Chilean Cristian Garin won his first two ATP Tour titles in 2019. And on Sunday, he will have a chance to lift tour-level trophy No. 3. The World No. 31 beat Slovakian Andrej Martin 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday evening to reach the final of the Cordoba Open.

The third seed got off to a slow start on the red clay in Argentina against Martin, who was pursuing his first ATP Tour title. But Garin saved all six break points he faced in the second and third sets to triumph after one hour and 57 minutes. Martin, who was unseeded, had the crowd behind him as he went after inside-out forehands to try to put the Chilean on the back foot.

But Garin was the stronger player behind his serve, winning 50 per cent of his return points and breaking the World No. 100 four times in his victory. The 23-year-old will play top seed Diego Schwartzman or 2019 Rio Open presented by Claro titlist Laslo Djere for the trophy.

It has been a turnaround week for Garin, who lost his first four matches of the season and then fell in the second round of the Australian Open. Garin has shown impressive grit in Cordoba, also rallying after losing the first set of his quarter-final against sixth seed Pablo Cuevas.

Jonathan Erlich won his first ATP Tour title nearly 20 years ago in Newport. Now 42, the Israeli is one victory away from lifting a tour-level trophy in three different decades.

Erlich and his partner, Belarusian Andrei Vasilevski, defeated Indians Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(3), 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune.

Erlich and Vasilevski won 87 per cent of their first-serve points and they were only broken once, earning a chance to play for the title after one hour and 24 minutes. The third seeds will face Swede Andre Goransson and Indonesian Christopher Rungkat for the trophy.

Dominic Inglot and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi ousted fourth seeds Jamie Murray 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-5 to reach the championship match of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier. They will play for their first trophy as a team against Nikola Cacic and Mate Pavic, who upset top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Nicolas Mahut in the second round.

Third seeds Marcelo Demoliner and Matwe Middelkoop defeated Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 6-4, 6-3 in 70 minutes to reach the Cordoba Open final. They will face home favourites Leonardo Mayer and Andres Molteni, the fourth seeds, for the title on Sunday.

The Brazilian-Dutch team arrived in Argentina winless in three matches this season. But they enjoyed plenty of success together last year, triumphing in Moscow and reaching the Zhuhai final.

Daniil Medvedev made his first ‘big’ breakthrough at the 2018 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, where he went through qualifying to win his first ATP 500 tournament. He did not lose a set in the main draw. However, the Russian lost a set in qualifying against then-World No. 250 Egor Gerasimov.

“I could have lost in the qualies here. It was a really tough match in the final of qualifying against a great player, my Belarusian friend, Gerasimov,” Medvedev said. “If he would have beaten me, I wouldn’t be standing here as the champion of Tokyo.”

On paper, Gerasimov lost in qualifying at that event, but he pushed a player who would land inside the world’s Top 5 less than a year later. The next week Gerasimov made an ATP Challenger Tour semi-final, and the week after that, he reached his second ATP Tour quarter-final in Moscow. Ever since, the Belarusian has been on the rise.

Belarusians To Reach ATP Tour Singles Final

Now, 16 months later, not only is Gerasimov in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, at a career-high No. 90, but he is into his first ATP Tour final at the Tata Open Maharashtra. Gerasimov is the first Belarusian to reach a tour-level singles final since Max Mirnyi at 2005 Nottingham.

“I think I was playing pretty well. My first final of an ATP [Tour event]. Everyone is dreaming about this,” Gerasimov said after beating sixth seed James Duckworth in the Pune semi-finals. “I am very happy.” 

Gerasimov did not play between August 2017 and March 2018 due to a back injury, falling outside of the Top 300 on 30 July 2018.

“I had back problems, so I could not play consistently for two years,” Gerasimov said. “I lost like half a year recovering and in the past year and a half I was playing without any injuries.

“I had a few surgeries before, so I was waiting for these results.”

Gerasimov once told ATPTour.com that his best quality isn’t his forehand or backhand, but his work ethic. The 27-year-old prides himself on how hard he works, and that’s what propelled him into the Top 100 for the first time last September.

At the 2019 US Open, Gerasimov qualified for a Grand Slam main draw for the first time on his 14th attempt, reaching the second round. He then reached the second round of this year’s Australian Open on his main draw debut, before falling to eventual semi-finalist Alexander Zverev.

“He was probably very motivated, first time for him on Rod Laver Arena,” Zverev said after the match. “It was always going to be a very difficult match. He’s playing unbelievable tennis the past 12 months, getting his ranking up very, very quickly. So I think he’s going to rise up to maybe Top 50, Top 30 very quickly.”

A victory in Sunday’s final against Jiri Vesely is projected to propel Gerasimov to a career-high inside the Top 65. And already the third Belarusian man to reach an ATP Tour final, he could make national history by joining Mirnyi (2003 Rotterdam) as the second man from his country to win a title.

“Girls are doing pretty well in Belarus, better than the boys,” Gerasimov said. “But I think we’ll also show something pretty soon.”

Gael Monfils extended France’s perfect record of producing Open Sud de France finalists on Saturday, beating Filip Krajinovic 7-6(4), 6-2 to move one victory away from his third title in Montpellier.

The two-time former champion (2010, ’14) saved all three break points he faced to reach his fourth final at the ATP 250 event (2-1) after 82 minutes. Monfils improves to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Krajinovic, adding to his final-set tie-break victory against the Serbian at the 2015 Miami Open presented by Itau.

“It was a great win today. I was very solid. I think Filip played great in the first set and then I changed my game a little bit to be more aggressive and it worked,” said Monfils. “I was pleased with my performance. So far [it has been] a great week. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be the same.”

In the previous nine editions of the tournament, French players have lifted the trophy on seven occasions. Tomas Berdych (2012) and Alexander Zverev (2017) both defeated French opposition to lift their trophies in the south of France.

Monfils will face second seed David Goffin or Vasek Pospisil for the title. The World No. 9 owns two wins from five matches in his ATP Head2Head rivalry with Goffin and owns an unbeaten 5-0 record against Pospisil.

Goffin and Pospisil enter their semi-final encounter in top form. Both players are yet to drop a set this week ahead of their second ATP Head2Head clash. In their only previous meeting, Goffin outlasted the Canadian in a final-set tie-break at the 2013 Western & Southern Open.

For the second straight day, Jiri Vesely saved match points in a final-set tie-break to keep his title hopes alive at the Tata Open Maharashtra.

After surviving two match points during his quarter-final victory against Ilya Ivashka on Friday, the unseeded Czech saved four match points to outlast Ricardas Berankis 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 7-6(7) on Saturday, advancing to his first ATP Tour final in nearly five years.

“I am very happy with my performance and my fighting spirit.” said Vesely. “I didn’t give up… In total he had four match points and I kept fighting. It just paid off today.”

The World No. 107, who trailed 3/6 in the final-set tie-break, landed 28 aces and won six of the final seven points to triumph after three hours and two minutes. Vesely will attempt to lift his second trophy in his third tour-level championship match, following 2015 final appearances at the ASB Classic (d. Mannarino) and Bucharest (l. to Garcia-Lopez).

“I am really happy to be in a final again after almost five years,” said Vesely. “I hope I can keep the momentum. I hope I can use these two matches where I turned the match around and use it as an advantage. I will play with a lot of confidence tomorrow and I will go for it, that’s for sure.”

The 6’6” left-hander levels his ATP Head2Head series against Berankis at 1-1. At last year’s US Open, Berankis defeated Vesely in five sets to reach the second round.

Vesely will meet eighth seed Egor Gerasimov for the title. The Belarusian advanced to his maiden ATP Tour final with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win against sixth seed James Duckworth.

Competing at a career-high No. 90 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Gerasimov dropped just five points behind his first serve (40/45) and did not face a break point to overcome the Australian after 90 minutes. Gerasimov and Vesely have never met at tour-level, but the Belarusian defeated Vesely in their only previous match in the second qualifying round at last year’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“I think I was playing pretty well. My first final of an ATP [Tour event]. Everyone is dreaming about this. I am very happy.” said Gerasimov.

#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime has taken the ATP Tour by storm on the court. But in 2020, he’s doing so off the court, too.

The 19-year-old announced Friday that he will be donating $5 for every point he wins this season to EduChange, partnering with CARE to support the protection and education of children in Togo.

Extremely proud to announce that each point I win during the season will contribute to the education of children in Togo, thanks to the #FAAPointsForChange project with @BNPParibas and @CARE. Details in this video! pic.twitter.com/DJRFggyphZ

— Félix AugerAliassime (@felixtennis) February 7, 2020

“I feel very lucky to have had a hugely satisfying career so far, but I think it’s time to bring more meaning to it beyond tennis,” Auger-Aliassime said. “This year, all my winning points count.”

BNP Paribas will donate $15 for every point Auger-Aliassime wins. The World No. 21 has won 768 points in 10 matches so far this year. And as he continues his ascent up the FedEx ATP Rankings, Auger-Aliassime will have more motivation than ever, as he is trying to raise funds for 2,500 children in 2020.

“This year, more than ever, every point will matter,” Auger-Aliassime said.