Tour veterans Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarter-finals of ATP Challenger Tour tournaments on Thursday. The 36-year-old Murray continued his strong form in Nottingham while the Japanese star Nishikori rallied from a set down to survive in Palmas del Mar.

Murray, who has won 12 of his past 13 Challenger-level matches, defeated Frenchman Hugo Grenier 6-3, 7-5 to reach the last eight at the Rothesay Open. Murray won 68 per cent of points behind his second serve, compared to Grenier’s 37 per cent, and will next face #NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker, who ousted home hope Ryan Peniston 6-4, 6-2.

^{Fans fill the stadium to watch Andy Murray at the Rothesay Open. Credit: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA}

A semi-finalist at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, the 20-year-old Stricker has collected two Challenger Tour trophies this season: Rovereto and Prague. 

Murray has also triumphed twice on the Challenger Tour in 2023. Last month, the former World No. 1 was crowned champion at the Aix-en-Provence Challenger 175, where he defeated Tommy Paul in the final. This past Sunday, Murray returned to the winners’ circle in Surbiton after dropping just one set all tournament.

The 12-time tour-level titlist Nishikori escaped American Mitchell Krueger 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the Caribbean Open in Puerto Rico. Nishikori, who underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year, displayed vintage all-court coverage and variety from the baseline to advance in two hours, 19 minutes. The turning point in the match came when the former World No. 4 struck a backhand down-the-line winner past Krueger to earn a break at 3-4 in the second set.

Nishikori then found more rhythm to close the match and reach the last eight in Palmas del Mar, where he is playing his first tournament since the BNP Paribas Open in October 2021. He will next meet Australian Adam Walton in the quarter-finals Friday.

Fans can visit Challenger TV to watch all ATP Challenger Tour matches live and on demand at no cost.

Simply @keinishikori 🔝

In his first tournament in 20 months, the former world No. 4 reaches the quarterfinals in Palmas del Mar!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/1VmrYVdAN7

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 16, 2023

Richard Gasquet put in a vintage performance to secure his 600th career win on Thursday at the BOSS OPEN. The Frenchman defeated top seed and World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(8), 2-6, 7-5 to become the fourth active player to reach the 600-win milestone, joining Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

“It’s a big achievement for me. It’s incredible to achieve it,” Gasquet said in his on-court interview. “I played 20 years on the Tour and to win 600 matches, it’s big for me. I’m very happy with this number. Of course I will try to win some more.”

The 36-year-old, who will turn 37 on Sunday, needed five match points in the final game to defeat Tsitsipas and ultimately clinched the win with his second break of the match. Gasquet relied on his stylish ground game to edge the Greek, repeatedly wrong-footing his opponent with clever angles and changes of direction. He also dominated on serve, winning 81 per cent of his first-serve points and losing serve just once outside of a one-sided middle set.

“It’s an incredible match. I had a lot of pressure to win the match. He served so well, and of course it’s a great victory,” Gasquet added. “Of course I had five match points. It was important for me to win that game. You never know what can happen in a tie-break. I was very happy.”

The victory is Gasquet’s 36th against Top 10 opponents (36-113) and his 11th against the Top 5 (11-62). It is also his first Top 10 win since he beat Daniil Medvedev last May in Geneva.

Gasquet had not competed in Stuttgart since 2008, with the tournament switching from red clay to grass in 2015. In his fourth appearance at the event, he will next face Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) winner against fifth seed Tommy Paul earlier on Thursday.

Gasquet opened the 2023 season with a title in Auckland, his first tour-level crown since 2018. While he is still three wins away from his 17th title — which could come on his birthday — his two wins this week have lifted him back into the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, up seven spots.

For Tsitsipas, the defeat in his first grass-court match of the season snapped a 10-match winning streak against French opposition. He also dropped to 1-2 overall against Gasquet, with both defeats coming on grass (‘s-Hertogenbosch 2018).

Taylor Fritz is up and running on grass in 2023.

The American opened his campaign on the surface with victory at the BOSS OPEN on Thursday, defeating Aslan Karatsev 7-6(4), 6-3 at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart.

Fritz lifted the trophy in Eastbourne and reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year and quickly found his range on grass again against Karatsev. He fired 14 aces and saved one set point at 4-5 in the first set to move past the World No. 48 in one hour and 25 minutes.

The second seed, currently ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will meet Marton Fucsovics in the quarter-final. Earlier this year, Fritz clinched his fifth tour-level title in Delray Beach.

Earlier, Hungarian qualifier Fucsovics backed up his first-round win against Denis Shapovalov by overcoming Chinese player Yibing Wu. The 31-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Stuttgart in 2019 and 2022 and will aim to better that when he next meets Fritz.

The All England Club announced Wednesday that the total prize money fund for The Championships 2023 will be a record £44,700,000.

The prize money on offer for tennis events this year (not including per diems) is an 11.2% increase on 2022 and a 17.1% increase on the pre-pandemic Championships in 2019.

The prize money distribution continues to place importance on supporting players in the early rounds of the event. The qualifying competition prize money fund has received a 14.5% increase on last year, while main draw singles players losing in the first round will receive £55,000, a 10% increase on 2022.

The prize pool for the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Doubles is a 10.7% increase on last year, while the Wheelchair and Quad Wheelchair Singles and Doubles events all rose by just shy of 20%.

The Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Singles champions and runners-up will receive £2,350,000 and £1,175,000 respectively, with prize money for these two rounds rising to the levels they were in 2019.

Ian Hewitt, Chairman of the All England Club, commented: “We are delighted to offer record prize money to the players competing at The Championships this year, with double digit increases across the majority of events. Our ambition with this distribution is to return the singles champions and runners-up prize money to the levels in 2019 prior to the pandemic whilst, alongside, providing deserved support for players in the early rounds of the event.”

Wimbledon 2023 Prize Money in GBP:

*Doubles and mixed doubles prize money is per pair

Fresh off her fourth major title at Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek was the guest of honour at the graduation ceremony at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in Mallorca, Spain on Wednesday. The WTA World No. 1 was invited to give a speech to this year’s graduating class.

Addressing the Class of 2023, Swiatek paid tribute to her idol, 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal.

“For the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at one quote at Roland Garros in Paris,” Swiatek said. “On Court Philippe-Chatrier it’s written, ‘The victory belongs to the most tenacious’.”

Nadal also spoke and had kind remarks for Swiatek, “Honestly, for us it’s a huge privilege to have you here today. I know that everybody here at the Academy, the students especially, appreciate your efforts, that after winning Roland Garros you are here inspiring all the kids.”

^{Rafa Nadal Academy Class of 2023 students celebrate their graduation. Credit: Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar}

Swiatek stated that Nadal’s example has impacted her version of “tenacity,” sharing that the Spaniard has been a constant reminder of how persevering and never giving up can make a difference in life.

“I often have the feeling that sometimes when I’m playing or when I’m doing things off court, that I should do them better or I should seek perfection,” Swiatek said. “But this shouldn’t be the sense. We should all focus on the process and giving 100 percent, no matter what you can give, because every day is different.”

Swiatek told those in attendance her admiration for Nadal grew steadily as she watched more of his matches, particularly during those moments when he was not at his best, when he struggled on the court and still managed to overcome the obstacles.

“These are the matches that inspired me,” she said. “So I hope you will be tenacious.”