Alex De Minaur would be “honoured” to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals but is fully focused on rising up the Emirates ATP Rankings with further success on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The 17 year old has shot to prominence with eye-catching performances in his native Australia at the start of 2017. Already at World No. 248, De Minaur clinched another memorable victory at the $75,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Launceston, where he toppled top seed Go Soeda in the opening round. Edging towards the world’s Top 200 and sitting well placed at No. 11 in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, De Minaur is poised for an exciting 2017.

“It would be a great honour (to qualify for Milan). I haven’t really thought about it, but I’m just going to take it tournament by tournament and if I qualify then I’ll be really proud of myself,” said the Australian teenager.

De Minaur credits his endeavours in pre-season alongside mentor and former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt for producing his exceptional start to the year.

“I spent my off-season in Australia training with Lleyton and just worked on being very solid, working on my fitness too, so I’m able to withstand the heat and the long matches too,” added the Alicante, Spain, resident. “He’s (Hewitt) been helping me with a lot of advice on court and off court, how to deal with pressure situations and different opponents. I’m just really glad and grateful that he’s been able to help me.”

To ignite his 2017 campaign, De Minaur navigated past Frances Tiafoe and Mikhail Kukushkin to qualify for the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, before defeating World No.46 Benoit Paire at the Apia International for a maiden ATP World Tour main draw victory. He then built on those wins to secure a maiden Grand Slam victory in the Australian Open, with a five-sets triumph over Gerald Melzer. De Minaur was surprised with his instant success Down Under.

“They gave me a lot of confidence. I wasn’t expecting to win these matches but I’m really happy that all the work I put in the off-season has helped me through these tournaments,” said De Minaur.

He’s clearly channelling the on-court presence of mentor Hewitt and has picked up a rather apt nickname ‘Demon’.

“I got the nickname a couple of years ago here in Australia. It’s similar to my surname and I think it shows the demeanour I’ve got on court, fighting for every ball and never giving up.”

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Garanti Koza Sofia Open – Sofia, Bulgaria

Top two seeds Dominic Thiem and David Goffin visited Ancient Serdica archaeological complex for a brief hit in the capital’s Ancient Roman complex. Read More

“It’s a special occasion, a special area,” said Goffin. “I didn’t know it was such a special place here in Sofia. I saw this place and I will try to visit more if I have time this week because I heard it’s a very nice city.”

Home favourite Grigor Dimitrov joined Thiem and Goffin to celebrate at the tournament’s players’ party at the Marinela Hotel.

Defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut, Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski participated in kids’ day activities, while Mikhail Youzhny, Viktor Troicki and Martin Klizan met fans on site for autograph sessions.

Open Sud de France – Montpellier, France

Top two seeds Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga put their handball skills to the test when they met French handball stars Vincent Gerard and Michael Guigou. Gerard and Guigou, who play for the French national team, were fresh off a World Championship win. Read More

Richard Gasquet was among the stars to meet fans and sign autographs.

Ecuador Open – Quito, Ecuador

Ivo Karlovic, Renzo Olivo, Santiago Giraldo and Matthew Ebden toured Quito’s Centro Histórico and learned about the history and the culture of the capital city of Ecuador. Watch

Santiago Gonzalez, David Marrero, Andres Molteni and Guillermo Duran participated in selfie contests with fans on site, while Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Santiago Giraldo, Horacio Zeballos, Nicolas Lapentti and Nicolas Kicker gave fans a treat at autograph sessions.

James Cerretani enjoyed trying out wheelchair tennis at a clinic.

Second seed David Goffin made a winning debut at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open on Wednesday. The Belgian prevailed past Radu Albot of Moldova 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3 in two hours.

Goffin was two points away from winning the match in straight sets, tied at 7/7 in the second-set tie-break, but the right-hander regrouped and didn’t face a break point in the third set. Goffin will meet Italian Andreas Seppi or countryman Steve Darcis in the quarter-finals.

“I could have finished the match in the second but I didn’t,” Goffin said. “It was not easy, the first match here in Sofia. The conditions are really tough. It’s not easy to control the ball, and it was not easy to find my rhythm but I’m happy to have another match in two days so hopefully it’s going to be better.”

Defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut joined Goffin in the quarter-finals by dismissing German qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 7-6(4), 6-3. The Spaniard improved to 10-1 on the season, having won his fifth career ATP World Tour title last month in Chennai and having reached the fourth round of the Australian Open (l. to No. 3 Raonic).

“I think I played very good tennis. I competed very well and I’m happy because it was a really great opponent today,” Bautista Agut said.

Ninth seed Viktor Troicki, a finalist a year ago, needed only 50 minutes to beat Turkish wild card Cem Ilkel 6-3, 6-2. The Serbian didn’t face a break point and converted three of four break points. Troicki will meet Dutchman Robin Haase in the second round.

Jerzy Janowicz celebrated a milestone victory after an injury-prone 2016. The 26-year-old Pole dismissed Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-4 for his first tour-level win since October 2015 in Vienna. Janowicz played only three tour-level matches last season because of back and knee injuries.

“I was injured for a long time. I was struggling with my knee quite heavily,” Janowicz said. “It’s always nice to be back on track. Still a long way to go but it’s nice to win.”

Janowicz’s reward: a second-round meeting with third seed and home favourite Grigor Dimitrov. The two are an even 1-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. “We used to play in juniors and we always have a huge fight on the court,” Janowicz said. “Tomorrow I think it’s going to be a really nice match to watch.”

Two of the ATP World Tour’s biggest stars have been nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards, following a ballot of the world’s media. Scot Andy Murray has been nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award and is competing against Usain Bolt, already a three-time Laureus winner, 5k and 10k Olympic champion Mo Farah, Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball duo Stephen Curry and LeBron James.

Juan Martin del Potro is in contention for the Laureus Comeback of the Year Award and also has stiff competition. The Argentine is up against Michael Phelps, the most successful Olympian ever, Spain’s high jumper Ruth Beitia, British show jumper Nick Skelton, Mauritius triathlete Fabienne St Louis and Norwegian skier Aksel Lund Svindal.

Olympians fill all six nomination places for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, including Americans Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Allyson Felix. German WTA No. 1 Angelique Kerber, Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompson and British cyclist Laura Kenny are the remaining nominees.

Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick: “You always know in an Olympic year you are going to see a strong group of nominees and this year has certainly proved that. What delights me is that we have an amazing mix of some of the greatest names in sport who have been performing at the highest level for as long as a decade, combined with some of the most exciting new faces we have seen for many years. It really is going to be an exceptional Laureus Awards.”

In another strong category, Mercedes AMG Petronas are nominated for the third straight year for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award, along with three football teams: European Champions Portugal, Champions League winners Real Madrid and Neymar-inspired Olympic gold medal winners Brazil. American teams Chicago Cubs, winner of their first baseball World Series for 108 years, and NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, are also shortlisted.

After finishing second in 2014 and 2015, Nico Rosberg finally won the Formula One World Championship last year and has earned nomination for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. Joining him are Olympic world-record breakers Almaz Ayana and Wayde van Niekerk, and three teams who performed heroically in 2016: English Premier League Champions Leicester City, European Championship quarter-finalists Iceland and Olympic Rugby Sevens gold medal winners Fiji.

The Rio Paralympic Games provide all six nominees for the highly respected Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Swimmers Ihar Boki from Belarus and New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe; visually-impaired Cuban sprinter Omara Durand, Iran weightlifter Siamand Rahman, Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug and Italian fencer Beatrice Vio.

The men’s and women’s surfing world champions John John Florence and Tyler Wright are nominated for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award, along with snowboarder Chloe Kim, skateboarder Pedro Barros, mountain biker Rachel Atherton and Estonia’s freestyle skier Kelly Sildaru, who at 13 became the youngest ever winner of a gold medal at the Winter X-Games.

The eventual winners, as voted for by members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, will be revealed in Monaco on February 14. For the first time ever, sports fans will have the chance to make their voices heard in a brand new Best Sporting Moment of the Year Award, which will celebrate the power of sport. More information coming soon.

While celebrating the greatest sporting successes of the year, the Laureus Awards Ceremony also showcases the work of Laureus Sport for Good, which uses the power of sport to end violence, discrimination and disadvantage, proving that sport can change the world. Today Laureus supports more than 100 programmes, in around 40 countries. Their work to transform society is championed by the Laureus World Sports Academy of more than 60 legends of sport. They are supported by more than 180 Laureus Ambassadors.

ATP Next Gen star Daniil Medvedev marked his Montpellier debut at the Open Sud de France with a 6-2, 7-6(3) triumph over Tobias Kamke on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Russian, who reached a maiden ATP World Tour final at the Aircel Chennai Open last month, prevailed in straight sets to earn a contest with eighth seed Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard put in an emphatic performance to move past Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 6-1.

Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene sent ATP Next Gen player Borna Coric out in a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 battle, establishing a second-round match-up with another rising star Alexander Zverev. Benoit Paire, 2013 finalist, managed to stifle the threat of 20-year-old Karen Khachanov in a 7-6(4), 6-4 battle. Paire has built on his promising start to 2017 after the Frenchman reached the semi-finals in Chennai.