The numbers defy anyone’s logic.

In Quito, Victor Estrella Burgos has been unbeatable, literally. The 37-year-old has won all 16 of his matches at the Ecuador Open. That run includes three ATP World Tour titles – the only three of his career and every edition of the Ecuador Open (2015, 2016, 2017) – and his first-round victory on Monday, his fourth win against Thomaz Bellucci in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, all of which have come in Quito.

Read More: King of Quito Estrella Burgos Survives Opener

But outside of the Ecuadorian capital, Estrella Burgos has struggled to play up to his “King of Quito” label. The Dominican Republic native is 29-59 (.330) in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam matches held in every city not named Quito, Ecuador. He remains the only player in ATP World Tour history with three or more titles at one tournament and zero titles at all other events.

“Quito has become a very special spot for me… The altitude suits my game, it’s an important factor for this tournament,” Estrella Burgos said of Quito, which has an elevation of 9,350 feet (2,800 metres) above sea level.

“Also, I always feel the love from the fans, they bring to me lots of energy and support… The most special thing about Quito is that it brought my maiden ATP title. It was a dream come true. Being able to conquer it three times in a row is unbelievable for me.”

It was an unexpected trio of titles for Estrella Burgos. He entered the 2015 tournament with an ATP Ranking of No. 73 and as the eighth seed. Before February 2015, he had been to only one tour-level semi-final, 2014 Bogota, when he lost to eventual titlist Aussie Bernard Tomic.

But Estrella Burgos won 10 of his 11 sets that week and beat Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(5) in the final to win his maiden title. The next year, Estrella Burgos, the fifth seed, beat Bellucci in a tight three-set match to win back-to-back titles, and last year, he twice saved match points, including in the final against Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, to win his third consecutive Quito crown.

“There are many good memories. Lots of fans come and create an special atmosphere,” Estrella Burgos said.

Can he win back-to-back-to-back-to-back titles in 2018? Of course he can, because he’s Victor Estrella Burgos, and because he’s playing at his favourite place in the world, the Ecuador Open in Quito.

Croatian Ivo Karlovic will turn 39 later this month, but the big right-hander still remains one of the very best servers on the ATP World Tour. The 6’11” Karlovic used his best weapon to much success again on Wednesday, not facing a break point during his 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4) win against American Ernesto Escobedo at the Ecuador Open.

The seventh-seeded Karlovic struck 24 aces and won 95 per cent (53/56) of his first-serve points to move into the second round in Quito. Karlovic will next meet #NextGenATP Frenchman Corentin Moutet.

“It was a really difficult match as you can see, with the result. With the altitude it is always difficult because the ball bounces higher… so there is not a lot of control of the ball… but all in all I am happy with the win,” Karlovic said of playing in Quito, “The City In The Sky”, which has an elevation of 9,350 feet (2,800 metres) above sea level.

Chile’s Nicolas Jarry also needed three sets to advance past Argentine Facundo Bagnis 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(5). In a battle of former college teammates at the University of Southern California, Ecuador’s No. 1 Roberto Quiroz defeated Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(5), 6-3.

In other action, Italy’s Alessandro Giannessi converted both break points to beat Peter Polansky of Canada 6-3, 6-4, and Austria’s Gerald Melzer made quick work of Marco Cecchinato of Italy 6-4, 6-2.

You can draw a straight line between rising up the ATP rankings and improving your second-serve return.

The first serve is always an asset for players because of the raw power, but win percentages surrounding second serves can easily flip into the liability column, especially against a good returner.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the best returners from the 2017 season shows that the second-serve return can evolve into a bigger weapon than the second serve itself.

For example, Grigor Dimitrov won 48.2 per cent (1033/2142) of his second-serve return points in 2016 from 65 matches. Everything under 50 per cent sits in the liability column, and this was not an obvious strength of the Bulgarian’s game two seasons ago, when he finished No. 17 in the 2016 year-end ATP Rankings.

But fast forward to 2017 and Dimitrov surged all the way up to No. 3, winning 52 per cent (1092/2101) of second-serve return points from 68 matches. He was 34th best on tour in 2016 in this specific category, and he moved up to ninth best last season.

2017 Season: Top 10 Second-Serve Return Points Won

Diego Schwartzman, the 25-year-old Argentine, finished first on tour in 2017 with second-serve points won, at just over 56 per cent. The only other player to be above 55 per cent was World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who won 55.6 per cent of his second-serve return points.

Roberto Bautista Agut and Richard Gasquet were both above 54 per cent, while David Goffin, Hyeon Chung and Pablo Carreno Busta were all north of 53 per cent.

Rounding out the Top 10 in this category were Fernando Verdasco, Dimitrov and Lucas Pouille. Overall, there were 24 players on tour that were able to generate a winning percentage returning second serves.

The ideal target with this specific shot is right down the middle of the court at the server. Big shots go to big targets, and aggression with second-serve returns is more about power, spin and depth, than direction hitting away from the server.

It’s a pretty clear lesson. Improve your second-serve return, and see your ranking improve.

Mirza Basic stunned No. 4 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 7-6(5) at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open to reach his second quarter-final of the season on Wednesday.

The No. 129, who reached the last eight at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open (l. Pella), broke serve in the 12th game of the first set to take a one-set lead and secured a crucial mini-break at 5/5 in the second set tie-break to upset the German after one hour and 41 minutes.

Kohlschreiber, who has captured one tour-level title in each of the past four seasons, remains winless in 2018 while Basic awaits the winner of Thursday’s second-round match between Maximilian Marterer and No. 7 seed Joao Sousa.

Germany’s Marterer continued his strong start to the season with a 7-6(3), 6-4 win over Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri. Marterer, who is targeting a Top 50 place in the year-end ATP Rankings, hit 13 aces to set up the second-round clash with seventh seed Joao Sousa.

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Romania’s Marius Copil also produced an upset to beat No. 5 seed Robin Haase 7-6(5), 6-4 and book his place in the second round. The No. 93 defeated the Dutch No. 1, winning 88 per cent of points on serve, and will next face Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic. The 30-year-old took just 78 minutes to beat Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-4, 6-4.

Italy’s Andreas Seppi will meet third seed Gilles Muller for a place in the quarter-finals after dispatching of No. 92 Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4. Qualifier Jozef Kovalik came from 2-5 down in the third set and saved one match point to beat countryman Lukas Lacko 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 while Marcos Baghdatis recovered from an early first-set deficit to beat lucky loser Salvatore Caruso 7-6(3), 6-3.

Roger Federer is taking a wild card into next week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, where he will have the chance to reclaim the No. 1 ATP Ranking for the first time in more than five years.

Federer, who last held the top spot on 4 October 2012, moved to within 155 points of Rafael Nadal after claiming his 20th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and could dethrone Nadal as World No. 1 if he reaches the semi-finals in Rotterdam.

Federer has previously played the ATP World Tour 500 tournament eight times, taking the title in 2005 and 2012.

Tournament Director Richard Krajicek said: “We are thrilled that Roger has chosen to come to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament last minute. After his fantastic result at the Australian Open, it is tremendous news that he will be joining us in Rotterdam. It is a crown to the celebration of the history of our tournament.”

Federer, 36, holds the record for most weeks spent at No. 1 (302). He is attempting to eclipse Andre Agassi (33) as the oldest World No. 1.

It didn’t take long for Rafael Nadal to congratulate Roger Federer on his Grand Slam triumph in Melbourne, even if fans aren’t hearing about it until now.

“I immediately sent him a text message (after the Australian Open final),” Nadal said on Monday at the formal opening of the Mapfre Clinic of Tennis Medicine in Madrid, where the current ATP World Tour No.1 fielded questions with the hashtag #AskRafaNadal during a Twitter Q&A session. “I usually congratulate people I know in private rather than publicly. I’ve had a very good relationship with Federer for years now. I was happy for him; I congratulated him and I told him I’m always happy when he does well.”

Federer’s victory at the Australian Open nudged his Grand Slam haul to 20, four more majors than Nadal, his closest rival. But according to Nadal, he isn’t keeping count — and it’s for the better.

“I’m always looking at what’s in front of me, not what’s around me,” the Spaniard said. “There’s always someone who has achieved more than you or who has earned more than you. You can’t let that frustrate you; instead, it’s better to be satisfied with what you do, so long as you’re giving it your all.”

There’s a difference between setting high standards and becoming consumed with success, according to Nadal. That extends to the rivalry he shares with his contemporary, Federer. Ultimately, Rafa stressed the importance of being content.

“It’s great to be ambitious, but not to excess,” Nadal explained. “You’ll go insane if you obsess on wanting more and more and more … the most important thing is to be happy with yourself. Of course, I do everything possible to win the maximum number of tournaments, but I’m not going to spend all my life thinking, ‘Federer has won more than me.’ I just concentrate on what I can control and focus on that.”

Nadal, who turns 32 in June, doesn’t know how much longer he’ll compete, but he’s sure about two things. The first: that he’s cherishing the fact that he’s still able to play at the highest level — something he never imagined several years ago. The second: He still believes there’s room to improve every day.

“I’m not tired of playing; I’m fortunate and happy to be in this situation at 31 years old,” Nadal said. “Years ago, I didn’t think I’d be where I am today. I figured that at this point, I’d be retired and dedicating myself to something else. But now, I’m keeping the illusion alive that I can still get better and better. I still have the drive to get up every morning and train with the aim to improve. For as long as that lasts, I’ll keep enjoying my time on the Tour and competing week in and week out.”

Belgium’s David Goffin booked his place in his first quarter-final of the 2018 ATP World Tour season at the Open Sud de France after beating Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.

The match was dominated by the returner in the early stages, with seven breaks of serve in the opening set, before Goffin finally took advantage with timely first serves proving crucial to secure the first set.

From there, Goffin grew in confidence with a much improved serving performance and continued his assault on the Tata Open Maharashtra champion’s serve with two more service breaks before closing the match out with two aces and an unreturned serve to seal his spot in the last eight.

The World No. 7 awaits the winner of the second-round match between Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis and Russia’s Karen Khachanov, who are scheduled to play on Thursday.

Three-time former champion Richard Gasquet wasted no time in advancing to the second round, needing just 56 minutes to beat Sydney International champion Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-3. Gasquet broke the Russian on five occasions and lost just three points on his first serve in front of his home fans to book a meeting with compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Herbert will be facing his second French opponent in as many rounds after battling past qualifier Kenny De Schepper 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-4. In a match with just three breaks of serve, the 26-year-old broke at the perfect time as De Schepper served to stay in the match at 4-5 in the decider.

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Andrey Rublev took 61 minutes to secure his spot his spot in the quarter-finals. The #NextGenATP contender dropped just three games to beat France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-1. The 20-year-old saved all three break points on his serve and coverted four of five opportunities created on his opponent’s delivery.

Rublev will meet the winner of the all-French encounter between Nicolas Mahut and No. 3 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Mahut advanced to the second round in unfortunate fashion, after Germany’s Dustin Brown was forced to retire, due to a back injury, just one game from victory at 7-6(2) 5-2.

Australia’s John Millman came from a set down to beat Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The No. 107 lost just one point behind his first serve in the third set to set up a meeting with home favourite Benoit Paire.

Ruben Bemelmans also advanced in southern France with a rapid, 49-minute, 6-1, 6-2 victory over French wild card Calvin Hemery.

Stan Wawrinka took time out on Wednesday to stop at the Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the centre of Sofia.

The Neo-Byzantine style cathedral is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world, holding 10,000 people and is one of the capital’s primary tourist attractions.

Top seeded Wawrinka starts his DIEMA XTRA Sofia Open campaign on Thursday night against qualifier Martin Klizan, in what will be his first match since his second-round Australian Open loss to Tennys Sandgren.

“I feel much better since Australia,” said Wawrinka. “The first day I came home I started practising really hard, especially fitness wise, trying to get my knee better.”

The three-time Grand Slam champion emphasised the need for more match play in order to get back to his best level. “I know I am not yet at my top level because it takes more time, I need matches and tournaments and that is the reason why I am here because right now… for me, it is really good to be here.”

Wawrinka spoke to home favourite Grigor Dimitrov about the event and looks forward to his debut in front of a large crowd at the Arena Armeec Sofia. “I talked with Grigor when he played last year. It was a great tournament. He played at home so the atmosphere was amazing, the centre court is really big so there are a lot of people. I heard some good things and I am happy to see it by myself and to be here playing this tournament.”