Mikhail Kukushkin reached his first tour-level championship match in more than four years on Saturday, ending the run of French wildcard Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4 at the Open 13 Provence.

The 31-year-old Kazakh, who reached his third ATP Tour final at the 2015 Sydney International (l. to Troicki), advanced to the championship match after one hour and 33 minutes, winning 83 per cent of service points (38/46) en route to victory. Kukushkin will be aiming to capture his second tour-level crown in Sunday’s final, more than eight years after claiming his maiden title at the 2010 St. Petersburg Open (d. Youzhny).

Kukushkin will meet top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or third-seeded David Goffin for the title. The World No. 50 trails Tsitsipas 0-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and also lost his only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter against Goffin.

After failing to convert five break points in a marathon opening game, Kukushkin earned the only break of the first set at 1-1 with a dipping cross-court forehand passing shot. The Kazakh, who won each of his 20 service points in the opening set, continued to apply pressure to Humbert’s serve in the second set, breaking at 2-2 with great court coverage. After dropping serve at 4-3, Kukushkin won back-to-back games, booking his place in the final with a well-placed backhand lob.

Appearing in his first ATP Tour semi-final, Humbert was aiming to add to a strong tradition of French finalists in Marseille. Since 2006, the home nation has had at least one representative in 10 of the past 13 singles finals.

Did You Know?
All four semi-finalists at the Open 13 Provence reached the last four without dropping a set.

Chasing his 100th tour-level title, Roger Federer will begin his quest for a record eighth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The seven-time champion, who most recently lifted the trophy in 2015 (d. Djokovic), will be making his first tour-level appearance since falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open fourth round last month. With a perfect 13-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series record against Kohlschreiber, Federer will be aiming to improve to 13-1 in first-round matches at the ATP 500 event. Andy Murray is the only man to have beaten the 99-time tour-level titlist in the first round, having defeated Federer in three sets in 2008.

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If Federer comes through his opening match against Kohlschreiber, the Swiss could potentially face Fernando Verdasco in the second round. Federer shares the bottom quarter of the draw with seventh-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic, who has opened his 2019 campaign with seven wins from 10 matches. The former World No. 3 reached back-to-back quarter-finals in Brisbane and at the Australian Open, before a second-round loss to eventual runner-up Stan Wawrinka in Rotterdam.

Karen Khachanov and Borna Coric will both feature in the same half of the draw as Federer. Khachanov, who opens against Nikoloz Basilashvili, will be eager to return to winning ways after back-to-back opening-match losses in Sofia (l. to Berrettini) and Rotterdam (l. to Griekspoor). After suffering a second-round defeat to Ugo Humbert in Marseille, Coric will be bidding to reach his third quarter-final in four appearances in Dubai.

In the top half, No. 1 seed Kei Nishikori will be aiming to extend his winning streak against Benoit Paire to four matches. The Dubai debutant owns a 5-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Paire and will be hoping to continue his strong start to the season. Nishikori has reached the quarter-finals or better in each of his three tournament outings this year, which includes his title run at the Brisbane International (d. Medvedev) last month. Nishikori is joined in the top quarter of the draw by Australian Open semi-finalist Tsitsipas, who is aiming to lift his second ATP Tour title this week in Marseille.

Two-time Dubai quarter-finalist Marin Cilic will return to the event for the first time since 2010. The third seed faces a tough opener against recently-crowned Rotterdam champion Gael Monfils. The in-form Frenchman is unbeaten in three FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters against Cilic.

Eighth seed Daniil Medvedev could meet the winner of that match in the quarter-finals. The 23-year-old Russian opens against a qualifier, with a potential second-round clash against Sofia semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini or Denis Kudla.

Although Juan Martin del Potro wasn’t pleased with his quarter-final loss on Friday against Mackenzie McDonald at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, the Argentine is taking the positives from the week.

Del Potro returned to action after sitting out four months with a right knee injury. He visibly struggled with the knee against McDonald, but showed plenty of heart in extending the match to a third-set tie-break. The Argentine has always been methodical in his comeback attempts, returning only when he’s ready instead of rushing back too soon, but admitted the desire for matches is as strong as ever.

“The doctors say I need time if I want to be 100 per cent, but I don’t want to be home watching the tournaments on TV. I’ve done that before and it was really bad for me,” he said. “I wanted to do a big effort tonight. I fought until the last ball and had many opportunities, but it’s hard to win matches when you can’t move at 100 per cent.”

The good news for del Potro is that while his lateral movement understandably let him down against McDonald, his tennis did not. He held in 15 of 16 service games and racked up 16 aces. When he was in position to strike his forehand, he produced plenty of vintage winners.

Having secured two straight-sets wins this week, including a second-round victory over New York Open champion Reilly Opelka, the Argentine has plenty to build on.

“I played three matches after four months away and that’s the best thing for me,” he said. “I know how good I can be when I’m ready, but I’m not in the physical condition to play at this level yet.”

One thing that never wavered is the support for the always-popular Argentine. Even against an American opponent, the Delray Beach crowd urged the top seed on against McDonald by chanting “Delpo” between points and on changeovers.

Del Potro has always fed off the energy of a packed stadium, but it could be even more crucial for him as he continues his efforts to return to full strength.

“I have a lot of respect for my fans who paid for a ticket and came to watch me play. I know they understand if I can’t play, but I wanted to try and think I did a good effort,” he said. “I wanted to play because this is the reason I came to Delray Beach. The final score doesn’t matter to me.”

Mackenzie McDonald recorded the biggest moment of his career on Friday at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, holding off a determined Juan Martin del Potro in their quarter-final clash to defeat the top seed 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5).

The win gave the American his first ATP Tour semi-final berth and first victory over a Top 5 player. Currently No. 84 in the ATP Rankings, McDonald is guaranteed to surpass his career-high of No. 76 when the newest standings are released on Monday.

The match began with comfortable service holds from both men, but Del Potro’s movement appeared hampered by the middle of the first set. Walking gingerly between points and letting mid-pace balls pass him by for winners, the American won 10 consecutive points to take the early advantage.

With the crowd chanting “Delpo”, the Argentine battled valiantly in the second set. He increased the pace on his serve and gambled on his forehand in a bid to shorten the points. McDonald blinked first in the second set and floated a drop shot into the net down break point at 2-3. The slight advantage was all the top seed needed to bring the match to a decider.

Neither player dropped serve in the final set to force a tie-break. McDonald grabbed a mini-break advantage to lead 5/2 after a pair of forehand errors from del Potro. The American missed his first two match point opportunities, but struck a forehand volley winner at 6/5 and threw his racquet to the ground in celebration.

Delray Beach is guaranteed to have a first-time ATP Tour finalist when McDonald next faces Radu Albot, who continued his top form with a comeback 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) upset over fourth seed Steve Johnson of the United States. The 29-year-old fought back from 4/5 in the third-set tie-break and jubilantly celebrated as he advanced in two hours and seven minutes.

“I was losing the whole time and was definitely not in control of the match, but was able to serve better, return better and get the win,” said Albot. “This week is the best achievement I’ve had on the ATP Tour, so hopefully I can go one step further and make the final.”

Two of Albot’s three ATP Tour semi-finals have come this month. The Moldovan also reached the last four two weeks ago at the Open Sud de France.

#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime continued to create new milestones in his young career on Friday at the Rio Open presented by Claro. Two days after reaching his first 500-level quarter-final, the wild card defeated Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-4, 6-3 for his first ATP Tour semi-final in Rio de Janeiro.

“This is what I work for every day. It’s what I get up for every morning,” said Auger-Aliassime. “As soon as I walked on court, I felt the energy from the crowd and felt like I couldn’t get tired. The tournament isn’t over yet, but this feels great.”

The Canadian was undaunted by the occasion on Quadra Guga Kuerten and sprinted to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Munar began to sink his teeth into the lengthy baseline rallies, but the deficit proved too much and Auger-Aliassime grabbed the early advantage.

It appeared the 18-year-old would coast to victory after breaking Munar in the opening game of the second set, but the Spaniard hung tough and earned the break back at 2-3 with the help of a net cord. Munar reached 40/0 on his serve in the next game, but Auger-Aliassime found a new gear and dominated the remainder of the contest. A forehand winner on his first match point ended play after one hour and 38 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime finished with 32 winners and 34 errors, compared to seven winners and 18 errors for Munar. The wild card’s baseline aggression allowed to him accumulate 10 break points and convert on four of them.

The World No. 104 in the ATP Rankings started the week by recording his first Top 15 win over second seed Fabio Fognini of Italy. Auger-Aliassime is guaranteed to make his Top 100 debut on Monday and land at least inside the Top 80. He will crack the Top 50 if he can win the title on Sunday.

Awaiting Auger-Aliassime in the next round is the winner of Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain.

Laslo Djere of Serbia continued to back up his first-round upset over top seed and 2017 champion Dominic Thiem by defeating #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5. Djere trailed 2-5, 0/30 against the qualifier in the second set, but rallied to win 20 of the final 28 points. The 23-year-old will look to reach his first ATP Tour final on Saturday.

Standing between him and that achievement is Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, who fought back to defeat qualifier Hugo Dellien of Bolivia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Little separated the two players, who saw 10 of their 27 games reach deuce, but Bedene controlled the tempo in the latter stages to prevail in two hours and 23 minutes.

Wild cards Thomaz Bellucci and Rogerio Dutra Silva continued their top form on Friday at the Rio Open presented by Claro, The Brazilians hung tough to reach the final in Rio de Janeiro with a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over Andres Molteni and Roman Jebavy.

This is the first 500-level final for Bellucci or Dutra Silva. Bellucci seeks his first ATP Tour doubles title since winning the MercedesCup (when it was a clay-court event) in July 2013 (w/Bagnis), while Dutra Silva’s lone doubles title came two years ago at the Brasil Open (w/Sa).

They’ll play Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry for the title after the pair defeated second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 3-6, 7-5, 10-7. Gonzalez has won five ATP Tour doubles titles, including last week at the Argentina Open (w/Zeballos), while Jarry prevailed last year in Quito (w/Podlipnik-Castillo).

At the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, third seeds Ben McLachlan and Matwe Middelkoop outlasted Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Oswald 3-6, 7-5, 10-7 to reach the final. They’ll play the winner of the other semi-final featuring Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin against Sander Arends and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn.

Novak Djokovic wouldn’t have returned to the peak of the ATP Rankings last season without his all-time great backhand, but more importantly, without the support of his wife, Jelena.

Djokovic, who received the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award earlier this week, spoke with CNN on how big of a role Jelena has played in his comeback, which included his historic rise from No. 22 to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings and becoming the first player to achieve the Career Golden Masters by winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

“Her support was crucial in the times when I was facing adversity and had obstacles that seemed at times too challenging. Without her support, it would be very difficult for me to play competitive tennis at such a high level,” he said.

Djokovic missed the final five months of the 2017 season and underwent elbow surgery shortly after losing in the fourth round of the 2018 Australian Open. “Twelve months ago, I was on the surgery table. I did question everything about my career, how I wanted to go about my life in the future,” Djokovic said.

The decision to do surgery, Jelena said, went against her husband’s “core values” and he contemplated quitting the sport. “It was really huge. It was like he buried one part of him with that decision. He said, ‘I’m done. I’m not playing tennis anymore. I lost this. I’m not having fun anymore. This is it,’” she said.

Fortunately for tennis fans, the Serbian has more than just kept playing tennis. His title at the Australian Open last month marked his 15^th Grand Slam, one more than his boyhood hero, American Pete Sampras.

“I think the transformational journey really started three years ago at [Roland Garros] 2016, when I held all four Slams at the same time. [It’s] the ultimate achievement in tennis, but I didn’t feel fulfilled, I just felt like something was missing,” Djokovic said.

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Second seed John Isner remained untouchable on serve on Friday at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com. The American fired 24 aces and stormed into the semi-finals with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over eighth seed Adrian Mannarino of France.

“I thought Adrian was playing well today. Those three break points I saved in the first set felt like set points,” said Isner. “I was able to get the one break in the second set and sometimes that’s all you need.”

Isner saved three break points at 3-4 in the first set and secured the lone break of the match at 2-2 in the second set to wrap up the win in one hour and 33 minutes. He improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Mannarino to 7-1 and has won their past six matches.

The American has held in all 31 of his service games this week and hasn’t dropped a set. He’s into his fourth Delray Beach semi-final (2012-2014, 2019), but is looking for his final. Should Isner take the title, it would mark the 400th match win of his career.

Next up for the American is British qualifier Daniel Evans, who continued his top form with a 6-4, 6-4 win over sixth seed Andreas Seppi. Evans raced to a 5-1 lead in the first set and maintained control of the baseline rallies to move into his first ATP Tour semi-final since the 2017 Sydney International.

“I played pretty well today and thought it was a clean match. My game style matches up well to his,” said Evans. “Playing in the qualifying this week definitely helped me. I’m not there yet, though, and there’s still plenty of work to do.”

The World No. 148 has jumped nearly 45 spots in the ATP Rankings since the start of 2019. He opened this season by qualifying for the Australian Open and advancing to the second round, then finished runner-up earlier this month at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Quimper. The Brit recorded the first big upset of the week in Delray Beach by defeating third seed Frances Tiafoe in the opening round.

China will host a new ATP Tour event in September, with the city of Zhuhai serving as host for the Zhuhai Open from 23-29 September.

The 250-level event, offering US $1,000,000 in prize money, will be held at the custom-designed, state-of-the-art Hengqin Tennis Center. It will be played the week before the China Open in Beijing and joins the Chengdu Open as the opening stops of the three-week Asian swing held in September and October.

“On behalf of the ATP, we welcome the city of Zhuhai to the ATP Tour in 2019,” said Alison Lee, ATP International Executive Vice President. “I am sure the players will enjoy their time in the city and playing at the magnificent Hengqin Tennis Center.”

Zhuhai has held an ATP Challenger Tour event in March for the past three years at the Hengqin Tennis Center. The Challenger began as a $50,000 event in 2016 and was upgraded last year to a $75,000 event.

Zhuhai is located on the southern coast of China, at the heart of the Greater Bay Area and near Hong Kong and Macau. It has been selected as “China’s Most Livable City” by the Chinese Academy of Social Services since 2015. The Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge was opened in October 2018, making Zhuhai directly and easily accessible by road from Hong Kong.

“With the opening of the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, it is easier for players traveling from Hong Kong to Zhuhau,” said Tournament Director Leon Sun. “As the only ATP Tour tournament in Southern China, we warmly welcome all the fans, including from Hong Kong and Macau, to enjoy great tennis in this new and modern venue. We look forward to seeing you there in September.”

“Huafa Sports is excited to present a first-class ATP Tour event, providing high-quality services to players, officials, sponsors and tennis fans locally and afar. A grand and colourful tennis carnival will be staged in Zhuhai in September,” said Peter LV, Executive Director of Huafa Sports, the tournament promoter and operator. “Since 2015, Zhuhai has started its endeavour in promoting tennis both at the professional and amateur level…and has garnered a stellar reputation in event operation and management, with strong support from the local government and local tournament promoter Huafa Group. The Zhuhai Open will become a new boost for local tennis development and undoubtedly a highlight on the ATP Tour.”