Miomir Kecmanovic is inching closer towards his first ATP Tour title since September 2020.

The Serbian, who last triumphed three years ago in Kitzbuhel, downed Marcos Giron 7-6(5), 6-3 to open Friday’s quarter-final action at the 2023 Delray Beach Open. The World No. 33 saved five of six break points faced during his one-hour, 34-minute victory, which was halted by rain on several occasions.

Moldova’s Radu Albot upset second seed Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-2 to score the seventh Top-20 win of his career. The 33-year-old stayed steady from the baseline and won 32 of 40 points off his first serve to defeat the American.

Albot, who won the Delray Beach Open in 2019, advanced to his first semi-final since Singapore in 2021 (l. Bublik). Friday’s victory lifted Albot to No. 99 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He will next meet Kecmanovic in Saturday’s semi-final.

In an all-American contest, Mackenzie McDonald survived Michael Mmoh 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Despite being a break down in each set, the 27-year-old McDonald kept battling. Trailing a set and 1-3, McDonald rallied to win five straight games and send the match to a decider. In the final set, McDonald was trailing 2-4 before making another comeback to close out the match in two hours, 10 minutes.

The California native, who is No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, is one spot shy of tying his career-high which he reached last August. McDonald is set to play in his second Delray Beach semi-final (2019).

Top seed Taylor Fritz was tested in two tight sets to close out Friday’s quarter-final action. The American prevailed against Adrian Mannarino 7-6(8), 6-4 to reach his second semi-final of the season (Dallas).

Mannarino, who was a quarter-finalist at last week’s ATP 250 event in Dallas, had two break points to secure a 4-1 lead in the opening set. However, World No. 7 Fritz overcame the slow start and captured the first-set tie-break, in which he fended off a set point before converting his fourth set point.

The 25-year-old will next clash with countryman McDonald, whom he lost to in their only tour-level meeting in the first round of the Delray Beach Open in 2019.

The fast-paced nature of the ATP Tour leaves little time to savour success. Just three weeks have passed since Tommy Paul’s run to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, but moving on quickly has been no problem at all for the American.

“I’m not really looking back at it too much,” Paul told ATPTour.com when asked about how he is reflecting on his Melbourne run. “I’m kind of trying to look forward, you know? I’m pretty focused on this week and the rest of the year.”

While proud of becoming the first American man to reach an Australian Open semi-final since 2009, the 25-year-old is unwilling to let it define his season with so much tennis left to play.

“I think it’s pretty easy to put it behind you, because it’s not going to win me the next match that I play,” he said. “I’ve got to win the next match that I play anyway. The rest of the year is really important to me, and I want to keep getting better. I wasn’t perfect in Australia, and I want to be better than I was in Australia.”

That’s not to say Paul hasn’t taken the opportunity to relax away from the court. After guiding the United States to victory against Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Qualifiers in the wake of his Melbourne exploits, he travelled to his girlfriend’s house in Connecticut to turn his attention to two off-court passions — horse-riding and his favourite NBA team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

“My girlfriend is a lot better at riding horses than I am,” said Paul. “She’s been trying to teach me. We just do trail rides, or I’m mostly doing lessons and she’s doing trail rides.”

His trip to Connecticut coincided with a visit to the Boston headquarters of his clothing sponsor. While there, the World No. 18 took the chance to watch the 76ers on the road against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden.

“The timing couldn’t have worked better with the Sixers,” said Paul. “I’m a big Sixers fan. We got to sit on the floor, Sixers versus Celtics. Unfortunately, the Sixers did not win, but it was still a cool experience. It’s one of the most legendary arenas in sports, so to sit on the floor there was pretty cool.”

Paul got back to business in style on Thursday at his home tournament, the Delray Beach Open, with a 6-3, 6-4 opening victory against countryman Denis Kudla. Despite hitting a career-high No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last Monday, that ability to refocus and reset will be crucial in his bid to rise further.

“Top 10 is a goal overall, but I think, right now, I’m still not Top 15,” said Paul. “So when I reach that, I’ll focus on Top 10. I think there’s a lot of sharpening of all the tools that I need to do for the rest of the season, and probably a lot of mental stuff that I want to work on. Just being more consistent on court and winning the matches that I’m supposed to win every time, showing up every match.”

Despite several challenges in Friday’s rain-hindered quarter-final in Buenos Aires, second seed Cameron Norrie prevailed to book his ticket into the Argentina Open semi-finals.

The World No. 12 had to rally from a set down against home hope Tomas Martin Etcheverry to claim a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 victory. After the Argentine grabbed the opening set, rain halted play for a brief period before Norrie won 12 of the next 15 games to advance.

“I knew it was going to be difficult, he came out and played really well,” Norrie said. “It was so different today than the other day when I played Facundo [Diaz Acosta] when it was boiling. Today was freezing. Probably a bit warmer in London today than here in Buenos Aires!

“He played a really good first set and served well. I came out really strong after the rain delay and again after the second rain delay. I managed to scrape through in a pretty difficult match.”

The 27-year-old, who saved five of seven break points faced, turned the match around by adjusting his court positioning, taking a more aggressive stance to dictate play from the baseline. Despite another rain delay occurring with Norrie serving at 3-1 in the deciding set, the British No. 1 held his nerve in the closing stages to advance to his second semi-final of the season [Auckland].

The lefty will next take on Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas, who upset third seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-4. Varillas, 27, earned the second Top-20 win of his career [’19 Gstaad d. Bautista Agut] to advance to his first Tour-level semi-final. Following Friday’s victory, the Lima native is at a career-high No. 81 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

On a roll on European indoor hard courts, Jannik Sinner will be tough to oust this week at the ABN AMRO Open.

The day after he dispatched top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets at the ATP 500 event, the World No. 14 returned to down Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 and reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam for the first time.

Sinner raced through the first set in Friday’s clash with 2015 champion Wawrinka and, despite the Swiss showing some late resistance to reclaim a break and level at 3-3 in the second, the 21-year-old Italian’s combination of consistency and power proved key as he frequently outlasted his more experienced opponent from the baseline.

Top-level Returning & into the Semi-finals for @janniksin

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The 72-minute victory extended Sinner’s winning streak to six matches, with Rotterdam victories against Benjamin Bonzi, Tsitsipas and Wawrinka backing up his run to his seventh tour-level title last week in Montpellier.

“I just try to play every match with a high intensity, try to play my game, try to adapt myself,” said Sinner, when asked about his good form. “The first round match here was very important for me, then I try to keep going, to get more rhythm. Today I think it was also a good match. It’s never easy playing against him, so I’m very happy.”

A lightning-fast start set from Sinner set the tone in the quarter-final clash. He broke Wawrinka’s serve in the opening game and then fended off three break points for the Swiss to move 2-0 ahead. Those proved to be the Italian’s most vulnerable moments in a first set in which he converted three of five break points.

A little @janniksin magic 🪄@abnamroopen | #abnamroopen pic.twitter.com/BuLXqaFLLQ

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Wawrinka appeared dispirited after dropping serve again in the fourth game of the second set but the former World No. 3 dug deep, deploying some heavy hitting of his own to level for 3-3. He was unable to cope with the relentless Sinner in the latter stages of the set, however, and the Italian broke again in the eighth game before holding serve to level his ATP Head2Head series with the Swiss at 2-2.

“It was for sure a tough match,” said Sinner. “We know each other quite well, we practise a lot together… I’m very happy to be in the next round. I tried to push him a lot, he defended very well. He made a couple of unforced errors in the first set, I tried to get the momentum going, then I made a couple of unforced errors at 3-1… [Overall] I think it was a good performance today.”

Sinner’s opponent in his first semi-final above ATP 250 level since October 2021 will be Tallon Griekspoor. The 26-year-old prevailed 6-4, 6-4 against countryman Gijs Brouwer to become the first Dutch player to reach the semi-finals at the Rotterdam Ahoy since Igor Sijsling in 2014.

Griekspoor hit 21 winners to Brouwer’s 26 in the pair’s 78-minute encounter, but he was clinical in converting both break points he had en route to a 78-minute win against his fellow wild card. With the win, the 26-year-old advanced to his maiden ATP 500 semi-final and just his second overall, after he lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in Pune in January.

Now up to 21 spots to No. 40 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Griekspoor is set to reach a new career high on Monday regardless of his result against Sinner.

Lorenzo Sonego lost in the first round of this week’s ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam. But off the court, the Italian won big.

The song ‘Un Solo Secondo’, which Sonego created in collaboaration with friend ‘AlterEdo’, soared past the one-million listen mark on Spotify.

 

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“We did some songs together when we were young for a hobby,” Sonego told ATPTour.com last year. “And then, we tried to do something together for enjoyment in the summer and only to enjoy the moment and do something different, not always [focus on] tennis.”

‘Un Solo Secondo’ is not the only song they have created together. They also published ’Swing’ last year. Would Sonego ever collaborate with one of his ATP Tour colleagues?

“One day, if Matteo Berrettini wants we could do something together,” Sonego said cracking a laugh. “Only with Matteo, because he’s my best friend on the Tour for sure.”

Matteo Berrettini is well accustomed to taking on the world’s best players on some of the most iconic courts in the world. Yet even after lifting seven ATP Tour titles, surging to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and reaching a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, the Italian sometimes still wonders how it all came about.

“My whole family plays tennis. They always told me, ‘Do what you love, and give your best’,” Berrettini said recently in an interview with the ATP Tour. “Growing up, I never thought about it. I was dreaming about playing maybe [in] Rome, [but] I was more like a child that is dreaming and saying, ‘I want to go to the moon’… And then it happened. Everything [happened] so fast.”

 

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Netflix’s Break Point followed Berrettini’s stellar run to the semi-finals at the 2022 Australian Open in the second episode. Despite that Melbourne campaign ultimately ending in disappointment with a four-set defeat to legend Rafael Nadal, the 26-year-old remains grateful for every experience he has in his life as a pro. Berrettini believes that the more he gives, the more he gets back, no matter the result on court.

“It teaches you a lot about who you are,” said Berrettini of competing on the ATP Tour. “[When] I was a kid, I had idols. I want to be one of those players. I would like to have kids that are looking and are like, ‘I’m going to decide to play tennis or I’m going to improve this thing because I saw that Matteo is doing it’.

“When you think about that stuff, you just think that it’s worth it.”

Daniil Medvedev maintained his perfect record against Felix Auger-Aliassime in style Friday at the ABN AMRO Open, where the sixth seed took out the defending champion 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.

The 27-year-old Medvedev was relentless from the baseline in the 83-minute quarter-final in Rotterdam, hitting just five unforced errors across the two sets to Auger-Aliassime’s 20. That consistency proved crucial in enabling the World No. 11 to break the Canadian’s serve four times en route to extending his lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series to 5-0.

“Today was my best match of the week, but I have to build on this,” said Medvedev post-match. “Usually, the best weeks you play, many times you’re going to play your best tennis in the last match, so that’s definitely a goal. But I’m happy with my level today, beating someone like Felix in straight sets.”

With the win, Medvedev advanced to the semi-finals in Rotterdam for the second time, having also reached that stage in 2019. His next opponent in the Netherlands will be Grigor Dimitrov, after the Bulgarian saved two match points to down Alex de Minaur 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) in a dramatic opening quarter-final earlier on Friday.

Auger-Aliassime lifted his maiden ATP Tour crown at the Rotterdam Ahoy a year ago. The 22-year-old struggled to match the level he showed during that title run against Medvedev, yet many of his wayward groundstrokes could be attributed to the superb defensive skills of his opponent at vital moments.

Medvedev’s persistence forced the Canadian to push a forehand long for the first break of serve in the fifth game of the match, before more scrambling way behind the baseline earned the 15-time tour-level titlist a 5-2 lead with a double break after Auger-Aliassime’s forehand clipped the net and flew long.

Despite signs of resistance from Auger-Aliassime in the second set, when he took advantage of a rare below-par game from his opponent to reclaim a break for 2-2, Medvedev stayed dialled-in to clinch his eighth consecutive victory at ATP 500-level. The sixth seed broke again — and this time decisively — in the seventh game to extend his streak, which he began by claiming the title in Vienna last October.

Earlier on Friday, Dimitrov returned to the Rotterdam semi-finals for the first time since his 2018 run to the championship match by clinching a two-hour, 34-minute thriller against De Minaur.

Despite a mid-match lapse from the Bulgarian that allowed De Minaur to claim five games in a row en route to the second set, he had no such problems retaining his composure in the deciding-set tie-break. Facing two match points at 4/6, Dimitrov reeled off four points in a row, sealing his win with a wonderful forehand pass under pressure that just clipped the line.

Dimitrov is chasing his first ATP Tour final appearance since his Rotterdam run five years ago, and Medvedev was under no illusions about the scale of his task in Saturday’s semi-final.

“I kind of know the plan for the game,” said Medvedev when asked about his preparations for the Dimitrov clash. “The thing is, he is going to try to do the same, to make up a good plan. If we take the last two matches, it’s 1-1. So I always say a new match is a new match, no matter the head to head.

“I’m preparing for a tough one tomorrow, he’s such a great player and today was a great match from him, a great comeback actually. So I’m ready for the tough fight tomorrow.”

Lorenzo Musetti won his first ATP Tour title on the clay of Hamburg last July, defeating fellow Argentina Open seed Carlos Alcaraz in the final. In his first match on the surface in nearly seven months, the Italian eased back into the win column with a 6-2, 6-3 win against home favourite Pedro Cachin on Thursday in Buenos Aires.

Patient but aggressive in his tournament debut, Musetti opened the court time and again to earn his first victory since he won four straight matches at the United Cup. He created 10 break points, converting half, and sealed the win by claiming the final three games of the one-hour, 25-minute contest.

“It was not easy because Pedro was playing good. It was his second round and for me it was the first match here,” the third seed said. “I feel great. I felt great from when I arrived here. I feel at home even if we are in Argentina. I think Italian culture and Argentinian culture is really close. So I’m happy with the win because I played great tennis.”

Entering the week as World No. 20, Musetti is up two places to No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, a mark which would match his career high. He will meet qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas in Friday’s quarter-finals after the Peruvian defeated Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day.

“He beat Thiem so I think he’s playing pretty well,” Musetti said ahead of the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting. “I have to focus on my game and concentrate on myself and try to play, like today, really solid.”

In the draw’s top half, fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Spain’s Jaume Munar. One of two Argentines in the quarter-finals, alongside Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Cerundolo will next play Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Zapata Miralles upset fourth seed Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-3 to close Thursday’s play at the ATP 250. It was a second opening-match defeat for in as many weeks for the Argentine, who was also knocked out in the Cordoba opening round on home soil.

Playing in his first ATP Tour match since his breakthrough run to the Australian Open semi-finals, Tommy Paul continued his red-hot form with a victory at the Delray Beach Open on Thursday. The second seed defeated countryman Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals at the ATP 250.

Both players were part of the United States Davis Cup team that defeated Uzbekistan earlier this month, with both earning road singles victories. With the pair on opposite sides of the net in the U.S., Paul’s speed and athleticism helped him advance at his home tournament.

“It’s always nice to be home. I live like 15 minutes away from here,” said Paul, who hit seven aces and 14 winners. “It’s nice to play in front of of my friends and some of my family here. It’s easy to have my whole team here so it’s always a good time.”

While it took the American some time to adjust to the windy conditions in Delray Beach, he wrestled away control of the match by winning five straight games from 3-3 in the opening set. In holding for a 2-0 lead in set two, Paul saved what proved to be the last break point of the match for either man.

Paul won 12 of 16 points at the net in an aggressive display, while Kudla ventured forward just three times, winning one of those points.

Entering this week at a career-high of No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Paul must advance to the semi-finals to maintain his place in the Top 20. His next goal is to crack the Top 15.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of work here in Delray and in Boca,” he said. “I’ve been training a tonne, working on and off court. I feel like I’ve made a lot of jumps in my game so hopefully we can keep a good level going here this week and all the way through the rest of the year.”

Paul will meet Radu Albot in Friday’s quarter-finals after the Moldovan’s 6-4, 6-4 win against Aleksandar Vukic earlier on Thursday. Paul holds a 1-0 lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series, with a straight-sets win in Astana in 2020.