Botic van de Zandschulp has quickly become a star on the ATP Tour, ranked a career-high No. 24 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Dutchman’s rise has been so swift, he was outside the Top 100 a year ago and did not get into qualifying at last year’s Western & Southern Open. On Tuesday evening, he will face World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev for a place in the third round of the main draw.

“I actually like the big courts, the big stages. I feel more free when I am playing on a big court. It’s still so different from last year, playing tournaments where not a lot of people were coming to watch,” van de Zandschulp told ATPTour.com. “Of course it’s really nice that it’s happening so fast that I’m playing a lot of big names.”

This will be his third clash against Medvedev in less than a year. Their first meeting came in the quarter-finals of the US Open, where van de Zandschulp made a dream run as a qualifier. The 6’3” right-hander was the only player who won a set against Medvedev at Flushing Meadows.

Despite trailing 0-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, van de Zandschulp has learned a lot about the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion’s game.

“He’s returning from so far. Other guys aren’t returning that far, so that was a thing that was different from other matches,” van de Zandschulp said. “It’s insane how he never played a slice when he’s reaching for a backhand. He never plays a slice. Those are things I never faced before so it’s something to get used to. Now I’ve played him twice and let’s hope the third time is going to be better than the last two times.”

Van de Zandschulp added: “I think when you see it on TV, sometimes the angles he makes with some shots, when you give him an angle, he’s making a better angle when he hits the shot. I think that’s something you don’t see well on the TV and you feel the most when you play against him.”

This time last year, van de Zandschulp had still never been to the United States. His first visit came when he arrived in New York for US Open qualifying. It has been a whirlwind since.

“[It has gone] really quick, actually. I’m still adjusting. I have to say when I normally play tournaments, I played a lot in Europe last year. When I was done with a tournament, I went to another one or went home. Here maybe you have one or two matches if you play a Masters and you practise more than when you play Challengers,” van de Zandschulp said. “Sometimes that’s pretty tough I think to adjust to. You play a little bit less matches for more points. I have to say that’s the most challenging at the moment.”

However challenging, it has not shown in van de Zandschulp’s results. The 26-year-old began the season with 16 tour-level wins and after defeating American Maxime Cressy in the first round in Cincinnati, he has 28 in 2022 alone.

Part of his success has come from how he has handled the pressure of the big stages. Many players initially breaking onto the ATP Tour would take time to acclimatise to it. Not van de Zandschulp, though. Take his mindset entering his match against Medvedev at last year’s US Open, for example.

“I think I walked on court full of confidence. I already played some matches there. Went on court with confidence and I liked the stage because the match before I played on [Louis] Armstrong [Stadium] against Schwartzman and it was a great atmosphere,” van de Zandschulp said. “I was really looking forward to play on Arthur Ashe and I didn’t really feel the nerves. I didn’t feel stressed when I walked on court. I felt free and I think that’s how I played in the match as well.”

The Dutchman will hope to feel the same way Tuesday in Cincinnati.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina knows that when he steps on centre court at the Western & Southern Open Tuesday, he will be facing one of the hottest players on the ATP Tour in Nick Kyrgios. That would make some players nervous.

Not Davidovich Fokina.

“I always say that I prefer to play on the big stadiums,” Davidovich Fokina told ATPTour.com. “I increase my level and I prefer to play in those stadiums. With Kyrgios, who is a showman, it is for sure going to be a fun match to watch.”

The Spaniard knows the Australian reached the Wimbledon final, triumphed in Washington and advanced to the Montreal quarter-finals. Playing an opponent of his form is something Davidovich Fokina plans to embrace.

“He’s playing very good. He’s on fire right now. For sure it is going to be a tough match,” Davidovich Fokina said. “I will do my best. I will try to bother him on his serve, try my best and let’s see what happens.”

The Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals alumnus has proven he can compete with the best players in the world. Earlier this season, Davidovich Fokina, known as “Foki”, advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. That run started with a lucky chestnut.

One of the Spaniard’s best friends received a chestnut from another friend, and he gave it to Davidovich Fokina ahead of the Monagesque tournament in the hopes it would give him luck. That chestnut has not left Foki’s racquet bag since.

“I always take it with me. It’s [from] one of my best friends. He thought it was going to bring me luck that week,” Davidovich Fokina said. “But I think we need to recharge that chestnut!”

Since Monte Carlo in April, Davidovich Fokina has won consecutive matches just twice. But by nature, he is optimistic.

“In life, you have a process with everything. You have to go step by step, you cannot rush to do things,” Davidovich Fokina said. “If not, you are going to crash into the wall. You have to take it slowly, quietly and go into your rhythm.”

Davidovich Fokina embodies that mindset with a tattoo on his chest that reads “step by step”. You can learn a lot about the Spaniard from his six tattoos, the second of which is a large tsunami wave on his left forearm.

^{Photo Credit: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour}
“With my team and myself, we always say I am like a tsunami,” Davidovich Fokina said, cracking a laugh. “Where I go, I race. I just wanted to have it on my body to remember every day what that means.”

These days, that is mostly in reference to his on-court demeanour, which he readily admits can be fiery. His coach, Jorge Aguirre, has even referred to Davidovich Fokina as a “volcano” on the court.

“That changes. A long time ago I was more like a tsunami off the court [too],” Davidovich Fokina said. “I was more impatient. I want to do a lot of things at one time. Now I’m more quiet, more calm. Every year the energy is going down. I’m getting older! Now I’m starting to be more patient and I can transmit that to the court, too.”

The yin-and-yang symbol on his right wrist also shows the Spaniard’s philosophical side.

“I always think that bad things are always a small good thing. A very good thing is always a bad thing,” Davidovich Fokina said. “That’s life!”

Most of the time, you can find Davidovich Fokina having a good laugh. He is even happy to have a good chuckle at himself, like when he discusses his sock superstition. On the court, the 23-year-old wears one white sock and one black sock for matches.

“Since I was 15, I’m doing that with the socks. Now I cannot wear the same colour of socks,” Davidovich Fokina said. “[But] when I go out with my friends, I wear normal ones!”

Although the Spaniard knows he will face a tough test on Tuesday against Kyrgios, it is safe to say he will make the most of the experience.

“I think it’s going to be a fun match,” Davidovich Fokina said. “The [fans] should come to watch the match, it’s going to be interesting and let’s see what happens.”

If there’s one thing Nick Kyrgios has never lacked, it’s confidence in his game. Even in what he’s dubbed his “darkest times,” when he even questioned his livelihood, he never lost that self-belief, the knowledge that when he’s on his game he can hold his own against the sport’s elite.

“I could lose five matches in a row and I still believe that I have a chance to beat anyone,” said the 27-year-old Canberran last week in Montreal, where he defeated World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev for the third time in four ATP Head2Heads.

A refocused, reinvigorated Kyrgios again finds himself in Medvedev’s quarter at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, though there are some obstacles standing in the way of a rematch. The Aussie will open with a first-time encounter with Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Tuesday at the Linder Family Tennis Center, and could later face the likes of Taylor Fritz or Andrey Rublev should he advance.

Out to a subpar 4-9 start in 2022, Davidovich Fokina turned his year around in April with a dream run to the first ATP Tour final of his career. It came on the hallowed clay of the Rolex Monte-Carlos Masters, and saw the 22-year-old Andalusian stun the likes of then-top-ranked Novak Djokovic, David Goffin, Fritz and Grigor Dimitrov in reaching the title match, where he finally succumbed to defending champ Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 7-6(3).

Despite a streak-snapping loss to Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the Montreal quarter-finals, Kyrgios has put himself in a much more favourable position heading into the US Open, where he’ll now be among the seeds. Including his run to his first major final at Wimbledon, Kyrgios reeled off nine consecutive wins, including the title match in Washington, and won 15 of 17 matches to bring his Pepperstone ATP Ranking up to No. 28.

Medvedev, the Cincinnati titlist in 2019, will battle it out with Rafael Nadal this week for World No. 1, as Nadal has an opportunity to reclaim the position for the first time since January 2020. The 2013 champ could pull it off if he again wins the title and Medvedev fails to reach the quarter-finals. The outcome will determine the top seed at Flushing Meadows.

First up for Medvedev is Western & Southern Open debutant Botic van de Zandschulp, who has achieved a new career-high ranking 12 times in 2022, peaking at No. 24 in July. He got the best of the Dutchman in the quarter-finals of the 2021 US Open, 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, later claiming the first major of his career. He again prevailed against van de Zandschulp in the third round of the 2022 Australian Open, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

“For sure [I] want to try to win as many matches as possible here to grow this confidence of winning matches for the US Open,” said Medvedev, who begins his 13th week at World No. 1, passing Boris Becker on the all-time leaderboard. “But we’ll take it match by match. As we see in the draw, I feel that the draw is very, very packed. Sometimes you have somebody retiring here and there, somebody tired from the season, maybe not in the best shape here. When I look at the draw I’m like, ‘Wow, every match we have, even in the first round, is a tough match.’”

The Tuesday lineup will also showcase: Fritz vs. Sebastian Baez, Jannik Sinner vs. qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis, Carlos Alcaraz vs. wildcard Mackenzie McDonald, and an all-American tussle between Tommy Paul and Jenson Brooksby.

Alcaraz is still growing accustomed to his success. Seeded No. 2 last week at the National Bank Open in Montreal, he was ousted in the first round by Paul, 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3, later confiding that the pressure, the expectations got to him.

“It was the first time that I felt that pressure, and I couldn’t handle it,” said the 19-year-old Spaniard.

Seeded No. 3 in Cincinnati, he says he’s now “trying to use the pressure in my favour.” He already owns ATP Masters 1000 titles this year in Miami and Madrid, and could jump from No. 4 to No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings should he go on to claim the title this week.

Frances Tiafoe cherishes competing on the biggest stages. The American proved it again on Monday evening in Cincinnati.

Tiafoe battled past Italian star Matteo Berrettini 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5) to reach the second round of the Western & Southern Open. The 24-year-old levelled his ATP Head2Head series with the two-time Nitto ATP Finals competitor at 1-1.

“People don’t understand, obviously results haven’t really shown how well I’ve been playing. I’ve been playing some great tennis, honestly,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview. “I really just needed this. I know it’s a first-round match…. But everyone knew why I needed this against a quality player, so it was big.

“I know I’ve beaten a lot of these guys, but it hasn’t happened of late. So it’s one of those things where you’ve got to get over the hump. But I’m happy I get another chance to play again.”

^{Photo Credit: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour}
It was not the first time during the North American hard-court swing that Tiafoe was in a tight match against a big-hitting star. In Washington, he earned five match points against Nick Kyrgios, but fell short.

It seemed like déjà vû under the lights at the Lindner Family Tennis Center when he let slip three match points. This time, however, Tiafoe finished the job after two hours and 52 minutes.

Berrettini was clutch throughout the evening, saving all eight break points he faced. At 5-6 in the third set, the Italian faced match point on his serve. A ball that bounced high off the top of the net allowed the World No. 15 to rush forward and pummel a forehand. The problem for him was that Tiafoe guessed the correct direction and laced a backhand passing shot crosscourt.

Tiafoe, his coach, Wayne Ferreira, and the Cincinnati crowd thought the American had made it to end the match, but a replay showed the ball was just out. It was so close, that Ferreira had begun to stand from his chair to celebrate.

Instead of letting that moment affect him, Tiafoe went straight back to work and played a solid tie-break to move on.

The fans urged on Tiafoe throughout the evening, and the American was quick to encourage them. After hitting a curling forehand passing shot for a 5-4 lead in the third set, he waved for the crowd to get louder and help push him over the finish line.

According to the INSIGHTS: In Attack metric, Tiafoe played 26 per cent of his shots from an attacking position compared to 21 per cent for Berrettini, who is one of the most powerful players on the ATP Tour. That helped the American control the tempo of play and prevent his opponent from too frequently wielding his power.

Tiafoe will next play American Sebastian Korda, who defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4. Tiafoe leads their ATP Head2Head series 3-0, with their most recent clash coming earlier this year on clay in Estoril.

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios started their quest for a third title of the season with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini on Monday at the Western & Southern Open.

The Australians, who clinched the Australian Open crown in January, fired eight aces and saved the one break point they faced to advance after 60 minutes. Kokkinakis and Kyrgios have now won their past five matches, after lifting the trophy in Atlanta at the start of August.

They will next face top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in a popcorn second-round clash, aiming to improve on their 14-2 record in 2022.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares’ love affair with the ATP Masters 1000 hard-court event continued when they edged eighth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 4-6, 6-2, 10-7. The British-Brazilian team defeated Cabal and Farah in the 2018 final in Ohio, while they also enjoyed a run to the championship match in 2017.

Murray and Soares will look to build further momentum when they next face Karen Khachanov and Denis Shapovalov.

The Pepperstone ATP Rankings return to their traditional 52-week calculation logic this week, ending an extended period of covid-era adjustment.

Following the conclusion of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montral, all points from events held in 2019 and 2020 have dropped off. Therefore, the Pepperstone ATP Rankings now consists of results from the past 52 weeks only, as per the traditional merit-based ranking methodology used since 1973.

Daniil Medvedev remains the current World No. 1, but 36-time ATP Masters 1000 champion Rafael Nadal has the chance to usurp top spot this week should he win the Western & Southern Open title and Medvedev does not reach the quarter-finals in Cincinnati.

Spanish teen Carlos Alcaraz will climb two places to a career-high No. 2 should he win his third ATP Masters 1000 title of the year in Cincinnati.

See real-time player movements in Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings

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Cameron Norrie survived a major scare from #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune to reach the second round at the Western & Southern Open for the first time Monday.

In a hard-fought clash, the Briton showcased a mixture of grit and quality as soaked up Rune’s powerful groundstrokes, while he penetrated the 19-year-old’s defences with his aggressive forehand to triumph 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 34 minutes in Cincinnati.

Norrie, who is making his third appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event, now leads the 19-year-old 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, having defeated the World No. 29 en route to his fourth tour-level title in Lyon in May. The 26-year-old will face former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka or countryman Andy Murray in a standout second-round match.

The ninth seed will be aiming for a deep run in Ohio as he looks to strengthen his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in November. Norrie is currently 14th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, but could climb quickly with strong results at the hard-court event.

Rune, who advanced to the second round in Montreal last week, was making his debut in Cincinnati. The Dane has enjoyed a breakthrough season, highlighted by his first tour-level title in Munich. The 19-year-old is currently fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan as he looks to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for a second consecutive year.

In other action, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut rallied past Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 42 minutes. The World No. 19, who reached the semi-finals at the event in 2020, will next play American qualifier Marcos Giron or Belgian qualifier David Goffin.

Diego Schwartzman showed his fighting qualities to defeat Slovakian Alex Molcan 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. The Argentine now leads the 24-year-old 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next face Aslan Karatsev after the World No. 38 eliminated #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 38 minutes.

With another 1,000 points on offer this week at the Western & Southern Open, the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin continues to heat up as players vie for the eight available spots at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals.

Fresh off his quarter-final run in his home city of Montreal, Felix Auger-Aliassime is in position to make his debut at the year-end showcase. Sitting at seventh in the Race with 2,645 poins, the Canadian can create some separation from the chasing pack with a strong performance in Cincinnati. Seeded seventh, he will face either Alex de Minaur or qualifier Henri Laaksonen in his opening match, with a potential meeting with Race leader Rafael Nadal looming in the quarter-finals.

From the the 22-year-old down to Montreal champion Pablo Carreno Busta in 11th place, fewer than 600 points separate five players competing at this week’s ATP Masters 1000 event. That group also includes returning finalist Andrey Rublev, Montreal runner-up Hubert Hurkacz and American Taylor Fritz, with the latter seeking his second Masters 1000 title on home soil this season following his breakthrough triumph in Indian Wells.

Also within striking distance of a Top 8 spot this week are Matteo Berrettini, Cameron Norrie, Jannik Sinner and Marin Cilic, all of whom could reach eighth place or better with a title, depending on other results.

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At the top of the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Nadal’s 5,630 points give him a healthy buffer from second-place Carlos Alcaraz on 4,290. Nadal will become the first player to qualify for Turin if this week he reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati. Alcaraz cannot pass Nadal this week, even with a title, but will instead be focussed on fending off a challenge from third place Stefanos Tsitsipas and fourth place Casper Ruud.

In fifth, Daniil Medvedev can pass Ruud this week with the title, but would require an early exit from the Norwegian, who leads him by 840 points.

Follow the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, which updates after each match completes.

Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka wrote another chapter into their long-running rivalry on Monday at the Western & Southern Open, where the Scot advanced with a hard-fought 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-5 victory in Cincinnati.

The former World No. 1 showed his fighting qualities during the two-hour, 34-minute first-round match as he scampered around the baseline to hang in points. He also caused damage with his backhand, while he rallied from a break down in the third set to improve to 13-9 in their ATP Head2Head series.

“The court is pretty lively when the weather is like this. Physically I feel tired,” Murray said in his on-court interview. “I had some issues with cramp during the match, the same as Washington, so that is something I need to get on top of.

“I tried to take the ball on a little more and finish points at the net. I wasn’t that successful when I came up, but the intention was there. I was a little more offensive on the second-serve return. Last game I was just fighting, trying to find a way through.”

Following his epic two-hour and 54-minute win, the Scot now holds a 35-14 record in Cincinnati, having lifted the trophy in 2008 and 2011. The 35-year-old will look to taste further success at the hard-court event when he faces Cameron Norrie in the second round after the ninth seed edged #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4.

“He is very different to how Stan plays, being a lefty,” Murray said when looking ahead to his match against Norrie. “Flat on the backhand, heavy topspin on the forehand. We have spent a little bit of time on the court together, so there won’t be many surprises out there for me.”

Murray arrived in Ohio off the back of a disappointing first-round exit in Montreal last week. However, the 46-time tour-level champion has shown signs of promise this season, reaching finals in Sydney and Stuttgart, helping him rise back into the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since 2018.

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In a tight battle in Ohio, there was little to separate World No. 47 Murray and Wawrinka in the first set. The Scot consistently found depth on his watertight groundstrokes as he looked to force the 37-year-old into mistakes, who combined moments of magic with erratic play. After both remained strong on serve, a tie-break was left to decide the opener, with Murray clinching the set when Wawrinka fired a forehand long.

Wawrinka refused to go away in the second set, though, and was rewarded for his attacking play in the eighth game when he broke to lead 5-3. After failing to serve out the set, the three-time Grand Slam champion finally levelled when he broke Murray again in the 12th game.

With both players tiring in a physical third set, it was Murray who found an extra gear despite receiving multiple medical timeouts. The Scot battled from 0-2 down as he stood close to the baseline and stayed in rallies, eventually breaking to lead 6-5 before successfully holding to triumph. Murray let out a roar and raised his arms aloft when he sealed the match on his third match point

Wawrinka was aiming to earn his first hard-court match win since the 2021 Australian Open. The Swiss star was competing at the ATP Masters 1000 event for the 13th time, with his best result a run to the semi-finals in 2012.

In other action, John Isner overcame Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 7-6(11), 3-6, 7-6(4). The American, who fired 31 aces, saved three set points in the third set before he eventually booked his spot in the second round after two hours and 25 minutes.

_{^{Photo Credit: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour}}
Isner will face Montreal finalist and doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.