Aljaz Bedene recorded just the second Top 10 victory of his career on Thursday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The Slovenian held firm on serve in the first set en route to overcoming World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 33 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals. He’ll now meet Felix Auger-Aliassime for the first time.

Bedene saved five break points in the first set – two in his first service game and three at 3-4 – before winning the final 11 points to take the 53-minute opener. Second seed Tsitsipas unravelled after leading 5-4, with Bedene at 15/30 on his serve, and was broken to love at 5-5 when he struck a forehand wide.

Bedene gained a second service break at 1-1 in the second set, when a crosscourt forehand hit the net and bounced over Tsitsipas, who was en route to the net. World No. 52 Bedene closed out with a brilliant forehand down the line – his 20th winner of the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting.

Tsitsipas, who recovered from a set and break down against Hubert Hurkacz in the first round, drops to a 3-4 record on the season. Bedene beat his first Top 10 player in May 2018 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. No. 7 Kevin Anderson)

Jannik Sinner struck 27 winners and closed out his first Top 10 victory in style on Thursday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The 18-year-old wild card overcame World No. 10 and 2017 runner-up David Goffin 7-6(7), 7-5 and will next play Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in the quarter-finals at the Rotterdam Ahoy.

“I feel great, especially now in this moment,” said Sinner. “It was not easy playing against him. He is very solid, so you sometimes go for a winner, or change the rhythm. It feels like a normal victory, [but] sometimes you play [matches] better than others. It’s all about improving and testing where you are [as a player].”

Sinner clinched the first set, which lasted 68 minutes, with a forehand — his 15th winner — on his fifth set point in the tie-break. The pair had exchanged service breaks at the start of the match. Fourth seed Goffin took a 2-0 lead in the second set, but 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Sinner recovered with his solid groundstrokes and broke for a 6-5 lead when Goffin hit his seventh double fault.

Looking ahead to his next opponent, Sinner said: “[Pablo’s] very difficult, but I need to learn more about him. It won’t be an easy match, as he won against Bautista Agut, who is a very solid player.”

Awaiting Sinner in the next round is Serbian Filip Krajinovic, who withstood three set points and an inspired effort from Canadian Vasek Pospisil to advance 6-4, 7-6(7).

It appeared that Krajinovic would secure a comfortable win after holding match point on his serve at 5-4 in the second set, but a cramping Pospisil shockingly erased it with a backhand return winner. The qualifier then fought off two more match points before bringing the crowd to its feet after securing a break to level the match.

Gets cramp.
Hits a ridiculous return winner on match point.

Serious fight from @VasekPospisil ?

?: @TennisTV | @abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/n4m9vIGlrN

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 13, 2020

Krajinovic erased a set point on his serve at 5-6 and fittingly forced a tie-break. The Canadian cracked a backhand return winner at 5/5 to earn another set point, but couldn’t convert and floated a slice backhand well long. Another set point for Pospisil came and went at 7/6 before the 27-year-old Serbian made good on his fourth match point after one hour and 56 minutes.

Elsewhere, Andrey Rublev extended his excellent start to the 2020 ATP Tour season by recording his 13th win in 14 matches. The seventh-seeded Russian improved to 3-0 in his ATP Head2Head against Alexander Bublik with a 7-5, 6-3 win over 80 minutes, which included winning five straight games from 4-5 in the first set to a 2-0 lead in the second set.

Last month, Rublev won back-to-back ATP Tour titles at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open (d. Moutet) and at the Adelaide International (d. Harris). He awaits the winner of Vasek Pospisil, victor over top seed Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday, or Filip Krajinovic.

Dusan Lajovic proved on Wednesday at the Argentina Open that he can never be counted out. The third-seeded Serbian erased two set points in the opening set and three more in the second set before defeating Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez 7-6(6), 7-6(6) to reach the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires.

Lajovic fought back from 4/6 in the first-set tie-break and erased three set points on his serve at 5-6 in the second set, two of which were removed by clean winners. The 29-year-old also clawed back from 1/5 in the second-set tie-break before advancing in two hours and eight minutes.

The Serbian improved to 7-3 this year. Lajovic helped guide Serbia to the title last month at the inaugural ATP Cup (d. Spain) and advanced to the third round at the Australian Open. He currently sits at a career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 23.

Awaiting him in the next round is eighth seed Casper Ruud, who ruthlessly dismissed Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-0 in 58 minutes. The Norwegian launched winners from all parts of the court and was particularly potent in return games, winning 24 of 39 return points to break Carballes Baena five times.

Pedro Sousa snuck into the main draw as a lucky loser when Cristian Garin withdrew, but the 31-year-old Portuguese is making the most of his opportunity. He defeated Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik 7-6(3), 7-6(5) for his first ATP Tour quarter-final. Sousa will face the winner of fourth-seeded Croatian Borna Coric and Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

Miomir Kecmanovic prevailed in a battle of youth against experience on Wednesday at the New York Open. The sixth seed and #NextGenATP Serbian eased past 38-year-old Italian qualifier Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-3 to book his place in the quarter-finals.

Kecmanovic broke Lorenzi four times and won 81 per cent (21/26) of his first-serve points to advance in 74 minutes. The 20-year-old reached the semi-finals last month in Doha and is now 5-2 this season.

He awaits the winner of fourth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert and American Marcos Giron. Kemanovic leads Humbert 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, scoring second-round victories last year in Antalya and Atlanta.

Italian Andreas Seppi defeated American Steve Johnson 7-6(4), 6-3 to move into the last eight. Seppi fought back from 3-5 in the first set and went on a seven-game run en route to his first quarter-final of the year. The 35-year-old ended last season with a Top 10 victory over Karen Khachanov to reach the semi-finals in Moscow.

Next up for Seppi is top-seeded American John Isner or Aussie Jordan Thompson. He trails Isner 1-3 in their ATP Head2Head series and leads Thompson 2-0.

Second-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic kicks off his week by headlining the night session against South Korean Soonwoo Kwon.

Felix Auger-Aliassime delivered his best tennis to a packed crowd on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, producing a reel of flashy winners during his 6-4, 6-2 victory over Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarter-finals in Rotterdam.

“It was for sure the best match I’ve played so far this year. It was so complete from start to finish,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It was an almost perfect match. To dictate most of the points, serve well and return well, I’m very happy.”

Auger-Aliassime stood well inside the baseline to crack deep returns, immediately putting Dimitrov on defence in his service games. After trading early breaks in the opening set, a big backhand return at 3-3 gave the #NextGenATP Canadian another break and swung the momentum firmly in his favour. Hitting big first serves to set up one-two punches with his forehand, Auger-Aliassime rode his slight lead to an early advantage.

The 19-year-old brought the crowd to its feet by taking the best point of the day in the second set. With Dimitrov serving at 30/0 in the opening game, acrobatic volleys from both men eventually led to a drop volley winner from Auger-Aliassime that brought a smile to his face.

Just so good ?

What a point this is from @felixtennis & @GrigorDimitrov!

?:@TennisTV | @abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/YMJRpjkoco

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 12, 2020

He continued to ride the momentum by lacing a backhand passing shot to break Dimitrov for a 2-1 lead in the second set. Auger-Aliassime then broke the Bulgarian to love at 4-2 and comfortably served out the match after 78 minutes. The Canadian improved to 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

Felix is firing in Rotterdam! ?

With shots like this, @felixtennis moves into the quarters with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Dimitrov ? #abnamrowtt

?: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/v7pGqslh8t

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 12, 2020

Awaiting him in the next round is second-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or Slovenian Aljaz Bedene. Auger-Aliassime leads his ATP Head2Head series with Tsitsipas 2-1, but lost their most recent clash last October in Shanghai.

After reaching his second ATP Tour championship match at the Open Sud de France last week, Vasek Pospisil continued his fine run of form to upset top seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3 at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

The Canadian, who served three consecutive aces to escape danger at at 4-4, 0/40, in the first set, won 81 per cent of his first-serve points (30/37) to advance after 67 minutes. Pospisil improves to 6-3 on the ATP Tour this year and levels his ATP Head2Head series against Medvedev at 1-1.

“I was down 0/40 at 4-4 and I hit a couple of big serves to get out of trouble,” said Pospisil. “It could have been a different match. I am just fortunate that I stayed composed.”

In Montpellier, Pospisil did not drop a set en route to the semi-finals and upset second seed David Goffin to reach the ATP 250 final. Despite losing to Gael Monfils with the trophy on the line, Pospisil rose 28 positions in the FedEx ATP Rankings to move closer to a return to the Top 100.

“It doesn’t happen every day that you can beat a player of Daniil’s calibre,” said Pospisil. “You always believe in yourself and you know you can do it, especially if you have done it in the past, which I have.

“I came in with a pretty precise game plan. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but execution is another thing. I was also the big underdog, so I was a bit relaxed and confident, which is a good combo to have when you are going into a match.”

The World No. 104 will face Filip Krajinovic for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Serbian advanced to the second round on Tuesday night, beating Dutch wild card Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 6-1.

Felix Auger-Aliassime meets Grigor Dimitrov in the final match of the day on Centre Court. The #NextGenATP Canadian leads Dimitrov 1-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, having beaten the US Open semi-finalist in straight sets at last year’s Fever-Tree Championships.

Defending champion Gael Monfils made a winning return to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Wednesday, cruising past Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round.

Fresh from his record-tying third title run at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier last week, the World No. 9 claimed his ninth win in 11 matches this season after 70 minutes. Monfils won 68 per cent of service points (34/50) and broke serve on four occasions en route to victory.

“It is never easy to adapt yourself to new conditions, so I was very pleased with my performance today,” said Monfils. “Moving well was the key for me… I am very happy.”

Monfils is aiming to become the first man since Robin Soderling to win back-to-back titles in Rotterdam. The Frenchman beat Daniil Medvedev and Stan Wawrinka in back-to-back three-set matches to claim the trophy last year.

Monfils will meet Gilles Simon in the second round. Making his 11th appearance in Rotterdam, three-time semi-finalist Simon worked his way past Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 over two hours and 41 minutes.

Simon owns a 7-2 ATP Head2Head advantage against third seed Monfils. In their most recent encounter on indoor hard courts, the World No. 57 edged Monfils in a final-set tie-break to lift the 2015 Open 13 Provence trophy in Marseille.

“It is tough. Gilles knows me quite well,” said Monfils. “He is a very tricky player. It is tough to play against him. He is one of my best friends on the Tour… It is always a big challenge for me to beat him.”

David Goffin beat home favourite Robin Haase 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to open his bid for a first trophy in Rotterdam. Goffin saved both break points he faced in the deciding set to record his seventh ATP Head2Head win in eight matches against Haase. The Belgian, who reached the Open Sud de France semi-finals last week, has now won eight of 11 matches this year.

Goffin improves to 7-6 in Rotterdam after his two-hour, 29-minute victory. The World No. 10 reached the championship match at the ATP 500 event in 2017 and also made it through to the semi-finals in 2018.

Goffin will face Jannik Sinner for a place in the quarter-finals. The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion, who was ranked No. 549 in the FedEx ATP Rankings 12 months ago, gained his place in the second round without hitting a ball when Radu Albot withdrew due to illness.

The winner of Goffin and Sinner’s second-round clash will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals. The 28-year-old landed 11 aces and saved seven of nine break points to outlast sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4).

This evening, top seed Daniil Medvedev challenges Vasek Pospisil and Grigor Dimitrov takes on Felix Auger-Aliassime.