David Ferrer snapped a three-match losing streak to reach the second round at the Nature Valley International, beating qualifier Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.

The former World No. 3, who suffered opening-round losses in each of his three ATP World Tour appearances on European clay in May, converted each of his five break point chances and won 75 per cent of second-serve return points to advance after 86 minutes. Ferrer is bidding to reach his second tour-level quarter-final of the season, after a semi-final run at the ASB Classic in January.

The 31-year-old will meet Mikhail Kukushkin or #NextGenATP Australian Alex de Minaur for a place in the last eight. Ferrer leads Kukushkin 7-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and is yet to meet 19-year-old De Minaur.

John Millman levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Gilles Muller at 2-2 after a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 victory over the World No. 60.

Millman, who fell to Novak Djokovic in the Fever-Tree Championships first round last week, won 41 of 48 first-serve points and saved the only break point he faced en route to victory. Muller drops to 1-3 on grass this season after winning 11 of 13 matches on the surface in 2017.

In a meeting of former champions, 2015 titlist Denis Istomin overcame 2011 winner Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(4). Istomin, who improves to 17-7 in Eastbourne, notched his 10th match win of the season after two hours and 28 minutes. The World No. 91 will next face fourth seed Marco Cecchinato after reducing his FedEx ATP Head2Head series deficit against Seppi to 4-7.

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

Did You Know?
Only three men have ever won back-to-back titles at this ATP World Tour 250 grass-court event. Richard Gasquet was the first to retain his title (2005-2006), before Ivo Karlovic (2007-2008) and Feliciano Lopez (2013-2014) also achieved the feat.

Defending champion Yuichi Sugita notched his sixth consecutive win at the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya, defeating Argentina’s Guido Pella 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Monday.

The Japanese No. 2, who lifted his maiden ATP World Tour title at the event in 2017, saved nine of ten break points and withstood 13 aces to advance after two hours and two minutes. Sugita, who defeated Dominic Thiem at the Gerry Weber Open last week, improves to 4-2 on grass this season.

“It is a big pressure [to be defending champion]. I want to defend the points and the title, but after [losing] the second set I just wanted to enjoy the tournament because I have good memories here… I am really happy to win today,” said Sugita.

The 29-year-old will face Pierre-Hugues Herbert for a place in the quarter-finals. The Frenchman defeated Federico Delbonis 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 47 minutes.

Dusan Lajovic needed an hour to book his spot in the second round, defeating Filip Horansky 6-3, 6-3. The eighth seed won 75 per cent of service points and converted three of eight break points. Lajovic will face Nikoloz Basilashvili for a quarter-final spot.

Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis set a meeting with 2017 runner up and top seed Adrian Mannarino after a 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 victory over Evgeny Donskoy. Berankis saved all five break points he faced and converted each of his three break opportunities to secure a clinical one-hour, 52-minute win.

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

Did You Know?
Yuichi Sugita won the inaugural Turkish Airlines Open Antalya in 2017. The World No. 45 defeated David Ferrer in the second round before a straight-sets win over Adrian Mannarino in the championship match.

The close nature at the top of the ATP Rankings in 2018 is such that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have traded the No. 1 position on six occasions in the first six months of the season. The all-time record for most changes in the top spot is 10 in 1983. Today, Nadal is back at the summit of men’s professional tennis.

No. 1 Rafael Nadal, +1
The 32-year-old Spaniard returns to No. 1 after Federer lost in the final of the Gerry Weber Open. In the week beginning 18 June, Federer, with 8,920 points (to Nadal’s 8,770), had been attempting to defend 500 ATP Rankings – as a result of winning his ninth Halle title in 2017 – but he earned 300 points. Nadal now leads Federer by just 50 points (8,770 to 8,720 points) in this week’s standings and will hold onto the top spot until at least 16 July.

Nadal, the winner of four clay-court trophies this year, began the year in the top spot, and today starts the 178th week of his career at No. 1. He has now held No. 1 for a total of 18 weeks, over four stints in 2018. Federer gained No. 1 for six weeks from 19 February, one week from 14 May and last week.

View Latest ATP Rankings

No. 17 Novak Djokovic, +5
The Serbian, who spent the last of his 223 weeks at No. 1 in the week of 6 November 2016, is on the rise once more, up to No. 17 — a five-spot promotion — after he reached the Fever-Tree Championships final. The 31-year-old was unable to convert one championship point against Marin Cilic and lift the 69th tour-level trophy of his career on Sunday in his first final since 1 July 2017 at the Nature Valley International. Djokovic, who missed six months of last season due to a right elbow injury, did become only the 10th player in the Open Era (since April 1968) to record 800 match wins on Friday with victory over Adrian Mannarino in the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club.

No. 21 (Career High) Borna Coric, +13
The 21-year-old Croatian beat Alexander Zverev en route to a 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 final victory over Federer at the Gerry Weber Open. It guaranteed Coric a 13-spot rise to a career-high No. 21. It is his biggest single jump since moving from No. 49 to No. 36 on 19 March 2018, after he reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final at the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Federer 5-7, 6-4, 6-4). Coric won his first ATP World Tour trophy in April 2017 at the Grand Prix Hassan II (d. Kohlschreiber).

No. 46 Jeremy Chardy, +15
The 31-year-old appears in the Mover of the Week story for the third straight week after another fine week on grass courts. On the back of a sixth ATP Challenger Tour trophy at the Surbiton Trophy (d. de Minaur) and a run to the Libema Open title match (l. to Gasquet), the Frenchman moved into the Fever-Tree Championships semi-finals (l. to Djokovic) last week. Chardy, who was a career-high No. 25 on 28 January 2013, has today moved up 15 positions to No. 46, his highest ranking since 8 August 2016 (No. 39). Just three weeks ago, he was at No. 86.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 51 (Career High) Matthew Ebden, +9
No. 52 (Career High) Frances Tiafoe, +10
No. 76 Nikoloz Basilashvili, +9
No. 83 Denis Kudla, +26

A LOOK BACK
Fuzion 100 Ilkley Trophy (Ilkley, UK): Sergiy Stakhovsky had one foot out of the tournament in the first round. Staring down four match points in his opening affair against Liam Broady in Ilkley, the Ukrainian stormed back to stay alive. And he did not drop a set from there.

Stakhovsky would go on to oust top seed Jordan Thompson and #NextGenATP star Michael Mmoh, before defeating Oscar Otte 6-4, 6-4, in Sunday’s final. With the title, he earns a wild card into the main draw of Wimbledon, as has long been tradition for Ilkley champions.

It was Stakhovsky’s 11th professional crown – four at the ATP World Tour level and seven on the ATP Challenger Tour – and second on grass. He previously lifted the trophy at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2010.

Internationaux de Tennis de Blois (Blois, France): The script was nearly complete. Felix Auger-Aliassime was one victory from securing a historic fourth Challenger crown, moving the Canadian teen into solo second place among players aged 17 & under. But Scott Griekspoor had other plans.

The Dutchman entered the week in Blois with just one Challenger match win in the past two years, and he would leave with his maiden title. Griekspoor stunned fifth seed Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 53 minutes on Sunday, saving seven of eight break points faced. The 27-year-old had never defeated a Top 200 opponent entering the tournament and he would reel off four straight such wins to lift the trophy. He rises 66 spots to a career-high No. 216 in the ATP Rankings.

?? Scott Griekspoor had just one match win at the #ATPChallenger level in the past two years, entering the week in Blois.

Now, he’s a champion… pic.twitter.com/2wa6YbpT1u

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 24, 2018

Internazionali Tennis Citta L’Aquila (L’Aquila, Italy): The inaugural tournament in L’Aquila, located in central Italy, saw sixth seed Facundo Bagnis capture the title on Sunday. The Argentine celebrated his 12th ATP Challenger Tour crown and first since 2016, upsetting home favourite Paolo Lorenzi 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was his third three-set victory of the week.

Poprad Tatry Challenger (Poprad Tatry, Slovakia): Fourth seed Jozef Kovalik streaked to the title in Poprad Tatry on Saturday. The Slovak dropped a combined seven games in a semi-final win over Zdenek Kolar and final triumph over Arthur de Greef, securing his third ATP Challenger Tour title and first in more than two years. Kovalik, age 25, rises 33 spots to No. 117 in the ATP Rankings, as he continues his charge towards a Top 100 debut.

Jozef Kovalik is the champion at @PopradTatry, claiming his third #ATPChallenger ? and first since 2016. pic.twitter.com/6p4wt4WsDd

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 23, 2018

Fergana Challenger (Fergana, Uzbekistan): Top seed Nikola Milojevic notched his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on the hard courts of Fergana. After three previous runner-up finishes, including one in the Uzbek city last year, Milojevic earned his moment in the spotlight with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Enrique Lopez Perez on Sunday. The 23-year-old Serbian rises 20 spots to No. 164 in the ATP Rankings.

A LOOK AHEAD
With the majority of today’s ATP Challenger Tour stars competing in Wimbledon qualifying, there is only one event on the calendar. Surging teens Felix Auger-Aliassime and Nicola Kuhn join top seed Laslo Djere at the Aspria Tennis Cup in Milan. Auger-Aliassime and Kuhn will hope this won’t be their only trip to Milan this year, with the Italian city hosting the Next Gen ATP Finals in November.