Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on 18 February 2019. Andreas Seppi will compete in the New York Open final.

It’s not all that surprising to hear of an Italian player spending time training in the southern United States. For example, Fabio Fognini has spent time practising in Miami, Florida.

But an Italian setting up their future in frigid Boulder, Colorado? That’s a different story. Yet that’s exactly what veteran Andreas Seppi has done over the past couple of years.

Seppi’s wife wanted to earn a Master’s degree at the University of Colorado. So the couple went to Boulder in November of 2017. And by December, they bought a house.

“We were there for two months and I did my off-season there. We liked the place, it’s a really nice place. It’s similar to where we live back home in Italy. We live in the Dolomites, which is in the mountains,” Seppi said. “When we have the chance and we have some off time, we always go back there.”

Last year, Seppi missed nearly two months after Rotterdam due to a hip injury. Where did he go? Colorado. The Italian also returned with his wife to Boulder for a couple of weeks before the US Open. He then completed his second off-season in Colorado.

Many players spend November and December regrouping with their teams to refine their games, strengthen their bodies and mentally recoup for the season ahead. But Seppi has trained without his team, instead playing with current or former local college players.

“I did everything by myself actually so that was also something different because I usually have everybody around,” Seppi said. “I had my physical program [from my fitness trainer], but I had to do everything. It was nice. It was also nice to be a little bit alone with my wife for a couple of months because normally there’s a lot of people around and you don’t have so much time alone. It’s good to have some time for us a little bit.”

It still has been a significant change. While Seppi long trained near his parents’ home in Italy, and then for two off-seasons in Monte-Carlo, he has not dealt with altitude like he does now in Colorado. While he enjoys the area, that is the lone challenge.

“Especially hitting the first week, it’s very difficult. The ball flies a little bit more and you have to adapt. It’s never easy at the beginning. Normally i’m there for more than a week, so it’s okay,” Seppi said. “But if you’re there just for a week, it’s hard. But it’s good for physical conditioning, breathing and everything.”

Whatever training Seppi has done in Colorado has worked. In 2018, he won an ATP Challenger Tour event in Canberra, Australia in the second week of the season before advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open and later reaching the semi-finals in Rotterdam. This year, Seppi made the Sydney final and the third round of the Australian Open.

“It means that I can do it also by myself,” Seppi said, cracking a laugh. “It’s still a good place to practise and everything.”

Last season was a special one for Italian tennis, with Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato breaking through for his first two ATP Tour titles (Budapest & Umag) and Fabio Fognini lifting three ATP 250 crowns (Sao Paulo, Bastad & Los Cabos).

“It’s always nice seeing some friends and players who you have a good relationship with doing well. It makes you work hard and do some good results,” Seppi said. “Especially Marco, he was practising with me when I was back in Italy. I practised with him when he was about 20 years old. We were practising together for two years and seeing him now, it’s nice.”

While Seppi has no plans of retiring yet, he now has a home away from home of sorts. And while he probably wouldn’t have expected it earlier in his career, he hopes to settle down in Colorado.

“That’s the plan. It’s not a tennis place, but me and my wife, we are just buying a ranch there. Her parents are into the hotel business, so we actually want to open a lodge-resort there,” Seppi said. “Working as a coach is difficult after being on the road for 20 years, and I would like to have a family with kids and everything. So being on the road [more after my career], it’s not my favourite thing. This is a good chance to stay in a nice place and do something there. If it works out, it will be nice.”

For now, Seppi is focused on the Delray Beach Open, where he is the sixth seed. The Italian plays Aussie Bernard Tomic in the first round.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut extended their impressive record at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Sunday, beating Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(5), 4-6, 10-7 to lift their second trophy in three team appearances in Rotterdam.

The Frenchmen recorded their seventh straight victory at the ATP 500 event in one hour and 34 minutes, saving five of seven break points en route to victory. Herbert and Mahut also claimed the title on their last visit to the Rotterdam Ahoy in 2018. The second seeds have now won 16 titles from 22 finals as a partnership.

“It is a tournament I love,” said Mahut. “The first time I came here, I saw the Centre Court [and] it is amazing. One of the greatest on the Tour, definitely. I have a special feeling when I play in Holland… There is something special here.”

Mahut has now clinched 29 tour-level doubles crowns, while Herbert adds an 18th title to his collection. Mahut owns an 18-3 record and four trophies in Rotterdam, having also triumphed at the opening ATP 500 event of the year in 2014 (w/Llodra) and 2016 (w/Pospisil). This is the French pair’s first trophy since lifting the Nitto ATP Finals title for the first time last November.

“In the tough times, you have to stick together as a team and I think we could do that the whole weekend because our semi-final was also a tough one,” said Herbert. “We were still believing in ourselves and we found the solution to win maybe the one or two points that you need to make a difference in a match like this.”

Australian Open quarter-finalists Kontinen and Struff were attempting to capture their first team trophy in just their second appearance together. Kontinen was also bidding to win his second straight trophy in Rotterdam after his title run alongside Jeremy Chardy last year.

Herbert and Mahut receive 500 FedEx ATP Doubles Ranking points and split €130,680 in prize money. Kontinen and Struff gain 300 points and share €63,980.

“I have to say we were a little bit lucky to win this one,” said Mahut. “It is a strong team [we played]. I am pretty sure they will be in London at the end of the season. Definitely one of the top eight teams.”

Eighth-seeded Brit Kyle Edmund wasted no time getting down to business on Saturday at the New York Open, racing into the final with a 6-1, 6-4 win over sixth seed and #NextGenATP Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

”This is great to be back in a final, playing the matches you want to be playing,” Edmund said. “I obviously want to go all the way, but I’m enjoying my tennis. I’ve kept improving and learning with each match.”

Edmund is through to his first tour-level final in 16 months, when he captured his maiden ATP Tour crown in Antwerp (d. Monfils). The 25-year-old awaits the winner of the evening session semi-final between Italian Andreas Seppi and qualifier Jason Jung of Chinese Taipei. Edmund leads his ATP Head2Head series with Seppi 4-1, including a victory last month in Auckland.

The first five games of the match went to deuce, but Edmund came out on top in all of them. Striking his forehand with authority, he used that wing to bully Kecmanovic throughout their baseline exchanges. The Serbian scored a moral victory by holding serve at 0-5, but Edmund comfortably grabbed the early advantage in the next game.

Kecmanovic raised his level in the second set and stayed with Edmund throughout most of it, but the Brit found a new gear in the final minutes of the match. Edmund took 12 of the last 13 points, breaking his opponent to love at 4-4 and firing three aces in the next game to wrap up play after 72 minutes.

Good things come to those who wait, but as Pedro Sousa can attest to, a bit of luck doesn’t hurt either.

The 31-year-old Portuguese wasn’t supposed to be in the main draw at the Argentina Open after losing his final-round qualifying match, but snuck in as a lucky loser due to the withdrawal of Chilean Cristian Garin. He moved into his first ATP Tour final after top-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman withdrew from their semi-final match on Saturday due to a left leg injury, setting up a championship clash in Buenos Aires with eighth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud.

Sousa’s breakthrough is a reward for relentless persistence during his 13 years on Tour. He had never reached a tour-level quarter-final prior to this week.

“I’ve never gotten so many messages,” Sousa said, smiling. “It was 3:00 or 4:00am in Portugal when I was playing [my quarter-final], so it’s been amazing to receive all that love from my friends, family and other people in Portugal.”

Sousa, No. 145 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, is only the third player from Portugal to reach a tour-level final. Should he prevail on Sunday against Ruud, he’ll become just the 10th lucky loser in ATP Tour history to lift a winner’s trophy

“It means a lot to me,” Sousa said. “Last year was not as good as I was expecting and I started this year with some problems, but I managed to change those things and started to play well this week. I got the lucky loser spot, took my chance and am enjoying every time I’m playing in this tournament. Hopefully I can do a good job tomorrow.”

The baseliner has primarily competed on the ATP Challenger Tour, but has produced his best results in recent years thanks to the help of his coach, former ATP Tour player Rui Machado. They began working together shortly after Machado ended his playing career in 2016 and Sousa has won all seven of his Challenger titles since then.

But with Machado also holding a role in the Portuguese Tennis Federation, he can’t travel to all of Sousa’s tournaments. Having benefitted from working with someone he’d already spent years on Tour with, Sousa opted for a similar approach when they decided last year to add another coach. Former Top 50 player Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo was hired and quickly became an invaluable addition.

“We found Ruben because we’ve known him from the Tour for a long time,” Sousa said. “He knows everything about the game, played on Tour until he was 40, is easy to travel with and a very nice guy. I’m really happy to have him with me.”

Sousa will look to use his mix of crafty spins and angles to frustrate Ruud in Sunday’s final. The Portuguese self-deprecatingly compared his on-court traits to his favourite players growing up, Marat Safin and Guillermo Coria, but could soon join his childhood idols as champions on the ATP Tour.

“I liked Safin because he was crazy and I’m a little bit crazy, too. I’m better now than I was younger,” Sousa joked. “I liked watching Coria play because I would see him and think that he’s like me. Skinny guy, short, serve is not so good, but likes to play at the baseline and make some drop shots and angles.”

For the second week in a row, Gael Monfils overcame Filip Krajinovic in semi-final action to reach an indoor ATP Tour championship match.

Monfils, No. 9 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, landed 35 winners to move past Krajinovic 6-4, 7-6(5) and reach his third ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament final on Saturday. Monfils is one win away from becoming the first man since Robin Soderling in 2011 to win back-to-back trophies at the Rotterdam Ahoy.

“It would be great [to win this title again]. It would be, for me, unbelievable. It would be the first time to win two titles in a row and actually even the first time to win two titles in the same season, so it would be huge for me,” said Monfils.

With his third ATP Head2Head win against Krajinovic, Monfils has now reached the championship match in each of his three most recent visits to the opening ATP 500 event of the year. Since 2016, Monfils has won 13 of 14 matches in Rotterdam. Martin Klizan was the last player to defeat Monfils at this event in the 2016 championship match.

Monfils will be aiming to lift his 10th ATP Tour title in Sunday’s final. The defending champion has won six of his nine tour-level crowns at indoor hard-court events, most recently at last week’s Open Sud de France in Montpellier. Only Andrey Rublev has won multiple ATP Tour titles so far this season.

Monfils will meet #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime for the first time in the championship match. The World No. 21 served well throughout his 7-6(2), 6-4 semi-final victory against Pablo Carreno Busta to reach his fourth tour-level final.

“[Felix] is a great guy. A humble guy. Very strong… He is a very talented guy. Definitely, I expect a tough match, but a cool match because I think we might see him for a long time, definitely in this part of a tournament on this stage,” said Monfils.

With neither player able to manufacture a break point in the opening nine games of the match, Monfils capitalised on nervous play from his opponent to snatch the opening set. After saving two set points, Krajinovic committed a double fault and a loose forehand error to hand Monfils a third opportunity. Monfils claimed the set with a defensive lob that Krajinovic could only clip with the frame of his racquet.

After trading breaks early in the second set, Monfils failed to find the court on a forehand passing shot as four match-point opportunities passed him by at 5-4. In the tie-break, Monfils won three straight points to claim victory. The 33-year-old returned with depth and landed his 14th ace of the match to reach his second final in as many weeks.

“[Filip] wasn’t missing at all,” said Monfils. “He made some tough shots on some match points… I was very lucky that he missed that volley at 5/4 and then I hit a great return at 5/5 and a great serve to close the match.”

Krajinovic was bidding to reach his fourth ATP Tour final and earn a second career Top 10 win. En route to the last four in Rotterdam, the Serbian became only the second player to defeat Rublev this year alongside Alexander Zverev.

Eighth seed Casper Ruud was three points from defeat on Saturday at the Argentina Open, but reached the final in Buenos Aires by winning 10 of the last 11 games in a remarkable 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 comeback against home favourite Juan Ignacio Londero.

The 21-year-old Norwegian is through to his second tour-level final and moves closer to his first ATP Tour title, having finished runner-up last April in Houston (l. to Garin). Ruud started this year by scoring his first two wins over Top 20 players, defeating John Isner and Fabio Fognini while representing Norway at the inaugural ATP Cup. Currently at a career-high No. 45 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, he is projected to crack the Top 40 on Monday.

Londero started strongly in the opening set, breaking Ruud early at 1-1 with an aggressive forehand approach. The Argentine remained dominant in his service games, taking 20 of 27 points and cracking a backhand winner on set point.

Halfway to the final ?

And what a way to get there ?

Watch the @ArgentinaOpen live on @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/jVJuEqz5Dw

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 15, 2020

He continued to apply pressure to Ruud in the second set. Londero kept his shots within inches of the baseline during rallies, drawing a backhand error from his opponent at 2-2 for another break of serve.

But as the Argentine served for the match at 5-4, the prospect of another ATP Tour final on home soil became too much and nerves took over. Londero dropped serve with three forehand errors and a wild miss on an overhead smash. He was was broken to love two games later as Ruud levelled the match with a backhand return winner.

Sensing his opportunity, Ruud raised his level in the decider and raced to victory after two hours and 13 minutes.

Never count him out ?@CasperRuud98 rallies from a set down to book his spot in the @ArgentinaOpen final! ?

? : @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/pdbCAUUKYw

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 15, 2020

Awaiting him in the final is Portuguese lucky loser Pedro Sousa, who advanced when top-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman withdrew due to a left leg injury. The 31-year-old Sousa, No. 145 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, hadn’t reached a tour-level quarter-final before this week.

“It means a lot to me,” Sousa said. “Last year was not as good as I was expecting and I started this year with some problems, but I managed to change those things and started to play well this week. I got the lucky loser spot, took my chance and am enjoying every time I’m playing in this tournament. Hopefully I can do a good job tomorrow.”

Sousa becomes just the third Portuguese player to reach a tour-level final. Should he prevail on Sunday, he’ll join Joao Sousa as the only players from Portugal to lift an ATP Tour trophy.

Almost 12 months after reaching his maiden tour-level final in Rio de Janeiro, Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to his fourth ATP Tour championship match at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Saturday.

The 19-year-old overcame Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach his second ATP 500 final after one hour and 49 minutes, dropping just three points behind his first serve (45/48). Auger-Aliassime is the first Canadian to advance to the championship match in Rotterdam.

“The first set was really tight with both of us serving really well. I was serving the best I’ve ever served in that first set and then played a solid tie-break,” said Auger-Aliassime.

The three-time ATP Tour finalist is attempting to lift his maiden ATP Tour trophy this week. Last year, the World No. 21 finished as runner-up in Rio de Janeiro, Lyon and Stuttgart. This is Auger-Aliassime’s first final run at a tour-level hard court event.

The Canadian will face defending champion Gael Monfils or Filip Krajinovic for the title. Auger-Aliassime lost his only previous ATP Head2Head match against Krajinovic at this event in 2018 and is yet to meet Monfils at tour-level.

After saving the only break points of the first set with power on his serve and forehand at 5-5, Auger-Aliassime sprinted into a 4/0 lead in the tie-break. The Canadian attacked his opponent’s backhand and showed patience from the baseline, picking his moments to attack before sealing the set with an accurate serve out wide.

In the second set, Auger-Aliassime stepped in on his forehand to break in a marathon third game. Under pressure at 4-3, the Canadian ripped a backhand winner up the line to save break point and closed out the match with his 16th ace of the match. Auger-Aliassime has struck a tournament-leading 46 aces this week.

“In the second [set], things got interesting with that long [third] game,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I was thinking, ‘If this goes my way, it might be tough for him.’ So, I really pushed to get through.

“Obviously, you know the end is coming if you keep serving well and keep holding your serve… Things got a bit difficult, saving that break point after making some tight mistakes. It was not easy. I came up clutch again, so obviously I am happy with myself.”

Carreno Busta was aiming to become the third Spaniard to reach the final in Rotterdam. Only 2004 runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero and 2009 finalist Rafael Nadal have represented Spain in the championship match at this ATP 500 tournament.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut moved one step away from a second ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament trophy as a team on Saturday, recovering from a set down to beat Raven Klaasen and Oliver Marach 6-7(6), 7-6(6), 10-7.

The 2018 champions recorded their sixth consecutive win at the opening ATP 500 event of the year in one hour and 58 minutes, saving all three break points they faced en route to victory. Herbert and Mahut won six straight points from 2/5 down in the Match Tie-break and converted their first match point to reach their maiden final of the 2020 ATP Tour season.

The second seeds are through to their 22nd tour-level final as a team. Herbert and Mahut have lifted 15 trophies from 21 championship matches and won each of their three finals last year.

Herbert and Mahut will face Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff or Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov for the trophy. Australian Open quarter-finalists Kontinen and Struff are making their second appearance as a team this year, while Bopanna and Shapovalov are aiming to reach their second ATP Tour final as a pairing. Bopanna and Shapovalov reached their maiden final at last year’s MercedesCup in Stuttgart.

Diego Schwartzman is determined to capture his first ATP Tour title on home soil at the Argentina Open and his resilience was on full display against Pablo Cuevas. The top seed thrilled the crowd on Friday in Buenos Aires by saving four match points to defeat the Uruguayan 5-7, 7-6(11), 7-5 in an epic quarter-final battle.

Schwartzman has endured a grueling 24 hours in his hometown. He completed his opening-round win against Federico Delbonis just before 2:30am on Thursday before wrapping up his latest thrilling performance after three hours and 42 minutes.

Last year’s runner-up (l. to Cecchinato) will look to recover quickly as he next meets Portuguese lucky loser Pedro Sousa, who defeated Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 7-6(5), 6-4. The 31-year-old, No. 145 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, is through to his first ATP Tour semi-final after 13 years on Tour.

Cuevas let slip a chance to serve out the first set at 5-3, but with Schwartzman serving at 5-6, the Uruguayan regrouped with a crushing forehand winner on set point to take the early lead. The top seed broke Cuevas at 5-5 in the second set, but couldn’t convert his opportunity to close out the set in the next game.

That feeling when you absolutely NAIL your forehand on set point ?

That was huge, @PabloCuevas22 ?

?: @TennisTV | @ArgentinaOpen pic.twitter.com/2HJRyQlFKj

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 14, 2020

Cuevas held his first match point at 6/5 in the tie-break, but with the home crowd urging him on, Schwartzman erased it with aggressive play. Three more match points came and went at 9/8, 10/9 and 11/10, as the Uruguayan began to tighten up. The top seed earned his third set point at 12/11 and brought the crowd to its feet after Cuevas sent a forehand well wide to bring the match into a decider.

It appeared that Schwartzman would race through the final set after building a 3-0 lead, but Cuevas found his footing once more. The 34-year-old brought the match back on serve at 4-2, coaxing a backhand error out of the top seed to break. Cuevas held another pair of break points at 4-4, but came up short in lengthy baseline rallies and Schwartzman held serve to the delight of the crowd.

The top seed earned his first match point with Cuevas serving at 4-5, but the Uruguayan erased it with a huge forehand winner. Schwartzman injured a left groin muscle during the rally and received an immediate medical timeout, but the brief break didn’t prevent Cuevas from holding serve to tie the score.

With Schwartzman’s movement visibly hampered, he went for broke on his forehand in a bid to end points quickly. The strategy worked as the top seed’s resilience and a vocal crowd broke Cuevas’ spirit. Schwartzman didn’t need to hit a ball on his third match point as Cuevas double faulted to end their clash.

Can you believe that?!

Local hero ?? @dieschwartzman survives FOUR (!!) match points, before coming through an injury to defeat Cuevas 5-7 7-6 7-5 at the @ArgentinaOpen!

?: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/m0qYF3ni1h

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 15, 2020

Eighth seed Casper Ruud continued his blistering form this week at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, charging into the semi-finals on Friday with a convincing 7-5, 6-1 win over third-seeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

Both players remained even throughout much of the first set, but the 21-year-old Norwegian found a new gear and won eight of the last nine games. Ruud has dropped just 12 games across his first three rounds to move into his fifth ATP Tour semi-final, all of which have come on clay.

Awaiting him in the last four is Juan Ignacio Londero, who upset second seed Guido Pella 6-4, 7-6(4) in an all-Argentine battle. Londero saved two set points on his serve at 4-5 in the second set with clean forehand winners, then grabbed the last three points of the tie-break to advance in one hour and 55 minutes. He moves to 2-0 against Pella in their ATP Head2Head series, having defeated him in last year’s championship match in Cordoba. 

Top seed and home favourite Diego Schwartzman headlines the night session against Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, followed by Brazilian Thiago Monteiro taking on Portuguese lucky loser Pedro Sousa.