Bosnian Mirza Basic had never made a tour-level quarter-final prior to the 2017 VTB Kremlin Cup, where he made the semi-finals. After a strong week at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open in Bulgaria, the qualifier moved into his second semi-final. But this time, after stunning top seed Stan Wawrinka on Saturday 7-6(6), 6-4, Basic will play in his first ATP World Tour final. He is projected to earn a spot in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time at 26 years old. "I think I played a very, very good match. I was serving very good, so I think this helped me a lot," Basic said. "It's a big success for me. My first final after I...
Upsets reigned again on Friday at the Ecuador Open, but a strong favourite managed to avoid the bug and emerged as the favourite heading into the final two days of the ATP World Tour 250 event. Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas beat Austria's Gerald Melzer 6-2, 6-4 to reach his third semi-final in Quito and his first of the season. The 30-year-old Spaniard pounced on Melzer's second serve, winning 70 per cent of those points (16/23). Ramos-Vinolas will play in his first ATP World Tour semi-final since making the 2017 Monte-Carlo final (l. to Nadal). Ramos-Vinolas has fallen in his previous two Quito semi-finals, but he's the only remaining player in Quito who has won an ATP World Tour title (2016...
Roger Federer could reclaim No. 1 in the ATP Rankings next week, but the Swiss might have a difficult path to the historic achievement at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. The top-seeded Federer needs to reach the semi-finals to return to the top spot for the first time since 4 November 2012. But the 36-year-old Swiss might have to beat his surging countryman Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals. View Draw Wawrinka is the fifth seed at the ATP World Tour 500 event, and appears to be well on his way to regaining top form. Wawrinka is in the semi-finals this week at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open in Bulgaria. Federer will face a qualifier in the first...
One year ago this week, David Goffin made his first big run of what would turn out to be many in a career campaign when he advanced to the final in Sofia (l. to Dimitrov). This year, the Belgian is in a different location, Montpellier, but the result looks much the same. Goffin reached the semi-finals at the Open Sud de France with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 victory against 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Karen Khachanov, the World No. 49, on Court Patrice Dominguez on Friday. It is the first semi-final of the season for the 27-year-old. The right-hander battled to the semi-finals seven times in 2017, winning five of those matches. Goffin, who entered the match with a...
