Denis Kudla continued his strong grass-court season on Monday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Ruben Bemelmans at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open. The American won 88 per cent of first-serve points and broke his Belgian doubles partner three times in the 61-minute match to advance to the second round in Newport for the fourth time.

“It was an awesome match for me. I served really well, high first-serve percentage,” Kudla said. “It’s always tough playing your doubles partner, but someone’s got to win.”

The eighth seed made his first tour-level semi-final since 2015 Atlanta at the Gerry Weber Open, where he tested top seed Roger Federer in a straight-sets defeat. The 25-year-old, who cracked the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in nearly two years on 25 June, will next face Indian Ramkumar Ramanathan or a qualifier.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil took a 2-1 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against home favourite Donald Young, losing just six first-serve points in a 7-6(5), 6-1 victory. The World No. 98 is competing on the Rhode Island grass for the first time since 2013, and will next face recent Nature Valley International champion Mischa Zverev, the second seed. 

“It was a tough one, tough conditions. It’s pretty hot,” Pospisil said. “I’ve worked hard this year trying to build my [ATP] Ranking back up, so this is just another little stepping zone just trying to get some confidence for the hard-court season. This will do me really good to get this win. I can really take a lot of positives out of this.”

Aussie Jordan Thompson also advanced on day one, ousting compatriot James Duckworth 6-4, 6-3 in 78 minutes to earn a meeting against top seed Adrian Mannarino, who is pursuing his maiden ATP World Tour title. Tim Smyczek beat fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to set a clash against fourth seed Matthew Ebden.

Did You Know?
Kudla is now 18-16 on grass courts. His first three ATP World Tour victories came in Newport, reaching the second round in 2010 as a 17-year-old and the quarter-finals in 2011 as an 18-year-old, thanks to a win against the second seed that year, Grigor Dimitrov.

Guido Pella shocked the tennis world at Wimbledon, where he overcame a two-set deficit to defeat Marin Cilic and reach the third round. Now, the Argentine is in Umag and on clay, not grass. But the left-hander is still showing good form.

Pella defeated Istanbul champion Taro Daniel 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag on Monday, breaking four times in the final two sets to advance. The 28-year-old will try to reach his sixth tour-level quarter-final of the season against seventh seed Joao Sousa or Slovenian Aljaz Bedene.

Pella has climbed as high as No. 39 in the ATP Rankings, and he is pursuing his first ATP World Tour title, having reached the final in Rio de Janeiro two years ago and in Munich in 2017.

Laslo Djere triumphed in the only other singles match of the day, ousting former World No. 19 Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 after two hours, 10 minutes. The Serbian, who has made two tour-level semi-finals (2017 Budapest and 2018 Istanbul), will next play fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Croatian wild card Nino Serdarusic.

Four seeds will be in action on Tuesday with sixth seed Robin Haase, seventh seed Joao Sousa, eighth seed Benoit Paire and ninth seed Maximilian Marterer beginning their campaigns.

Did You Know?
Pella’s victory against Cilic at Wimbledon was his third against a Top 10 opponent. He beat Dominic Thiem in Chengdu last year and Janko Tipsarevic in Dusseldorf five years ago.

No. 5 Kevin Anderson, +3
On the back of his maiden Wimbledon final, the 32-year-old South African cracks the Top 5 for the first time and celebrates a new career-high ATP Ranking. Anderson’s Top 5 debut also continues his steady climb up the ATP Rankings.

Before 2018, the 6’8” right-hander had spent exactly one week in the Top 10 – 12 October 2015, just after advancing to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open. But this season, Anderson re-joined the Top 10 on 19 February and has made himself at home there.

Read More: Anderson Incredibly Proud, Looks To Future

No. 8 John Isner, +2
At last, Isner has reached No. 8 in the ATP Rankings. The top-ranked American had hit No. 9 on three different occasions: April 2012, April 2014 and April 2018. But he had always stayed there or fallen backward. Until now, thanks to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final run at Wimbledon (l. to Anderson).

Isner saved two match points against Belgian Ruben Bemelmans in the second round and beat 2016 finalist Milos Raonic to advance to only his second Grand Slam quarter-final (2011 US Open, l. to Murray). The 33-year-old Isner will look to hike even further up the ATP Rankings during the North American hard-court swing, which has traditionally been a successful time for the former University of Georgia Bulldog.

No. 10 Novak Djokovic, +11
His ATP Ranking still has one too many digits for his most passionate fans, but Djokovic’s return to the Top 10 is a vast improvement for the Serbian, who won his fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam crown on Sunday. He will only keep climbing from here as well.

The former World No. 1 didn’t play another tournament last year after Wimbledon because of his right elbow injury, so he can only add ATP Rankings points for the remainder of the season.

No. 20 Kei Nishikori, +8
Nishikori, similar to Djokovic, continues to show some of his best form after missing time last year because of injury (right wrist). The Japanese star beat Aussie Nick Kyrgios in the third round and Latvian Ernests Gulbis to make his first Wimbledon quarter-final (l. to Djokovic).

Nishikori, also like Djokovic, should only climb for the rest of 2018. The right-hander played only two events after Wimbledon last year, making the Citi Open semi-finals and the second round of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal.

No. 45 Frances Tiafoe, +7
The #NextGenATP American would have preferred a different final match at Wimbledon – Tiafoe was leading Russian Karen Khachanov two sets to zero but lost in the third round 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-1. But the 20-year-old Tiafoe still reached his first third round at a Grand Slam and achieved another career-high in the ATP Rankings.

Tiafoe also solidified his place in the ATP Race To Milan. He remains in fourth place with 828 points, 123 ahead of #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur. The top seven players in the ATP Race To Milan will qualify automatically for the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan, while the eighth spot will be reserved for the winner of an all-Italian qualifier tournament. To be eligible, players must have been born in 1997 or later.

Almost 15 years after first reaching the summit of the team game (8 September 2003), Mike Bryan is once again at No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings. One of the sport’s best returners and volleyers has vaulted seven spots from No. 8 to No. 1.

Today marks Mike’s 455th week in the top spot (extending his own record), his 13th different stint atop the doubles rankings and the first time he has held the position since 25 October 2013. Mike’s twin brother, Bob Bryan (1 week), Marcelo Melo (56), Jamie Murray (9), Nicolas Mahut (39), Henri Kontinen (26), Lukasz Kubot (19) and the player he replaces, Mate Pavic (8), have all led the individual doubles standings since he was last at No. 1.

At 40 years and 78 days, Mike is the oldest player to rank World No. 1, bettering the previous age record of Canada’s Daniel Nestor, who was 40 years and five days on 9 September 2012.

“To hit No. 1 at 40, it’s a great feeling,” said Mike. “I didn’t think actually I’d get back up there again. Bob and I had a great stretch. Jack and I had a great Wimbledon. It’s really cool to be back on top of the mountain. Now let’s try to fend guys off, see how long I can keep it. It’s a cool feeling.

“Longevity is pretty special, just to be able to play for so long. It’s a cool thing to do. I definitely work hard on the body and the diet. I don’t go out late. I get my sleep. I do everything to keep playing. I’m just happy that I’m still out here at 40.”

TOP 5 MOST WEEKS AT DOUBLES NO. 1

With Bob on the sidelines nursing a hip injury since May this year, Mike called call upon the services of fellow Americans Sam Querrey at Roland Garros and Jack Sock at the Fever-Tree Championships and Wimbledon.

In tandem with Sock, the duo defeated Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak in the quarter-finals of The Championships to guarantee Mike’s return to No. 1 on 16 July. Sock then helped Mike to lift the 119th doubles trophy of his career (d. Klaasen/Venus) and become the oldest man in the Open Era (since April 1968) to win a doubles title at the All England Club.

It was not only Mike’s first title (of any kind) without his twin since 2002, when he partnered Mahesh Bhupathi on Long Island, but also his 17th men’s doubles Grand Slam championship crown, drawing him level with Australia’s John Newcombe at the top of the all-time list. Brother Bob has won 16 majors (all with Mike) and is in a three-way tie for second place with Australians Roy Emerson and Todd Woodbridge.

Prior to Bob’s hip injury in the Mutua Madrid Open final, the Bryan brothers had earned two titles — the Miami Open presented by Itau (d. Khachanov/Rublev) and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Marach/Pavic) — from five finals (Acapulco, Indian Wells and Madrid) in 2018.

Only Anders Jarryd (107 weeks) has held the top doubles spot on more occasions (14) than the American twins. The Swede spent the last day of his 14th and final stint at No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings on 16 August 1992.