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Andrey Rublev advanced to his second final in as many weeks with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Alex Molcan on Saturday at the Srpska Open. One week after claiming his biggest title in Monte-Carlo, the Banja Luka second seed has continued his red-hot form by reaching the title match without losing a set.

"In the beginning I played really well, and then second set a lost a bit of focus," Rublev assessed. "Alex played a few good games and I started to get tight, I started to get nervous. But in the end I was able to win and that's the most important thing."

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The 25-year-old is bidding to join Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev in the club of multiple tour-level titlists in 2023. He could also become the fifth man this season to win an ATP Tour trophy without losing a set, with either Miomir Kecmanovic or Dusan Lajovic to stand in his way in Sunday's final.

"Of course it's always good to finish in two sets, to not play three sets, a long match, because physically you get exhausted," the World No. 6 said of his efficiency. "The deeper you go, it's better if you play two sets because you're fresher for the end of the tournament."

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Mutua Madrid Open, the tournament announced Saturday on Twitter.

“@DjokerNole is unable to compete at the #MMOPEN,” the event tweeted. “Wishing you a speedy recovery, we hope to see you back on court as soon as possible, Nole.”

?? @DjokerNole is unable to compete at the #MMOPEN

Wishing you a speedy recovery, we hope to see you back on court as soon as possible, Nole ? pic.twitter.com/M44rUvnrH1

Djokovic is a three-time champion in Madrid, where he has earned a 30-9 record. Last year at the Caja Magic he reached the semi-finals, in which he fell in a final-set tie-break to Carlos Alcaraz.

The Serbian is 17-3 in 2023, including title runs in Adelaide and at the Australian Open, where he claimed his record-tying 22nd major crown. Djokovic this week competed in Banja Luka, where he lost in the semi-finals to countryman Dusan Lajovic.

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus claimed their second ATP Tour title as a team with a 7-5, 6-2 win against Francisco Cabral and Aleksandr Nedovyesov in Saturday's Srpska Open final. The British-Kiwi pair, which has exclusively played together this season, did not face a break point in the title match behind an 82 per cent win rate on both first and second serve.

The reigning Dallas champions improved to 2-1 this year in finals (Adelaide-I) with the victory, having reached the title match after saving a match point against in the quarter-finals against Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo. The trophy is Murray's 29th and Venus' 19th at tour-level.

"It's our second title together which is cool. It's only April," Murray said post-match. "There's a big swing coming up with a lot of ranking points on offer, a lot of big events. I think for us to come here and put together four really good matches is good news for us going forward. Hopefully we can keep that momentum going."

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Their four wins this week moved Murray/Venus up five spots to 10th place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, putting them within touching distance of the Nitto ATP Finals qualifying spots.

Andy Murray has reached No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, won three major titles and lifted 46 tour-level trophies overall. But ‘Coach of daughter Edie’ is staying off the resume for the time being.

Murray, the father of four children, has often spoken about how important his children are to him. But according to his Instagram Stories, it sounds like one of his daughters believes he needs to improve his level of tennis coaching.

“Dear daddy I am not going to play tennis for a while lots of love Edie,” Edie wrote in a note to him.

Murray has taken the feedback in stride by posting about it.

“My first venture into the coaching world has ended in disgrace,” Murray wrote on his Instagram Story. “5 year old daughter has quit telling me I don’t want to play anymore.. you stand too close to me.”

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Top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz continued their smooth progress at the BMW Open by American Express on Friday with a 7-5, 6-4 win against fellow Gemans Oscar Otte and Jan-Lennard Struff. It was a second win against countrymen in as many days for Krawietz/Puetz, who opened their Munich campaign with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Yannick Hanfmann and Daniel Masur on Thursday at the ATP 250.

While both teams created eight break points in the quarter-finals, the top seeds converted three times while losing serve just once to advance to the last four on home soil. They will next face Robin Haase and Philipp Oswald, who beat Christopher O'Connell and Albano Olivetti on Thursday.

Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler also advanced on Friday in Munich with a 6-4, 6-7(7), 10-7 win against Quentin Halys and David Pel. They will meet Indians Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni in Saturday's semis.

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Koolhof/Skupski Survive In Barcelona QFs
Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski navigated a Match Tie-break at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to edge Nicolas Mahut and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Friday's quarter-finals. The top seeds earned a 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 victory, saving eight of nine break points to advance at the clay-court ATP 500.

Dusan Lajovic produced a clutch performance on serve Friday to stun top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the Srpska Open in Banja Luka and claim his first win over a World No. 1.

Despite winning just four games across their previous two meetings, the 32-year-old Lajovic earned a 6-4, 7-6(6) victory after fending off 15 of 16 break points faced to advance. Lajovic saved three set points in the second-set tie-break.

“I'm overwhelmed, it is the biggest win of my career,” Lajovic said in his on-court interview. “The emotions are very mixed because I'm playing here in front of the home town and I'm also playing against Nole who is a good friend and he's a hero of our country. Beating him, it's something that I didn't even think is going to be possible, but it happened.”

Lajovic stayed aggressive, sometimes serve-and-volleying to put Djokovic under pressure, and moved the 22-time major champion to all corners of the court to earn his third career victory against a Top-5 player.

After Lajovic failed to convert three break points at 4-4, 0/40 in the second set, Djokovic rallied to later force a tie-break, where he raced to a 6/3 lead. But Lajovic held his nerve to win five straight points, including a dramatic 15-ball rally at 7/6, to secure a two-hour, 29-minute victory.

“His percentage of the first serve was not the greatest,” Lajovic said. “So I was able to use that to my advantage. But overall I think it was very good tennis from my side.”

For the second straight day at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Carlos Alcaraz shook off a stern test from a fellow Spaniard to advance in straight sets at the clay-court ATP 500. After beating Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday, the 19-year-old edged Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(5), 6-4 on Friday to return to the semi-finals on home soil.

"It was really tough for me," Alcaraz assessed. "I started playing pretty well, serving for the first set. I was not able to win [that game]... I was going really fast, a lot of things on my mind. [After the first set] I was talking to myself, positive things, trying to play long rallies, trying to [be there] through the points, trying to feel more comfortable with myself."

Alcaraz has not lost a set in four Barcelona matches against his countrymen, including a win against Pablo Carreno Busta in last year's final. He is now 9-1 against Spanish opposition since the start of 2022 and 8-1 overall at the ATP 500 event, his lone defeat coming to Frances Tiafoe in his 2021 debut.

With two more wins, Alcaraz would become Barceiona's first repeat champion since Rafael Nadal won three straight titles from 2016-18. He will face Daniel Evans or Francisco Cerundolo in Saturday's semi-finals.

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Holger Rune continued his love affair with the BMW Open by American Express on Friday when he moved past Chilean Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals in Munich.

The 19-year-old, currently at a career-high No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, lifted his maiden tour-level title at the ATP 250 event last year and moved to within two wins of matching that feat this week with a dominant display against Garin.

The Dane demonstrated his all-court game in front of the German fans. He hammered his groundstrokes, used the drop shot effectively and closed the net sharply to earn his 19th win of the season after one hour and 31 minutes.

“Today was tricky, especially in the second set,” Rune said. “There were some nerves as you might have seen, but it was good. I am very happy with the win. I have played a lot of matches, so the body is maybe not ideal. But I love this place and I love to play on this court in front of a nice crowd.”

Rune has made a strong start to his clay season, having reached his second ATP Masters 1000 final in Monte-Carlo last week. Rune, who leads Garin 3-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, is seeking his fourth tour-level trophy in Munich.

Andrey Rublev maintained his perfect start to the clay-court swing on Friday when he defeated Bosnian wild card Damir Dzumhur 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at the Srpska Open.

The second seed lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo last week and has continued to play aggressive, front-foot tennis in Banja Luka.

Rublev, who dispatched Juan Pablo Varillas in his opening match, overcame a tough test from home favourite Dzumhur, who was competing in his first tour-level quarter-final of the year. He railed from 2-5 in the first set, saving one set point at 4-5, before he fended off all four break points he faced in the second set to earn his seventh consecutive win after one hour and 52 minutes.

"We have always had tough battles and today was the same," Rublev said. "I was losing 2-5 and I was able to come back. It was a tough match. A lot of long games and a lot of long rallies but in the end I was able to win and that is the most important thing."

With his 20th win of the season, Rublev improved to 5-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Dzumhur. Seeking his 14th tour-level title and fifth on clay, the World No. 6 will next face Alex Molcan.

A rising teen on the ATP Challenger Tour, Shintaro Mochizuki has occasionally leaned on Japanese icon Kei Nishikori for advice. But Mochizuki’s quest for knowledge doesn’t just come from fellow tennis players.

The 19-year-old looks up to Japanese baseball stars, notably Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani and San Diego Padres’ Yu Darvish. Mochizuki researches their off-field routine and tries to implement pieces of it into his training plan.

“I watch a lot of baseball,” Mochizuki told ATPTour.com. “I watched the World Baseball Classic last month. I watched most of Japan's games, they have some great players. There are several Japanese players playing in the MLB, so I watch them a lot.

“Especially Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish, they're my favourite. I've never met them, but I think they're super strict with nutrition, fitness, everything they do is amazing. I think that's why they're playing at that level. I learn a lot of things from baseball players. Those guys always have a purpose to work, to practise, to go to the gym, to sleep, also their recovery is very important.

Is this the week Stefanos Tsitsipas captures his first title of the season?

The Greek maintained his perfect record against Alex de Minaur on Friday when he overcame the Australian 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Tsitsipas was in control throughout the one-hour, 21-minute clash at the clay-court ATP 500, taking large cuts at the ball on the forehand to overpower De Minaur and improve to 9-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

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With his 19th win of the season, the second seed set a semi-final clash against Italian Lorenzo Musetti. The ninth seed Musetti received a walkover from Jannik Sinner earlier on Friday.

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus squeezed into the Srpska Open semi-finals with a 6-4, 4-6, 13-11 win against Colombians Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo on Thursday in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

The top seeds saved a match point at 9/10 in the Match Tie-break before clinching victory on their third match point. Each team broke once in the match, with Murray/Venus creating nine break chances to their opponents' four.

The British-Kiwi pairing will face Andrey Golubev and Denys Molchanov in Friday's semi-finals after the Kazah-Ukrainian team advanced with a 6-3, 6- win against Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan on Wednesday.

The second Banja Luka semi-final will see second-seeded Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen meet Francisco Cabral and Aleksandr Nedovyesov after both pairs scored straight-sets victories on Thursday. Gille/Vliegen beat Serbians Nikola Cacic and Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(9), 6-4, while Cabral/Nedovyesov upset third-seeded Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 7-6(5), 6-1.

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Carlos Alcaraz fought off a late charge from countryman Roberto Bautista Agut to notch his second straight-sets victory this week at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The 19-year-old continued his title defence with a 6-3, 7-5 win, looking at home on the Spanish clay in his first tournament since his hard-court run to the Miami semi-finals.

"Today was really tough. The conditions, it wasn't easy," Alcaraz said of the heavy winds that led to a combined eight breaks of serve. "Of course I had to adapt my game from the wind. It was really tough. Roberto's a great player, a really solid player. I had to stay focussed all the time, be there all the time and try to take my chances."

The victory improved Alcaraz to 9-1 against fellow Spaniards, with his only loss coming to Rafael Nadal in last year's Indian Wells semis. Playing on the Barcelona centre court named for Nadal, Alcaraz is bidding to become the first repeat champion at the ATP 500 since the Spanish legend reigned from 2016-18.

He will face another Spaniard, 10th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in Friday's quarter-finals.

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Taylor Fritz continued his strong start to the European clay-court season with a debut win on Thursday at the BMW Open by American Express. The American backed up his run to the Monte-Carlo semi-finals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory against Marton Fucsovics to advance to the quarter-finals at the Munich ATP 250.

"First match, I had to get used to the conditions," Fritz said of his performance. "Everything plays a bit different. It's obviously very cold. I took some time to feel it out and I feel like I just played better as the match kept going."

Fritz improved to 29-25 on clay courts with the win, with a 4-1 mark this season. The second seed will seek his 30th career victory on the dirt against either Dominic Thiem or eighth seed Marc-Andrea Huesler on Friday.

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After dropping serve twice in the opening set against Fucsovics, Fritz faced just one break point across sets two and three, crucially saving it at 2-2 in the third. He scored his fourth break of the match on his seventh break point late in the decider and served out the victory in the ensuing game, wrapping up the win in just under two hours.

Fresh off his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo last week, Andrey Rublev continued where he left off at the Srpska Open on Thursday when he defeated Juan Pablo Varillas 6-2, 6-2 in his opening match in Banja Luka.

The second seed opened his shoulders and dictated play at the ATP 250 clay-court event, overpowering the Peruvian with his destructive forehand to earn his sixth consecutive win in 70 minutes.

Rublev now holds a 19-8 record on the year and will next meet Damir Dzumhur in the quarter-finals after the 30-year-old clawed past Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(3).

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Rublev arrives in Bosnia and Herzegovina off the back of winning the biggest title of his career in Monte-Carlo. The 25-year-old defeated seeds Karen Khachanov, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune to clinch his 13th tour-level crown in the Principality.

A two-time finalist at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Stefanos Tsitsipas moved a step closer to capturing his first title at the ATP 500 event on Thursday when he overcame 14th-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2.

In a heavy-hitting clash, the Greek demonstrated great footwork to dictate on his forehand. The second seed saved both break points he faced and hit his groundstrokes with weight on the Barcelona clay, successfully targeting Shapovalov’s backhand to improve to 2-3 in their ATP Head2Head series and reach the quarter-finals.

"I tried to stay as aggressive as I could from the baseline," Tsitsipas said. "Against Denis you have to keep up with the pace and be ready to attack when you can. It wasn't easy out here but I did a very good job. I was responsible with my decision making. It was a good day."

Tsitsipas is making his fifth appearance in Barcelona, with his best result runs to the final in 2018 and 2021. Chasing his first title of the season, he will next meet Alex de Minaur after the Australian received a walkover from Grigor Dimitrov.

With his 77-minute win, the World No. 5 moves to 18-5 on the season, highlighted by his run to the Australian Open final. Shapovalov started his clay-court season with a victory against Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik on Wednesday. The Canadian was aiming to reach his second quarter-final of the year, after advancing to the last eight in Adelaide in January.

Holger Rune made a winning start to his title defence at the BMW Open by American Express on Thursday when he moved past German wild card Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-4 in Munich.

The 19-year-old was No. 70 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings when he earned his maiden tour-level title at the clay-court event 12 months ago. This week he returns to Munich at a career-high No. 7 after reaching the final in Monte-Carlo.

In the first ATP Head2Head meeting between Rune and Hanfmann, it was the Dane who quickly found his range in Munich, taking the ball early to hit through the German. He timed the ball cleanly off both wings and broke his opponent’s serve three times to advance after one hour and 25 minutes.

Rune now holds a 18-8 record on the season. The top seed is chasing his fourth tour-level title this week and will next face Cristian Garin or Lorenzo Sonego in the quarter-finals.

In other action, Aslan Karatsev clawed past Daniel Altmaier 4-6 7-6(2), 6-2, while #NextGenATP Italian Flavio Cobolli defeated Oscar Otte 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. American Marcos Giron also advanced, overcoming Alexander Ritschard 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Mutua Madrid Open, with the five-time champion revealing that he is not ready to return to competitive action following the leg injury he suffered at the Australian Open in January.

“The last few weeks and months have been difficult,” Nadal said in a video published on social media on Thursday. “As you know, I picked up a significant injury in Australia, to my psoas. First it was going to be a six to eight-week recovery period, we’re in the 14th week and the reality is that the situation is not what we expected.

“In any case, I have followed the medical advice but the progress has not been as they told us at the beginning. We find ourselves in a difficult situation, the weeks are passing by. I was excited to play in the most important tournaments in my career such as Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros. So far, I’ve missed Monte-Carlo and Barcelona and I also wanted to tell you that I won’t be able to be in Madrid.”

Hola a todos. Hace un tiempo que no me comunico directamente con vosotros. Han sido unas semanas y unos meses difíciles. Como sabéis me hice una una lesión importante en Australia, en el Psoas. pic.twitter.com/m0TbsGFn5t

The Mutua Madrid Open will be the third tournament of the clay swing that Nadal has missed due to injury.

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

Despite having won 12 tour-level titles and finished three consecutive seasons in the Top 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Andrey Rublev started 2023 with one thing on his mind; winning a bigger tournament. It was mission accomplished at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he picked up his first ATP Masters 1000 crown. To do so, however, he had to reinvent himself and practically rebuild his entire team in January.

One of his new mentors is fitness coach Marcos Borderias, one of the driving forces behind Rublev’s impressive season. The Spaniard was working with Maria Jose Martínez and Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo, and with Argentine player Pedro Cachin, whom he was alongside during his rise from No. 253 to No. 54 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. However, he received an Instagram message that persuaded him to change tack. It was a job offer from Galo Blanco, former World No. 40 and Rublev’s agent.

“I couldn’t sleep for three days. I couldn’t believe it. In two years I went from training players outside the Top 500 to the World No. 6. It was a huge leap,” remembers Borderias in conversation with ATPTour.com.

A few days after accepting the job on Instagram, he met his new pupil at a club in Barcelona. Fernando Vicente, Rublev’s main coach since 2016, was also there. Borderias’ admiration for the current No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings did nothing to prevent him from being objective and he was quick to diagnose which aspects needed work.