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Chengdu Open – Chengdu, China

The top four seeds — Dominic Thiem, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev — attended the Chengdu Open Players’ Party at the St. Regis Chengdu, where they received a gift from the tournament with their names written in Chinese calligraphy.

Wu Yibing, who recently became the youngest Chinese winner on the ATP Challenger Tour circuit just a week after claiming the US Open Boys’ Singles and Doubles titles, attended the draw ceremony.

#NextGenATP Karen Khachanov, Jared Donaldson and Taylor Fritz visited the Chengdu pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Donaldson was on top of his panda trivia, asking, “Did you know that China owns the rights to every panda in the world, except two? Those two are in Mexico.” Read and Watch

Marcos Baghdatis and #NextGenATP Borna Coric put their culinary skills to the test, attempting to make Chinese meat dumplings. Read and Watch

“There are not a lot of similarities between American and Chinese culture – we don’t have bamboo and cultural places like this,” said Donaldson, who joined Sweden’s Mikael Ymer on a trip to ‘Wangjian Lou’, a cultural attraction in Chengdu that roughly means ‘river view pavilion.’ The duo learned calligraphy and played mini-tennis in the park. Read and Watch

Shenzhen Open – Shenzhen, China

Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev joined David Goffin and Paolo Lorenzi at the Shenzhen Open Players’ Party. The Zverevs continued an annual tradition in which players competing in the event leave their handprint in a piece of artwork.

Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s top seed, visited the Shenzhen Grand Gemdale Tennis Club in Pingshan, an hour’s drive off-site, where he held a clinic for players in the academy.

China’s own Ze Zhang and Israeli Dudi Sela attended the draw ceremony.

Lorenzi and Jeremy Chardy played mini-tennis in front of the tournament hotel to help launch the tournament.

Doubles players Marcelo Melo and Alexander Peya played tennis with local kids and offered photo opportunities.

He caught the imagination of the tennis world when he reached the semi-finals of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, and 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov’s stunning backhand pass against Adrian Mannarino not only drew the applause of his opponent, but was voted by fans as the #NextGenATP Shining Shot for the third quarter of 2017.

In a poll run last week, Shapovalov’s winning backhand received 61 per cent of the fans’ vote. Alexander Zverev’s 49-shot rally with Richard Gasquet earned 21 per cent of the vote, while shots from Alexander Bublik, Matteo Berrettini and Tommy Paul received 13 per cent, four per cent and two per cent, respectively.

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It has been a long and winding road for Ante Pavic throughout his eight-year career.

But as arduous as the journey has been for the 28 year old, victory never tasted so sweet. Pavic stood in the winners’ circle for the first time on the ATP Challenger Tour on Sunday, lifting the trophy in Columbus, Ohio. It came in dramatic fashion, as the Croatian stormed back from a set and a break down to defeat Alexander Ward 6-7(11), 6-4, 6-3.

“It was a really good feeling,” Pavic told ATPWorldtour.com. “I’ve had good results, winning a round at Wimbledon and some matches in ATP events, but I never won a Challenger. It was a great feeling and I was just relieved.”

After rising to a career-high of No. 132 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2014, on the back of strong performances to qualify at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the Croatian came down with mononucleosis, and was out for six months. In 2016, he discovered a stress fracture in his right shoulder. This season, Pavic missed two months with hip problems.

The ATP Challenger Tour has been an important step in navigating that winding road. That was most evident last week when the 28 year old took a significant step in the right direction. His victory in Columbus saw him climb 135 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings to No. 290.

“I was very nervous,” Pavic said, referring to Sunday’s final. “In the morning before the match and during the match especially. Somehow I managed to break back and relaxed more… the final was not the best match for us, but it’s understandable knowing that it’s the final and a big chance to win a first title.”

It was not the first time that Pavic earned a big victory this season, winning his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 qualifying match this summer in Cincinnati against #NextGenATP Ernesto Escobedo. Nobody would have guessed that he had lost in the first round of a Futures tournament the week before against the World No. 804.

“I played a pretty bad match and wasn’t at my level. After the match there were a lot of negative thoughts going through my head,” said Pavic, who was a few hours away from Cincinnati by car and decided to try to get into qualifying as an alternate, which he did. “Tennis is sometimes a crazy sport. When you think you’re not ready and need more practice, you take pressure off yourself and just play the game.”

It was not always easy for Pavic to overcome the tough times, whether it was a rough patch on the court or being forced out of competition due to injury or illness. But one thing has always remained the same.

“It’s just the love for the game. The passion that keeps me in it,” said Pavic. “I was close to the Top 100 before my health problems. The most important thing is that I’ve always loved what I’m doing and I’m always trying to improve. It’s not easy. There are a lot of moments when you feel down and you don’t want to be 28 and dependent on parents and others to pay for expenses. But if you really want something, you can find a way to make it happen.”

Pavic’s big win in Columbus has given him the confidence that he can keep climbing the Emirates ATP Rankings, and he hopes that within a year or two he can break into the Top 100. But through the journey, one lesson stands out.

“Believe in yourself and keep working hard even if the results aren’t coming,” Pavic said. “Leave the door open for good things, because you never know which tournament is going to suit your game. That’s one of the big lessons and exactly what happened to me.”

40/30 seems like a very competitive point score, with the returner already capturing two points and being just three points from breaking serve.

But don’t be fooled: It’s still one-way traffic for the server.

Even though the returner has won 40 per cent (two of five) of the points played so far in the game, his chance of breaking serve is still less than 10 per cent.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the current Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings shows that, since the start of the 2015 season, they have held serve from 40/30 92.7 per cent (6331/6826) of the time.

The player who has been the toughest to break when leading 40/30 on serve is Roger Federer, who has held a dominant 95.4 per cent (535/561) of the time from this seemingly competitive point score.

Current Top 10: Holding from 40/30 since the start of the 2015 season

Federer: Past Three Seasons Holding From 40/30

• 2017 = 96.3% (157/163)

• 2016 = 95.5% (107/112)

• 2015 = 94.7% (271/286)

Even worse news for his opponents: Federer has slightly improved in this specific category during the past three seasons. This year, he’s led 40/30 during 163 service games and has lost only six of those points. Opponents must feel like they are getting closer to capturing Federer’s serve, but in reality, they are farther away from breaking than they were at 0/0.

Infosys Nia Data shows that in 2017 Federer is holding serve 91 per cent of the time, but at 40/30, he is holding 96.3 per cent (157/163) of the time. The returner winning two points in the service game doesn’t trump the fact that Federer needs just one more point to hold. When the Swiss star has surged ahead 40/15 this season, his win percentage has elevated to a near-perfect 99.1 per cent (229/231).

Marin Cilic is the second best performer of current Top 10 players, holding serve from 40/30 94.6 per cent (596/630) of the time since the beginning of the 2015 season. Former World No. 1s Novak Djokovic (93.9 per cent) and Andy Murray (93 per cent) are third and fourth on the list, being the only other players to reach the 93 per cent mark.

Next are #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev (92.6 per cent) and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (92.4 per cent). Rounding out the Top 10 in this category include Stan Wawrinka (92.3 per cent), Dominic Thiem (92.2 per cent), Grigor Dimitrov (91.7 per cent) and Pablo Carreno Busta (89.5 per cent).

Practice Court

A fun practice drill for players at all levels of the game to complement this fascinating data would be to play a set where the server begins the game at 40/30. If the server drops serve, he instantly loses the set. The focus is on the business end of the game, with elevated pressure as fewer points are required to hold and break serve. It’s a fun way to work a five-setter into your afternoon on court.

#NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson battled into the quarter-finals of the Chengdu Open as he edged Kyle Edmund 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 on Wednesday at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

It is an important win for the 20-year-old Donaldson, who is currently sixth in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, as he bids to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals. Just five weeks remain in the battle to qualify for the eight-player event.

Donaldson defeated Edmund for the second time this year, breaking the Briton in the final game of the match to convert his third match point after one hour and 39 minutes. The right-hander also came through a tight first-round encounter, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5 in the third set. He is looking to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final.

“Once you do it once, you know you could do it again. I knew that if I played well, if I played my game, I had a really good chance to win the match,” Donaldson said. “At the end of the day, each match is a new day, it’s a new match…again, it was a really close match. That’s what you expect at this level.”

There was disappointment for second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas and third seed Karen Khachanov, though.

Dusan Lajovic won 76 per cent of his service points as he upset Ramos-Vinolas, 6-2, 6-3, in 67 minutes. The No. 84-ranked Lajovic is through to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since Kitzbuhel in July (l. to Kohlschreiber) and goes on to face fifth seed Yuichi Sugita, who was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Thiago Monteiro.

Defending champion Khachanov fell at the first hurdle as he was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Denis Istomin. The 21 year old won his first ATP World Tour title in Chengdu 12 months ago, but was disappointed on his return, losing his serve three times in the 65-minute defeat.

“It’s really disappointing for me,” said Khachanov. “It just didn’t go the way I wanted in terms of playing the way I wanted. I just couldn’t find exactly my game today. I wasn’t aggressive and I was missing a lot. I haven’t been as consistent as I’d like in some tournaments this year, but that’s something I can improve, so that’s a positive thing.”

The 31-year-old Istomin, who famously defeated Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open in January, is through to his second quarter-final in a row after reaching the last eight in Metz last week (l. to Basilashvili).

Last week’s Metz champion, Peter Gojowczyk, survived a quick turnaround to defeat eighth seed Leonardo Mayer, 6-2, 6-2 in 55 minutes. The victory comes three days after the 28-year-old Gojowczyk captured his first ATP World Tour title at the Moselle Open (d. Paire), taking him to a career-high No. 66 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Top Seeds Upset, Second Seeds Cruise

Jonathan Erlich and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi led by a set and 4-1 against top-seeded Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. But after nearly squandering the lead, with Marach and Pavic earning three set points in the ensuing tie-break, the Israeli-Pakistani duo pulled off the upset, 6-4, 7-6(8) in one hour and 33 minutes.

Second seeds Julio Peralta and Michael Venus dropped just four games in their first-round dismissal of Borna Coric and Guido Pella, advancing with a 6-1, 6-3 win in 46 minutes. Peralta is coming off a runner-up showing in St. Petersburg with Horacio Zeballos.

Dominic Thiem, who is the top seed in the singles draw, paired up with Jan-Lennard Struff in the doubles, but the pair was defeated by Mayer and Ramos-Vinolas, 6-4, 6-2.

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Zhizhen Zhang began his week with one career ATP World Tour victory. But after the 20 year old’s stunning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) upset over fourth-seeded Paolo Lorenzi, the Chinese qualifier is into his first tour-level quarter-final at the Shenzhen Open.

“I feel very excited,” Zhang said. “I just wished tonight I can survive and I will be ready for the next one.”

Zhang was up 3-1 in the deciding set when he lost three games in a row, and then faced two break points, which would have allowed the No. 2 Italian to serve for the match. But once Zhang was able to hold, both players managed their service games well until the tie-break.

Under the greatest pressure of his career thus far, Zhang earned what would be the final mini-break while up 4-3 and he would not look back, going on to close out the World No. 39 in two hours and 31 minutes. The 20 year old has already secured a new career-high Emirates ATP Ranking, but should Zhang win again in Shenzhen, he will climb to the doorstep of the Top 300. 

“Next match I will do my best,” said Zhang, who is the first tour-level quarter-finalist from China since Ze Zhang in Beijing five years ago. “I will not think how he’s going to play. I will think how I’m going to play. That’s the most important thing.”

Second-seeded David Goffin got off to a strong start to his campaign, beating Evgeny Donskoy, 7-6(5), 6-3 in one hour and 25 minutes.

The World No. 12 saved the lone break point he faced in the sixth game of the opening set, and managed to navigate through a tie-break in which more points were won by the returner than the server. In the second set, the Belgian broke early on and lost just six points on serve to close out the match. 

Three days after winning his first ATP World Tour title, sixth seed Damir Dzumhur had made the trip from St. Petersburg to Shenzhen, where he advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over John Millman.

Dzumhur is at a career-high No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings this week after becoming the first player from Bosnia & Herzegovina to win an ATP World Tour title when he defeated Fabio Fognini in the St. Petersburg Open final. The 25 year old notched his 28th win of the season in 77 minutes as he struck 11 aces and converted four of his seven break points.

Top-seeded Alexander Zverev will make his singles debut in Shenzhen on Thursday, when the World No. 4 takes on ATP World Tour veteran Steve Darcis.

Top Seeds Survive And Advance

Top-seeded Nikola Mektic and Nicholas Monroe chose the right time to earn their first break of serve Wednesday. After David Marrero and Joao Sousa broke the Croatian-American duo to serve for the match in the second set at 5-4, the veterans fought back to break and eventually win the set in a tie-break. Mektic and Monroe would then go on to claim the match tie-break as well, earning the 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-7 victory. 

First-time pairing Marcelo Melo and Zverev, the third seeds, beat Wimbledon quarter-finalists Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Andrei Vasilevski, 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 32 minutes.

Fourth-seeded Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak were not as fortunate, falling to Andre Begemann and Franko Skugor, 7-5, 7-6(5) after losing four set points in the second set.

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