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Colin Stubs, the long-time former Australian Open Tournament Director, passed away on Wednesday aged 81 due to pancreatic cancer.

"The tennis community lost a very likeable and good man in Colin Stubs," former doubles World No. 1 Paul McNamee wrote on Twitter. "He was honest as the day is long, and made a great contribution to Australian tennis," added the former Australian Open Tournament Director.

Tennis Australia Chief Executive Officer, Craig Tiley, who is also the current Australian Open Tournament Director, said: “He put players first and gained their trust. He was an astute and widely respected tennis businessman who invested everything in showcasing the sport and staging tennis events of the highest order. He was an excellent player and very much his own man.”

Melbourne-born Stubs won the under-19 Victorian Championships aged 16 and went onto complete a four-year degree in pharmacy. He travelled on the international tennis circuit between 1961 and 1970, prior to becoming a pharmacist.

The tennis community lost a very likeable and good man in Colin Stubs. He was honest as the day is long, and made a great contribution to Australian tennis. RIPStubsy

Maxime Cressy's breakout 2022 season continued Saturday at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, where the American reached his third final of the year with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory against four-time Newport champion John Isner.

The fourth seed ended Isner's 10-match tournament winning streak with a strong serving performance and a consistent baseline game that helped him get the better of the few rallies in the match. Cressy escaped 15/40 as he served for his place in the final, producing a sublime pickup volley to save the first break point before sealing the match with a serve-and-volley play.

"John just completely levelled up on the serve starting in the second set," Cressy said in his on-court interview. "Just hitting the lines and hitting many more aces. I just had to focus on what I could control, my serve. He definitely played a big level starting in the second set.

"The opportunities came and I seized one of them, by luck. I apologised to him, but I guess I created the luck by staying patient."

That luck came late in the third set, when Cressy secured the decisive break in bizarre circumstances. After Cressy brought up a break chance with strong returning, he lobbed a desperate shot just over the net at ad-out. But the ball travelled back onto his side of the net after bouncing, leaving Isner unable to make a play on the ball from an awkward position.

Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo won Saturday's lone doubles match at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, saving a match point to defeat Americans Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson in a Match Tie-break.

The top seeds dropped their first set of the week but battled back to claim a 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 victory, winning the final three points of the contest after facing a match point on serve at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break. Klaasen/Melo never led the decisive tie-break but clawed back from a 5/8 deficit as they scored six of the last seven points.

With the dramatic victory, the South African-Brazilian team advanced to their third tour-level final. Each of their past two title matches came in 2015, when they were crowned champions in Tokyo and at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The all-American team of William Blumberg and Steve Johnson stands in the way of their third title.

The fourth seeds advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Ramkumar Ramanathan and John-Patrick Smith on Friday. Blumberg is seeking to repeat as the Newport doubles champion after winning the 2021 title with countryman Jack Sock.

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Lleyton Hewitt created many iconic moments throughout his career. Whether it was grinding opponents down deep into the night with his relentless play or unleashing a massive “C’mon!’ with his signature lawnmower celebration, the Australian earned fans throughout the world with his work ethic and competitive spirit.

From stepping into the spotlight aged 15 by qualifying for the Australian Open through the end of his illustrious career two decades later, Hewitt made his mark by embracing challenges. That is why on Saturday, he will be enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

“I did love tennis in terms of being in control of my own destiny every time I went on the court. It was just you against your opponent out there,” Hewitt told ATPTour.com. “I loved how you had to think outside of the box as well. If things weren’t going well, you had to come up with a different plan to try and work out how you were going to change something around out there on your own. I loved those challenges of it.”

Hewitt never shied away from tough tests, even as a kid. When the Australian was 12, dressed in Andre Agassi’s kit, he visited the home of his future coach, Darren Cahill, and challenged him to play sets. After losing the first two sets against a man who had just left the Tour, Lleyton’s father, Glynn, tried to give him advice.

“Zip it Glynny boy, I’ve got this,” Hewitt quickly said, according to Cahill. Lleyton never backed down as a kid. Some things never change.

Francisco Cerundolo’s impressive 2022 season is showing no signs of slowing down.

The Argentine World No. 39 delivered another accomplished all-around showing on Saturday afternoon at the Nordea Open in Bastad, where he ran out a 6-3, 6-2 semi-final winner against fifth seed Pablo Carreno Busta at the ATP 250 event.

Following his second-round win against top seed Casper Ruud on Wednesday in Sweden, Cerundolo had described 2022 as “the best year so far in my career”. Yet things appear to be only getting better for the 23-year-old, who will now face second seed Andrey Rublev or countryman Sebastian Baez in his second ATP Tour final on Sunday.

“I think I played one of the best matches in my career today,” said Cerundolo in his on-court interview. “Everything went well. I am feeling so comfortable and playing with so much confidence that it’s amazing to be playing like this. Hopefully I can keep going and maintain my level or improve it.

“It’s fantastic [to be in another final]. Last year I was in the final at home in Buenos Aires and I lost pretty badly, so I hope tomorrow I can have a better match and hopefully take my first title home.”

How much do you remember about Lleyton Hewitt's career? To commemorate his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, it's time to test your knowledge of his days on the ATP Tour. 

Do you recall the Aussie's age when he claimed the first of his 30 singles titles? (Hint: he was still in high school at the time!) Who won the final ATP Head2Head clash in the rivalry between Hewitt and Roger Federer? How many times did he finish at No. 1 in the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings? Where did he win his two Grand Slam titles?

Show off your tennis smarts in this Hewitt trivia quiz:

Lleyton Hewitt was at dinner on Thursday evening in Newport with friends and family before his Saturday enshrinement into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Australian was sitting at a table with Peter Luczak and Jaymon Crabb when he received a special surprise.

In walked his former coach, Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award winner Tony Roche, who had not told him he was traveling to Rhode Island. Hewitt’s face immediately lit up as he quickly rose from his chair to greet his mentor and friend.

When Hewitt is officially enshrined on Saturday evening, it will be because of his many accomplishments, which include two year-end No. 1 finishes in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, two Grand Slam titles at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon, two Nitto ATP Finals triumphs and plenty more. But to the 41-year-old, this weekend is not about his accomplishments, but the people who helped him along the way.

That is why on Friday morning when he toured the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s museum, the 262nd inducteee was not just there with his own family, but his friends and their families, too.

“To be honest, it wouldn’t mean that much if it was just me, because you look back on your career and so many people are involved in that as well,” Hewitt told ATPTour.com. “I wouldn’t have had the results that I was able to have if you didn’t have those people supporting you, backing you up, helping you out day to day throughout all those years.”

Andy Murray lost a tight two-setter on Friday at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, bringing his grass-court season to a close with a quarter-final defeat to Alexander Bublik. While the former World No. 1 is satisfied with some parts of his time on the surface this year, he is hungry for more.

“Obviously I just want the results to be a bit better. I felt like I had a good chance of [advancing] here. If I got through Bublik, it would have been a good opportunity potentially in the semi-finals,” Murray said. “But… to have my body feeling pretty good and getting lots of matches in is important for me.”

The 35-year-old was pursuing his first ATP Tour singles title since Antwerp in 2019. Instead of lifting the trophy, Murray settled for a quarter-final exit after reaching the final in Sydney and Stuttgart earlier in the year.

“The grass-court season as a whole there were some good moments, but also some tough ones. Today’s match and the loss at Wimbledon were disappointing and frustrating for me, but then I also had my best wins in a while in Stuttgart,” Murray said. “So a bit up and down, but a little bit of progress overall and I’ll try and keep that going through the hard-court summer.”

The good news is that Murray has already played 13 tournaments this season and not spent any significant period of time away from competitive action. The No. 52 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is eager to continue searching for his best tennis.

Alexander Bublik and Andy Murray have become familiar opponents this season on the ATP Tour. Their Friday meeting at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open was their fourth of the season, with Bublik securing a split of those matchups with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in Newport.

The Kazakh third seed earned a measure of grass-court revenge after Murray defeated him in straight sets in Stuttgart last month. The Briton went on to advance to the final in Germany, and now Bublik will hope to do the same in Rhode Island, where he reached the title match in 2019.

"It's great to be in the semi-finals again. I never lost before," he said with a smile, alluding to his 1-0 record at that stage in Newport. "I came here only for one week, so I have to [be engaged]. I'm engaged to play, I'm engaged to try to get as many matches as I can."

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Bublik was in command against the former World No. 1, pulling Murray around the court with strong serving and aggressive ground strokes as he won 80 per cent of his first-serve points. While his drop shot was not firing on all cylinders, Bublik did his damage with power rather than touch.

There are days when you just know.

It doesn’t happen often and to be perfectly honest, most of the time it is an educated guess when predicting the future of an athlete.

It was the early '90s in Adelaide, Australia. I’d heard the whispers and chatter. It had started bouncing around tennis circles like a boom-boom Boris Becker serve. A young, skinny blond upstart who came from an elite sporting family was causing quite the stir with his level of play and unique desire to win that not everyone was completely fond of.

His name was Lleyton Hewitt. He was 12 years old.

My doorbell rang and I was expecting him. I knew of his parents Glynn (AFL football) and Cherilyn (Netball), but it was a first meeting, and it left a lasting impression that has stayed entrenched through the years.

Americans William Blumberg and Steve Johnson continued their run on home turf at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open on Friday, scoring a 6-4, 6-4 win against Ramkumar Ramanathan and John-Patrick Smith to advance to the Newport title match.

A single break decided the opening set, with Blumberg/Johnson converting on the only break point of the set. The Americans surrendered an early break advantage in the second but closed out the match by winning its final three games. After their third break of the contest brought up an opportunity to serve for the match at 5-4, the pair won a deciding point to secure its final berth.

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After surviving a Match Tie-break in the opening round, the fourth seeds have now won four consecutive sets on the Rhode Island lawns. They await the winner of Saturday's semi-final, which pits top seeds Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo against Americans Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson.

Blumberg, the former North Carolina Tar Heel, is seeking to repeat as the Newport doubles champion. The 24-year-old won the 2021 title alongside Jack Sock for the lone tour-level trophy of his career. Johnson is also seeking his second doubles crown; he paired with Sam Querrey for a Geneva triumph in 2016.

Sebastian Baez advanced to his third tour-level semi-final Friday, overcoming Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 in a hard-fought clash at the Nordea Open in Bastad.

The Argentine soaked up Thiem’s heavy ball striking and recovered from squandering a match point on the Austrian’s serve at 5-4 in the second set to eventually advance after two hours and 51 minutes.

“It was such a tough match. So close,” Baez said in his on-court interview. “Dominic played well today and I hope to see more of him because he is a great player, so I hope he can return to the level we know. I am happy I won today and to stay in the tournament.

“I think we both played well today, I enjoyed the fight. The tournament and the grounds are good, so I am happy to stay here. The people are so nice, I feel comfortable. I now need to recover as best as I can.”

The former World No. 3 Thiem earned his first tour-level win in 14 months when he defeated Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round, before he eliminated fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Pablo Carreno Busta produced one of the best performances of his season Friday, dispatching third seed Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-0 to reach the semi-finals at the Nordea Open in Bastad.

The Spaniard, who is making his fourth appearance at the ATP 250 clay-court event, dominated from the baseline as he pulled the Argentine from corner to corner with his heavy hitting to ease through after 67 minutes.

“I played my match of the season,” Carreno Busta said in his on-court interview. “I was very focused all the time, every point. I tried to be aggressive and controlled the points. I didn’t make many mistakes and it was perfect. It is really good to play like this on court with the full crowd. I just need to continue like this.”

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The fifth seed now leads Schwartzman 4-1 in their ATP Head2Head series after defeating the 29-year-old on clay in the semi-finals in Barcelona in April. Carreno Busta is aiming to capture his first tour-level title of the season this week, with his last triumph on Tour coming at an ATP 500 event in Hamburg last July.

John Isner extended his win streak at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open to 10 matches on Thursday with a thrilling 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 7-6(5) quarter-final victory against fifth-seeded Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi. The four-time Newport champion set up an all-American semi-final showdown with Maxime Cressy in a rematch of their Australian Open first-round matchup, in which Cressy battled back from two sets down to advance.

Bonzi saved three match points from 3-6 in the second-set tie-break, then erased another four from 1-6 in the third-set tie-break, including one on a miraculous backhand pass at 4-6. But Isner snatched the win after a strong return on his eighth match point.

"I got off to a good start in the [final] tie-break and I needed every single bit of it, obviously," Isner said post-match. "Eventually I was able to win. That was a crazy match, for sure.

"From 6-1 up to 6-5 after losing two serves, after that passing shot, I was thinking that this probably is not my day, truthfully. Because he played very well at 6-3 in the second-set tie-break as well. It was too good from him. I was able to hit a good return somehow, because I was all discombobulated at 6-5."

The quarter-final scoreline suggests a typical Isner match of few break chances, but that was not the case in a see-saw opening set. As both men struggled to make first serves, with neither surpassing the 60 per cent mark, four breaks of serve preceded the first tie-break.

Andy Murray did not have a match Thursday at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open. The former World No. 1 enjoyed a nice surprise in Newport, though. After finishing his practice, the Scot met Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.

“I admire your grit,” Cousins told Murray as they shook hands.

The star quarterback later told ATPTour.com: “That’s the word that comes to mind when I think of him: his grit, toughness, the ability to come back from injury. Tennis is already mentally [difficult] as a singles player, you’re on your own. Matches can get long, you need to dig deep. It can be mentally and emotionally heartbreaking.

“The way he’s handled not only his career, but individual matches, it is inspiring to watch and kind of helps me with what I’m doing.” 

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Maxime Cressy remains perfect on serve through two matches at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open. After not facing a break point in his opening win against Mitchell Krueger, the fourth seed saved three break points on Thursday against Steve Johnson in the quarter-finals.

In a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 victory, Cressy turned the match around with a key three-game stretch that spanned the final two sets. After capitalising on his first break chances late in the second, he saved a break point in serving out the set. Cressy broke again to start the decider and did not face a break point in the final set.

"It was actually a very tough first set, a lot of nerves. Playing on the centre court is incredible," Cressy said in his on-court interview. "[Johnson] is a terrific player. He was extremely focussed and sharp on the serve in the first set. I had to stay focussed on my serve, what I can control, and I was really able to do it successfully, especially starting in the second set."

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Cressy handled a nervy moment as he served out the match after two straight double faults turned two match points at 40/15 into deuce. But he stayed aggressive on the next two points, getting to the net behind a pair of second serves to advance to his third semi-final of the 2022 season.

Winning breeds confidence. Just ask Dominic Thiem.

The Austrian backed up his first tour-level win in 14 months with an impressive 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 victory against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the quarter-finals at the Nordea Open on Thursday.

Thiem, who defeated Emil Ruusuvuori on debut in Bastad earlier this week, played with great intensity and power throughout his two-hour and 41-minute clash against the fourth seed to earn another crucial win.

“It is great to play here,” Thiem said in his on-court interview. “It is an amazing atmosphere and I am so happy that I won today so I can have at least another match tomorrow. It was really good.

“The win against Emil gave me confidence that I can compete against the best players in the world and today against Roberto. He is always such a tough opponent. I was expecting and hoping it would be a close match. Then when I won the first set in the tie-break I said ‘Hey, I can win today.’ I had the belief until the end of the match and the third set was really good.”

Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini continued their strong season as a team Thursday at the Nordea Open, downing Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-1 to reach their fifth tour-level semi-final of the year.

In a dominant performance, the Italians broke five times and won 76 per cent (25/33) of their first-serve points to advance after 65 minutes. The second seeds, who enjoyed a run to the championship match together in Bastad in 2018, will next play Nikola Cacic and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

Bolelli and Fognini are aiming to capture their second tour-level crown of the season this week, having lifted the trophy in Rio de Janeiro in February.

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Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez showed their fighting qualities, edging Andres Molteni and Hugo Nys 7-5, 5-7, 10-8 in one hour and 59 minutes. The fourth seeds, who captured titles in Marrakech and Mallorca in 2022, will next meet Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the ATP 250 clay-court event.

Andrey Rublev didn’t have things all his own way Thursday, but he stepped up when needed to claw past Federico Coria 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) and reach the quarter-finals at the Nordea Open.

The second seed, who is making his debut in Bastad, was made to work hard against the resilient Coria in windy conditions. In a topsy-turvy clash, Rublev recovered from squandering a 5-3 lead in the third set as he raised his intensity in the tie-break, hitting through the Argentine to advance after two hours and 36 minutes in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“The conditions were extremely tough to play in. To show a great level,” Rublev said in his on-court interview. “In the end, I am happy that I won. Federico played really well today, especially in the third set when he raised the level. It was really tough to play against, but I am really happy to win.”

The 24-year-old will next face Laslo Djere after the Serbian defeated Swiss qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler 7-5, 6-2 to advance to his third tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Rublev is aiming to capture his fourth tour-level title of the season this week at the clay-court event, having lifted trophies in Marseille, Dubai and Belgrade. Following his win over last year’s finalist Coria, the World No. 8 now holds a 9-0 record at ATP 250 tournaments in 2022.

John Isner made a winning return to the Infosys Hall of Fame Open Wednesday. Playing in Newport for the first time since he won consecutive titles in 2018 and 2109, the American extended his win streak to nine matches on the Rhode Island grass with a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory against Peter Gojowczyk.

"I'm very happy. The first match here is always pretty tricky and I haven't played here in a quite a few years," the four-time champion said in his on-court interview. "It's been a while since I've been on this court but I'm very happy to be back on this court. I've won a lot of matches here and I've always had a lot of crowd support.

"It never ever gets old, even though I myself am old," he joked. "At 37 who knows how many more tournaments I'll be playing, how many more Newports I'll be playing. So I really do cherish these moments."

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The second-seeded Isner cruised to the opening set behind an early break, saving one break point of his own along the way as his serve blazed through the hot summer air. But after Germany's Gojowczyk survived a six-deuce service game for 2-1 in the second set, both players raced through clean service games to set up a tie-break.