Two former champions will battle it out for the 2017 Intrum Stockholm Open title as reigning champion Juan Martin del Potro outlasted eighth seed Fernando Verdasco on Saturday in a tussle between two of the biggest forehands in tennis, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(1), to set up a clash against top-seeded Grigor Dimitrov.

“It was a great match. We both played great tennis and I think the crowd enjoyed our game,” del Potro said. “I’m glad to be in the final once again.”

Del Potro is into his first final of the season, and his first overall since lifting the trophy in Sweden last year. The right-hander will attempt to win his 20th title on Sunday.

The match will be of the utmost importance for del Potro in the Emirates ATP Race To London, as he has made a late-season charge to put himself within striking distance of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. The 29-year-old is now into 15th in the Race with 2,035 points, and can ascend to 14th with a victory. If he beats the 2013 champion, del Potro will be within 480 points of No. 9 Pablo Carreno Busta, who has 2,605 points and currently holds the final qualifying spot with No. 7 Stan Wawrinka out for the season due to injury.

It was not easy for del Potro to give himself that opportunity to make a move in the Race, as the veteran left-hander Verdasco pushed the Argentine the distance.

Verdasco earned an immediate break of serve in the third set to gain a 2-0 advantage with his forehand keeping his opponent on the back foot, but del Potro roared right back with a break of his own, using his own timely forehands. The ‘Tower of Tandil’ then saved a break point at 3-4, which would have allowed Verdasco to serve for the match. Once the pair got to the tie-break, it was all del Potro.

“I was focused during the third set and in the tie-break I broke a few times at the beginning and that allowed me to play with more confidence in my game on my serve,” del Potro said. “I played a good match today.”

Del Potro will not have it easy on Sunday as he attempts to defend his title against an in-form Dimitrov. With his 6-3, 7-6(2) semi-final victory over sixth seed Fabio Fognini, the Bulgarian moved up to No. 5 in the Race, and put himself in position to win a career-best fourth title of the season (Brisbane, Sofia, Cincinnati).

Del Potro leads in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 5-2, but Dimitrov has won the past two matches, both straight-set victories this year in Beijing and Cincinnati.

“I would love to defend my title but Grigor is playing so good. He already beat me in Beijing and Cincinnati as well and he’s playing such good tennis on this surface,” del Potro said. “Hopefully I can be ready to put up a good fight.”

 Watch Full Match Replays

It was a historic day at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow, with two Bosnians playing in the semi-final of an ATP World Tour event for the first time.

But it was sixth seed Damir Dzumhur who continued his good play with a 6-0, 7-6(9) victory over qualifier Mirza Basic, his best friend, who had not reached a tour-level quarter-final before this week.

“It means a lot for us. It means a lot for Bosnian tennis. It means a lot for Bosnian people,” Dzumhur said. “I think back home in Bosnia everyone was watching us today. Some people were probably for cheering for him, some for me, but I think most of the people were just enjoying the tennis, especially in the second set when Mirza played very good tennis.”

For Dzumhur, No. 38 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, it will be his second final on Russian soil in the span of a month after claiming his maiden trophy at the St. Petersburg Open in September. He is projected to climb to a career-high ranking of at least No. 33 by making the final.

At the beginning of the semi-final, it appeared that the higher-ranked player would cruise. Dzumhur lost the first two points of the match on his own serve, but would go on to speed through the opening set in 22 minutes, facing just two break points in the fifth game.

“Mirza was tight, I could feel that. He was nervous and I used that in the start after getting a 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 lead. I knew that it was going to be an easy set, but [I knew] the second one is not going to be easy because you cannot have two easy sets against a guy like Mirza,” Dzumhur said. “When he’s serving good, when he’s in the zone, he’s very dangerous and that’s what he showed in the second set.”

Basic, World No. 209 played far better than his ranking in the second set, holding serve throughout to keep the match close. At 5-6, he saved eight match points on his serve in a 28-point game to force a tie-break.

“I just couldn’t finish it because he was either playing an amazing serve or a good forehand, good volley,” Dzumhur said. “After a few match points when you don’t use it, don’t finish, you get a little tight, you get a little bit nervous… I’m sure that if we went to a third set he’d have the advantage. He’d have confidence, I would be down because I didn’t use so many match points and so I knew that I had to finish in two sets. Luckily for me I finished it and I’m in the final.”

Dzumhur failed to convert two more match points in the tie-break, and saved two set points against him, but ultimately closed Basic out in straight sets.

The 25-year-old will play third seed Adrian Mannarino or Ricardas Berankis in the final, but for now is enjoying what was a special day for his nation.

“Definitely before we started the tournament we couldn’t imagine that we would play in the semis here in Moscow,” Dzumhur admitted. “That’s a huge thing for Bosnian tennis. That’s a huge thing for both of us and especially for Mirza, his first semis….I don’t feel good because I beat my best friend, Mirza, but one of us had to go to the final and I would say the same if I lost.”

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play in his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season at the European Open in Antwerp. The Frenchman ended the run of home favourite Ruben Bemelmans on Saturday 6-3, 6-3 in 73 minutes.

“Today was a good match. I played pretty good. Ruben had played a few good matches before and he was pretty confident, so it was not easy. I played well and had to play my best tennis to win,” Tsonga said.

 Watch Full Match Replays

Tsonga broke twice in both sets, converting all four break points, and erased two of three break points to roll past the Belgian, who was playing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final. Sunday will mark Tsonga’s first title match since May, when he won the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (d. Berdych).

The right-hander will meet Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who ended the career-best run of 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece with a 6-3, 7-5 win. The #NextGenATP Greek was playing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final.

Schwartzman started slow in both sets, falling behind a break. But the World No. 26 rallied to reach back-to-back European Open finals. “I think I took every chance I had today,” Schwartzman said. “I returned really well.”

Schwartzman fell in last year’s title match to Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The 5’7” Argentine won his maiden title last year at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (d. Dimitrov). It will be his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Tsonga.

“It’s going to be a really tough match for me. Tsonga is a big player, big guy. He has played in a lot of finals. He has won many titles in his career,” Schwartzman said. “I’m going to enjoy the match here again in the final, try to win and try to play good tennis.

“Before I started to be a professional I saw him on TV, and now I am playing against him. It’s very nice for me. I am learning a lot and playing good tennis.” 

Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro continued his late charge in the Emirates ATP Race To London with a 6-2, 7-6(6) win against seventh seed Yuichi Sugita at the Intrum Stockholm Open on Friday evening.

“I just played good tennis in the tie-break,” del Potro said. “I found a way in the last point of the match and I got through in an important match and I’m glad to be in the semi-finals.”

The Shanghai Rolex Masters semi-finalist is now No. 16 in the Race with 1,975 points. Should he go on to advance to his first final since his last visit to Stockholm, he will climb to 15th, and then 14th should he defend his crown, which would bring his total to 2,135 points.

While that may seem far behind the eighth and final qualifying spot for the Nitto ATP Finals, No. 7 Stan Wawrinka and No. 10 Novak Djokovic have ended their seasons due to injury, and No. 13 Andy Murray has not played since The Championships, also due to injury. Del Potro would be 470 points behind No. 9 Pablo Carreno Busta.

Del Potro could have faced another potential London qualifier in second seed Kevin Anderson, but Fernando Verdasco stalled the US Open finalist’s bid with a 7-6(1), 7-6(1) victory.

“It’s a very tough tournament, even if it’s a 250, the draw is really tough,” Verdasco said of the Intrum Stockholm Open. “Today it was an important match for me, also because it was the first time [I would] reach the semi-finals [in Stockholm] if I win and also because the last couple of months, I was not finding my game.”

Verdasco had not reached a tour-level quarter-final since July in Bastad, when he lost in the semi-finals at the SkiStar Swedish Open against David Ferrer. As the Spaniard said, Sweden may just be his lucky charm. Both Verdasco and Anderson saved the single break point they each faced, but the left-hander controlled both tie-breaks with his aggressive forehand and overall baseline play.

Confronting del Potro in the semi-finals is not the luckiest draw, as the Argentine has proven to be in good form. However, Verdasco feels he is ready for the challenge, as he pursues his first title since last year’s BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest.

“Very happy. Tomorrow is also going to be a very tough match, a very tough opponent,” Verdasco said. “But I’m very motivated, and I think I am ready to fight and try to win.”

Who needs shoelaces to win an ATP World Tour quarter-final?

Greek #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas was up against a motivated World No. 10 David Goffin in Antwerp, with the in-form top seed battling for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals in November. Tsitsipas’ shoelaces on his left sneaker broke from sliding, and by the end of the second set his replacement set did as well. It was no problem for the 19 year old, who had never been in an ATP World Tour quarter-final, and has qualified at his past five tour-level events. He borrowed his father’s laces and went on to defeat Goffin, 2-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(4) in two hours, 33 minutes at the European Open on Friday.

“I felt really happy that I could play this way. It’s a very important victory for me today,” said Tsitsipas, who has high hopes for the rest of the week and his future. “Keep my level at the level I was playing today, maybe even better and things will come. They come with time.”

It was Tsitsipas’ first victory over a Top 10 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings after claiming his first ATP World Tour win just last week at the Shanghai Rolex Masters (d. Khachanov).

The 6’4” rising star maintained his hopes of qualifying for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, moving from No. 13 at the beginning of the week to the No. 10 spot with 547 points. If Tsitsipas goes on to claim his first ATP World Tour title, he will sit in ninth, 65 points behind No. 7 Daniil Medvedev, who currently occupies the final automatic qualifying spot in the Race.

It was a tough blow for Goffin, who is in a battle to earn his London spot. The Belgian, who won back-to-back titles at the Shenzhen Open and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017, is eighth in the Race with 2,750 points. And while he currently would be the seventh player to qualify because No. 7 Stan Wawrinka is out for the season due to injury, No. 9 Pablo Carreno Busta, No. 11 Sam Querrey and No. 12 Kevin Anderson are all within 300 points.

Goffin had three break chances in the 16-point third game of the second set to gain what would have been a break, but he could not convert. And while Tsitsipas failed to serve out the match twice — at 5-4 and 6-5 in the decider — he triumphed on his first match point in the final-set tie-break.

Tsitsipas will play fourth seed Diego Schwartzman, who beat fifth seed David Ferrer, 7-5, 6-2. 

In the other half of the draw, No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued his pursuit of a fourth title (Rotterdam, Marseille, Lyon) this season by defeating compatriot Julien Benneteau, 7-6(5), 6-2.

It was Tsonga’s third win in his past four tries against Benneteau, after not playing his fellow Frenchman since losing to him at the BNP Paribas Open in 2014. Nine of 12 points in the tie-break went to the returner, and Tsonga carried the momentum of winning it into the second set, breaking twice to advance to his fifth semi-final of the season.

Tsonga will play an opponent he has never faced in the final Belgian remaining in the draw, Ruben Bemelmans, who clawed past Joao Sousa, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

Welcome to the 2017 ATP World Tour Awards Presented by Moët & Chandon, where we recognise outstanding players and tournaments. View the nominees for the player-voted categories and cast your votes now for ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite presented by Moët & Chandon. 

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Roger Federer are both up for two player-voted categories: the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award and Comeback Player of the Year. Federer has won the Sportsmanship award every year since 2004, with the exception of 2010, when the honours went to Nadal. Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro round out the nominees in this category.

This year’s Comeback Player of the Year category features a total of six nominees. In addition to Nadal and Federer, who have combined to win the four Grand Slams and five Masters 1000 titles this season, the nominees include Kevin Anderson, Filip Krajinovic, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and Janko Tipsarevic. Nadal claimed Comeback Player of the Year honours in 2013, and is the only player to have won each of the player-voted categories (2005 Most Improved, 2003 Newcomer of the Year).

Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who broke into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings this past September, and three #NextGenATP players – Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov – are the candidates in the running for Most Improved Player of the Year. Zverev, a winner of two Masters 1000 titles this season, and Umag titlist Rublev were the first two players to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held from 7-11 November in Milan.

The 18-year-old Shapovalov is a leading contender for ATP Star Of Tomorrow Presented by Emirates, which is awarded to the youngest player to finish in the Top 100.* The World No. 50 made his big breakthrough this summer, when he reached the Coupe Rogers semi-finals on home soil, and followed with a US Open fourth-round run as a qualifier. His fellow Canadian, 17-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime, also has a chance, but would need to lift his current No. 153 Emirates ATP Ranking into the Top 100 to edge Shapovalov.

Winners for the 2017 ATP World Tour Awards Presented by Moët & Chandon will be announced ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals.

Voted By Fans

ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite presented by Moët & Chandon (Singles, Doubles): The singles player and doubles team receiving the highest number of votes from ATPWorldTour.com fans from now through 6 November.

Note: Fans’ Favourite candidates are the Top 25 players in the Emirates ATP Race To London and Top 15 teams in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London as of 11 September 2017.

Determined By Emirates ATP Rankings 

ATP World Tour No. 1 Presented by Emirates: The player who ends the year as World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

ATP World Tour No. 1 Doubles Team Presented by Emirates: The team that ends the year as World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

ATP Star Of Tomorrow Presented by Emirates: The youngest player in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings as of 6 November 2017. *If two or more players in the Top 100 share the youngest birth year, the higher-ranked player wins the award.

Voted By Players

Comeback Player of the Year: The player who has overcome serious injury in re-establishing himself as one of the top players on the ATP World Tour.
Kevin Anderson
Roger Federer
Filip Krajinovic
Rafael Nadal
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe
Janko Tipsarevic 

Most Improved Player of the Year: The player who reached a significantly higher Emirates ATP Ranking by year’s end and who demonstrated an increasingly improved level of performance through the year.
Pablo Carreno Busta
Andrey Rublev
Denis Shapovalov
Alexander Zverev 

Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award: The player who, throughout the year, conducted himself at the highest level of professionalism and integrity, who competed with his fellow players with the utmost spirit of fairness and who promoted the game through his off-court activities.
Marin Cilic
Juan Martin del Potro
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal 

Tournaments of the Year: The tournament in its category that operated at the highest level of professionalism and integrity and which provided the best conditions and atmosphere for participating players.

Categories:
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
ATP World Tour 500
ATP World Tour 250 

Voted By Coaches

ATP Coach of the Year: Voted on by fellow ATP coach members, this award goes to the ATP coach who helped guide his players to a higher level of performance during the year. Nominees to be announced on 30 October.

Chosen By ATP

Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award: The person who has made outstanding humanitarian contributions. Previous winners include former South African President Nelson Mandela, Arthur Ashe, Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and 2016 recipient Cilic.

Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award: The journalist who has made significant contributions to the game of tennis.

While #NextGenATP Daniil Medvedev did well in Moscow to move into the final qualifying position in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, the story of the week took over at the VTB Kremlin Cup, a tournament Bosnian tennis fans will not soon forget.

With two Bosnians in an ATP World Tour quarter-final at the same tournament for the first time, the nation’s duo went one better, with qualifier Mirza Basic and sixth seed Damir Dzumhur both advancing to the semi-finals.

Basic, playing in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final, beat 21-year-old Russian Medvedev, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to his first semi-final in one hour and 41 minutes.

The Bosnian, who is at No. 209 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, had not played an ATP World Tour main draw match this season before arriving in Moscow, and has made the most of the opportunity. Despite losing the first set in just 30 minutes and falling behind a break in the second set, Basic would not be denied. The 26-year-old won 10 of the final 11 games to capture his fifth win of the week.

If that victory wasn’t enough, Dzumhur guaranteed that a Bosnian would reach the final by setting up a clash against his Davis Cup teammate, also coming back from a set down to defeat ATP World Tour veteran Andreas Seppi, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

“I was playing good,” Dzumhur said. “It’s always tricky in three sets, it could go both ways. It just seems like I’m a little bit more fit mentally here in Moscow…everything is good. Today was a really tough match from the beginning.”

The first two Bosnians to compete in the main draw of a Grand Slam have played three times on the ITF Futures Circuit, with Dzumhur winning on two of three occasions. The favoured World No. 38 is seeking the second title of his career, after capturing glory for the first time at the St. Petersburg Open last month.

On the other half of the draw, the top seed remaining, No. 3 Adrian Mannarino, overcame a game Dudi Sela, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-2 in just over two hours. The Frenchman will have an opportunity to reach his third final of the year and his fifth overall, as the left-hander is still in pursuit of his first ATP World Tour title. The World No. 29 will play Ricardas Berankis, who battled past #NextGenATP Alexander Bublik, 7-5, 6-1. Mannarino beat Berankis in straight sets at this year’s US Open.

The sixth time was the charm for Nitto ATP Finals contender Grigor Dimitrov, who took six match points to defeat veteran left-hander Mischa Zverev, 6-3, 6-4 at the Intrum Stockholm Open on Friday, moving closer to securing his spot at The O2 in London.

“Very happy with it. It’s nice to get through that match in straight sets,” Dimitrov said. “I knew it was not going to be easy but at the same time I thought I kept a very good intensity throughout the whole match.”

Dimitrov, still No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, now has 3,500 points, moving to within 35 points of No. 5 Marin Cilic, who is not in action this week. The 26-year-old, who is into his seventh tour-level semi-final of the season, will move into fifth place in the Race if he advances to the final.

While it took six chances to close out the victory, Dimitrov showed calm under pressure against the serve-and-volleying left-hander, hitting tough passing shots in key moments to claim the advantage that allowed him to get through.

As Zverev served at 2-3 in the first set, facing a 15/40 deficit, Dimitrov stabbed at a backhand return crosscourt, forcing the German to miss a backhand volley and concede the break. The top seed faced little trouble in closing out the set. And after the left-hander could not handle a ball that skipped off the baseline at 3-3, 30/30 in the second set, Dimitrov fought off a jamming second serve with a forehand return that Zverev volleyed into the net to gain the break advantage.

While the 2013 champion could not capitalise on his first five match points on Zverev’s serve, he served out the match, eliminating the veteran with a backhand volley.

The Bulgarian will next face sixth seed Fabio Fognini, who saved two match points to outlast third seed Jack Sock 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 7-5 in a back-and-forth two-hour, 51-minute marathon.

Fognini, who is attempting to claim his second title of the season (Gstaad, d. Hanfmann), advanced to his fifth semi-final of the year.

After breaking immediately in the third set and holding to go up 2-0, it appeared that the Italian was in control against his higher-ranked opponent. But the American took advantage of a frustrated Fognini to break back in a 14-point game to level the deciding set at 3-3.The 30-year-old faced two match points on his serve at 4-5, but was able to survive and broke in the next game as Sock failed to put a first serve in play.

He had no problem with this break of serve, closing out the match at love when Sock dumped a return into the net.

Throughout the battle, it was a matter of whether or not Fognini would be able to survive an onslaught of the American’s forehands to take control of points himself. And in the key moments, it was Fognini who found opportunities to turn defense into offense with a dazzling display of shotmaking.

Dimitrov leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Fognini 3-2, with the Italian winning their last match on home turf at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia in 2015.