Tecnifibre has launched its second “Young Guns on the Road Contest.” The 2016 edition of the competition pits four young champions against one another on the court and through social media. At stake? $50,000.

That’s no small change, especially for a young player starting on the pro circuit. “$50,000 – that almost covers a whole season,” said Gregoire Barrere, a 22-year-old Frenchman ranked No. 229 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Barrere is one of the four “Young Guns” picked by Tecnifibre from among the team of players under contract with the tennis equipment manufacturer to participate in the contest.

The other three players featured will be 22-year-old American Mitchell Krueger, ranked No. 260; 19-year-old Australian Omar Jasika, No. 235 in the Emirates ATP Rankings; and 20-year-old Russian Daniil Medvedev, ranked No. 256.

“You can do a lot with that much money: Hire a physio for a few weeks, add someone else to your team…” said Medvedev. “That money would be a huge help this early in my career.”

The winning player will have to show an unrivalled ability to engage and galvanize their fans on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Through tennis, obviously, but that’s not all: These four young men have much more to say to the world.

The winner’s cheque will be presented at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November.

Philipp Kohlschreiber is one set away from reaching yet another ATP World Tour final in Germany. The No. 7 seed leads wild card Juan Martin del Potro in their semi-final at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, 6-3, 2-2.

Winning 88 per cent of points when he got his first serve in, Kohlschreiber held serve comfortably throughout the set and put consistent pressure on del Potro with his return. The Argentine hadn’t dropped serve all tournament, but lost his serve early in the opening set and saw Kohlschreiber break again at 5-3 to take the opening set.

The players traded service holds in the second set up to 2-2, when the match was suspended due to rain with Kohlschreiber serving at 15/15.

Kohlschreiber is looking to move into the third grass-court final of his career and his first since 2011. Five of his seven career ATP World Tour titles have come in Germany, as well as 10 of his 15 career ATP World Tour finals.

Del Potro aims to reach his first ATP World Tour final since winning in Auckland in January 2014. A win over Kohlschreiber would also put him into the first grass-court final of his career.

The winner of this match will play No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem in Sunday’s final.

Mate Pavic and Michael Venus won their fourth tour-level title of the season on Saturday at the Ricoh Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The Croat and Kiwi beat the first-time team of Dominic Inglot and Raven Klaasen 3-6, 6-3 11-9 to capture their fourth title of the season, which leads the ATP World Tour. Pavic/Venus also won titles in Auckland, Montpellier and Marseille earlier this year.

After losing the first set, Pavic/Venus gained their second break of the second set at 4-3 and evened the match the next game. Inglot/Klaasen led 7/5 in the match tie-break, but Pavic/Venus came back to lead 9/7. The Brit and South African, though, made it interesting and levelled the tie-break at 9/9. But Pavic/Venus won the next two points to earn their fifth career tour-level final together and their first on grass.

The champions will receive 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €30,620. Inglot/Klaasen will receive 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €16,100.

Stuttgart Doubles Final Set

The doubles final at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart is set. New Zealanders Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak knocked off No. 2 seeds Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau 6-3, 7-6(4) to advance to their first final of the season. Daniell/Sitak, who secured their first team title at Montpellier last year, won 75 per cent of their first-serve points in the win. They will face Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin in the final on Sunday.

Gilles Muller prevailed in a battle of big-serving veterans to reach his first tour-level final in four years on Saturday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. He will next face defending champion Nicolas Mahut for the first time at tour-level.

The crafty left-hander kept up his nearly perfect serving during his semi-final match against the 6’11” Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Muller nailed 22 aces, including four straight at 5-6 in the second set. The Luxembourg native also won 96 per cent of his first-serve points (49/51) to win 7-6(5), 7-6(4) and move into the Ricoh Open final.

“I’m happy I’m in a final,” Muller said. “It was a very tough match.”

Neither Muller or Karlovic saw a break point on Saturday as both players’ serve-and-volley games dominated play. Karlovic hit 21 aces and won almost 90 per cent of his first-serve points (42/47).

But it was Muller who came through in the match’s biggest moments. Karlovic double faulted at 1/1 in the first-set tie-break, his fourth of the first set, giving Muller a mini-break. Muller held the next two points to go up 4-1 and later won the first set tie-break with a backhand volley into the open court.

In the second set tie-break, Karlovic netted a backhand volley at 1/2 to give Muller another mini-break. Muller, No. 44 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, needed nothing more, winning the second set on another backhand volley.

“The most important points were in the tie-break,” Muller said, “and I didn’t lose one point on serve in the tie-breaks.”

Mahut saw off American Sam Querrey 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4. The two-time champion (2013 & 2015) survived 19 aces from Querrey and scored the only two breaks of the match to prevail in just under two hours. The French serve-and-volleyer did not face a break point in the final two sets and improved to 2-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Querrey (2015 US Open).

“On grass, you just need to play one point at a time,” Mahut said. “I had the chance to break him late in the second set. At one set-all, anything can happen.

“It’s tough to explain how I feel at this tournament. Every time I come here, either I win or I end up losing to the winner. I love the court and the atmosphere. In the final, it’s better to win than to lose, but I’m just happy to be in it and will try my best tomorrow.”