Lucky loser Roberto Carballes Baena continues to have a strong week at the Brasil Open, knocking out second seed and local favourite Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final (Casablanca 2014). The Spaniard needed to be patient to score his biggest win to date, as the second-round match had been slated for Wednesday but was postponed due to rain.

The 22-year-old Carballes Baena, a regular of the ATP Challenger Tour (36-23 record in 2015), won 80 per cent of first serve points and closed out the win in just over two hours. It was his second win over a player in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings (d. Sousa in Casablanca 2014) and a first quarter-final showing since reaching the semi-finals of Casablanca two years ago (l. to Garcia-Lopez).

Advancing to the quarter-finals were third seed Pablo Cuevas and fourth seed Federico Delbonis.

Cuevas, who beat Rafael Nadal en route to the Rio title last week, improved to 3-0 in his FedEX ATP Head2Head rivalry against Facundo Bagnis. The pair had squared off in the first round of Rio just a few days ago, and Cuevas maintained his mastery of the Argentine with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

Delbonis needed two hours to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 against Diego Schwartzman. The left-hander was broken three times in the opening set, but did not drop serve the rest of the way. He finished with nine aces and improved to 2-0 at tour-level against Schwartzman.

Melo/Soares Ease Past Wild Cards

Top seeds Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares made a fine start to their doubles campaign in Sao Paulo, defeating wild cards Nicolas Almagro and Eduardo Russi Assumpcao 6-1, 6-3 in the first round. The Brazilians fired six aces and were not broken in the 51-minute win.

Third seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andre Sa advanced thanks to a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory over Italians Marco Cecchinato and Paolo Lorenzi. Gonzalez/Sa won 91 per cent of first serve points and saved both break points faced.

Novak Djokovic’s streak of ATP World Tour finals reached will end at 17 after the World No. 1 retired against Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday. The Serb was down 3-6 before retiring.

“It’s an eye problem,” Djokovic said. “I have had it ever since I arrived in Dubai. It started with an infection and then severe allergy.

“It’s gotten worse in the last two days, unfortunately. It’s the first time that I have had such a problem with the eye. It was ultra-sensitive today.”

Djokovic, who held a 14-0 record on the year and led the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 7-0 against Lopez coming into the match, was sad to see his run of success come to an end, but the four-time Dubai champion was more concerned about disappointing his fans.

“I’m really sad to finish the tournament this way. I apologise to all the people who came to watch the match. I apologise to the tournament director and those who came out to support me. I’m really sad to end out the tournament this way, but I was forced to.

“[My match record] is the least of my thoughts in the moment,” said Djokovic, who is still planning on playing Davis Cup and defending his Indian Wells title. “I just hope that this problem will fade away in the next couple of days.”

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Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – Dubai, U.A.E.

Novak Djokovic arrived in Dubai early for some fun at the city’s Wild Wadi Waterpark with his brother and friends. The World No. 1 enjoyed rides such as Tantrum Alley and Burj Surj. Read More

Stan Wawrinka took a zip wire over the Dubai Mall fountains. Read More

John Peers and Henri Kontinen helped out at the Tennis Emirates Coaching Clinic, giving young tennis players valuable lessons and encouragement to help improve their skills. View Photo

“It’s always good to give back to the kids, especially in Dubai because we only have the chance to come here once a year and it’s great to see the young players getting involved and enjoying the game,” said Peers.

Jamie Murray, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau led a clinic for over 1,200 local school children at J.P. Morgan Kids’ Day. View Photo

“It was good fun, a lot of kids came out and there was a great energy out there,” said Murray. “The kids played well, some good young talent out there.”

Tomas Berdych took a journey behind-the-scenes at the tournament from the practice courts to the gym facilities and players’ lounge. View Photo

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi took to the court with over 110 children in the Dubai Duty Free Special Needs clinic. “I’ve done a few other kids events but this one stands apart because so many kids were involved and it’s a phenomenal initiative by the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. This event is a great way to make the kids feel like part of the society and I am really happy to participate,” he said. View Photo

Malek Jaziri and Marcos Baghdatis spent the afternoon at the Emirates Aviation College and experienced piloting the Airbus A380 – the world’s largest passenger aircraft. View Photo

Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Acapulco, Mexico

Grigor Dimitrov, Bernard Tomic, Jeremy Chardy, Santiago Gonzalez and Denis Kudla were among the players to attend the players’ party, where we gave Steve Johnson the microphone for an ATP World Tour Uncovered exclusive. Watch Video

Gonzalez joined David Ferrer for mini tennis at the dock of the Mexican naval base, Fort San Diego. They also took a tour of a sailboat that has voyaged around the world. View Photo

Donald Young and Ryan Harrison participated in autograph sessions.

Victor Estrella Burgos met with a group of 25 local school children and conducted a Q&A session with them on all things tennis. View Photo

Doubles duo Santiago Gonzalez and Mariusz Fyrstenberg participated in a baby turtle release at the beach in Acapulco, and then later rode moto quad runners together, along with Santiago’s son & family. View Photo

Brasil Open – Sao Paulo, Brazil

Marcelo Melo, Bruno Soares, Thomaz Bellucci, Andre Sao, Paolo Lorenzi and Pablo Cuevas were among the players to attend the Sponsors Cocktail Party, while Pablo Carreno Busta, Marcel Granollers, Blaz Rola, Inigo Cervantes and Gastao Elias were among those to attend the Players’ Dinner.

Marcos Baghdatis is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season after defeating the in-form Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 6-0 on Thursday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The Cypriot was frequently under pressure on serve in the opener, struggling with his ball toss – resulting in a first serve conversion rate of 37 per cent. But after saving three break points to level at 4-4, he broke Bautista Agut to love in the ninth game to lead 5-4. The Spaniard immediately struck back to get back on level terms, but Baghdatis engineered another break in the 11^th game and this time closed out the set on his fourth set point. The Cypriot then raced through the second set, sealing victory in one hour and 36 minutes.

“I think he’s playing great tennis,” said Baghdatis of Bautista Agut, who has already won two ATP World Tour titles in 2016. “I knew it would be very tough today physically, mentally. I think that’s why I held strong in that eighth game, because I knew beforehand that it would be tough.

“I’m very happy also with the way I ended it. I think I started playing better and better throughout the second set.”

Next up for Baghdatis will be either World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or Feliciano Lopez.