Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow continued their standout season together on Tuesday at the Astana Open, where they defeated fourth seeds Mate Pavic and John Peers 7-6(4), 7-6(7) to win their fourth tour-level title of the year.

The Americans won 81 per cent (42/52) of their first-serve points and saved two set points in the second set, eventually advancing on their third match point after one hour and 38 minutes.

With their title run at the ATP 250, the second seeds have boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. Lammons and Withrow are currently eighth in the ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, 158 points ahead of ninth-placed team Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski.

Earlier this year Lammons and Withrow captured titles on hard courts in Atlanta and Winston-Salem and on grass in Newport.

Pavic and Peers were teaming for the first time this week. They advanced to the final without dropping a set but were unable to capitalise on return in the crucial moments against Lammons and Withrow.

Pavic, 30, lifted the trophy with Nikola Mektic in Astana last season. Peers was chasing his second title of 2023 after triumphing with Marcelo Melo in Halle.

Abdullah Shelbayh completed a historic run Sunday, when he became the first player from Jordan to win an ATP Challenger Tour title.

The 19-year-old triumphed at the LTP Challenger in Charleston, South Carolina, where he defeated American wild card Oliver Crawford 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the final. Shelbayh, who is one of four Challenger champions this week, is the youngest player from an Arab country to win a title at that level.

“It’s something special for me to represent Jordan at such tournaments at a high level. Being able to win such a great event is such a big title for me, the biggest of my career so far,” Shelbayh told commentator Mike Cation.

Shelbayh made a breakthrough this February when he made the Manama Challenger final before falling to Thanasi Kokkinakis. The following week, the lefty made his ATP Tour debut in Doha. A 2021 graduate of the Rafa Nadal Academy, Shelbayh hopes to build upon his momentum after capturing his maiden Challenger title.

“I think the main part is physical strength. I feel like my body hasn’t grown fully. As I keep working in the gym with my fitness coach and with time, I think that will help me a lot to improve the skills that I have,” said Shelbayh.

The Charleston Challenger final was a duel between two former University of Florida stars. Crawford, who was competing in his first Challenger final, played college tennis at the University of Florida before turning pro in 2020. Shelbayh played one season for the Gators before turning pro in 2022.

In other Challenger action, Czech Tomas Machac ousted four of the top eight seeds en route to the Co’met Orleans Open title. The 22-year-old overcame eighth seed Jack Draper 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the final to lift his fifth Challenger title and first of this season.

“I’m super happy that I showed myself that I can be a great player and beat great players,” Machac said. “[In the final], the first set was my best tennis, second set was okay, and the third set was amazing from my head, energy, and everything. I was just fighting and trying to give him my game.”

Tomas Machac wins the Challenger 125 event in Orleans, France.” />
^{Tomas Machac wins the Challenger 125 event in Orleans, France. Credit: Co’met Orleans Open}
Machac, who is at a career-high No. 96 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, ended his three-match skid in Challenger finals while ending Draper’s perfect 4-0 record in Challenger finals.

“I was in the zone and just focussing on myself,” Machac said. “I played the last two games unbelievably physically and mentally.”

Germans Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens collected their season-leading sixth Challenger team title in Orleans, where they survived Henry Patten and John-Patrick Smith 7-6(5), 7-6(12) in the final.

Oriol Roca Batalla was crowned champion at the Braga Open in Portugal, where he rallied past Croatian Duje Ajdukovic 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the final. Roca Batalla, 30, is the second-oldest player this year to win his maiden Challenger title, only behind the 31-year-old Arthur Weber, who won in Zhuhai.

Oriol Roca Batalla wins the Challenger 75 event in Braga, Portugal.” />
^{Oriol Roca Batalla wins the Challenger 75 event in Braga, Portugal. Credit: FPT/Sara Falcao}
Competing in his 96th Challenger main draw, the Spaniard Roca Batalla won seven matches in eight days as he went from qualifying to the winners’ circle.

Thiago Agustin Tirante won his second Challenger title of the season at the Directv Open Bogota. In the final, the 22-year-old Argentine, who also won in Morelos, Mexico in April, was given a walkover by Brazil’s Gustavo Heide, who was dealing with a stomach issue.

Thiago Agustin Tirante wins the Challenger 125 event in Bogota.” />
^{Thiago Agustin Tirante wins the Challenger 125 event in Bogota. Credit: Directv Open Bogota}

Second seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski relied on a strong serving performance Monday to advance to the China Open semi-finals.

The Dutch-British duo cruised past Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 6-2, 6-3 after winning 24 of their 31 first-serve points and saving all six break points faced. Wimbledon champions Koolhof and Skupski, who are second in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, will next meet Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, who booked their semi-final spot on Sunday.

Fourth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin survived Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 10-5. The Mexican-French pair will next face top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

Lammons/Withrow Advance In Astana
Second seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow overcame Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek 6-3, 2-6, 10-4 to reach their eighth tour-level final of the season at the Astana Open.

The Americans Lammons and Withrow have earned three tour-level titles this year and are currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. Aiming to boost their Turin hopes, Lammons and Withrow will clash against fourth seeds Mate Pavic and John Peers in the championship match after the Croatian-Australian team downed Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 6-1 in the last four.

Jannik Sinner has set a blockbuster China Open semi-final clash with top seed Carlos Alcaraz after defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in Beijing Monday.

Sinner, who rallied from a set down to beat the Spaniard in the Miami semi-finals earlier in the year, will look to take a 4-3 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the World No. 2.

Having already this week climbed to an equal-best No. 6 in the Pepperstone Live ATP Rankings, the 22-year-old Italian will surge to World No. 4 should he push onto the Beijing final.

Sinner, who said that he wasn’t feeling 100 per cent, missed the chance to close out the match in straight sets when he failed to convert eight break point opportunities across three games in the second set. The match turned when he blew four break points when leading 0/40 at 3-all and then dropped serve himself after going down 0/40 in the following game.

“I had one game 15/40, one game 0/40 where I made some unforced errors and he also played quite aggressive. This is tennis,” Sinner said.

“Obviously it’s easier if you take those chances… in the third set I thought I handled the situation well, especially when serving at a tough moment at 4-2. I’m very happy to be in the next round.”

Sinner collected his 47th match win of the year, matching his 2022 haul. He is on track to reach the 50-wins milestones for the first time, having topped out at 49 in 2021. He is fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, next in line to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 12-19 November.

Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of finishing ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for a second consecutive year on Monday when he downed Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-2 to reach his 12th semi-final of the season.

The Spaniard became the first player to earn 60 tour-level wins this season when he defeated Lorenzo Musetti in the second round and quickly moved to 61 with an aggressive display against Ruud.

The top seed recovered from falling 0-3 behind in the first set, hitting with too much power and intensity for Ruud, who was seeking his first win against Alcaraz in his fourth attempt.

With his win, Alcaraz set a last-four clash against Jannik Sinner or Grigor Dimitrov. The 20-year-old is currently 635 points behind first-placed Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin but can move to within 415 points with the title.

Alcaraz, who is seeking his seventh crown of the season this week, now holds a 12-1 record in quarter-finals in 2023. He struck 30 winners against Ruud and broke the seventh seed’s serve four times to advance after one hour and 45 minutes.

Ruud leaves Beijing 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 410 points behind eighth-placed Holger Rune, who is in the final qualification spot. The 24-year-old advanced to the title match at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2022.

Is this the week Sebastian Korda wins his first tour-level title of the season?

The American survived a major test at the Astana Open on Monday when he defeated #NextGenATP Serbian Hamad Medjedovic 6-7(8), 7-6(2), 7-6(3) to reach the final.

Korda was pushed by the wild card, who took big cuts at the ball to push the American from side to side. Korda remained strong on serve, though. He hit 18 aces and won 87 per cent (66/76) of his first-serve points to remain in contention, finding consistency in the third-set tie-break to advance after two hours and 49 minutes.

The 23-year-old, who lifted his only previous tour-level title in Parma in 2021, will meet Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the championship match on Tuesday.

By reaching the final at the ATP 250, Korda has matched his best result of the season. He also advanced to the title match in Adelaide in January, when he held championship point against Novak Djokovic before falling. Korda is up three spots to No. 25 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, matching his previous career-high.

Medjedovic was competing in his second tour-level semi-final after advancing to the last four in Gstaad. The 20-year-old is up to eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah following his run in Kazakhstan.

Mannarino continued his career-best season, defeating Sebastian Ofner 6-4, 6-2 to earn his 36th win of the year after 71 minutes. The Frenchman, who recorded a previous best 33 wins in 2017, is chasing his second title of 2023 this week, having triumphed in Newport.

The 35-year-old is up seven places to No. 27 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his victory.