Having finally captured his maiden ATP Tour title last week in Rotterdam, Felix Auger-Aliassime will hope the floodgates have opened.

The 21-year-old reached consecutive tour-level finals as he ended the breakout run of Roman Safiullin with a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory in the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence in Marseille on Saturday.

Safiullin more than played his part in a tense two-hour, 27-minute battle, but Auger-Aliassime’s quality shone through at crucial moments as the Canadian sealed his eighth consecutive win.

Some early nerves from Safiullin gave his opponent a break in the opening game of the match, but the Russian quickly settled and hit back after converting his sixth break point of a marathon sixth game.

After another quick exchange of breaks the qualifier drew near to the first set as he earned a 4/1 lead in the tie-break, but Auger-Aliassime strung together a series of big points to turn it around, winning six on the trot to take the first set.

Sportsmanship doesn’t get much better than this 👏@felixtennis hears the call of out and tells Safiullin to challenge it because he believes it was in! pic.twitter.com/m6VmeP8hFW

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 19, 2022

A second set dominated by serve almost opened up for Auger-Aliassime in the eighth game. The Russian showed more courage under pressure to save four break points and hold, but it was the World No. 9 who once again triumphed in the tie-break, Safiullun netting a forehand to send Auger-Aliassime into his tenth ATP Tour final.

After impressing for Team Russia at the ATP Cup in January, World No. 163 Safiullin will hope his strong run at the ATP 250 event is the trigger for a big move up the ATP Rankings in 2022. His bid to reach a first ATP Tour final fell just short as Auger-Aliassime’s serving got him through in crucial moments, the Canadian ending with 15 aces.

Auger-Aliassime will face Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s championship match, after the World No. 7 once again proved he is having no problems upsetting the locals this week in Marseille.

The Russian defeated a French opponent for the third consecutive match as he put an end to Benjamin Bonzi’s dream run at the Open 13 Provence with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 semi-final victory on Saturday.

“[Coming into] this week I was really motivated,” said Rublev after the match. “I was so excited to compete, to try to play at a good level, to win some matches and it’s my first final of the season so I’m really happy and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

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It was another encouraging performance for the World No. 69 Bonzi, playing in his first tour-level semi-final, but Rublev found an extra gear in the deciding set to reach his maiden final of 2022.

The Russian came out firing in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting, hitting a series of searing forehand winners to seal the first set as ninth seed Bonzi struggled to live with Rublev’s power.

Bonzi, who has won seven ATP Challenger Tour titles in the past 12 months, reacted to dropping the first set of his Marseille run by upping his level to push Rublev hard in the second set. The Russian saved two break points before holding in a marathon third game, but Bonzi persevered and didn’t miss his opportunity to break for 4-3. The Frenchman served out the set to level the match as a delighted home crowd sensed an upset.

Rublev required deciding sets against both Richard Gasquet and Lucas Pouille in his previous rounds and did not panic as the crowd grew louder. The Russian broke early to establish a 3-0 lead and defied the febrile atmosphere to go on and seal victory in one hour, 52 minutes, having served nine aces and won 75 per cent (52/69) of points behind his first serve overall.

“It was super tough,” said Rublev after winning through to face Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s championship match. “Benjamin is playing really great this year, he beat great players this week and I’m happy to be in the final.”

With his World No. 1 ATP Ranking on the line, Novak Djokovic faces a tough first assignment of 2022 when he takes on #NextGenATP star Lorenzo Musetti in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai.

The Serb returns to the ATP Tour this week knowing that Daniil Medvedev will become World No. 1 for the first time if the Russian wins the title at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco. The talented Musetti gave Djokovic a real scare by taking the first two sets in the pair’s sole previous meeting at Roland Garros last year, but Djokovic is a five-time champion in Dubai and will be confident of performing well again in the desert conditions of the U.A.E.

View Draw: Dubai

Djokovic’s half of the draw at the ATP 500 event is littered with in-form rivals. Should he get past Musetti he could play 2018 Rolex Paris Masters champion and Adelaide International 1 finalist Karen Khachanov in the second round, with a semi-final with Rotterdam champion Felix Auger-Aliassime also a possibility.

Second seed Andrey Rublev headlines the bottom half of the draw, and he will look to snap a two-match losing streak against the World No. 28 Daniel Evans in the opening round. A potential semi-final opponent for the Russian is former World No. 1 Andy Murray, who opens up against a qualifier as he aims to repeat his title run from his last appearance in Dubai in 2017.

Roberto Bautista Agut ended his dominant week in style on Saturday, downing Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-4 in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final to win his first ATP Tour title since 2019.

In a repeat of last year’s championship match in Doha, a pumped-up Bautista Agut played consistently and aggressively from the baseline to gain revenge over the Georgian, who triumphed in the final in 2021.

“I am very happy,” Bautista Agut said. “It has been a while since I lifted a trophy. I have been working very hard to reach another final and to get the chance to win another title. It was a big dream for me to win a title and I have now won twice in Doha. It is very special for me and I am very happy.”

Spreading the love 🥰@BautistaAgut pic.twitter.com/w2EOWomPK5

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 19, 2022

The Spaniard fired his groundstrokes through the court and rallied from a break down in the first and second sets to seal his victory after 86 minutes. It is the second time Bautista Agut has lifted the trophy at the ATP 250 event, having clinched the crown in 2019.

The World No. 16, who dropped just one set en route to the title, has now won 10 tour-level crowns, holding a 10-9 record in championship matches. Doha is the second ATP Tour tournament where the 33-year-old holds multiple titles, after lifting the trophy in Auckland in 2016 and 2018.

“It was a really tough final,” Bautista Agut added. “This year we played without wind, which was much better for me. It was not easy to recover after a really tough battle yesterday, but I think I did a good job today. It is my 10th ATP Tour title and I am very happy.”

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With his victory, Bautista Agut now leads Basilashvili 4-2 in their ATP Head2Head series and has improved to 11-3 on the season.

In a lively start, Basilashvili raced ahead as he overpowered Bautista Agut with his flat groundstrokes under the lights in Doha. However, the Spaniard then started to find his rhythm, hitting with greater depth to break back before he improved on serve. The 33-year-old then broke again, before he reeled off his fifth game in a row, sealing the set when Basilashvili hit a return long.

The second set followed a similar pattern to the first set, with Basilashvili breaking to lead, before Bautista Agut rallied to level at 3-3. Fuelled with belief, the second seed continued to hit with too much consistency for the Georgian, who struggled to deal with Bautista Agut’s variety. After breaking for a 5-4 lead, the Spaniard held his nerve on serve to clinch the title.

The 2021 Doha champion Basilashvili was aiming to win his sixth tour-level title. This week, the third seed defeated Mikael Ymer, Marton Fucsovics and Arthur Rinderknech as he regained his top form to reach the final.

“I am super happy with how I played in this tournament,” Basilashvili said during the trophy ceremony. “I love coming back here. I would like to congratulate Roberto for a great tournament. I would like to thank the crowd. I am super proud to play in front of you.”

Matteo Berrettini had to wait an extra day to start his Rio de Janeiro campaign. Then he had to wait a little longer to wrap up a 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 win over home favourite Thiago Monteiro after failing to convert on two match points in the second set.

Thursday’s rain pushed the second-round match back by a day, and Friday’s showers halted the contest just after the Italian rocketed a forehand winner to bring up break point at 3-4 in the third.

“Everything was really difficult,” said the World No. 6, who was playing his first clay-court match since Roland Garros. “But you have to [go through] that in order to be in this kind of position in the rankings. At these kinds of tournaments, you have to play your best tennis in the important moments. Today worked out really well, especially in the first and the third, so I’m really happy about that.”

After a six-hour delay, they returned with the match on a knife’s edge. Monteiro saved that break point with a big serve to the Berrettini backhand, but clipped the net cord on a second as the Italian closed in on the quarter-finals.

Relying on his usual recipe of big serves and big forehands, Berrettini got to triple match point. After the Brazilian battled back to 40/30, the top seed caressed a clever drop shot to close it out.

Just nine points were required following the resumption of play, and the match finished after 11:30 p.m.

Before the rain, Berrettini won the opening set without facing a break point, but fell behind at 4-1 and 5-2 in the second. He stopped Monteiro from serving out the set at 5-3, then saved a set point on serve in the next game. It was the Brazilian’s turn for a comeback in the tie-break, as he saved two match points in erasing a 5-2 deficit. From 6-4 down, Monteiro won the final four points of the set.

The third set remained on serve until Berrettini’s late charge.

This was the top seed’s first ATP Tour action since his semi-final run at the Australian Open, where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in four sets. He could face a rematch with Carlos Alcaraz next, one month after he beat the Spaniard in a fifth-set tie-break in the AO third round. 

The seventh-seeded Alcaraz was two points from taking the opening set against Federico Delbonis on Thursday before rain stopped the match at 5-4, 30/15. Following Berrettini’s win, more rain has delayed the resumption of that match on Quadra Guga Kuerten.

Third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares took advantage of a break in the Rio de Janeiro rain to complete a rain-delayed 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final win over Benoit Paire and Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Rio Open presented by Claro on Friday.

Murray and Soares backed up some solid serving with three breaks of serve on the clay of the ATP 500 event. They await either top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos or Spanish pairing Carlos Alcaraz and Pablo Carreno Busta in the semi-finals.

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Klaasen/McLachlan Reach Final In Marseille
At the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, the first final spot was booked as second seeds Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan secured a 5-7, 6-3, 10-4 victory over Matwe Middelkoop and Andreas Mies.

A tight encounter saw both teams break serve only once, but it was the South African-Japanese pairing, seeking a third ATP Tour title together, who held their nerve in the Match Tie-break as they surged to an 8-2 lead before sealing victory.

There was another exciting finish in the last quarter-final match at the ATP 250 event, as Danish #NextGenATP star Holger Rune teamed up with home favourite Hugo Gaston to defeat Polish pairing Szymon Walkow and Jan Zielinski, 7-6(2), 5-7, 10-6. Rune and Gaston now face a semi-final clash with Ukrainian-Russian pairing Denys Molchanov and Andrey Rublev on Saturday.

Nedovyesov/Qureshi Into Delray Beach SFs
At the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, third seeds Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi overcame American pairing Nicholas Monroe and Jackson Withrow, 7-6(4), 7-5. The Kazakh-Pakistiani pairing won 90 per cent (35/39) points behind first serves in a solid display to reach the semi-finals, where they will face American wild cards Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson. 

The third time — and the third set — was the charm for Cameron Norrie against Sebastian Korda in Delray Beach on Friday.

After straight-set losses to the American at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com (SF) last season and the Australian Open (R1) this year, the World No. 13 got his first win in the ATP Head2Head matchup, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(4).

In the quarter-final, Norrie was at his best early and late. After an inspired start, he had to stop his opponent from serving out the match in the third before a steady finish earned him the win.

“Its always a tricky matchup against Sebi,” the top seed said post-match. “He’s such a great player. He’s a tough matchup for me in general, but I ended up coming out here, I was super aggressive and managed to be the one dictating play a little bit more.

“Then he started doing that to me in the second set, and what a battle it was in the third set.”

After a pair of one-sided sets, the decider was finely poised at 4-4. Korda used pair of forehand winners — one off the ground, one off the volley — to convert the first break chance for either man in the frame. But after he closed from 0/40 to 30/40 in his attempt to serve it out, a double fault restored parity.

With new life, Norrie tightened his game down the stretch and Korda could not recover from some untimely errors.

It was all Norrie in the early going, as he created a break point in all four of his first-set return games and converted in the last two. He faced his first break points in a six-deuce second game of set two, with Korda taking his fourth opportunity to edge ahead and kickstart a one-sided set in his favour.

After escaping with the win, Norrie will face fourth seed Tommy Paul in Saturday’s semis, after the fourth seed dismissed Stefan Kozlov, 6-3, 6-1, in an all-American quarter-final earlier on Friday. 

“Tommy is so talented. He’s one of my good friends on tour,” Norrie previewed. “It’s never going to be easy, but tomorrow is going to be a battle. He’s so talented and he comes forward a lot.”

With a win in his third ATP Tour quarter-final of the season, Paul gets through to the final four for the first time. He finished the 2021 season with his first ATP Tour title in Stockholm and entered Delray Beach with a career-high ATP Ranking of World No. 41.

The in-form American has dropped just six games in two Delray matches, starting with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Denis Istomin on Wednesday.

The Delray Beach night session will open with second seed Reilly Opelka vs. seventh seed Adrian Mannarino, and finish with third seed Grigor Dimitrov taking on Aussie John Millman.

Roman Safiullin is producing the magic this week in Marseille.

The World No. 163 claimed the best victory of his career on Friday as he upset two-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence.

The Russian had come through tough three-setters against Alexei Popyrin and Tomas Machac to reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final, but he showed no signs of fatigue or nerves as he outplayed the top seed from the start.

It was an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from Tsitsipas, but he was regularly forced into errors by the ball-striking and variety of the World No. 163’s game.

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The Russian showed he meant business early, bringing a high level to the opening set as he broke for 3-2 and remained composed to serve it out, converting his first set point with a clean backhand winner.

An extraordinary opening to the second set saw Tsitsipas save five break points in the opening game, as the Russian refused to let his opponent settle on serve. Although the Greek did manage to hold, Safiullin had another five opportunities in the next Tsitsipas service game, and he stayed aggressive to finally complete the break.

Qualifier Safiullin was strong on serve to ensure that early break was enough to seal the set and the match, running out a deserved winner in one hour, 35 minutes. The Russian lost just four points behind his first serve in the match, with Tsitsipas creating just one break opportunity.

Safiullin, who won two singles matches for Team Russia at January’s ATP Cup, will now face either Rotterdam champion Felix Auger-Aliassime or fifth seed Ilya Ivashka in the semi-finals.

Roberto Bautista Agut demonstrated his fighting qualities on Friday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, edging Karen Khachanov 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a thriller under the lights in Doha.

The Spaniard produced a highly-intense and aggressive performance, overcoming the Russian in two hours and 26 minutes to reach the final at the ATP 250 event for the second consecutive year.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable,” Bautista Agut said in his on-court interview. “I want to give a lot of credit to Karen, he was playing unbelievably. I had to fight really hard to turn the score around. It was a really tough match.”

The second seed found his range as the match went on with the key turning point coming in the third game of the second set, when Bautista Agut fended off seven break points in a mammoth game to hold. From there, the World No. 16 put his foot down and raised his level deep in the third set, breaking at 5-5 with a powerful smash, before holding to seal his win.

An INSANE end to an incredible match 🤯@BautistaAgut moves past Khachanov 2-6 6-3 7-5 in a breathtaking semi-final clash to make the 2021 Doha final! pic.twitter.com/flWLHe5XG1

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 18, 2022

The 33-year-old, who overcame Andy Murray and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for the loss of just three games in his opening two matches, now leads Khachanov 6-2 in their ATP Head2Head series.

“He was playing very fast,” Bautista Agut added. “He was playing very solidly, he was defending very well and he hit many unbelievable passing shots. I had to play incredibly well tonight. I enjoyed tonight so much.”

Bautista Agut has strong pedigree in Doha, having lifted the title in 2019 and reached the final last season. The Spaniard will be aiming to capture his first tour-level crown since he triumphed in Doha three years ago when he faces Nikoloz Basilashivili in a repeat of last years championship match on Saturday.

Khachanov was aiming to reach his second tour-level final of the season, after advancing to the final at the Adelaide International 1 in January.

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Earlier, Basilashvili continued his love affair with the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, soaring into the final for the second consecutive year with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

The Georgian lifted the trophy in Doha last season, defeating Roger Federer en route. Basilashvili will have the opportunity to triumph again when he takes to court on Saturday after he broke Rinderknech three times to end the World No. 61’s run and advance.

“I am feeling great,” Basilashvili said. “I really like playing in Doha. I see the ball really well here and physically I feel much better than previous matches. The final will be a tough match.”

Basilashvili, who arrived at the ATP 250 event on a six-match losing streak in 2022, is aiming to win his sixth tour-level title this week.

Rinderknech was bidding to reach his second final of the year, having enjoyed a run to the championship match at the Adelaide International 2 in January.

Andrey Rublev pulled off another final-set recovery in Marseille to see off Lucas Pouille and reach the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence on Friday.

Having recovered from a break down in the third set against Richard Gasquet in the second round on Wednesday, Rublev repeated the trick in the quarter-finals to break French hearts again as he withstood an inspired performance from wild card Pouille and come through 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in one hour and 41 minutes.

The Russian was pleased to come through another bruising encounter in Marseille. “It’s tough to play against such great players like Richard or Lucas,” said Rublev after the match. “Especially when they play at home, it’s even tougher. That’s why it’s not easy to beat them and why we played three sets, but I’m happy that I won another match and I’m in the semi-finals.”

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The Russian looked in control early on as he took the opening set, Pouille appearing to be feeling the after-effects of his marathon second-round victory over Radu Albot on Thursday night.

The former Top 10 Frenchman, who has struggled with injuries in recent years, was seeking his first tour-level semi-final since 2019. He produced an excellent second set to level the match as he broke the World No. 7 twice while resisting significant pressure on his own serve.

Pouille broke for a 2-0 lead in the deciding set as the crowd grew excited at the prospect of an upset, but the Russian found an extra gear from that point. The Russian ultimately converted four of 11 break point opportunities in the match as he powered to his second ATP Tour semi-final of the season and extended his ATP Head2Head lead over Pouille to 3-0.

“Lucas won so many titles, he beat top players,” said Rublev. “Especially indoors, with his serve, it’s really tough to play against him when he serves and has a huge forehand. He broke me in the second set and I went a bit down mentally, and if I wanted to win I needed to raise my level. In the third set I started to get back mentally and raised my level and I think that was the key.”

Rublev’s next opponent will be ninth seed Benjamin Bonzi, after the Frenchman upset World No. 15 Aslan Karatsev 6-1, 6-3 to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final earlier on Friday.

After capturing six ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2021 and adding a seventh to his career total in Cherbourg just two weeks ago, Bonzi gave a further signal that his transition to the top level is on track with an accomplished performance as his Russian opponent struggled to find any kind of consistency.

In the first ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, the Frenchman was quick out the blocks, breaking Karatsev twice and sealing the first set in style with an ace out wide.

Bonzi’s serving remained strong throughout. The World No. 69 lost just three points behind his first delivery in the match and, although Sydney champion Karatsev did find a better level as the match wore on, it proved too little, too late as the Frenchman sealed victory in one hour, 17 minutes.

The win was Bonzi’s first over a Top 20 player and he is yet to drop a set in Marseille going into Saturday’s semi-final with Rublev.