Julien Benneteau has achieved so much success as a doubles player on the ATP World Tour that it can be easy to forget how much the Frenchman also has accomplished by himself on court.

From 2008 to 2014, the 6’1” right-hander reached 10 ATP World Tour finals, including two per year in 2008 and 2012-2013. Benneteau has always finished as a singles finalist, but he’s never let that deter his singles or doubles success or his participation in singles.

This week, the two-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles champion (Shanghai, with Tsonga; Monte-Carlo, with Zimonjic) will again return to the singles side of play in his debut at the BB&T Atlanta Open. “I love to play in the U.S. The tournaments are good and very well-organized,” Benneteau said. “I’m very glad to be here for the first time.”

Benneteau wasn’t always pleased, though, when he kept falling short in ATP World Tour singles finals. “Keep going, keep going, keep going,” he remembers telling himself.

“Because sometimes after one, two of the finals, I was very disappointed. I was very low and in a bad mood, and it was tough,” he said.

He also encouraged himself to keep reaching the bigger stages of tournaments. “It was one of the things I told myself, ‘OK, it’s not this one. Give yourself another chance, another time’,” he said.

The Frenchman has followed his own advice. In doubles, Benneteau has won 10 career tour-level titles, including two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns. He and compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the Shanghai Rolex Masters on hard courts in 2009. Benneteau and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on clay in 2013.

In 2014, the Bourg-en-Bresse native and current doubles partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, claimed their home Grand Slam championship by winning Roland Garros. This season, they reached the semi-finals in Rome and the final at Wimbledon.

“I always loved to play doubles, even when I was younger so it’s natural for me,” said Benneteau, No. 37 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings.

The 34 year old said his game, especially his return of serve, also might be better suited for two-on-two tennis. “I’m an all-around player. I can play a lot of styles, on every surface. It helps me a lot for doubles,” said Benneteau, who has won doubles titles on hard courts, clay courts, indoor carpet and indoor hard courts.

This week, Benneteau won’t have a partner with him on the court but he will have a longtime pal ready to discuss his matches. Antoine Benneteau, Julien Benneteau’s younger brother by four and a half years, now coaches Julien. Antoine Benneteau also played on the ATP World Tour, reaching No. 370 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in April 2013.

“Obviously he knows me very well. He always followed my career and my matches and he used to play so he knows tennis… he knows the [ATP World Tour], he knows how it works, he knows all the players, so he helps me a lot,” Julien Benneteau said. “Everything is good, and I hope now in singles we can have a good result to show to others that we make a good team.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic plays for his fourth Rogers Cup and record-extending 30th ATP Masters 1000 title against sixth-ranked Kei Nishikori on Sunday. The Serbian superstar has swept eight straight meetings with Nishikori, including a 6-3, 6-3 win in the ATP Masters 1000 Miami final. Djokovic has won 10 titles and reached 14 finals in his last 15 ATP Masters 1000 appearances, all of which have come during his run of 108 consecutive weeks atop the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Nishikori beat World No. 5 Stan Wawrinka to advance to the final, snapping a 16-match losing streak against Top 5 opponents that dated back to his win over Djokovic at the 2014 US Open. While Djokovic bids for his 30th ATP Masters 1000 crown, Nishikori seeks the biggest title of his career. He fell to Rafael Nadal in the 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid final after leading 6-2, 4-2, finished runner-up to Marin Cilic at the 2014 US Open, and lost to Djokovic in Miami on April 3.

Six days before the start of the Rio Olympics, Brazilian medal hopes Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares will be opponents in the Rogers Cup doubles final. Melo and Ivan Dodig, the 2015 Roland Garros champions, will meet Soares and Jamie Murray, the reigning Australian Open champions. Soares has an 11-6 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head doubles record against his countryman Melo, including a win with Murray over Dodig and Melo in the ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo semi-finals.

Soares and ex-partner Alexander Peya defeated Dodig and Melo en route to the 2013 Rogers Cup title and again in the 2014 Rogers Cup final. As teammates, Melo and Soares are 10-2 in Davis Cup and 82-56 overall with four titles, highlighted by a 1-6, 6-4, 24-22 win over Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek to reach the quarter-finals at the 2012 London Olympics. But the Brazilians went 3-3 in ATP World Tour events this season at Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Washington.

Novak Djokovic did not serve his best against Gael Monfils at the Rogers Cup on Saturday, but the outcome was never in doubt, as the Serbian marched to a 6-3, 6-2 semi-final triumph against the Frenchman in 73 minutes. With the loss, Monfils fell to 0-12 against Djokovic in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry despite the World No. 1 firing one ace and six double-faults.

“You do have a certain mental comfort knowing that you have had plenty of success against your opponent. Nevertheless, that is not a certainty. That’s not a guarantee that you can win the match. Actually, it actually makes him more eager to come out and play his best tennis,” Djokovic said. “I’ve been working on my serve a lot the last couple of years, and I think especially on the second serve it has gave me an advantage, more depth on the second serve and so forth. In this tournament it is not working very well but in general in past couple of years it has served me very well.”

Djokovic, who had overcome a stern test against Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals on Friday, found the margin of victory with flawless play from the baseline. The three-time Rogers Cup champion (2007, 2011-12) aimed to extend rallies and covered the court so well that the explosive Monfils, who beat hometown hero Milos Raonic the previous night, was unable to make use of his creativity. The 2016 Citi Open champion won only 28 per cent of second-serve points and dropped serve four times before succumbing.

“I guess he missed a few shots at the beginning. I got some opportunities and I took them,” said Monfils, who secured the first break of serve of the match before Djokovic took over. “And then suddenly he was not missing anymore. He was going for his shots and being much better in the rallies. He became super solid. When Novak is playing like that, it’s very tough to beat him.”

The top player in the Emirates ATP Rankings continued his domination at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level. He has now reached the final in 14 of his past 15 appearances and is aiming for an 11th title in that span. On Sunday, he will be playing for a record 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

In the final, Djokovic will face Kei Nishikori, who won in straight sets against Stan Wawrinka earlier in the day. Djokovic is 9-2 at the tour-level against the Japanese star and is riding an eight-match winning streak over the No. 3 seed.

Kei Nishikori overcame a slow start to reach the Rogers Cup final on Saturday, rallying past Stan Wawrinka 7-6(6), 6-1.

Nishikori battled into his 19th tour-level final, needing one hour and 29 minutes to seal the victory over Wawrinka. Runner-up in Miami (l. to Djokovic) in April, he will appear in his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of the year and third overall.

Nishikori was at his best with his back against the wall in the opening set on Saturday. The Japanese surrendered a quick break in the fourth game, as Wawrinka began pulling away.

But as soon as the Swiss sprinted to a 5-2 advantage, Nishikori stormed back. The third seed would make significant inroads on return, having a break chance in four consecutive Wawrinka service games. With the Swiss serving for the set at 5-3, he would break back, drawing an error with a rifled return.

Four times Wawrinka would find himself on the doorstep of taking the opener, with a pair of set points on Nishikori’s serve at 6-5 and two more in the ensuing tie-break. But the 26-year-old Japanese continued to thrive while under pressure. He reeled off four straight points from 6/4 down in the tie-break and raced to the finish line in the second set, claiming 11 of the last 13 games.

“I think he started much better in the first couple games, especially,” said Nishikori. “He was hitting very good serves and was very aggressive until the 5-3 game. I started returning better and he was missing a little bit. I think he had more chances to get the first set.

“After that, he started playing a little slower. I knew I had to step it up, otherwise he’s going to come back. I’m just happy to win today.”

In total, Nishikori benefited from 37 Wawrinka unforced errors, while striking 17 winners, including eight off his forehand wing. The win halts a 16-match losing streak against Top 5 players and gives him just his second victory over Wawrinka in five FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters.

Nishikori awaits the winner of the second semi-final between three-time champion Novak Djokovic and Frenchman Gael Monfils. He has already faced Djokovic in three Masters 1000 events this year, falling in the Miami final and the Madrid and Rome semis.

Watch Wawrinka Hot Shot

“I think I had a lot of chances in the first set,” said Wawrinka, who was appearing in his first semi-final in his 10th Rogers Cup. “It was a tough match to play Kei today. It was tough conditions, quite windy and fast. I had a lot of opportunities to take the set. I didn’t. In general, the level was up and down from both sides and it was a really tough first set. I should have played better. That’s it.

“It’s a really positive tournament, to make the semi-finals in a Masters 1000 here on hard courts where I never really played well. It’s a good tournament. There is a lot to take from it. After having a good preparation, I think there are many things that I can be happy with.”