Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves struggled sleeping Friday evening. The 25-year-old had too much adrenaline flowing through his veins after qualifying for the main draw of a major for the first time at the US Open.

“I woke up thinking about it. I couldn’t believe it,” Meligeni Alves told ATPTour.com. “I made it and I’m really happy.”

This was Meligeni Alves’ 11th attempt to qualify for a Grand Slam tournament. Earlier this year, he advanced to the final round of qualifying at Roland Garros and Wimbledon before falling short.

“Honestly, it was crazy for me,” Meligeni Alves said. “[This year] at Roland Garros, at Wimbledon, I lost in the last round of qualies. At Roland Garros, I had the match in my hands and it escaped but yeah, I’m just really happy. It just shows that we are in a good path. We’re doing great work with the team.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit after those defeats in the Grand Slams, and I’m just so happy I could play really good all the matches in the qualifying, the second match especially. Yesterday, I was playing really good. I got a little nervous at the end to close the match. But I’m just really happy that I made it.”

The Brazilian still felt the pressure of the moment. He led Federico Coria — who earlier this year was inside the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — 6-4, 5-4 and served for the match. The Argentine broke to love, completely shifting the momentum.

“I just tried to keep calm, to keep playing. I was a bit tired, especially mentally, but I just kept fighting. I was doing everything I could,” Meligeni Alves said. “At the end, I could play a really good level of tennis and it worked. At Roland Garros [in the final round of qualifying] I was up 6-2, 4-2 15/40 and [Timofey] Skatov was serving. I lost that game and I lost the second set and he started playing good and I lost.

“Of course, I was thinking about it in the match when I lost the second set. But the only way that I could go through that was to keep fighting, stop thinking about it.”

Meligeni Alves, who eventually triumphed 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 over Coria, is following in the footsteps of his uncle, Fernando Meligeni, who climbed as high as No. 25 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The last major main draw Fernando competed in was at the 2003 Australian Open.

“I’m just so happy and grateful for what I did,” Meligeni Alves said. “It’s been a long time since a Meligeni was in the main draw, so it’s really special for me. I called everyone yesterday, they were really excited, really happy and I’m just looking forward to playing good in the main draw.

“[My uncle is] in Brazil. He called me yesterday, he was crying. He was really happy.”

Meligeni is not the only Brazilian who is happy. Former doubles World No. 1 Marcelo Melo was pleased with his countryman’s effort and shared a nice moment with Meligeni Alves and WTA star Beatriz Haddad Maia in the media garden Saturday.

“I think he deserves a lot to pass the qualies. I think it’s a recognition of all the practice he puts together. I know his uncle, Fernando, helps him a lot,” Melo said. “This is for sure very good for them and good for [Brazilian] tennis. I hope he continues deep in the draw.

“I think when you pass the qualies like this, you can unlock let’s say some barriers you put in your mind and what you can achieve. So like I said, he’s a very nice guy and it will be good. I hope he can go further and win some matches.”

Meligeni Alves, who competed for his country to begin the season at the United Cup, will make his major main draw debut on Tuesday against former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori, a 12-time ATP Tour titlist who made the US Open final in 2014 (l. To Marin Cilic).

“Yesterday and today is the time to celebrate a little bit because today I had a day off just to recover. But tomorrow we start again,” Meligeni Alves said. “It’s a new tournament I would say. So just keep doing the things that I always do, prepare myself to play at the limit. I’m ready for that.”

Thee-time major champion Andy Murray is set to make his 17th appearance at the US Open this week. The 36-year-old arrives at Flushing Meadows after suffering an abdominal strain that forced him to withdraw mid-tournament in Toronto. Murray, who will face Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the opening round, has seen positive signs in his health ahead of the season’s final major.

“The radiologist from back home looked at my scans and checked them, I had a small tear, which is healing and the last five or six days of practice have been really good,” Murray said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I’ve not had any issues serving. It’s just obviously been a bit [difficult], you don’t just take a week off from serving and then go full into it, you need to build up a little bit so it’s not been perfect in that sense, but my ab has been okay.”

The Scot has played some of his best tennis at the majors this year. In Melbourne, Murray won two epic five-setters in his opening two matches against 13th seed Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis. At Wimbledon, he was up two-sets-to-one on fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas before the Greek mounted a comeback.

Despite competing with a metal hip, the 46-time tour-level titlist Murray is motivated to keep playing against the world’s best.

“Some people probably stop and feel like they’ve had enough whether that’s through performance or whether it is through their body hurting and aching and then maybe after an extended period of time away from the sport, they start to miss it again,” Murray said. “Maybe mentally some players just feel like they need a break away from the sport and then to refresh and maybe get another shot. Some people [stop because of] injury.

“I think everyone’s case is a bit different. For me, I came back to play because I felt like I still had more to give but also because physically, I was able to compete at the highest level. That’s why I’m still playing.”

Murray took no consolation from the Wimbledon defeat to then-World No. 5 Tsitsipas, labelling the loss as ‘very disappointing’. He revealed on Saturday that after that heartbreak at the All England Club, he went back to the drawing board and found ways he could still improve.

“I went away on holiday straight afterwards, went away for like six days and then after matches, especially Wimbledon or at majors, when everything is a greater disappointment and greater emotions at any time of the year… I [spoke] with my team about things that I really feel like I need to make a change to certain shots in my game if I wanted to win more of those matches and dictate more of those matches,” Murray said.

“My feeling was I wanted to put in some work technically to allow me to play the way that I want to and the way that my team wants me to.”

Sixth seed Sebastian Baez produced a squeaky clean performance Saturday to win the Winston-Salem Open and extend his winning streak to 10 matches after also claiming the ATP 250 event in Kitzbühel three weeks ago.

The Argentine needed just one hour, 34 minutes to defeat fifth seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-3 and capture his first tour-level title on hard courts and third trophy of the season.

Despite a marathon three-hour, 19-minute semi-final against Borna Coric on Friday night, Baez showed no signs of fatigue as he stayed patient in baseline rallies and struck the ball cleanly. Lehecka, who was competing in his first tour-level final, advanced to the title match after receiving a walkover from third seed Sebastian Korda, who suffered an ankle injury in the quarter-finals. 

A pivotal moment came when the 22-year-old Baez saved four break points when serving at 5-4 to close a 54-minute opening set. Baez stayed focussed despite trailing by a break early in both sets and won four consecutive games from 0-2 in the second. 

“[My coach told me] to keep going, try and stay focussed on good things,” Baez said. “It was just a bad start, but happy with the result and all of this week.”

Lehecka tried to move forward in the latter stages of the match to apply pressure on the World No. 42, but lacked the consistency needed to down a watertight Baez, who thrilled the crowd with several passing shots to improve to 2-0 in his Lexus ATPHead2Head series with the Czech.

The Buenos Aires native is the first Argentine to win three or more tour-level titles in a single season since Juan Martin del Potro (4) in 2013.

Following his triumph, Baez will move to No. 32 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday, just two spots shy of tying his career-high. He will next aim to maintain his form at the US Open, where he opens against 25th seed Coric.

“It’s nice to have that confidence, but now I have to think about my recovery after this week, and then after I will think about the US Open,” Baez said. “I have a few days to recover and to focus again on a new tournament.”

Lehecka was aiming to become the first Czech to win a tour-level title since 2020. A finalist at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, Lehecka will rise to a career-high No. 30 on Monday. He will face Aslan Karatsev in the first round of the season’s final major.

“Hopefully the next tournament will be a bit more happier for me, but still a good week, positive week ahead of New York. A lot of good memories from here,” said Lehecka.

Did You Know?
In 2023, four players have won three or more tour-level titles: Carlos Alcaraz (6), Daniil Medvedev (5), Novak Djokovic (4) and Baez.

Jakub Mensik continued his breakthrough season Saturday when he qualified for his first major main draw at the US Open. The 17-year-old relied on a rock-solid serving performance, firing 11 aces and winning 84 per cent of points behind his first delivery to down countryman Zdenek Kolar 7-5, 6-4.

Turning 18 on 1 September, Mensik is the second-youngest player in the US Open main draw, behind American Learner Tien. The Czech, who will meet Frenchman Gregoire Barrere in the opening round, ousted tour veteran Fabio Fognini in the first round of qualifying before defeating #NextGenATP Swiss Leandro Riedi and Kolar to advance.

In May, Mensik won the ATP Challenger Tour event in Prague, where he became the youngest Czech Challenger champion in history (since 1978). The 2022 Australian Open boys’ singles finalist was ranked outside the Top 800 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last August and has since risen to No. 191.

Three Americans also advanced through qualifying Saturday, with New York native Nicolas Moreno De Alboran leading the way by saving two match points to survive Belgian Joris De Loore 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(12). Despite trailing 0/5 in the deciding-set tie-break, the 25th seed mounted a comeback to make his major main-draw debut. Zachary Svajda cruised past Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-1. Emilio Nava led Eliot Spizzirri 6-3, 3-6, 3-1 before his countryman retired.

What a moment!

New York native Nicolas Moreno de Alboran earns a spot in the main draw with a thrilling three-set win! pic.twitter.com/CgZdkt7coz

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 26, 2023

Frenchmen Hugo Gaston and Titouan Droguet secured main-draw spots. The sixth seed Gaston rallied past Slovakian Lukas Klein 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Droguet defeated Belgian Kimmer Coppejans 6-1, 1-6, 7-5. Later in the day, Italian Stefano Travaglia ended a possible French trifecta by battling past #NextGenATP Arthur Cazaux 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1 in three hours, two minutes.

Eighth seed Borna Gojo defeated Czech Tomas Machac 7-6(5), 6-2. Japanese Sho Shimabukuro escaped 10th seed Liam Broady 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

A U.S. summer of success continued for Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow on Saturday at the Winston-Salem Open.

The American duo downed second seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Neal Skupski 6-3, 6-4 in the final at the hard-court ATP 250 for their third tour-level title as a team, all of which have come on American soil in the past six weeks.

Having triumphed back-to-back in Newport and Atlanta in July, Lammons and Withrow did not drop a set en route to the trophy in Winston-Salem, where they also defeated top seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury in the first round and third seeds Hugo Nys/Jan Zielinski in the semi-finals.

Saturday’s victory against British duo Glasspool and Skupski was based on a rock-solid serving performance. Lammons and Withrow did not face a break point in their 63-minute triumph as they won 89 per cent (31/35) of points behind their first delivery.

In contrast, it was a lapse on serve that cost Glasspool and Skupski dearly at the business end of the first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the teams. Two double faults from Glasspool helped Lammons and Withrow break for 5-4, and the Americans made no mistake in serving out to improve to 3-3 in tour-level championship matches in 2023.

Another successful week in their homeland sees Lammons and Withrow continue their mid-year charge towards the qualification spots for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. The duo, which is now 37-20 for the year, remains 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings but is just 265 points shy of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in seventh.

Nicolas Jarry’s first-round win at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati was ordinary. The Chilean’s life ever since has been anything but.

Instead of taking the court for his second-round clash at the ATP Masters 1000 event against Alexei Popyrin last week, Jarry rushed home to await the birth of his second child.

“It wasn’t that much of a surprise. I already had said with my wife that if something happened, she would be monitoring herself and the baby already since Toronto. And whenever the doctor said that it was close, I would just get a flight,” Jarry told ATPTour.com. “And the day after I won, she went to the doctor and they told her that it was better if I can go home because it could go any day. She already was having contractions. So that was enough. I went.”

Last Friday Jarry’s wife, Laura, gave birth to their second son, Santiago. They also have a 17-month old, Juan.

“[I got there with] two days, so I had time to be with her,” Jarry said. “I arrived and everything was very, very smooth. She didn’t want to be alone if something happens. So that gave her mental [calm].”

For fans who have closely followed the ATP Tour this season, they will know the Chilean won his first tour-level title in nearly four years in Santiago. Ironically, that is when his family discussed potential names for Santiago.

“It was during the Santiago tournament, the Chilean Open. And we were thinking about the names. My wife said she liked Santiago, she asked one of my sisters. And without her knowing she said Santiago,” Jarry said. “Then she went to another person and that other person said Santiago. It was right before the final of the Santiago Open. So after I won it, she told me this story.

“It was like okay, maybe it can be, but I didn’t want him to have a name after a tournament I won. I wanted it to be a little bit bigger than that. And then she said that Santiago also meant Jaime, that is my grandfather’s name. So it’s like, okay, you have a little bit of everything and that’s a good reason for me to name him Santiago.”

Jarry enjoys bringing his family to tournaments, but they are currently home given how young Santiago is. Jarry, who is at a career-high No. 24 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, has done everything possible to stay close to his wife and children despite being in New York for the US Open, where he will begin his tournament against #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche.

“I try to whenever I can always try to give them a call. Always I try to give a good night to my wife before going to sleep and I try to ask them for a lot of videos on whatever they’re doing, to always be engaged or in touch with them,” Jarry said. “For now, it’s been okay, it’s just been a couple of days, so I’m hanging good. I’m hanging okay. Probably in a couple of weeks, it will be more difficult.”

Argentine Sebastian Baez extended his match-winning streak to nine on Friday when he survived a gruelling battle against top seed Borna Coric in the Winston-Salem Open semi-finals.

The 22-year-old, who won the ATP 250 event in Kitzbühel three weeks ago, defeated Coric 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(2) after three hours, 19 minutes. Baez dropped just one point behind his serve in the opening set and displayed all-court coverage as he struck the ball confidently to reach his first tour-level final on hard courts.

“[The crowd’s] energy was amazing,” Baez said in his on-court interview. “Of course [I am] tired, but happy because it was a great battle. Happy to be in the final.”

After a fast start, it seemed Baez was going to cruise in the second set as well. Baez held a 3-1 lead before he suffered a nosebleed that stopped play, forcing him to visit with the physio. He then was broken in his ensuing service game before Coric raised his level to win an exciting one-hour, 23-minute second set.

“I think at that time, the match changed,” Baez said of the nosebleed. “Every point, he was better than me. After three hours, I think I have to take a rest and be focussed on tomorrow. I am happy but I have one more match.”

As the match wore on, both players showed great stamina as they endured lengthy rallies, with Baez often playing deep beyond the baseline. Coric came forward to pressure Baez, but it was the the sixth seed who held his nerve in the closing stages of the match.

Though Baez won his maiden Lexus ATPHead2Head meeting against Coric, the Croatian will have another crack at the Argentine when they meet next week in the US Open first round.

At World No. 35 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, the Buenos Aires native will next aim for his fourth tour-level trophy against Jiri Lehecka, who advanced to the ATP 250 final after third seed Sebastian Korda withdrew following an ankle injury he suffered in Thursday’s quarter-final.

This week marks the first time Baez has won more than two consecutive tour-level matches on hard court. After ousting Daniel Elahi Galan in the first round, Baez has continued his run by ousting three of the Top 10 seeds: Aleksandar Vukic, Laslo Djere and Coric.

Lehecka will be competing in his first tour-level final. The 21-year-old Czech is at No. 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, securing himself a new career-high on Monday.

Frenchman Enzo Couacaud rallied from a set down Friday at the US Open to qualify for his third major appearance of the season.

The 28-year-old defeated Italian Giulio Zeppieri 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 after winning 90 per cent of first serve points. Couacaud, who advanced through qualifying at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, will look to improve upon his first-round appearance last year at Flushing Meadows, where he fell to 25th seed Borna Coric in five sets.

Couacaud won his opening-round match in Melbourne before taking a set against eventual champion Novak Djokovic. 

#NextGenATP Dominic Stricker also qualified on Friday, defeating Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-2, 6-3. Fourth seed Taro Daniel cruised past Argentine Francisco Comesana 6-1, 6-4. Finland’s Otto Virtanen pulled away Chinese teen Shang Juncheng 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-1 after two hours, one minute. 

Chinese Taipei’s Yu Hsiou Hsu, Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves and Kazakh Timofey Skatov also advanced to the main draw. 

In second-round qualifying action, Belgian Joris De Loore upset Maxime Cressy 6-7(11), 6-2, 7-6(9). Czech Tomas Machac defeated former US Open finalist Kevin Anderson 6-4, 7-5. The 17-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik downed Swiss Leandro Riedi 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.

After rain forced several second-round qualifying matches to be moved to Friday, the remaining spots in the main draw will be filled upon the completion of qualifying Saturday.