#NextGenATP Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis continued his remarkable run this week by reaching his first ATP World Tour singles final on Friday at Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex, rallying to defeat top seed Tomas Berdych in Los Cabos 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

“I showed some glimpses of good tennis this year, so to do that consistently this week in Los Cabos means a lot,” said Kokkinakis. “I’ve had great support from the fans here all week. I love it here and I’ll definitely be coming back a few more times.”

The 21-year-old was sidelined from singles competition for 18 months with a laundry list of injuries, but returned to singles action this past May. In just his fourth tournament back, he defeated Milos Raonic at the Aegon Championships. Kokkinakis is currently No. 454 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after six tournaments, but will move to around No. 225 when the newest standings are released on Monday. A win in the final will put him around No. 165.

Berdych grabbed the lone break of the opening set at 4-3, but Kokkinakis regrouped in the second set by storming to a 6/2 lead in the tie-break before eventually forcing a decider. The Aussie led by 5-2 in the final set, but nerves began to take over trying to close out the match. He dropped his serve and squandered four match points, but ultimately regrouped to prevail in two hours and 18 minutes.

Kokkinakis celebrated the milestone moment by holding an impromptu autograph session to thank the fans in Los Cabos for their support all week.

Standing between Kokkinakis and the title is second seed Sam Querrey, who defeated Damir Dzumhur 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a match that ended well after midnight. Querrey is enjoying an outstanding run of form that recently saw him defeat World No. 1 Andy Murray to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals. The American has already enjoyed success in Mexico this year by defeating Rafael Nadal this past March in the Acapulco final.  

“I’m going to move here,” joked Querrey. “I really love this tournament and hope I can win both tournaments in Mexico this year.”

Querrey won his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Kokkinakis at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open, but said the rising Aussie is a different player compared to the one he faced two years ago.

“He’s obviously playing much better now. He’s hitting his forehand big and played really well against Berdych,” said Querrey. “He’s playing loose and tournaments don’t get any easier from here, so it’s going to be a tough match.”

Cabal/Huey Move Into Doubles Final

Second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Treat Huey outlasted fourth seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 to move into Saturday’s final. Cabal/Huey will take on Sergio Galdos and Roberto Maytin, who upset third seeds Marc Lopez and David Marrero 6-3, 2-6, 11-9.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga helped out with the draw ceremony Friday at the Coupe Rogers, but the draw didn’t do the 2014 champion any favours. The Frenchman was placed onto line 32, opposite Sam Querrey and Gilles Muller.

“I’m playing the winner of the last two players to beat me,” he told the crowd in French with a laugh.

Tsonga, indeed, lost to Querrey and Muller respectively during Wimbledon and the Aegon Championships, victims of his opponent’s memorable runs. Querrey went on to reach the semi-finals at the All England Club, knocking out defending champion Andy Murray in the process, while Muller ran up a seven-match winning streak that included the Eastbourne title.

Flash back to three years ago at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, and it’s easy to remember Tsonga’s inspired run on the hard-courts of Toronto. During that dream week, he upset four straight Top 10 players – World No. 1 Novak Djokovic (3R), No. 9 Andy Murray (QF), No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov (SF) and No. 3 Roger Federer (F) – to claim the title.

Looking ahead to his campaign this week, Tsonga said he didn’t feel any differently about his chances now at age 32.

“I’m feeling good,” said the World No. 12. “I’m in good shape. I did a good start this season. I won three tournaments, and today I’m still in the game to play a Masters. For me it’s a big challenge to play here in Montreal, try to beat these guys and try to get some important [Emirates ATP Rankings] points for the end of the season.”

And though his three titles (Rotterdam, Marseille, Lyon) are the most he’s won in a single season since turning pro 13 years ago, Tsonga also commented that the quality of the field – particularly at the Masters 1000 tournaments – continued to improve with each passing year.

“Every year the first round is tougher. It’s more difficult,” he said. “We are lucky because at this time tennis is great. I think it’s good for the fans.”

Third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares scored a monumental comeback win on Friday at the Citi Open, saving seven match points to advance into the semi-finals over qualifiers James Cerretani and #NextGenATP Aussie Marc Polmans 2-6, 6-3, 19-17.

Murray/Soares saved match points at 8/9, 9/10, 10/11, 11/12, 12/13, 14/15 and 16/17. The British-Brazilian pair ultimately made good on their third match point to prevail in one hour and 37 minutes.

Next up for them are top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who also fought back from the brink by saving two match points to topple Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 7-5, 4-6, 14-12. Kontinen/Peers erased match points at 9/10 and 11/12.

Second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo were also pushed to the brink before moving into the last four over Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-7. Kubot/Melo are on a 19-match win streak dating back to their flawless grass-court season, in which they prevailed at the Ricoh Open, Gerry Weber Open and Wimbledon.

Awaiting them are fourth seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who had the least dramatic match of the day in defeating wild cards Rohan Bopanna and Donald Young 7-5, 6-4. 

Fifth seed Alexander Zverev wasted no time getting down to business on Friday at the Citi Open, prevailing in an all-#NextGenATP battle over Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 6-4 in 57 minutes to reach the semi-finals.

“I love the atmosphere and the people in Washington. It’s a young crowd and they’re very loud, so it’s always fun to play here,” said Zverev. “I’m just happy to be through to the semi-finals, but obviously don’t want to stop here.”

The German broke Medvedev twice and maintained control throughout the opening set to grab the early advantage. Medvedev, who upset fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday night, found his range in the second set and made it a far more competitive affair. Zverev was not to be denied, though, grabbing the lone break of the set at 4-4. He improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Medvedev to 2-0.

“I think Medvedev has a huge game, like a lot of the Russian players who are playing very aggressively,” said Zverev. “He looks much stronger in the past year and moves very well, so his game is coming along.”

Next up for the World No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings is second seed Kei Nishikori or wild card and #NextGenATP American Tommy Paul. Zverev has never faced either player.

In a sight that many tennis fans wouldn’t have expected at the start of the season, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are once again the top seeds at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event as the Coupe Rogers kicks off next week in Montreal. It marks the first time since 2009 that Federer and Nadal have held the top two spots in Canada. 

Federer and Nadal have won four of the five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events held this year. The Swiss star won both hard-court events in Indian Wells and Miami, while Nadal prevailed in Monte-Carlo and Madrid. 

Should Nadal reach the semi-finals in Montreal, he will unseat Andy Murray for the top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Winning the title on Sunday would also have the Spaniard break a tie with Novak Djokovic and set a new record for most ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles won (31). Federer won’t be able to take No. 1 this week, but he could take it later during this American hard-court swing as he and Nadal are in a hot two-way battle for year-end No. 1 honours. 

Second seed Federer looks to build on his second Grand Slam title of the year at Wimbledon by winning his first title in Canada since 2006. Federer, who has a first-round bye, is guaranteed to open his week against a Canadian when he plays the winner between wild cards Vasek Pospisil and Peter Polansky. Looming ahead is a possible third-round clash with 15^th seed Jack Sock and quarter-final battle with fifth seed and 2016 runner-up Kei Nishikori.

Federer leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Nishikori 5-2 and has won their past four matches, including a five-set win this year in the fourth round of the Australian Open. He also leads the rivalry with Sock 3-0 and has yet to drop a set to the American, including in their most recent match this March at the BNP Paribas Open.

Meanwhile, top seed Nadal has a bye in the opening round and will start his campaign against Borna Coric or a qualifier/lucky loser. His draw doesn’t get easier from there, with other potential roadblacks including red-hot 14^th seed John Isner or Juan Martin del Potro in the third round and home favourite Milos Raonic, seeded sixth, in the quarter-finals.

If Federer and Nadal make it to the final, it would be their first meeting in Canada. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 23-14, but Federer has won their past four matches and all three encounters in 2017. Nadal leads 12-6 in their ATP World Tour Masters 1000 matches.

More: What Everyone Overlooks About Federer And Nadal’s Game

Third seed Thiem is in the same half of the draw as Federer and kicks off his Montreal quest against Diego Schwartzman or a qualifier/lucky loser. The Austrian will be eager to rebound after squandering a match point this week in his third-round loss to Kevin Anderson at the Citi Open.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev is in the same half of the draw as Nadal and starts out against local wild card Brayden Schnur or Richard Gasquet. The 20-year-old German clinched his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown this May in Rome (d. Djokovic).

The most intriguing first-round match will be between Isner and del Potro, with the American riding an eight-match win streak after back-to-back titles this past month in Newport and Atlanta. Other notable first-round matches include Gilles Muller taking on Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson facing Gael Monfils.

Stan Wawrinka announced on Friday he will sit out the rest of the 2017 ATP World Tour season in order to recover from a long-term knee injury.

“After sitting together with my team and considering all options, I have made the very difficult decision to end my 2017 season as I need to undergo medical intervention on my knee,” said World No. 4 Wawrinka.

“This is obviously extremely disappointing, but I’m already looking ahead and planning my recovery. I love this sport and I will work hard to get back to my top level and play for many more years. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my fans who have sent plenty of messages of support during the past few days.”

The 32-year-old Wawrinka finished the year with a 26-11 match record, including one ATP World Tour title at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open (d. M. Zverev). He also reached the finals of the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Federer) and at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal).

On 26 July, Novak Djokovic confirmed he will not return until 2018 as a result of a right elbow injury.