A busy Thursday at the Arizona Tennis Classic saw Alexander Shevchenko score a win that he won’t soon forget. The 22-year-old ousted French wild card Gael Monfils in the first round of the Phoenix Challenger 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3.

Post match, the qualifier Shevchenko posted on Instagram a message sharing his admiration for the former World No. 6.

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“Such an emotional match for me,” Shevchenko said. “[Gael] was the reason I fell in love with the game.”

Shevchenko is coached by Gunter Bresnik, who has worked with prominent players such as Boris Becker, Patrick McEnroe, Dominic Thiem, and fittingly—Monfils.

After sleeping on a 2-0 lead in the deciding set following rain suspending Wednesday’s play, Shevchenko held his nerve in the closing stages to advance at the Challenger 175 event.

In other opening-round action Thursday, top seed Matteo Berrettini won 28 of 33 first serve points to defeat countryman and lucky loser Mattia Bellucci 6-4, 6-4. The 2019 Phoenix Challenger champion will next meet Aussie qualifier Aleksandar Vukic on Friday afternoon.

“I’m really happy to be here and get the win, great start,” Berrettini said. “I came here to make a long run and play as many matches as possible.”

With crowd support behind him at the Phoenix Country Club, American Aleksandar Kovacevic was firing on all cylinders en route to 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) victory against Christopher O’Connell. Currently World No. 104 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Kovacevic could rise into the Top 100 should he beat third seed Richard Gasquet.

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— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 17, 2023

Earlier in the day, eighth seed Emil Ruusuvuori cruised past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-0. The Finn will meet Quentin Halys in the second round.

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Top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski continued their smooth sailing at the BNP Paribas Open with a convincing quarter-final win on Thursday night. The Dutch-British duo’s 6-3, 6-3 win against Jamie Murray and Michael Venus closed the evening’s play on the Indian Wells stadium court, after Carlos Alcaraz beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in singles action.

Koolhof/Skupsi saved the lone break point against them and converted on three of six break chances in the victory, including one that doubled as match point. With two aces, the top seeds were dominant on first serve, winning 85 per cent of points behind their first delivery.

They will face Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in Friday’s semi-finals, after the Mexican-French pair came from behu=ind to upset fifth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 on Stadium 2. The teams combined to create 19 break points in an eventful match, with both teams breaking four times.

Friday’s other semi-final will see defending and two-time champions John Isner and Jack Sock take on Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.

As he continues to gain steam in his bid for a maiden BNP Paribas Open title, Carlos Alcaraz crossed off another first on Thursday night in Indian Wells. For the first time in four ATP Head2Head meetings with Felix Auger-Aliassime, the Spaniard emerged victorious with a 6-4, 6-4 result in the desert.

In a thoroughly entertaining quarter-final, two of the brightest young stars in the game delivered a non-stop reel of highlight points. The power, athleticism and shotmaking on display kept the stadium crowd enraptured for two hours, with both players producing magic from all parts of the court.

“Today, the goal was to stay there,” Alcaraz said, noting that he faded in the final set of their Basel meeting last October. “I knew that I was going to have my chances. [I had to] try to take it. Probably I played one of my best matches this season, in 2023. I’m really happy and [want to] keep going.”

The victory, Alcaraz’s first against a Top 10 opponent since he beat Casper Ruud in the US Open final, moved the Spaniard within two wins of a return to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Into the Indian Wells semi-finals for the second straight year (l. to Nadal in 2022), he will next meet Jannik Sinner, with Daniil Medvedev or Frances Tiafoe potentially beyond that in the final.

While the top-seeded Alcaraz dominated early and late, Auger-Aliassime matched him blow for blow for much of the match. The Spaniard fought off the first break point against him to serve out the opening set, but could not deny his opponent’s charge as the eighth seed broke to level the second set at 1-1.

With drop shots, lobs and bruising winners galore, it was a deft drop volley that brought up the decisive break point late in the second set for Alcaraz. After a seven-minute game — one of many marathons on the serve of Auger-Aliassime, who saved nine of 12 break points — Alcaraz converted his third break of the match before confidently serving out the win. Prior to Thursday, he was 0 for 11 on break chances against the Canadian.

“This is the first time I broke his serve and I’m really proud of that,” said Alcaraz, who praised his opponent’s big first serve. “I tried to attack the second serve, tried to dominate the points, tried to play from the baseline and tried to be aggressive, taking the opportunity when he is serving the second serve.”

The 19-year-old Alcaraz, who is now 13-9 against Top 10 opposition, is seeking to become the second man to win at least three ATP Masters as a teen, having won Miami and Madrid last year. His countryman Rafael Nadal won six.

Auger-Aliassime, 22, fell short of his third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. Despite his best Indian Wells run drawing to a close, his success moved him up four places to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He will match his career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking on Monday, unless Sinner wins the title.

Alcaraz and Sinner are level at 2-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, with the Spaniard winning a record-late five-setter in the US Open quarter-finals on his way to his first Grand Slam title.

“I’m really happy to play against him again. Great battles,” Alcaraz previewed. “I enjoy the matches against him. I would say it’s going to be a really good match, for the fans as well, to watch that match. And for myself as well. I will try to show my best, to show my 100 per cent. Jannik is playing great. I’m going to enjoy that match.”

Alcaraz has not conceded a set in Indian Wells, while Sinner lost his first set of the tournament in his Thursday quarter-final victory against defending champion Taylor Fritz.

Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz both entered their Thursday BNP Paribas Open quarter-final with lengthy winning streaks in the desert, defending champion Fritz on a nine-match tear and and Sinner on a run of five victories, excluding his fourth-round withdrawal last year.

The comfort level of both men in Indian Wells was apparent in a high-quality matchup, with Sinner’s huge hitting making the difference in the crucial moments of a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win. Already the first Italian man to reach the quarters in the event’s 47-year history, Sinner extended his historic tournament by improving to 3-3 in his past six matches against Top 5 opposition.

“I just tried to play quite aggressively, which I’ve done,” Sinner said. “I’m obviously very happy about the performance. Playing against Taylor is never easy. I lost against him two years ago here. He loves the conditions here so I’m very happy that I found a way today.”

Sinner is now through to his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, after his run to the 2021 Miami title match (l. to Hurkacz). He will meet Carlos Alcaraz or Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday in the last four.

His desert success has lifted him two places to No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings — one place behind Fritz, who will fall at least five places to No. 10 on Monday.

Sinner powered to a fast start and won the opening set behind a break in the very first game. The 11th seed continued to threaten on return throughout the set and secured the 6-4 opener with a love hold.

Fritz settled in during set two, increasing his shot tolerance and rattling off three love holds of his own. As Sinner’s error count increased, the Italian ultimately paid for his dip in level when Fritz held his nerve to execute a two-shot pass on the first break point of the set for either man, which doubled as set point.

“I think the wind came a little bit at some points, especially in the second set,” Sinner assessed. “He started to move me around little bit more. I think we both have very similar play styles. We both try to be very aggressive from the baseline, so I tried to mix things up a little bit. Obviously how I played the third set, I’m very happy.”

A dramatic open to the final set saw a trade of breaks, followed by a 0/40 escape by Fritz, who used a timely barrage of big serves to wriggle out of trouble. The American again had the answer for a break point at 3-3, motoring up to a drop shot to angle a clutch backhand winner, but Sinner’s aggressive game delivered a late breakthrough to make it 5-4.

A love hold finished the job for Sinner after two hours, 17 minutes, his final-set victory banishing the demons of fifth-set losses to Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the past three Grand Slams.

In the first round of the all-new Challenger 175 category, fans can enjoy a rematch of two players who have previously met in the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

In 2021, Matteo Berrettini ousted Ilya Ivashka in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, where the Italian went on to reach the final (l. Djokovic). Two months later, the Italian and Ivashka met again in the US Open third round, with Berrettini prevailing in five sets.

This week, after suffering losses at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, Berrettini and Ivashka made their way to the Arizona Tennis Classic, where they will clash Thursday afternoon at the Phoenix Country Club.

Top seed Berrettini earned a wild card into the Phoenix Challenger. Gael Monfils, Alexander Bublik, and Richard Gasquet are also among the strong field.

“That shows the level of this Challenger,” Berrettini said. “I think it’s one of the highest Challengers ever. I played [Ivashka] in the fourth round of a Slam so it means that the level is really high and I have to be focused from the first match. That’s what I need and what I want, to play the best guys on tour.”

Four years ago, the-then World No. 57 Berrettini earned his third Challenger title in Phoenix. The 26-year-old is hoping for the same result this week after a disappointing second-round exit (l. Taro Daniel) at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

“It’s great to be here,” Berrettini said. “Obviously it wasn’t planned, it was unscheduled. Such a beautiful place, a beautiful tennis club with so many good memories. Excited to be here and hopefully going to have a long run. I cannot wait to start.”

A new innovation for 2023, the Challenger 175 tournaments are held during the second week of the ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Madrid, and Rome. Highly-ranked players who lose early at the Masters 1000s can decide to compete at the following week’s Challenger tournament, which provides strong competition for players hungry for more matches.

“You want to play against the best guys on tour, you want to get the level high in order to be ready for Miami,” Berrettini said. “It’s good to have this kind of field. Gael Monfils was practising next to me and we’ve had some great battles in Grand Slams so that means the field is really strong.”

Berrettini and Monfils could clash in the quarter-finals of the Phoenix Challenger. Berrettini leads their Head2Head 3-0, including two matches that went five sets at Grand Slams (‘19 US Open, ‘22 Australian Open).

Where can I watch the Phoenix Challenger?

All matches will be broadcasted live and on demand for free on Challenger TV.

2019 🏆
2023 ⁉️

Title memories are boosting top seed Matteo Berrettini ahead of building momentum for @MiamiOpen #ATPChallenger | @aztennisclassic pic.twitter.com/eD3PWAZqVx

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 15, 2023

After a comeback win kickstarted their title defence, Americans John Isner and Jack Sock have improved with each passing round at the BNP Paribas Open. The home favourites scored their most decisive win of the tournament on Wednesday night, beating Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-4 under the lights on the Indian Wells stadium court.

The two-time desert champions saved all three break points against them in the victory and converted on three of their five chances, much to the delight of the Southern California crowd. Isner/Sock stamped their authority on the match early on, when Sock whipped a backhand return winner on a deciding point to secure their first break of the match.

They will next meet Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, who earned a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Canadian singles stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov earlier in the night. The Indian-Australian duo won both sets behind a single break and saved all four break points against them.

The remaining two quarter-finals, in the top half of the draw, will be played on Thursday. Top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski will meet Jamie Murray and Michael Venus, while fifth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara meet Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

The doubles semi-finals are scheduled for Friday, with the champions to be crowned on Saturday.

Despite rain cancelling much of Wednesday’s action, Chinese star Zhang Zhizhen rallied from a set down to advance to the second round of the Arizona Tennis Classic, where he will next clash against fourth seed Alexander Bublik.

The star-studded action got underway four hours after initially scheduled, but the World No. 93 Zhang prevailed against lucky loser Rinky Hijikata 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 before heavy rain again halted play at the Phoenix Challenger.

Only two other matches were completed in Wednesday’s opening-round action. Third seed Richard Gasquet downed American qualifier Emilio Nava 7-6(5), 6-3 and Mikael Ymer defeated Radu Albot 6-1, 7-5.

When rain cancelled play at around 7:30 p.m., Gael Monfils and Alexander Shevchenko were locked in a three-set battle. Shevchenko, 22, advanced through qualifying and was leading the French wild card 6-4, 6-7(2), 2-0 when the match was suspended.

Boasting a strong field at the all-new Challenger 175 category, the Arizona Tennis Classic will feature top seed Matteo Berrettini against Ilya Ivashka on Thursday.

2019 🏆
2023 ⁉️

Title memories are boosting top seed Matteo Berrettini ahead of building momentum for @MiamiOpen #ATPChallenger | @aztennisclassic pic.twitter.com/eD3PWAZqVx

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 15, 2023