welcome one for players looking to end their season on a high note.

For those competing at the Tiburon Challenger presented by Wells Fargo in California, that reprieve wasn’t so small – in fact, it was quite large… and came in the form of a 98-foot yacht. Several players from the picturesque ATP Challenger Tour event were treated to a luxurious cruise on the San Francisco Bay, courtesy of a generous patron of the tournament’s Tiburon Peninsula Club.

With views of the Tiburon and San Francisco shorelines, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and Alcatraz, a group of players including Cameron Norrie, Sam Groth, Alejandro Gonzalez, Luke Bambridge, Brydan Klein and David O’Hare were treated to something a little extra at the Tiburon Challenger.

“On Monday, one of the ladies here at the club took us out on what was something like a $15 million boat,” said Norrie, who will compete in Sunday’s title match versus Tennys Sandgren.

“We went under the Golden Gate Bridge and it was a nice opportunity to see the area. We had free food and dinner and it was a great experience. You don’t see that too often on the Challenger level.”

The $100,000 Challenger in Tiburon has always been a marquee destination for players on the ATP Challenger Tour. Located on hills replete with a stunning vista of one of America’s most vibrant coastal municipalities, the tournament is currently in its 11^th edition, having first hosted the event in 2003. 

Past champions include current and former Top 20 players Sam Querrey (2014), Jack Sock (2012) and Ivo Karlovic (2011).

“This tournament has been unbelievable,” remarked Norrie. “They’ve been great to me. It’s probably one of the best Challengers I’ve played in. The community is great and the atmosphere at each match too.”

The ATP World Tour’s Asian swing continues with a pair of 500-level events: the China Open and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017. Six of the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings are competing this week, with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal leading the way in Beijing and Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic the top seed in Tokyo.

View Draws: Beijing | Tokyo

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN BEIJING

(1) Race is On: With 500 points on the line at the China Open, the Emirates ATP Race To London is heating up. World No. 1 and Nitto ATP Finals qualifier Rafael Nadal leads a field full of contenders. Pablo Carreno Busta is near the London cut at No. 8 in the Race, but six other players in the Beijing draw are within 1,000 points of the Spaniard, including countryman Roberto Bautista Agut.

(2) Top of the World: Nadal returns to the China Open for the fifth straight season and 12 years after winning the title as a teenager. In the first round, the reigning Roland Garros and US Open champion meets Lucas Pouille, who defeated him in a fifth-set tie-break at the 2016 US Open.

(3) Race To Milan: Alexander Zverev is next in line to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals and the only player who has already qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals. Zverev is joined in Beijing by fellow #NextGenATP players Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Jared Donaldson. After becoming the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since 2001, Rublev has risen to No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan.

(4) Best of the Next: Zverev, the No. 2 seed, is tied with Nadal and Roger Federer for the ATP lead with five titles in 2017. On 11 September, Zverev became the youngest player in the Top 5 since Novak Djokovic on 8 October 2007. The 20-year-old German is just 2-3 in his last five matches.

(5) History Makers: On 20 August in Cincinnati, Grigor Dimitrov beat Nick Kyrgios in the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Nitto ATP Finals or Grand Slam final between players born in the 1990s. Kyrgios is making his Beijing debut, while Dimitrov returns after advancing to the 2016 China Open final.

(6) Spain’s New Star: Carreno Busta reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros and semi-final at US Open. The 26 year old has achieved a new career-high in the Emirates ATP Rankings 18 times since the start of the 2016 season, breaking into the Top 10 on 11 September.

(7) What a Run: Damir Dzumhur, a special exempt in Beijing, is 18-4 on tour since 31 July with a third-round run at the US Open, semi-finals at Los Cabos and Shenzhen, his first final at Winston-Salem and his first title at St. Petersburg. Dzumhur defeated Zverev in the Shenzhen quarter-finals.

(8) Chinese Duo: Di Wu, 26, and Ze Zhang, 27, received wild cards. Wu is 0-6 in main draw and qualifying matches at the China Open, including a loss to Zhang in 2012. Zhang then beat Richard Gasquet in the second round and remains the only Chinese quarter-finalist in tournament history.

(9) Wildest Card: Juan Martin del Potro will make his Beijing debut as a wild card. The Argentine advanced to the semi-finals at the US Open, where he rallied from two sets down against Dominic Thiem and upset Federer at night on Arthur Ashe Stadium before falling in four sets to Nadal.

(10) Top 2 Teams in Beijing: Wimbledon champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo lead Australian Open champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers by 1,260 points in the battle for year-end No. 1 doubles team. Kubot/Melo and Kontinen/Peers are the Top 2 doubles seeds at the China Open.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN TOKYO

(1) The Race is On: With 500 points on the line at this week’s Rakuten Japan Open, the Emirates ATP Race To London is heating up. Top 2 seeds Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem are on pace to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, while No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson and No. 6 seed Sam Querrey are battling near the cut. With Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic out for the season, Querrey would be the last London qualifier if the season ended today. Anderson trails Querrey by 100 points.

(2) Cilic’s Challenge: Cilic reached his second Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and broke into the Top 5 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on 11 September. But the Croat is 7-8 on hard courts this season and 9-12 since defeating then-No. 1 Djokovic at the Masters 1000 in Paris on 4 November 2016.

(3) Early Exits: Only two men have reached the second week at all four Grand Slam events in 2017: Thiem and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. However, Thiem has suffered losses in his first or second match at 10 ATP World Tour events this season. He fell to Guido Pella in his opener at Chengdu last week.

(4) Raonic’s Return: No. 3 seed Milos Raonic is back on the ATP World Tour after undergoing left wrist surgery and missing seven weeks. The Canadian has not played in Tokyo since finishing as the runner-up in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Raonic lost a first-set tie-break 7/5 in all three finals.

(5) Back in the Race: David Goffin was No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London when he injured his right ankle at Roland Garros on 2 June. The Belgian missed six weeks and fell to No. 13, but he won his first title in three years on Sunday in Shenzhen. He trails Querrey by only 150 Race points.

(6) Comeback Kev: Since the start of 2016, Anderson has endured injuries to his ankle, elbow, groin, hip, knee and shoulder. He fell to No. 80 on 16 January 2017 and was No. 32 when he became the lowest-ranked US Open finalist in history. Anderson returned to the Top 15 on 11 September.

(7) Big Rivalry: The 6’8” Anderson and 6’6” Querrey have had one of the greatest rivalries of the season. Anderson avenged his five-set loss to Querrey at Wimbledon with wins at the Masters 1000 event in Montreal and the US Open. Their battle for a berth at the Nitto ATP Finals continues in Tokyo.

(8) Size of the Heart: Before Anderson made history as the tallest Grand Slam finalist in the Open Era, 5’7” Diego Schwartzman became the shortest Grand Slam quarter-finalist in 23 years. The No. 8 seed has posted a career-high 29 wins this season, including an upset of Cilic at the US Open.

(9) Career Year: With Kei Nishikori injured, all eyes in Tokyo are on No. 2 Asian Yuichi Sugita. The 29-year-old Japanese player is enjoying a breakthrough season with his first Masters 1000 quarter-final at Cincinnati and his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final, final and title at Antalya.

(10) US Open Final Rematch: No. 1 doubles seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau will play a US Open final rematch against Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in the Tokyo first round. Rojer and Tecau earned their second Grand Slam title on 8 September with a 6-4, 6-3 win over the Spaniards.

It’s a warm welcome in Beijing for the youngest player in the Top 5 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Alexander Zverev, who has risen from No. 24 to No. 4 in 2017, arrives in China’s capital with all the momentum of a standout second season on the ATP World Tour. 2017 season has seen the 6’6″ German win five titles – the same amount as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – including two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns in Rome (d. Novak Djokovic) and Montreal (d. Federer).

But as the season comes to an intense finish and the Emirates ATP Race To London heats up, Zverev looks to keep building upon the consistency that he established throughout the season, starting this week at the China Open.

“I’m pretty consistent all over the year so far. [I have] always played pretty good tournaments. I didn’t lose a lot of bad matches,” said Zverev. “Of course, everyone loses bad matches, but I didn’t have a lot of them this year. That’s a part where I’m happy, the way I improved, the way I got better.

“There [are] so many things that everybody’s trying to improve. I think Roger and Rafa, they are the two best players of all time, but they still improve each year they play. You can never stop. That’s something that I’m still going to be working on to get to the top of the game.”

Following a quarter-final appearance at the Shenzhen Open, where he lost to an in-form Damir Dzumhur, Zverev arrives in Beijing as the tournament’s No.2 seed. The draw also features World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, 2011 champion Tomas Berdych and last year’s runner-up Grigor Dimitrov, who claimed his maiden Masters 1000 title at the Western & Southern Open in August.                  

At just 20 years old, Zverev’s rapid transition from a successful stint in the juniors to a flourishing professional career has in part been because of his professional mindset, which he credits older brother Mischa Zverev for instilling in him.

“I think my brother helped me with it because he was on the pro tour already. He could always talk, he could always teach me a lot of stuff,” said Zverev. “But then also it depends on game styles as well a little bit.”

The younger Zverev says that his style of play in the juniors helped carry his success over to the ATP World Tour.

“A lot of juniors, they play so-called ‘junior tennis’ where they put the ball in play, try to wait for their opponents to miss, stuff like this. I was always somebody, even when I was losing, who was trying to be aggressive, always trying to hit the ball.

“I think from a young age, you have to try to learn to play an adult game,” he added. “Even though it doesn’t always work out, at the end that’s the only way of making the pros. That’s the only way of being successful on the pro tour afterwards.” 

In Beijing this week, Zverev and his aggressive “adult” game open against Kyle Edmund, against whom Zverev owns a 1-0 record in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The German wunderkind is popular with China’s sport-loving fans – and it’s a popularity he happily embraces. 

“They’re always very supportive here in China. That’s why I think all the players love coming back. They’re trying to be very personal with players; trying to interact … A lot of my fans love my dog, for example. I get a lot of gifts for him, as well, which I find very amazing.”