Malek Jaziri is one match win away from reaching his first ATP World Tour final at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. The 34-year-old knocked out seventh-seeded Czech Jiri Vesely 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 55 minutes on Friday.

“It was a really important win, as I didn’t feel that I was playing good tennis,” admitted Jaziri. “I didn’t feel good or comfortable right from the start. He served well and played good tennis, so I was making more mistakes. I tried to put more balls in court and competed for every point. I began to feel better and when I broke back at the end of the second set the match completely changed.”

The Tunisian, who recorded the second Top 10 win of his career on Thursday with victory over top seed and defending champion Marin Cilic in the second round, sets up a first-time meeting against fifth-seeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi or Laslo Djere of Serbia.

France’s Jeremy Chardy is close to ending a nine-year wait for a shot at a tour-level singles title after he defeated Thomas Fabbiano 6-2, 6-2 in 77 minutes. The 31-year-old Chardy contested two finals in 2009, winning the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart (d. Hanescu) and finishing runner-up at Johannesburg (l. to Tsonga).

He’ll now challenge Japan’s Taro Daniel, who fought back from an 0-4 deficit in the deciding set to beat Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and five minutes for a place in his first ATP World Tour semi-finals. Two months ago, as a qualifier, World No. 114 Daniel recorded the biggest win of his career over Novak Djokovic in the BNP Paribas Open third round.

Did You Know?

Malek Jaziri dropped to No. 118 in the ATP Rankings on 12 February, but with a run to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi-finals (d. Dimitrov in 1R, l. to Bautista Agut) he began his climb. The World No. 78 achieved his career-high of No. 47 on 13 February 2017.

Rafael Nadal has once again hit top form on European clay and over the next two weeks — at the Mutua Madrid Open and at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia — and he may, potentially, complete a clean sweep of red dirt titles to take the lead in the 2018 ATP Race To London.

Just three weeks ago, the Spanish superstar sat at No. 40 in the ATP Race To London (360 points), but with 11th titles at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Nishikori) and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Tsitsipas), Nadal has risen to third place (1,860 points).

The 31-year-old is now behind first-placed Roger Federer (3,110 points) and second-placed Juan Martin del Potro (2,120), ahead of two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. Nadal has won Madrid, where he has a 47-10 record, on five occasions and Rome, where he is 51-6 overall, seven times.

With a maximum of 1,500 ATP Rankings points from two clay-court events this year, it’s worth highlighting that in 2017, Nadal accrued 2,680 points in four tournaments between 10 April and 22 May 2017. So, on the eve of Roland Garros, which begins on 27 May, there is a chance that he will lead the ATP Race To London.

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While there are three clear leaders at the top, look a little further down the standings and the Race is really close, with Alexander Zverev, in fifth place (1,285), leading 16th-placed Fabio Fognini (800) by less than 500 points. A big run in Madrid or Rome will give up to 12 players an opportunity to firmly embed themselves in the Top 10, and a chance to secure a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 11-18 November.

Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov sits in seventh position on 1,255 points, while 12th-placed Kyle Edmund (945 points), a Briton bidding to qualify for the first time, has started the season strongly with an Australian Open semi-final run (l. to Cilic) and a runner-up finish at the Grand Prix Hassan II (l. to Andujar).

A familiar face, Kei Nishikori, who has competed at the season finale on three previous occasions (2014-16), is bouncing back after overcoming a right wrist injury. Three months ago, Nishikori captured the sixth ATP Challenger Tour title of his career at The RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas. Now, after a run to the Monte-Carlo final, the Japanese star is 15th in the ATP Race To London (835 points). He reached his first of four Masters 1000 finals at Madrid in 2014 (l. to Nadal).

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A crying baby momentarily distracted Alexander Zverev between serves on his second match point on Friday at the BMW Open by FWU as he set up a semi-final clash against Hyeon Chung, the Next Gen ATP Finals champion.

Despite the distraction, top seed and defending champion Zverev wrapped up his 19th match win of the year by hitting a second-serve ace to complete a 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff in 62 minutes.

Chung leads Zverev 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series with victories at the 2017 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and the 2018 Australian Open.

Earlier in the day, Chung advanced to the Munich semi-finals for the second successive year to continue his quest for a first tour-level trophy. The fourth-seeded South Korean defeated Slovakian qualifier and 2014 champion Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4 in 79 minutes for his 20th match win of the season (20-7).

“I’m really happy to make the semi-finals two years in a row,” said Chung. “It was really tough against a lefty, tough from the baseline and it forced me to focus all the time.”

The 21-year-old Chung beat Klizan in the Munich quarter-finals for the second successive year, breaking on occasions in the first set. Serving at 4-5, 30/30 in the second set, Klizan hit a double fault and then struck a forehand long.

#NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur and his mentor, former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, gave it a good go at the Millennium Estoril Open this week, but their intriguing run has come to an end. Britain’s Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie ousted De Minaur and Hewitt, who came out of retirement to play doubles, 6-4, 7-6(4), in one hour, 25 minutes. De Minaur and Hewitt battled from a 1-4 deficit in the second set to 4-4 and saved two match points while serving down 4-5, but were unable to complete the comeback, as the Brits advanced to the semi-finals. 

There was a significant upset in Estoril, as Jonathan Eysseric and Joe Salisbury defeated top seeds John Peers and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 7-6(4). Dutchmen Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop were also beaten Thursday. Leonardo Mayer and Joao Sousa dismissed this year’s Pune and Sofia champions 6-2, 6-4 in just 56 minutes. 

Kubot/Melo Finding Stride In Munich
Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who are No. 1 and No. 2 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, respectively, are finding some of their best form. The duo reached their first semi-final since the Sydney International in January by beating Mirza Basic and Marton Fucsovics 6-1, 6-1 at the BMW Open by FWU on Thursday. The Polish-Brazilian team won 70 per cent of points in the match to clinch victory in 40 minutes. 

And while No. 2 seeds Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram advanced to the final four in Munich with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win over Ivo Karlovic and Nenad Zimonjic, another seeded team was surprised. Home favourites Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff took down this year’s New York and Houston champions, No. 4 seeds Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald 7-5, 7-5.

Nestor Advances To 1st SF Since 2017 Tokyo
Forty-five year-old Daniel Nestor, the former World No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, is still kicking. The Canadian partnered American Jamie Cerretani on Thursday to a 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 victory against Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. Nestor/Cerretani are now into the semi-finals, Nestor’s first trip to that stage of a tour-level event since Tokyo last year. 

In the only other doubles match of the day in Istanbul, last week’s Budapest titlist Dominic Inglot and his partner, Robert Lindstedt, moved past fourth seeds Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 7-6(3), 6-3.

Second seed Roberto Bautista Agut is one match win away from reaching the BMW Open by FWU semi-finals for the third time (2015, 2017), after the Spaniard beat #NextGenATP Norwegian wild card Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.

Bautista Agut, who is currently No. 14 in the ATP Rankings, lost just four of his first-serve points (31/35) and converted two of his 10 break-point opportunities for victory in 77 minutes.

The World No. 14 will next meet three-time former champion Philipp Kohlschreiber, who, earlier in the day, joined fellow German Maximilian Marterer in the quarter-finals.

Kohlschreiber improved to 31-10 at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament — where he picked up titles in 2007 (d. Youzhny), 2012 (d. Cilic) and 2016 (d. Thiem) — with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Mischa Zverev in 68 minutes.

“It was a great day. I was very aggressive from the start and got an early break,” said Kohlschreiber, who is through to his ninth Munich quarter-final. “I continued to be aggressive and played my game, and I don’t think Mischa was able to really play his game. I always feel special pressure here, but I take a lot out of playing in front of German crowds. I hope I can continue doing well.”

Marterer recorded the biggest win of his career when he knocked out Argentine third seed and 2018 Rio Open presented by Claro champion Diego Schwartzman, currently No. 16 in the ATP Rankings, 6-4, 6-2 in 90 minutes. He first reached the last eight of an ATP World Tour event in February at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open (l. to Basic).

Another player who reached the second tour-level quarter-final of his career (2017 Swiss Indoors Basel), Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, ended the run of in-form Italian Marco Cecchinato, last week’s Gazprom Hungarian Open titlist (d. Millman), 7-6(5), 6-1 in 88 minutes.

Did You Know?
Philipp Kohlschreiber has reached the Munich final on five occasions (2007, 2012-13, 2015-16). He finished runner-up in 2013 (l. to Haas) and 2015 (l. to Murray).

#NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his run of form on Thursday at the Millennium Estoril Open. The 19-year-old knocked out top-seeded South African Kevin Anderson 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 13 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals.

World No. 8 Anderson, who reached the semi-finals last year (l. to Muller), could not convert his first set point chance on Tsitsipas’ serve at 5-4, Ad-Out in the first set, which lasted one hour. World No. 44 Tsitsipas broke Anderson’s serve in the sixth game of the second set, then in the fifth game of the deciding set.

Tsitsipas, who beat No. 7-ranked Dominic Thiem last week en route to his first ATP World Tour final at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (l. to Nadal), is now 3-5 lifetime against opponents in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings.

He will next play Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena, who required more than three hours and and saved three match points to beat Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(1). Carballes Baena saved the match points on serve at 4-5, 0/40 in the deciding set, prior to winning the first six points of the tie-break.

The highest-ranked player remaining in Estoril, World No. 11 Pablo Carreno Busta, moved on with a 6-1, 7-5 win against Argentine Nicolas Kicker in one hour, 28 minutes. The Spaniard overcame a 3-5 deficit in the second set, claiming the final four games, and with it, a spot in the quarter-finals, where he will play Chilean Nicolas Jarry or compatriot Ricardo Ojeda Lara. 

Carreno Busta seeks his third consecutive semi-final after reaching the final four at Miami (l. to A. Zverev) and Barcelona (l. to Tsitsipas).

Did You Know?
Last week in Barcelona, Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first Greek man to reach an ATP World Tour title match since Nicholas Kalogeropoulos in Des Moines, Iowa in 1973.

Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri caused a major upset on Thursday at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open.

The World No. 78 knocked out top-seeded Croatian and defending champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2 for the second Top 10 win of his career (2-11) and a place in the quarter-finals.

“I’m really happy to win. It’s a very important match in my career,” said Jaziri. “I’ve worked really hard to get this win over a Top 5 player. It wasn’t an easy match as I needed to be focused every point, so to keep my error count down. I feel as if I am improving my tennis and fitness every week.”

Newly-wed Cilic, who beat Milos Raonic in the 2017 Istanbul final, took a 2-0 lead, but lost the next five games. Although the World No. 4 worked his way back to 4-5, Jaziri held his nerve to seal the 41-minute set. After two breaks of serve — in the third and seventh games — of the second set, Jaziri clinched the 80-minute victory when Cilic struck a forehand return long. The 34-year-old Jaziri beat then No. 4-ranked Grigor Dimitrov in February en route to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi-finals.

“It was my first match and Malek played great,” said Cilic. “I had issues with my knee, so I wasn’t serving that well. But all the credit to Malek. I tried to play aggressively and I didn’t want to slow the pace down or be defensive.”

Jaziri will next meet seventh-seeded Czech Jiri Vesely, who defeated qualifier Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(3) in two hours and 28 minutes. Monteiro had led 5-2 in the deciding set.

Earlier in the day, Thomas Fabbiano recorded the biggest win of his career in beating second seed Damir Dzumhur, currently No. 32 in the ATP Rankings, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 in one hour and 40 minutes. The previously highest-ranked player that Fabbiano, who beat former World No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny in the first round, had beaten came in February 2016 against then No. 40-ranked Leonardo Mayer in the Dubai second round.

“I’m happy to win, as I’d lost to Dzumhur on five previous occasions,” said Fabbiano. “We both have very similar games. I started very well, but I lost my focus at the beginning of the second set. I then regained my energy early in the third, but I’m very far from my best level.”

Fabbiano will next challenge France’s Jeremy Chardy, who he practised with for an hour on Wednesday. Chardy needed to work hard on Thursday to wrestle away the momentum from Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 in two hours and 16 minutes. Chardy took a 3-1 lead in the second set, but was soon pinned back and, although he could not convert one set point at 4-5, Ad-Out on Lajovic’s serve, he soon grew in confidence. The World No. 87 won the first four games of the decider.

“I am pleased because I won, but Dusan was so much better than me in the first set,” said Chardy. “It was a tight second set, when I fought so hard, and I then played well in the decider to gain confidence.”

Did You Know?
Prior to Thursday, Marin Cilic had not lost in the opening round of an ATP World Tour tournament since May 2017 at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to A. Zverev).

#NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his run of form on Thursday at the Millennium Estoril Open. The 19-year-old knocked out top-seeded South African Kevin Anderson 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 13 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals.

World No. 8 Anderson, who reached the semi-finals last year (l. to Muller), could not convert his first set point chance on Tsitsipas’ serve at 5-4, Ad-Out in the first set, which lasted one hour. World No. 44 Tsitsipas broke Anderson’s serve in the sixth game of the second set, then in the fifth game of the deciding set.

Tsitsipas, who beat No. 7-ranked Dominic Thiem last week en route to his first ATP World Tour final at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (l. to Nadal), is now 3-5 lifetime against opponents in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings.

He will next play Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena, who required more than three hours and and saved three match points to beat Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(1). Carballes Baena saved the match points on serve at 4-5, 0/40 in the deciding set, prior to winning the first six points of the tie-break.

The highest-ranked player remaining in Estoril, World No. 11 Pablo Carreno Busta, moved on with a 6-1, 7-5 win against Argentine Nicolas Kicker in one hour, 28 minutes. The Spaniard overcame a 3-5 deficit in the second set, claiming the final four games, and with it, a spot in the quarter-finals, where he will play Chilean Nicolas Jarry or compatriot Ricardo Ojeda Lara. 

Carreno Busta seeks his third consecutive semi-final after reaching the final four at Miami (l. to A. Zverev) and Barcelona (l. to Tsitsipas).

Did You Know?
Last week in Barcelona, Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first Greek man to reach an ATP World Tour title match since Nicholas Kalogeropoulos in Des Moines, Iowa in 1973.

#NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur and his mentor, former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, gave it a good go at the Millennium Estoril Open this week, but their intriguing run has come to an end. Britain’s Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie ousted De Minaur and Hewitt, who came out of retirement to play doubles, 6-4, 7-6(4), in one hour, 25 minutes. De Minaur and Hewitt battled from a 1-4 deficit in the second set to 4-4 and saved two match points while serving down 4-5, but were unable to complete the comeback, as the Brits advanced to the semi-finals. 

There was a significant upset in Estoril, as Jonathan Eysseric and Joe Salisbury defeated top seeds John Peers and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 7-6(4). Dutchmen Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop were also beaten Thursday. Leonardo Mayer and Joao Sousa dismissed this year’s Pune and Sofia champions 6-2, 6-4 in just 56 minutes. 

Kubot/Melo Finding Stride In Munich
Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who are No. 1 and No. 2 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, respectively, are finding some of their best form. The duo reached their first semi-final since the Sydney International in January by beating Mirza Basic and Marton Fucsovics 6-1, 6-1 at the BMW Open by FWU on Thursday. The Polish-Brazilian team won 70 per cent of points in the match to clinch victory in 40 minutes. 

And while No. 2 seeds Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram advanced to the final four in Munich with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win over Ivo Karlovic and Nenad Zimonjic, another seeded team was surprised. Home favourites Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff took down this year’s New York and Houston champions, No. 4 seeds Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald 7-5, 7-5.

Nestor Advances To 1st SF Since 2017 Tokyo
Forty-five year-old Daniel Nestor, the former World No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, is still kicking. The Canadian partnered American Jamie Cerretani on Thursday to a 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 victory against Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. Nestor/Cerretani are now into the semi-finals, Nestor’s first trip to that stage of a tour-level event since Tokyo last year. 

In the only other doubles match of the day in Istanbul, last week’s Budapest titlist Dominic Inglot and his partner, Robert Lindstedt, moved past fourth seeds Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 7-6(3), 6-3.

Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri caused a major upset on Thursday at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open.

The World No. 78 knocked out top-seeded Croatian and defending champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2 for the second Top 10 win of his career (2-11) and a place in the quarter-finals.

“I’m really happy to win. It’s a very important match in my career,” said Jaziri. “I’ve worked really hard to get this win over a Top 5 player. It wasn’t an easy match as I needed to be focused every point, so to keep my error count down. I feel as if I am improving my tennis and fitness every week.”

Newly-wed Cilic, who beat Milos Raonic in the 2017 Istanbul final, took a 2-0 lead, but lost the next five games. Although the World No. 4 worked his way back to 4-5, Jaziri held his nerve to seal the 41-minute set. After two breaks of serve — in the third and seventh games — of the second set, Jaziri clinched the 80-minute victory when Cilic struck a forehand return long. The 34-year-old Jaziri beat then No. 4-ranked Grigor Dimitrov in February en route to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi-finals.

“It was my first match and Malek played great,” said Cilic. “I had issues with my knee, so I wasn’t serving that well. But all the credit to Malek. I tried to play aggressively and I didn’t want to slow the pace down or be defensive.”

Jaziri will next meet seventh-seeded Czech Jiri Vesely, who defeated qualifier Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(3) in two hours and 28 minutes. Monteiro had led 5-2 in the deciding set.

Earlier in the day, Thomas Fabbiano recorded the biggest win of his career in beating second seed Damir Dzumhur, currently No. 32 in the ATP Rankings, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 in one hour and 40 minutes. The previously highest-ranked player that Fabbiano, who beat former World No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny in the first round, had beaten came in February 2016 against then No. 40-ranked Leonardo Mayer in the Dubai second round.

“I’m happy to win, as I’d lost to Dzumhur on five previous occasions,” said Fabbiano. “We both have very similar games. I started very well, but I lost my focus at the beginning of the second set. I then regained my energy early in the third, but I’m very far from my best level.”

Fabbiano will next challenge France’s Jeremy Chardy, who he practised with for an hour on Wednesday. Chardy needed to work hard on Thursday to wrestle away the momentum from Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 in two hours and 16 minutes. Chardy took a 3-1 lead in the second set, but was soon pinned back and, although he could not convert one set point at 4-5, Ad-Out on Lajovic’s serve, he soon grew in confidence. The World No. 87 won the first four games of the decider.

“I am pleased because I won, but Dusan was so much better than me in the first set,” said Chardy. “It was a tight second set, when I fought so hard, and I then played well in the decider to gain confidence.”

Did You Know?
Prior to Thursday, Marin Cilic had not lost in the opening round of an ATP World Tour tournament since May 2017 at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to A. Zverev).