After retaining his title at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Qingdao, China, last weekend, Janko Tipsarevic tweeted #keepdigging.

The former World No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings has had to be incredibly patient, with the best part of two years on the sidelines. Persistent foot issues, specifically in his left heel, which included two surgeries to remove a benign tumor, and then right knee patella tendinitis, kept the 32 year old out of competitive action until the spring of 2016.

He was finally back on court and raring to go, but the Serbian had plummeted to World No. 528 this time last year. Within 12 months, Tipsarevic’s dedication has seen him soar up the ranking as the biggest 52-week mover into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Before playing the Challenger in Anning, China, this week, the Tecnifibre player had risen an astounding 457 places to World No. 71.

Biggest 52-Week Moves To Top 100 Of Emirates ATP Rankings

To put that jump into context, 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro’s much heralded 2016 comeback launched the Argentine 304 spots from No. 337 to No. 33.

Another standout mover is #NextGenATP prospect Danill Medvedev. The Russian is embedded in the Top 100 courtesy of a 202-position rise to World No. 63.

Despite achieving such an impressive and rapid return to the Top 100, Tipsarevic is still eager to keep climbing.

“If I am injury free, my goal for the end of the season would try to be around No. 30 in the rankings,” claimed Tipsarevic, which would provide a seeding for Grand Slam events. “I’m not thinking about whether I’m No. 80, No. 90 or No. 70, because my goal is to get back into the Top 30.”

He started 2017 with two ATP Challenger Tour titles in Bangkok. This week in Anning, Tipsarevic has reached the semi-finals without dropping a set.

“I choose to come to Asia, instead of playing on the clay in Europe, because I truly love playing in Asia,” added the Serbian. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the ATP World Tour or the ATP Challenger Tour, I always pick up a lot of points here.”

.@TipsarevicJanko successfully defends his title in Qingdao, needing seven match points to edge #Otte 63 76(9). 14th #ATPChallenger title. pic.twitter.com/48VbbKnc1z

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 23, 2017

Combining his three titles and continued success in Kunming, Tipsarevic is 18-0 in ATP Challenger Tour matches this season.

The Qingdao success clinched his 14th Challenger title with a 6-3, 7-6(9), victory over qualifier Oscar Otte, who he could meet again in the Kunming final.

“I have a lot of expectations as I feel I’m playing a lot better than last year. I had some tough opponents (in Qingdao), so I was extremely happy to defend my title without dropping a set. I feel it will give me a lot of confidence for the next Challengers coming up.”

Two qualifiers posted upsets in quarter-final action on Friday at the Gazprom Hungarian Open in Budapest.

In-form Aljaz Bedene recorded his 20^th win in his past 21 matches at all levels as he ousted second seed Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-3 in 63 minutes. The Briton has been on a tear on the ATP Challenger Tour in recent weeks, winning titles in Irving, Sophia Antipolis and Barletta.

“The conditions are slow and he prefers quicker conditions,” said Bedene. “I started the match really well, played a few really good points on the return, broke the first game, and was serving really well throughout the whole match.”

Visit Tecnifibre On The Road Landing

After dropping just five points on serve to defeat Karlovic, Bedene is now through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since Chennai 2016 and goes on to face fellow qualifier Laslo Djere, who saved a match point as he shocked fourth seed Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Djere’s run was on the brink of ending when he trailed 2-6, 4-5 and faced match point on his serve at 30/40. But he held on, won the ensuing tie-break, before breaking Verdasco in the second, sixth and eighth games of the decider. The Serbian is enjoying good support this week, as he also speaks Hungarian.

“It was a really tough match,” said Djere. “I was a little bit tired at the beginning, but as time passed I felt better and better. It was raining and the conditions were difficult because it was a little bit slow. But in the second set I started to play better and I really felt I could win the match.”

World No. 184 Djere is the second-lowest-ranked semi-finalist of 2017 behind No. 208 Casper Ruud at Rio de Janeiro. The 21 year old has recorded the first four tour-level wins of his career this month, reaching the second round in Marrakech before his three wins at this ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament in Budapest to reach the last four.

World No. 1 Andy Murray avoided a second defeat in two weeks to a red-hot Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The 10^th seed served for a spot in the final four, but Murray fought through the Spaniard and a vocal crowd on Friday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to advance 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4).

“It was very similar to the match in Monte-Carlo, except in that match I was the one who had chances there, and today he had more chances to win. I feel like I was a little more aggressive at the end of the second and third sets and then played a good tie-break,” said Murray. “I’m obviously tired, but that’s why it was important for me to get matches, especially ones like today. It’s good physically to have the long ones.” 

The victory was particularly meaningful to Murray, who let a 4-0 lead slip in the deciding set of their match last week in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Murray will next play fourth seed Dominic Thiem, who had a much easier time in defeating lucky loser Yuichi Sugita 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes. Murray leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Thiem 2-0, but they have never played on clay.

“I’ve never reached the semi-finals here before, so that’s good. It’s nice to do that, but I’d like to reach the final now,” said Murray. “It’s one of the biggest clay-court events on the ATP World Tour just because of the history. A lot of great players have played here and won in the past.”

More: Murray Extends Lopez Dominance In Barcelona

Murray struggled to find his footing early in the match, allowing Ramos-Vinolas to go on a five-game run before the Spaniard comfortably held serve to grab the opening set. The top seed was in danger as he trailed 0/40 on his serve at 4-4 in the second set, but he saved all three break points. Murray then converted on his first break point chance in the next game to send the match into a decider.

Both men began to feel the pressure of the occasion, with Ramos-Vinolas showing visible frustration at his mistakes and Murray questioning several line calls. A pair of forehand errors from Murray at 4-4 in the final set gave Ramos-Vinolas a crucial break and a chance to close out the contest, but the 10^th seed shockingly hit three unforced errors to level the set at 5-5.

The battle went into a tie-break, where Murray came alive with a backhand return winner for a 2/0 mini-break advantage. A gorgeous serve-and-volley play produced a 6/3 lead for the top seed and he made good on his second match point to wrap up the match just one minute shy of three hours. 

Fourth seed Thiem lost serve at the beginning of both sets against Sugita, who has had a career week with wins over Tommy Robredo, Richard Gasquet and Pablo Carreno Busta. But Thiem ended the strong run of the Japanese with victory in under an hour, hurting the right-hander with his sliced backhand.

“Today the conditions were very good for my game,” said Thiem of the warm, sunny weather, compared with cool and wet conditions earlier in the week. “It’s a little bit higher bounce. Yesterday was really tricky, very cold.

Watch Thiem Hot Shot

“Today was my best match. I was very focused and aggressive from the beginning. I knew he was in great shape after beating three great players before me. My game plan was to take him out of his comfort zone. I sliced a lot and tried to play with high spin.”

The 23-year-old Thiem is bidding to win his second ATP World Tour clay-court title of the season, following victory in Rio de Janeiro in February (d. Carreno Busta).

Top seed Andy Murray made a late debut this year at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, but was in fine form on Thursday as he advanced to the quarter-finals with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over Feliciano Lopez.

“I was happy to play today. It was nice to get through and have another match tomorrow,” said Murray. “I didn’t feel so good at the start, but I played good tennis in some of the important moments today.”

Murray finally took the court for the first time this week after receiving a first-round bye and a walkover in his second-round match against Bernard Tomic. Showing improved form compared to last week at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Murray raced to a 5-3 lead in the opening set. Although he was unable to serve out the set, he responded by breaking Lopez in the next game to grab the early advantage.

Both players traded service holds throughout the second set, but Murray found a new gear in the final game by breaking Lopez to take the match in one hour and 49 minutes. He extends his FedEx ATP Head2Head dominance over Lopez to 11-0 and picks up his second win on clay against the Spaniard.

Next up for Murray is tenth seed and last week’s Monte-Carlo runner-up Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who prevailed in an all-Spanish battle over sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Murray lost his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Ramos-Vinolas last week in the third round of Monte-Carlo.

“I had never played against him before [Monte-Carlo], so now I’ll be a little more aware of his game,” said Murray. “Obviously last week was a frustrating loss, being up 4-0 in the third set, but I’ll hopefully have learned from it and try to play a little differently this time.”

#NextGenATP Russian Karen Khachanov scored his first win over a Top 10 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings by defeating fifth seed David Goffin in a lengthy 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 tussle. The Russian saved three set points in the opening set tie-break before Goffin grabbed the early advantage at 8/7. But Khachanov regrouped strongly, striking his forehand with more authority and grabbing the lone break in each of the final two sets to advance in two hours and 34 minutes.

“I feel amazing. It’s the biggest win of my career,” said Khachanov. “I was just very competitive, trying to stay in the points for the whole match and remain solid.” 

The best win of Khachanov’s career prior to today also came in Barcelona, when he defeated then-World No. 17 Bautista Agut last year to reach the third round. The victory today puts the 20-year-old Russian into his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of 2017 and marks the first time he’s won three consecutive matches since capturing his maiden ATP World Tour title this past October in Chengdu.

Standing between Khachanov and the final four is Horacio Zeballos, who recorded a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) win over Benoit Paire. The Argentine couldn’t convert on a match point on Paire’s serve at 5-4 in the deciding set, but raced to a 5/1 lead in the tie-break and ultimately prevailed in two hours and 18 minutes.

DOUBLES

Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi caused the upset of the day by upsetting top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-4, 6-4 in 64 minutes to reach the semi-finals. They’ll play the winner of the match between Lukasz Kubot and Mischa Zverev, and Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. Kubot/Zverev won the lone first-round match of the day over fourth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 5-7, 6-4, 10-6.

French duo Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin also advanced into the final four by defeating Marcin Matkowski and Daniel Nestor 6-3, 7-6(4). They’ll take on Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya, who defeated Goffin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.