Robin Haase came alive in The Alps once more, just as he has done in two previous runs to the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad final, when the Dutchman ended David Goffin’s bid for a third ATP World Tour title on Friday.

Haase began in fine style by breaking for a 2-0 lead, and while his top-seeded Belgium opponent stayed in contention, World No. 50 Haase won seven straight games from 5-5 in the first set en route to a 7-5, 6-1 victory in 81 minutes. It was his first win in four meetings against Goffin, the 2015 runner-up (l. to Thiem).

“Today it was a bit more windy and we were both a bit nervous at the beginning,” said Haase. “I really enjoy the conditions here and I’m happy to be back in the semi-finals.”

Sixth seed Haase, the 2013 (l. to Youzhny) and 2016 finalist (l. to Lopez), now faces qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. The World No. 170 could not convert two set point opportunities in the first set, but bounced back to knock out eighth seed Joao Sousa 6-7(10), 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 56 minutes. Hanfmann, who has played just eight tour-level matches, could not seal set point chances at 7/6 and 9/8 in the first set tie-break.

Second seed Roberto Bautista Agut lost just six of his first-service points to beat Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-4 in 80 minutes to improve to a 31-12 match record in 2017. “Today, the conditions were a bit faster than the other days and Denis played aggressively,” said Bautista Agut. “I will prepare and rest well for tomorrow.”

The Spaniard next faces fourth seed Fabio Fognini, who broke Ernests Gulbis three times to advance 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 50 minutes. Gulbis had led their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1, including 2-0 on clay, before Friday.

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Marach/Oswald Advance To Doubles Final
Second-seeded Austrians Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald booked their place in the Gstaad final by beating third seeds Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop 6-3, 6-3 in 60 minutes. Marach, 15-21 in doubles finals, partnered Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi to the 2015 title match (l. to Bury-Istomin). Oswald will be looking to improve his 4-2 record in finals.

Fourth seeds Jonathan Eysseric and Franko Skugor will take on Dutchmen Sander Arends and Haase in the other semi-final on Saturday.

Novak Djokovic owned 2015. Andy Murray surged to World No. 1 in 2016, and it’s been the Roger and Rafa show so far in 2017.

The Big Four have all had their time in the sun during the past two-and-a-half years, and all are ranked in the Top Four of the Emirates ATP Rankings this week.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers breakdown of their first-serve percentage when serving down break point in both the deuce and ad courts from the 2015 season to the present time provides deeper insight into the metrics that define their greatness.

1. Overall Record
Novak Djokovic has the highest match-win percentage of the Big Four since the start of the 2015 season, at 88.6 percent, with Roger Federer in second place, at 85.2 per cent.

Big Four Overall W/L Record 2015 to Present

2. Deuce Court – First-Serve Percentage Down Break Point
Nadal is the clear leader in this category, making 73.7 per cent of his first serves in the deuce court down break point. The primary pattern for the lefty is to hit a slice serve down the centre of the court, and follow it up with his trademark “Serve +1” forehand.

Deuce Court – First-Serve Percentage Down Break Point

3. Ad Court – First-Serve Percentage Down Break Point
Nadal leads in this category as well, but it’s interesting to note that he makes just 0.2 per cent more first serves in the ad court than the deuce court. Djokovic improved the most in the ad court over the deuce court, up 4.3 percentage points, while Federer and Murray both made fewer serves on this side.

Ad Court – First-Serve Percentage Down Break Point

4. Overall – First-Serve Percentage Down Break Point
Overall the Big Four played 77.5 per cent of their break points in the ad court. Only Nadal and Djokovic combined to make above 65 per cent of their first serves in both courts during this crucial time of the match.

Overall First-Serve Percentage Down Break Point

5. Summary
Putting a first serve in the court when all the drama is unfolding around a break point comes down to simple technique, holding your nerve, and coming up with the the right serve – a flat, slice or kick serve – and placing it in just the right spot – out wide, at the body or down the centre.

The Big Four don’t always follow the same playbook as each other, but their proven dominance at the top of our sport since the start of the 2015 season comes down to owning moments in time just like this.

Qualifier Federico Delbonis is one match win away from reaching his second final at the German Tennis Championships 2017 after beating third-seeded #NextGenATP Karen Khachanov, currently at a career-high No. 32 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 18 minutes on Friday. Four years ago, No. 81-ranked Delbonis beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals before losing to Fabio Fognini in his first ATP World Tour final. He will next meet lucky loser and 2014 champion Leonardo Mayer or Jiri Vesely in the semi-finals.

Later today, sixth seed Diego Schwartzman plays Florian Mayer, while Nicolas Kicker meet Philipp Kohlschreiber.

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After more than a decade of competing together in ATP World Tour doubles events, Thai twins Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana found themselves battling against each other on Thursday at the BB&T Atlanta Open. 

Sanchai and John Millman moved into the semi-finals over Sonchat and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-2, 6-4. The brothers had only squared off once before at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Cremona in July 2011. Sanchai (w/Mektic) also came out on top in that match over Sonchat (w/Walter).

Sanchai’s win on Thursday marked the first time a Ratiwatana brother has reached an ATP World Tour doubles semi-final since Chennai in January 2013, but they said it’s a moment they’ll still be able to share together.

“It was a good feeling playing each other because it at least means one of us will be in the semi-finals,” said Sanchai. “We talked before the match and said we’re going to give 100 per cent. We just want to improve our games and the result doesn’t matter, so we were actually relaxed out there today.

“Aisam is like an older brother to us. We’ve been practising together and know each other very well,” he added. “I felt no pressure because me and Millman were the underdogs, and it was special for John to turn things around after a tough singles match (against Ryan Harrison).”

The Ratiwatana brothers moved back into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Doubles after racking up three ATP Challenger Tour doubles titles this year in Bangkok, Kyoto and Shenzhen, in addition to runner-up showings in Taipei and Busan. They’ve won 44 Challenger doubles titles together, more than any other player on tour, and have won at least one title every year since 2003.

But after dominating the Challenger doubles circuit, they’ve found that being back on the ATP World Tour over the past two weeks has already resulted in significant progress with their tennis.

“Most of the Challengers tournaments we play have singles players competing in doubles, but in tournaments like this, you have lots of doubles specialists and guys like Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan as the top seeds. But even the singles guys competing here hit a much heavier ball than we’re used to.,” said Sanchai. “We’re in a little bit of the comfort zone in Challengers, but just practising with these singles guys and hitting with Millman before his matches will only help me with my game.”

With neither brother having won an ATP World Tour main draw match since July 2014 before arriving in Atlanta, they said they’re open to teaming up with other players again in the future. However, the occasional foray with another player is only for the common goal of reuniting as a full-time partnership on the ATP World Tour

“It’s a good experience for me to spread out and play with someone like Aisam. It’s so hard to get in the ATP World Tour tournaments now with the (Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings) cutoff, so we need to team up with other players or we’ll be stuck playing Challengers forever,” said Sonchat. “We want to play the big tournaments, so we’ll try to get our ranking up and have good results so we can stay on the ATP World Tour together next year.”

College tennis star Christopher Eubanks is enjoying his best summer ever with a dream week in his hometown at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The rising senior at Georgia Tech reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final on Thursday night by defeating eighth seed and #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Eubanks rushed to a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and took the match after a pair of double faults from Donaldson wrapped up the contest. He then took a lap around the court and high-fived the fans to celebrate his victory. 

Eubanks, currently No. 461 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is competing in just his fifth pro event of 2017 due to a hectic college tennis schedule. He won his first ATP World Tour main draw singles match on Tuesday over another #NextGenATP American in Taylor Fritz. Eubanks came through the qualifying in Atlanta last year to reach his first ATP World Tour main draw.

Awaiting him in the quarter-finals is fourth seed Ryan Harrison, who saved a match point to survive a marathon 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 7-5 encounter with John Millman. The American saved the match point on his serve at 3-5 in the second set, then blasted a pair of return winners en route to breaking Millman in the next game. He secured the lone break of the final set at 5-5, ultimately knocking off a volley winner on his first match point to advance in two hours and 45 minutes.

“I love it here. I grew up playing all the Southern tournaments and being here feels as close to home as it gets,” said Harrison. “Everybody from the crowd to the DJ is willing to step up and help pull you through when you are down a set and a break.

“I would put today’s match in the category of mental maturity,” he added. “One of the things I’ve been focusing on in the past 12 months is understanding that bad things are going to happen, but I’m pretty sure I would have gone down in that match 12 months ago. I think my energy level, the crowd and the way I was able to stay positive helped get me through it.”

Harrison made his first Atlanta semi-final at the age of 19 in 2011, then repeated that feat in 2013. He’s enjoying a career-best season, winning his first ATP World Tour singles title this February in Memphis (d. Basilashvili) and reaching a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 40 earlier this month.

More: Khachanov Advances In Hamburg

A rain delay and long matches on Stadium Court meant top seed Jack Sock didn’t finish his opening-round match with Dudi Sela until well after midnight, but the American comfortably advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Sock saved all six break points he faced and won 84 per cent of his first-serve points en route to advancing in 71 minutes.

The top seed is looking for his third ATP World Tour title of 2017. He enjoyed an outstanding start to the season that saw him prevail in Auckland (d. Sousa) and Delray Beach (d. Raonic via walkover).

Next up for Sock is fifth seed Kyle Edmund, who moved into this third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season by rallying from a set down to defeat the red-hot Peter Gojowczyk 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. 

“I was really pleased to get through that,” said Edmund. “He was hitting really cleanly in the first set and I wasn’t able to get into many points. I’ve been in Atlanta quite awhile to get used to the conditions, so it’s nice to get wins under your belt and get some momentum for the rest of this hard-court swing.”

Gojowczyk, a semi-finalist last week in Newport, led by a break at 3-2 in the deciding set, but Edmund fought back to prevail after two hours of play. Both of the Brit’s previous quarter-finals this year also came on hard-courts in Brisbane and Delray Beach. Next up for Edmund is top seed Jack Sock or Dudi Sela.

Ratiwatana Brothers Square Off In Atlanta

Sanchai Ratiwatana and Millman reached the semi-finals over Sonchat Ratiwatana and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-2, 6-4. The Thai twins had only played once before an ATP Challenger Tour event in Cremona in May 2011, with Sanchai also prevailing in that encounter. Sanchai and Millman will play either top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan or Hyeon Chung and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak also advanced to the last four with a 6-7(7), 7-6(4), 10-4 win against Andres Molteni and Adil Shamasdin. Next up for Koolhof/Sitak are fourth seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan.