After a four-year absence, the ATP Challenger Tour is back in Portugal this week with the Lisboa Belem Open, a $50,000 event on the red clay of this historic city.

The tournament is named after the Belém Tower, an iconic structure in Portugal that’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Enthusiastic fans have already lined up to check out the tennis at the Club Internacional de Foot-ball, a world-class venue with 19 courts (17 with floodlights) that also hosted a Davis Cup tie in April. 

#ATPChallenger tennis is back in Portugal! Explore the grounds at inaugural Lisboa Belem Open. Free live streaming: https://t.co/BSGzRUzoZi pic.twitter.com/7tyi6YdJtb

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 14, 2017

Portugal last saw Challenger tennis in the city of Guimares in 2013, marking the only other time a Challenger event has come to Portugal in the past 15 years. However, 11 cities throughout the country have hosted tournaments at this level and tennis fans in Portugal are passionate about the sport, sparking optimism that the tournament in Lisbon will become a staple on the ATP Challenger Tour.

“Organizing a Challenger Tour event is long time goal for me. It’s a tournament category that was missing in our calendar and is complementary of the Millennium Estoril Open, from the ATP World Tour, and dozens of Futures events here,” said Manuel de Sousa, tournament director and father of Challenger Tour player Pedro Sousa. “We have all the best Portuguese players, with the exception of João. I expect a very tough draw, as usual in Challengers, and I hope we will have a Portuguese champion on Sunday.”

Portugal is enjoying a recent surge of success in tennis. Joao Domingues and Pedro won their maiden titles this year in Mestre and Francavilla, respectively, leading to career-high Emirates ATP Rankings this season. On the ATP World Tour, João reached the final in Auckland this January and achieved a career-high ranking of No. 28 in May 2016.

Several emerging players in the country also received main draw wild cards this week, including Franco Ferreiro Silva, Andre Gaspar Murta, Goncalo Oliveira and Joao Monteiro. For these players looking to boost their rankings and test themselves against the world’s best, regular exposure to Challengers at home will be essential.

“Not only for me but for all the Portuguese players, a tournament of this level is extremely important for tennis in Portugal, which is evolving,” said Domingues. “Having a Challenger-level tournament is key to the development of tennis here.”

Pedro, seeded seventh this week, is through to the quarter-finals and plays Gianlugi Quinzi of Italy on Friday. In doubles, Oliveira and Fred Gil have advanced to the semi-finals and play Hungarians Attila Balazs and Gabor Borsos for a spot in the final.

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Mercedes Cup – Stuttgart, Germany

From centre court to centre stage, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan entertained Stuttgart fans with some great music.

Roger Federer and Tommy Haas visited Schlossplatz for a bit of mini tennis to kick off the tournament.

Philipp Kohlschreiber was on hand for the draw ceremony at Bürgerwiese.

The Bryans, Grigor Dimitrov, Haas, Feliciano Lopez, Michael Berrer, Mischa Zverev and Yannick Hanfmann were among those to meet fans at autograph sessions.

Andre Begemann and Daniel Altmaier joined young tennis fans for a kids’ day press conference.

Ricoh Open – ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

Top seed Marin Cilic and #NextGenATP Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis met fans on site for photos and autographs.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan stepped up their bid for a 13th grass-court trophy on Thursday when they reached the Mercedes Cup semi-finals.

The American twins, winners of a record 112 team titles, recovered from a set and 2-3 deficit to knock out Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-6 in 77 minutes. From a 2-3 deficit in the second set, they won four straight games.

The Bryans, who last captured a trophy in May 2016 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Pospisil/Sock), will next challenge fourth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in the Stuttgart semi-finals.

At the Ricoh Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo improved to 21-9 on the season, which includes two ATP World tour trophies, with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Santiago Gonzalez and Adil Shamasdin in 48 minutes.

The Polish-Brazilian team now face Andre Sa and Michael Venus, who won four consecutive points from a 5/7 deficit in the Match tie-break to beat third seeds and 2014 champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 3-6, 6-3, 10-8. Tecau also won the doubles crowns in 2010 and 2012 (w/Lindstedt), and 2013 (w/Mirnyi).

Australians John Peers and Jordan Thompson saved two match points to scrape past fourth seeds Fabrice Martin and Daniel Nestor 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 13-11 in one hour and 51 minutes. The team saved one match points at 6/7 in the second set tie-break and at 9/8 in the Match tie-break. Peers and Thompson now play second seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.

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Jerzy Janowicz picked up his biggest win in more than two years on Thursday at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, using his powerful serve to oust second seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(4), 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals.

The Polish player reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2013 and has a big-hitting game that’s perfectly suited to grass. His most recent ATP World Tour quarter-final also came on this surface at Halle in 2015. Janowicz picked up his first win over a player inside the Top 15 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since March 2015, when he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

More: Jerzy Janowicz: The Pole-veriser

Janowicz, currently ranked No. 155, returned to the tour last July after sitting out for six months due to a knee injury. He’s played extensively on the ATP Challenger Tour since then and won two titles, but has also shown he can compete against the world’s best players. He took a set off Novak Djokovic last year at the US Open, pushed Marin Cilic to five sets in January at the Australian Open, and narrowly lost to Dimitrov in a deciding set the following month in Sofia. He is now even in his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Dimitrov at 2-2.

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Meanwhile, Dimitrov is left to ponder how to replicate his form from the beginning of the season. After an outstanding start to 2017 that saw him go 16-2 and rack up titles in Brisbane and Sofia, he has gone 5-8 since March.

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Neither player faced a break point in the opening set, but Janowicz raced out to an early lead in the tie-break and made good on his first set point. He grabbed the lone break of the second set at 4-3 and comfortably served out the match to prevail in 78 minutes.

Next up for Janowicz is Benoit Paire, who cruised past qualifier and local favourite Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 6-4. The Frenchman looks to reach his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final of 2017 (Chennai, Montpellier, Marrakesh).

Third seed Tomas Berdych raced through the final three games of his 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Bernard Tomic, improving his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Aussie to 5-0. Three of those victories have come on grass.

“He was a tough opponent. We always have good battles, so I was expecting a tough one today,” said Berdych. “I played quite well and took my chances, then had things under control in the second set. It was a good test and I’m glad to get through.”

Awaiting him in the quarter-finals in Feliciano Lopez, who survived a mid-match surge from Jeremy Chardy to advance 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Spaniard is a two-time semi-finalist in Stuttgart (2003, 2007) when the event was held on clay. Berdych and Lopez are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry at 6-6, but haven’t faced off in three years.

It’s rare enough to win a match after saving match point, but Lucas Pouille did this in truly thrilling fashion against Jan-Lennard Struff on Wednesday at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

Pouille squandered two match points trying to serve out the contest at 6-5 in the deciding set, and another pair at 6/5 and 7/6 in the final-set tie-break. With Struff serving at 8/7, the Frenchman tracked down a brilliant drop shot and then flicked back two reflex volleys. He was so close to the net that he had to be careful not to break the plane of it, but the second volley was a clean winner that brought the crowd to their feet.

Pouille used that momentum to power through the next two points and prevail 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(8). The fourth seed will look for a far less dramatic match in the quarter-finals when he plays local favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber.

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Marin Cilic began his 2017 grass-court swing with a hard-fought 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4 victory over former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic on Thursday for a place in the Ricoh Open quarter-finals.

Cilic, who hit 17 aces, could not convert three set point opportunities from 6/3 in the first set tie-break. But he regrouped to win four straight games from 2-2 in the second set and then broke Tipsarevic in the third game of the decider in the one-hour and 58-minute encounter. He is competing at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament for the first time since 2006.

“It’s never easy, especially the first match on grass,” said Cilic. “Janko has been at the top of the tennis game and is a quality player. I had a difficult time coming back and although I was unfortunate to lose the first set tie-break, I kept my cool and served well. I got a break point at 2-2 [in the second set], then I started to play better.”

Cilic is one match win away from recording his 50th grass-court match win of his career. He captured the 2012 Aegon Championships crown (d. Nalbandian) and finished runner-up at The Queen’s Club the following year (l. to Murray).

“I’m playing way, way better than at the start of the year and my clay-court game helped me to get into the right hitting zone,” said Cilic. “Having strong mental toughness, that you need on clay, also gives me confidence.”

Top seed Cilic will now face Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, who led 7-6(2), 4-2 when Alexandr Dolgopolov retired after 82 minutes of play. Pospisil is through to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since October 2015 at Valencia, where he reached the semi-finals.

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Ivo Karlovic lost just eight of his service points to knock out wild card Stefan Kozlov 6-4, 6-1. The third seed hit nine aces and won 28 of his 31 first-service points.

“It was good as I was here preparing here for the past seven days,” Karlovic told ATPWorldTour.com. “It was difficult in the beginning as he was playing well, then I began to relax more. I’m happy with the way I performed.”

Karlovic has a 3-3 record in grass-court finals, including title triumphs at 2007-2008 Nottingham and the 2016 Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport.

He’ll next face Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, who beat fellow 21-year-old #NextGenATP Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 7-6(3) in 80 minutes. Medvedev is eighth in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, one spot below the cut-off for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in November.

“Thanasi always plays well, but unfortunately he had something with his wrist today,” Medvedev told ATPWorldTour.com. “The second set was tight, so I am happy to get through a match like this.”

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