Several players competing this week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester visited a different patch of green grass before their first-round matches. Americans Denis Kudla and Dennis Novikov, Britons Alexander Ward and Brydan Klein, and Australian John-Patrick Smith enjoyed a tour of the world-renowned Etihad Stadium, home of the Manchester City Football Club.

The three players and their coaches got a behind-the-scenes look at the stadium and Etihad Campus, which houses the training facilities for Manchester City’s young academy players. For Klein, whose mother is from Manchester, the experience was particularly memorable.

“My family follows City,” said Klein. “The stadium was amazing, one of the biggest I’ve ever seen…I’ve played tennis in some big stadiums, but nothing compared to that. This is a city which just really loves sports.”

More: Players Visit Manchester United Football Stadium

Smith, top seed Kudla and wild card Ward all play their first-round matches on Wednesday. Kudla takes on Eduardo Struvay of Colombia, Ward plays another Colombian in Alejandro Falla and Smith faces No. 5 seed Benjamin Becker of Germany.

Wild card Liam Broady of Great Britain and No. 6 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine got the 2016 grass court season off to a memorable start with a pair of dive volleys during their matches at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester, England.

With Broady serving down 3-4 in the final set of his match against No. 7 seed and defending champion Sam Groth of Australia, a well-placed forehand forced the Brit to desperately try and stay in the point with a dive backhand volley. As he tumbled to the ground, the ball comfortably made its way well inside the court for a winner. Despite Broady’s efforts, Groth prevailed in the match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Stakhovsky’s dive volley didn’t reap the same benefits as Broady’s. Up 6-5 in the first set and with three set points against qualifier Marinko Matosevic of Australia, his leaping effort in response to a backhand passing shot sat up for Matosevic to comfortably hit a winner into the open court. However, the Ukranian went on to take the set and eventually the match, 7-5, 7-6(6).

Cannot go more horizontal then this on #tennis #court ???? pic.twitter.com/sIUvr9ZYBV

— Sergiy Stakhovsky (@Stako_tennis) May 31, 2016

Groth next plays American Dennis Novikov in the second round, while Stakhovsky will square off against qualifier Edward Corrie of Great Britain.

Double faults are a necessary evil of our game.

Missing a second serve tends to sting a lot more than missing a forehand or a backhand, especially if the double fault occurs at an influential moment during a match. Double faulting on break point represents the worst timing, but it still happens even at the elite level of our sport.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of double faults, and their timing in a match, illuminates an incredible strength of former World No. 1 Roger Federer -– the ability to get his second serve in the box under pressure.

From the beginning of the 2015 season up to Roland Garros this year, Federer was committing a double fault on break point only once every 22 matches. That is head and shoulders above his peers in the Elite Eight, and speaks equally to his fluent, graceful motion as well as the mental fortitude required to get the ball in play with the match on the line.

Below is a table outlining double faults on break points for the current Top Eight players in the world.

In the past 52 weeks, Federer is averaging only 1.9 double faults per match, which is identical to his career average. He has been a Top 10 performer in this specific area in 10 of the past 13 years, since he won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003.

Federer’s record of 65 consecutive Grand Slam appearances stopped at Roland Garros this year, as he was not able to compete with a back ailment. He is scheduled to return to the tour next week in Stuttgart and then Halle the following week, where he is an eight-time champion.

Federer’s ability to not beat himself is a major key to his success. The Swiss maestro typically targets the opponent’s backhand jam location with his second-serve delivery, staying away from the more potent forehand return, and equally as important, staying away from the singles sideline and center line, where second serves can easily miss wide.

Federer is ranked No. 1 all-time with second-serve points won at 57 per cent through 1,254 matches. Nobody can totally eliminate double faults, but Federer is the best in the business at minimising them, particularly in the big moments where legend status in our sport is forged.

Home favourites Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut are three games away from being upset by Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez at Roland Garros on Tuesday. The top-seeded Frenchmen trailed 6-7(7) 0-3 before rain interrupted play. If the pair can come back to win the match, Mahut will become the new No. 1 player in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, replacing Marcelo Melo.

Herbert/Mahut are the hottest doubles team of 2016, sweeping the first three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events of the season (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo). Herbert has never reached the quarter-finals in Roland Garros, while Mahut was a finalist in 2013 (partnering Llodra).

Defending champion Ivan Dodig and Melo teamed up to reach the quarter-finals, downing Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 6-3, 6-2. The third seeds stuck eight aces and broke Guccione/Sa three times on as many opportunities.

Also in action are Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who led 4-3 against Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes before play was interrupted.

The fourth-round match opposing Dominic Thiem, seeded No. 13, and unseeded Marcel Granollers was interrupted by rain tied 6-2, 6-7(2) at Roland Garros on Tuesday. Both players are aiming to reach their first Roland Garros quarter-final.

Spain’s Granollers was well-rested entering the match, having not hit a ball in match conditions since the second round. Last Thursday, he saw off Nicolas Mahut before moving into the fourth round after Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal due to a wrist injury. Thiem took advantage of his opponent’s five-day layoff, racing to a 4-1 lead before rain stopped play for a first time with the Austrian serving for the set at 5-2. After a two-hour interruption, Thiem secured the opening set on his fifth attempt.

The players exchanged breaks at the start of the second set, but the wily Granollers, who had yet to beat Thiem in three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, found his range. Rushing the net at strategic moments, the 2014 doubles finalist won a one-sided tie-break before inclement weather stopped the match again.

The winner of the match will face Ernests Gulbis, a semi-finalist two years ago, or 12^th seed David Goffin in the quarter-finals. Gulbis, No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, made a quick start and led 3-0 before rain interrupted play. On the eve of the tournament, he parted ways with coach Gunther Bresnik, who currently works with Thiem.