Andrey Rublev produced another scintillating performance at the Serbia Open on Saturday to ease past Fabio Fognini and set a blockbuster final with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the ATP 250 event in Belgrade.

The World No. 8 had produced an exhibition of fierce baseline hitting in his quarter-final clash with Taro Daniel on Friday and Rublev fired a similar streak of brutal forehand winners on his way to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Fognini at the Novak Tennis Center.

Rublev suffered a tough three-set defeat to Jannik Sinner in the third round at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters but has bounced back in style in Serbia. He battled through a three-set clash with Jiri Lehecka in his opening match but there were no such problems against Fognini in Saturday’s semi-final as Rublev showed once again how big a threat he poses on the clay in a quickfire 62-minute win.

Rublev had Fognini under pressure early but the Italian recovered 0/40 to hold serve in the opening game of the match. There was nothing Fognini could do to stop Rublev reeling off the next five games, however, as the second seed struck the ball with power and precision on his way to the first set.

Fognini struggled for fluency in his second tour-level semi-final of the year, but he was given scant room to express himself by his opponent. The Italian battled hard to carve out his only three break point opportunities of the match as Rublev served for it at 5-2 in the second set, but the second seed repelled the threat before clinching victory after Fognini fired a backhand wide.

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Rublev was relentless on serve throughout. He fired five aces and dropped just nine points on serve in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 10-time tour-level titlist will need to produce a similar display against Djokovic, one of the all-time great returners on the ATP Tour.

The victory brings Rublev level with Fognini at 5-5 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series. Rublev has now triumphed in the pair’s past four meetings.

Rublev chases a third tour-level title of the season in Sunday’s championship match, having captured trophies in Marseille and Dubai in February. It will be the second ATP Head2Head meeting between Djokovic and Rublev, after Djokovic ran out a 6-3, 6-2 winner at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals in November.

Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar captured their first ATP Tour title of the season Saturday, downing top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 at the Serbia Open.

The Uruguayan-Ecuadorian team lost in the Belgrade final last season, but ensured they wouldn’t suffer more heartbreak this week, raising their level in the Match Tie-break to triumph after 83 minutes in an entertaining final.

The unseeded duo won 75 per cent (24/32) of their first-serve points against the Croatians and dropped just one set en route to the title.

With their victory, the pair has now clinched three tour-level trophies together after they captured crowns in Delray Beach and Marbella last season. Earlier this year, Behar and Escobar advanced to the championship match at the Adelaide International 2, falling to Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.

Mektic and Pavic were aiming to clinch their first tour-level title since they won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in July. The top seeds won a tour-leading nine titles in 2021, but have struggled to find their best form in 2022.

Home favourite Alexander Zverev leads the draw in Munich at the BMW Open by American Express, and could face a second-round matchup against #NextGenATP wild card Holger Rune.

View Munich Draw | View Estoril Draw

Zverev, a native of Hamburg, won the Munich title in 2017 and 2018 but fell in the quarter-finals in his past two appearances. He is joined in the top half of the draw by seeded players Reilly Opelka, Cristian Garin and Daniel Evans — the Briton a potential quarter-final opponent.

Second seed Casper Ruud could face Marrakech finalist Alex Molcan in the second round, while Nikoloz Basilashvili and Miomir Kecmanovic could meet in the quarter-finals if the seeds hold.

The pick of the opening-round matches may be eighth seed Botic van de Zandschulp’s meeting with #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima, with the pair set to open their ATP Head2Head series.

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At the Millennium Estoril Open, top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime looks to build on a Barcelona quarter-final run and could face Dominic Thiem or Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals. Thiem, playing as a wild card in the second ATP Tour event of his injury return, opens against France’s Benjamin Bonzi ahead of a potential second-round meeting with eighth seed Korda.

Monte Carlo finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, now at a career-high of No. 27 in the ATP Rankings, earns a bye as the Estoril fourth seed and will open against Federico Coria or a qualifier.

Diego Schwartzman and Marin Cilic lead the bottom half of the draw and will hope to meet in the semis.

Novak Djokovic is relishing the battle at the Serbia Open this week.

The World No. 1 fought back from a set down for the third consecutive match on Saturday to complete a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Karen Khachanov and reach the championship match at his hometown tournament for the third time.

Just like in his previous rounds against Laslo Djere and Miomir Kecmanovic, Djokovic made a slow start in the semi-final clash as Khachanov came out striking cleanly off both wings. Top-seeded Djokovic responded in style, arguably producing his best two sets of the week to storm back for a one-hour, 59-minute victory and extend his winning record in Serbia to 37-5.

The win gives Djokovic the chance to pick up his maiden title in 2022 in front of his home fans on Sunday against Andrey Rublev or Fabio Fognini. The Serb now holds a 13-2 match record at the Belgrade event and there were real signs on Saturday that he is finding his best form as he seeks to lift the trophy at the ATP 250 event for the third time.

Khachanov showed real intent to take advantage of an error-strewn start from Djokovic to break in the first game of the match, and it was enough to clinch a tight first set at the Novak Tennis Center. The World No. 26 struck the ball fiercely in the opening exchanges with both players also showing silky touches at the net as Djokovic began to settle into the encounter.

Despite Djokovic dropping the opening set an energetic crowd could sense the home favourite had upped his level and the Serb’s masterful returning earned him a double break in the second set, which he sealed with an ace.

There was little Khachanov could do to halt Djokovic’s momentum as the 20-time Grand Slam champion began to fire in all aspects of his game. Two further breaks in the deciding set sealed the clash for Djokovic as he extended his ATP Head2Head series lead over Khachanov to 6-1.

Khachanov may have been unable to maintain his early momentum against Djokovic but he will be pleased with his run to the semi-finals on tournament debut after snapping a four-match losing streak with his second-round win over Roman Safiullin. The 25-year-old is still hunting for his first title since his sole victory over Djokovic brought him the title at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2018.

More to follow…

Carlos Alcaraz scored his best career win on Spanish soil Friday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. After cruising past countryman Jaume Munar earlier in the day, the 18-year-old overcame a comeback charge from top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach his fourth semi-final of the season with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory.

Alcaraz looked on course for a relatively routine victory after going up by a set and a double break, but needed to regroup after Tsitsipas dominated the close of the middle stanza. He did that and more as he jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the decider, letting out his biggest roar of the match as he scored a momentum-shifting break to open the set.

“Probably my biggest win on clay court. It was unbelievable,” said Alcaraz, who will crack the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday. “Unbelievable game that I played, unbelievable atmosphere that I lived today on court. It was unbelievable everything. The atmosphere here, the crowd, the level that I played, the level of the match. It was incredible.”

Each of the three ATP Head2Head matchups in this blossoming rivalry have been thrillers of supreme quality, with Alcaraz edging the Greek on all three occasions. 

In their first clay-court meeting, both men were eager to attack on Pista Rafa Nadal. Both backed up strong serving with vicious ground strokes as they battled to 4-all in the opening set without a sniff of a break chance. But Alcaraz made his move in the ninth game with a familiar tactic: After heavy hitting brought up three break points at 0/40, a clever drop shot left Tsitsipas stranded.

Alcaraz won 12 of the last 13 points in the stanza. It ended with a contentious moment, as a frustrated Tsitsipas unloaded on a forehand passing shot that missed badly but forced his opponent to duck at the net. Alcaraz stared down Tsitsipas as the Spanish crowd whistled their disapproval, while the Greek walked to his chair, unmoved.

It seemed Alcaraz would have the final say as he rode a wave of winners to a double break lead in the second. But after he broke at love for 4-1, Tsitsipas gradually worked his way back into the match. Finding joy in longer rallies both on serve and return, Tsitsipas reeled off four straight games to get back on serve. As he raised his level, Alcaraz’s dipped. The trend continued in the 12th game of the set, when an Alcaraz error handed Tsitsipas parity.

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Alcaraz left the court for a comfort break prior to the third set, and returned with a fresh focus. A jumping fist pump punctuated his break of serve to open the decider as he played to the the home support.

“I went to the bathroom just to turn off my mind, just trying to change what I played at the end of the second set, just to be focussed on the third set,” he explained. “Forget everything in the match and just give 100 per cent in the third set.”

Tsitsipas left the court himself after falling behind 0-3, but was assessed two separate point penalties for the mid-set break and a time violation after a spirited discussion with the chair umpire.

Down 0-4, Tsitsipas summoned one last surge to create two break points at 1-4, but was foiled by the defense of Alcaraz. The Spaniard followed some lightning-fast retrieving with a bevy of backhand winners to move ahead 5-1, then served out the match to love before a respectful post-match handshake.

Alcaraz, who will next face 10th seed Alex de Minaur in Saturday’s semis, is seeking a third trophy of the 2022 season and a second in April following his maiden ATP Masters 1000 triumph in Miami.

“I think I beat the favourite,” he said of his win over the World No. 5. “I’m playing an incredible level. And I think that I’m ready to get the title.”

When Alcaraz officially enters the Top 10 on Monday, he will do so at the same age, on the same date and following the same tournament as Rafael Nadal in 2005.

Tsitsipas, who won his second straight Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title last week, was aiming to return to the Barcelona final for a second straight year.

Pablo Carreno Busta and Diego Schwartzman produced inspired comebacks Friday at Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to set up a semi-final showdown. Both men worked double duty at the ATP 500 event after a Thursday rainout, making their battling efforts all the more impressive.

Carreno Busta saved three match points in the second set against Casper Ruud and then overcame an early break in the decider to survive 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-3, after three hours.

The Spanish eighth seed improves to 5-1 on the European clay swing after a third-round run in Monte Carlo, and ends an impressive streak for his opponent: Ruud had won the last 51 clay-court matches in which he won the opening set.

“I’m so, so happy for this victory,” said the 30-year-old from Gijon, who beat Lorenzo Sonego in another three-setter to start his day. “It was very emotional today playing in front of my people, in my home. I was a set down after playing three hours this morning, so it’s very, very tough to come back.

“Thanks to this crowd, because it was unbelievable to play here again in Barcelona, here in the semi-finals. I cannot be more happy.”

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Ruud’s three match points came with Carreno Busta serving at 4-5 in the second. But PCB fought through a four-deuce game, then took the tie-break on his sixth set point after leading 6/3. Ruud won eight straight points to take an early 2-1 lead in the final set, before the Spaniard won four straight games.

Carreno Busta, who saved 12 of 14 break points in the match, saved three apiece in each of his final two service games, including an escape from 0/40 as he served out the match.

After spending nearly six hours on court, he can now look forward to a fourth ATP Head2Head meeting against sixth seed Schwartzman.

“It’s a really great opponent in the semi-finals,” Carreno Busta said. “We played last year in the quarter-finals, three sets… dramatic at the end. So I hope to recover as much as I can after playing six hours today and try to be ready for tomorrow.”

The Spaniard holds a 2-1 edge over Schwartzman, including a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win in their most recent meeting in the Barcelona quarter-final.

Schwartzman did not live quite as dangerously on Friday against Felix Auger-Aliassime, as he did not drop serve in the final two sets to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. The Argentine spent just over four hours on court Friday, topping Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4, 7-5, to open the day.

He earned his ATP Tour-leading 14th and 15th clay wins of the season to reach his fifth tour-level quarter-final on the year — all on his favoured surface. Schwartzman is seeking his first title of 2022 after runs to the final in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.

Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic moved within one win of securing a first title since the Tokyo Olympics in July with a 7-6(3), 6-3 win over Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski at the Serbia Open in Belgrade.

The Croatian pairing, which ended 2021 as the No. 1 doubles team in the ATP Rankings after picking up nine tour-level titles last year, has struggled for its best form this season. Two breaks of serve in the semi-final of the ATP 250 event on Friday were enough for them to reach their second championship match of the year, however, as they continued a strong showing on debut in Belgrade.

Mektic and Pavic will face Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar in Saturday’s championship match after the Uruguayan-Ecuadorian team ousted Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic 6-2, 7-6(3). Behar and Escobar, who also reached the final in Belgrade in last year, are chasing a third ATP Tour title together having lifted the trophies in Delray Beach and Marbella in 2021.

At the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies overcame defending champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in a rematch of the 2021 final to seal a last-four spot at the ATP 500 event.

Krawietz and Mies are two-time Grand Slam champions on the clay at Roland Garros and the German pairing had to use all their experience on the red dirt to hold off the fourth-seeded Colombians in a 6-4, 7-5 win. Krawietz and Mies saved all 10 break points they faced in a 90-minute victory to level the ATP Head2Head series between the two teams at 1-1 — Cabal and Farah triumphed in the only previous meeting between the teams at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.

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Also in Barcelona, Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer continued their strong 2022 with a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over a pair of Top 50 singles stars in Pedro Martinez and Lorenzo Sonego.

Arevalo and Rojer are hunting their third title of the year after back-to-back triumphs on the hard courts in Dallas and Delray Beach in February. The El Salvadorian-Dutch duo proved its clay-court pedigree with a run to the semi-finals at last week’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, and the pair held their nerve on Friday to rally from 0/4 in the second set tie-break by winning seven straight points.

Their semi-final opponents will be Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, the in-form Dutch-British team chasing a fourth tour-level title of the year. Koolhof and Skupski advanced via walkover from their quarter-final, as did Mexican-Argentine duo Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.