At 8:00 am on Wednesday, Santiago Giraldo was already up and running along the Sheraton Hotel Beach in Los Cabos. He stopped to take pictures of local sea animals and climb some rock formations. After 20 minutes, it was on to the next activity!

After a quick shower, the Colombian ate breakfast on the hotel terrace overlooking the stunning Pacific Ocean. He ordered papaya, watermelon, kiwi, tortillas, eggs and Tabasco plus tea and water. After, it was time to grab transportation to the tournament site, just ten quick minutes from the hotel.

Jeremy Chardy was Giraldo’s first training partner of the day. The temperature was high at 11:00 am at the Delmar International School, where the tournament venue is located. Between rallies, Giraldo spoke with the Frenchman about the first time they played, and determined it was in 2003 when they were juniors. “You’re too old,” said Chardy’s girlfriend, who was also attending the training session.

An hour later and the first of two practices ends. Giraldo packed everything into his bag, carefully – grooming items, supplements, strings, grips, hearing aids, glasses, a watch, a change of clothes and his seven racquets. One of his racquets has an inspiring message.

Giraldo returned to the hotel, ate soup and rice with chicken for lunch plus a lemon water to drink. He took a 40-minute nap before taking a shower and then finally embarked on another journey to the site. His next training partner was Juan Batalla, a 17-year-old Mexican. “Thank you. Good luck. Always listen your coach,” he recommended to the youngster at the end of the practice. Giraldo then had a couple of hours before his match, which meant it was time to relax and focus in the players’ lounge.

After 15 minutes of physio, the Colombian left the players’ lounge with his packed racquet bag and perfect amounts of hydration. Not a detail is to be missed! It’s the second time in his life travelling without a coach, so everything depends on him. On his way to the court, Giraldo saw the match between Julien Benneteau and Jared Donaldson on the next court.

Giraldo’s countryman, Alejandro Falla, supported him in the stands. The left-hander motivated him as he saved two break points on serve. In the end, Giraldo won in straight sets, knocking out fourth seed Sam Querrey.

Giraldo spoke with the media, returned to the players’ lounge, went back to the hotel, stretched, ate and went to bed early. He needed to rest as the next day awaits the same routine, against another tough opponent!

Second seed Andy Murray battled to beat Fabio Fognini 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 in Rio on Thursday. The defending Olympic Champion converted on six of his 12 break point opportunities to advance to the quarter-finals, where he will face No. 12 seed Steve Johnson. The American needed 64 minutes to defeat Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-1.

Third seed Rafael Nadal topped No. 15 seed Gilles Simon 7-6(5), 6-3 to advance to the last eight, hitting 21 winners in the two-hour match. Nadal, the Olympic Champion in 2008, will next face home hope Thomaz Bellucci, who upset No. 8 seed David Goffin 7-6(10) 6-4. The Brazilian won 71 per cent of his first serve points and hit 18 winners to advance.

Watch Nadal FedEx Profile

Juan Martin del Potro prevailed 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-2 over Taro Daniel, firing 43 winners to reach the quarter-finals. The Argentine will look to advance to the medal rounds when he faces tenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, a 6-4, 7-6(4) winner over Gilles Muller. 

Watch Bautista Agut FedEx Profile

Gael Monfils will take on Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals after beating Marin Cilic 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4. Nishikori edged Slovakia’s Andrej Martin 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles Final Set

Nadal ensured that he will be taking home at least one Olympic medal, teaming with Marc Lopez to defeat Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 7-6(1), 7-6(4) in the doubles semi-finals. The Spaniards will face Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau for gold. Mergea/Tecau topped Americans Steve Johnson and Jack Sock 6-3, 7-5. The American and Canadian teams will face off for the bronze medal.

Dusan Lajovic upset second seed Bernard Tomic at the Abierto Mexicano Mifel on Wednesday, winning their second-round clash 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 in just under two hours.

“Bernie is a very good player. Perhaps I was a bit more confident on big points because I had already played a match,” Lajovic said. “The balls were flying quite a bit and he was having a tough time controlling the ball at the end of the third set. I was able to use that.”

“It was a good match,” Tomic said. “[Lajovic] was going for his shots and deserved the win, for sure. It’s a beautiful tournament. It’s a shame I lost today but I am looking forward to coming back next year.”

Lajovic will next face seventh-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, a winner of 13 ATP World Tour titles, who downed countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6(4), 6-3 in one hour and 42 minutes.

Top seed Feliciano Lopez will look to deny Julien Benneteau the 250th match win of his career on Thursday when the pair meet for a place in the semi-finals. Lopez lost five of his first service points and saved all four break points he faced in a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory over 18-uear-old Reilly Opelka in 87 minutes. Benneteau, 34, hit 13 aces to beat Zeballos 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-1.

Santiago Giraldo, who is currently No. 137 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, scored a 7-6(1), 6-3 second-round upset over No. 4 seed Sam Querrey. The Colombian survived 12 aces and moved into the quarter-finals in 83 minutes. He will next face Pablo Carreno-Busta.

Giraldo, who won consecutive tour-level matches on hard court for the first time in 2016, secured 80 per cent of first-serve points and only faced two break points (1/2). The 28 year old broke Querrey twice (2/6) to improve to 2-3 in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.

“It’s hot at all of these summer tournaments. I’m used to it, but it can still be difficult,” said Querrey, who is planning on staying in Los Cabos a little longer to fine-tune his game. “I’ll be out here practicing tomorrow morning. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some wins in Cincinnati and Winston Salem, and get some momentum going.”

Carreno Busta eased past American Austin Krajicek 6-0, 6-3 in under one hour. The Spanish wild card lost only two first-serve points and converted all five break points opportunities.

Ivo Karlovic, the third seed, saw off Mischa Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final meeting with Marcel Granollers, a 7-6(2), 6-2 winner over Tobias Kamke. Karlovic landed 69 per cent of first serves and blasted 18 aces to oust qualifier Zverev.

Lindstedt/Qureshi Beaten In Opener

Spaniards David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco, who have a 6-4 record in ATP World Tour doubles finals, knocked out second seeds Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6(6), 6-3 in 84 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals. They will face Almagro and Marcelo Demoliner.

Elsewhere, Jonathan Erlich and Ken Skupski saved three match points against Swedes Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom 2-6, 6-0, 13-11 in 77 minutes. Erlich and Skupski saved match points at 7/9 and 10/11 in the Match tie-break.

After winning the boys’ singles title this year at Roland Garros, Geoffrey Blancaneaux is turning his attention to the pros.

The 18-year-old Frenchman is competing at this week’s $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Trnava, Slovakia. After coming through qualifying, Blancaneaux won his first-ever main draw Challenger match on Tuesday by defeating local wild card Patrik Fabian, 6-4, 6-3.

“It was a big experience for me and I felt a bit of pressure going into the match. Even though I’ve played in Grand Slam qualifying before, it’s not quite the same,” said Blancaneaux. “It’s a lot tougher in Challengers compared to the juniors. I constantly play against Top 200 players and sometimes even Top 100.”

Blancaneaux made headlines earlier this year at Roland Garros, where he saved three championship points to prevail in an 8-6 deciding set over Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada in the boys’ singles final. With former Roland Garros champion and fellow Frenchman Yannick Noah looking on, Blancaneaux struck a forehand winner on match point and collapsed to the ground in celebration.

“Winning there gave me so much confidence, especially on clay. I’m improving each day and seeing my level go up quickly,” he said. “I just need to be stronger on the first few balls [of the rally] now, which is what I’m missing.”

Although Blancaneaux will play the junior events at the US Open, his primary focus is on playing Futures and ATP Challenger Tour events. But after this week, he said it’s a safe bet he will return to Trnava.

“I’ve played the ITF Junior event here before, but this is completely different. The tournament director, structure and courts are all unbelievable,” said Blancaneaux. “I’m telling players they should come here and I will come back with pleasure.”

With a new crop of ATP Challenger Tour events being held throughout China this year, these tournaments have been a chance for some of the country’s youngest stars to showcase their best tennis.

At this week’s $125,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Qingdao, 18 year old Rigele Te prevailed in the first round over fellow Chinese player Yecong He to win his second main draw match in a Challenger. His first main draw Challenger win came last week at the $125,000 Challenger in Chengdu, where he was also a wild card.

Although Te lost in the second round in Qingdao on Thursday to Danilo Petrovic of Serbia, the youngest player on the Chinese National team said the past two weeks have been an invaluable experience for him.

“To be able to win matches in Challengers for the first time is exciting,” said Te. “I know I still have a long way to go. I just need to play more matches, gain more experience and boost my confidence.”

Another player taking his first steps this year on the ATP Challenger Tour year is 16 year old Yibing Wu. Currently ranked No. 19 in the ITF Junior Rankings, he made his Challenger main draw debut this week in Qingdao, where he lost to former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in straight sets.

“I was very excited when the draw came out and to have the chance to play Janko. I really enjoyed it. I thought I played aggressive tennis in the first few games, but couldn’t keep up with him because he is so solid,” said Wu. “The pro players take everything very seriously. I learned a lot from that.”

Te and Wu’s appearances in Qingdao also come on the heels of 18 year old Fanjing Sun coming through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals last week in Chengdu. All three are aiming to get into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, but said they want to be part of a contingent of top Chinese players.

“I hope when I reach this goal,” said Wu, “We already have Top 100 players from China.”