The 2018 ATP World Tour season has been a successful one for Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop on the doubles court. The Dutchmen have already won three titles, triumphing in Pune, Sofia and Umag. And they continued their pursuit of a fourth trophy this year on Thursday, beating qualifiers Fabrice Martin and Gilles Simon 7-6(5), 7-6(8) to reach the semi-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018.

“Somehow we fought back,” Middelkoop said. “We struggled, but we kept on going and we believed in the end game and somehow we won. That makes it fun.”

Martin and Simon led 5/3 in the first-set tie-break and held set point at 7/6 in the second-set tie-break, but the Frenchmen were unable to convert their leads. Instead, Haase and Middelkoop advanced in straight sets. Having plenty of fans cheering the quartet on made the win that much more fun.

“I don’t play for that big of a crowd in the first or second round normally, so I think it’s really positive that so many people watch tennis and watch doubles in particular,” Middelkoop said. “I think we all can celebrate doubles here and I think we created a really nice match for people to watch. I hope for tomorrow, and after that, more people will come, because I think it’s an interesting game and a lot of entertainment.”

“It’s nice. They love tennis, they respect the sport, they respect the players. They know when to clap when they maybe can clap louder or scream louder,” Haase said. “They know that when you hit a double fault, you maybe become a bit more quiet. Very respectful, and it’s really nice.”

In the next round, they will face Ben McLachlan and Jan-Lennard Struff, as the fourth seeds defeated Hyeon Chung and Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4.

Joe Salisbury, who partnered McLachlan to last week’s Shenzhen Open title, teamed with Yasutaka Uchiyama to oust No. 2 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-3. Murray and Soares entered the week as the No. 5 team in the ATP Doubles Race To London.

At the China Open in Beijing, second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo (pictured above) saved three match points in the Match tie-break to beat Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 4-6, 6-4, 12-10 in 87 minutes for a place in the semi-finals. Kubot and Melo recovered from 7/9 and 9/10 deficits in the Match tie-break.

Elsewhere, Nitto ATP Finals qualifiers and third-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah knocked out qualifiers Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-8 in one hour and 34 minutes. Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Croatians Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic defeated Argentines Juan Martin del Potro and Leonardo Mayer 2-6, 6-4, 10-6 in 83 minutes.

David Goffin will end his season early because of pain in his right elbow. The Belgian, No. 11 in the ATP Rankings, last played at the Shenzhen Open last month, falling to Brit Andy Murray in the second round.

Goffin withdrew from this week’s Rakuten Open Japan Tennis Championships 2018 in Tokyo, where he is the defending champion, because of the injury.

“The pain appeared a few weeks ago and it has worsened recently. I have now more information about this injury which is a bone edema,” Goffin shared on his social media channels on Wednesday. “I need at least one month to recover so I am sad to announce that I have to put an end to my season.”

The 27-year-old reached four semi-finals in 2018, including one at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level (Cincinnati, l. to Federer). But Goffin failed to reach a final or win a title. He won his third and fourth titles (Shenzhen, Tokyo) in 2017 and ended his season by playing in the Nitto ATP Finals title match (l. to Dimitrov).

“I am very disappointed not to be able to compete in the next few tournaments. I apologise to all the tournament directors and to all my fans. I will keep you all updated on my progress,” Goffin said. “I need to get some rest and treat myself properly in the hope of starting my preparation for next season as soon as possible.”

Some news… pic.twitter.com/IhJdPxbM23

— David Goffin (@David__Goffin) 3 de octubre de 2018

You don’t need to search far down an Infosys Return Stats LEADERBOARD to find just how impressive 2018 has been for the youth of our game returning serve on hard courts.

The ATP World Tour calendar has seven more weeks of hard court tournaments to complete the 2018 season, so one final push through Asia and back to Europe can help elevate a good season to a great one.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis identifies that the following four players, all aged 22 and under, occupy half of the top eight positions with Return Games Won On Hard in 2018.

Return Games Won On Hard Court Ranking
No. 5 = 22-year-old Borna Coric (27.95%)
No. 6 = 22-year-old Hyeon Chung (27.75%)
No. 7 = 19-year-old Alex de Minaur (27.33%)
No. 8 = 20-year-old Andrey Rublev (27.30%)

Just think about that for a moment…

The average age of the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings this week is 27.4 years of age, but the average age of these four players is just 20.7. Their maturity returning serve on hard court is well beyond their years.

Read More: Who’s The All-Time Best Hard-Court Returner On The ATP World Tour? View ATP Return Stats LEADERBOARD

Below is a breakdown of their current and best ATP Ranking, with both Coric and De Minaur both at their career best this week.

Current & Best Ranking
No, 18 Coric – best ranking No. 18 (this week)
No. 23 Chung – best ranking No. 19 (April 2018)
No. 38 De Minaur – best ranking No. 38 (this week)
No. 68 Rublev – best ranking No. 31 (Feb 2018)

Overall, David Goffin leads the Return Games Won category in 2018, winning 30.08 per cent of his return games. But this quartet of young guns is hot on his heels.

See Who’s Pushing Goffin By Visiting The ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS

Coric’s game exploded on hard courts in March this year, reaching the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, followed by the quarter-finals at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The strong showings vaulted his ATP Ranking from No. 49 to No. 28. Coric has averaged winning 39 per cent of his return points this season, but that jumped up to 43 per cent (177/414) at Indian Wells.

When you look at the other side of the ledger – Service Games Won in 2018 – it’s a fresh set of young players who lead this specific category. The following list shows the best four players aged 22 or younger, and their ranking in the specific category of Service Games Won On Hard Court in 2018.

Service Games Won On Hard Court Ranking
No. 7 = 22-year-old Karen Khachanov (87.87%)
No. 14 = 21-year-old Alexander Zverev (84.53%)
No. 22 = 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov (83.19%)
No. 23 = 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas (83.02%)

Roger Federer leads the Service Games Won category in 2018 on hard, winning 92.86 per cent of his service games. More than a third (34) of the Top 100 is thirty years of age or older. These young players are more than holding their own against their more experienced opponents.