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Jiri Lehecka earned the biggest win of his career by Pepperstone ATP Ranking Thursday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he upset World No. 5 Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach his second tour-level semi-final.

The 21-year-old Czech entered the clash off the back of straight-set wins against Damir Dzumhur and Emil Ruusuvuori and he demonstrated his confidence levels in a heavy-hitting performance against the top seed.

Lehecka timed the ball cleanly off both wings, causing damage with his flat forehand to hit through a frustrated Rublev. He broke twice, sealing his victory after one hour and 41 minutes to improve to 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Rublev.

"These past two months have been very great for me," Lehecka said in his on-court interview. "I was very looking forward to playing here in Doha on this beautfiul centre court, so I am very happy with the win and looking forward to tomorrow."

The Czech will aim to advance to his first tour-level final when he faces former World No. 1 Andy Murray or French qualifier Alexandre Muller on Friday. Lehecka, who is up eight spots to No. 44 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, reached the semi-finals in Rotterdam last year.

Teaming for the first time, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Marcelo Melo reached the quarter-finals at the Rio Open presented by Claro on Wednesday when they clawed past Austrians Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

The second seeds broke twice and raised their level in the Match Tie-break, winning five consecutive points from 1/2 before sealing victory on serve after one hour and 30 minutes. Cabal has tasted success at the ATP 500 clay-court event, winning the title with Robert Farah in 2014 and 2016.

The Colombian and Brazilian Melo will aim to keep their run going this week when they face Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Diego Schwartzman.

In other action, Nikola Cacic and Andrea Pellegrino upset top seeds Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez 7-6(8),4-6, 11-9. The qualifiers will next meet Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni after the Argentines beat Mateus Alves and Joao Fonseca 7-5, 7-6(4).

Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul saved one match point to overcome Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 4-6, 11-9, while Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar beat Marcelo Demoliner and Felipe Meligeni Alves 1-6, 7-5, 13-11.

Carlos Alcaraz continues to dip his toes into the world of fashion with a fresh feature story this month in Vogue. In the wide-ranging article, Alcaraz touches on his love for chess, his fashion sense and his admiration for Roger Federer, among many other topics.

Complete with photoshoot imagery of the 19-year-old, the longform piece provides new insight into the routines, habits and whims of the ATP Tour's newest superstar. Alcaraz also discusses what he called a "bad period" after he won the US Open last September for his first Grand Slam title.

"That sounds like I'm making it up," Alcaraz said, before explaining the stress that followed his achievement in New York, which made him the youngest No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Read an excerpt from the feature below.

Alcaraz grew up just over an hour from [the Ferrero academy], in a village outside Murcia called El Palmar, a place he still visits on weekends. Everyone knows one another, he says, and he has the same friends he hung out with as a child. Some 40 years ago his great-uncle built a tennis club there, on what was a clay-pigeon shooting range, and Alcaraz’s grandfather, Carlos, joined in the venture. Later, Alcaraz’s father—who played professional tennis until he couldn’t afford to continue—became the director. So Carlitos was born, he says, “with tennis in my blood.” His older brother, Álvaro (now 23), played in tournaments before him, and his younger brothers (ages 13 and 11) are as passionate about tennis as the rest of the family, including his mother, who until recently worked as a shop assistant at IKEA. Alcaraz got his first racket at the age of four, and, according to his father, cried when he had to stop playing to go home for dinner. His social life revolved around the tennis club.

For a straight-sets match, particularly one without a tie-break, this one on Wednesday night at the Rio Open presented by Claro was as epic as they come. Cameron Norrie's 7-5, 7-5 win against Thiago Monteiro was a two-and-a-half-hour odyssey that saw the Briton create 21 break points before clinching victory on his sixth match point.

Eight of the 12 games in the opening set featured at least one break chance, including a marathon seven-deuce game at 1-1 in which Monteiro saved four break points to hold. All told, the Brazilian erased 16 break points, but it was not enough to take a set off the in-form second seed.

"It was a great match," Norrie said post-match. "I had a lot of opportunities in that first set and I could have been a lot more comfortable but he fought back strong and played really well in the bigger moments and served really well. Credit to him, but I was able to tough out the end of the sets.

"I was really hitting my backhand line really well and it made it difficult for him when he was trying to cheat over on his forehand," he added, discussing the lefty vs. left rallies.

Norrie had an opportunity to close out both sets on serve at 5-4, but was denied on both occasions, much to the delight of the late-night crowd on Court Guga Kuerten. In set two, Monteiro saved three match points on his own serve at 3-5 to extend the match, but he could not claw out of a 40/0 hole in his opponent's second attempt to serve out the victory.

Yosuke Watanuki has enjoyed a strong start to the year following a career-best season on the ATP Challenger Tour. The Japanese player is doing it all with his brother by his side.

The 24-year-old, who is competing at this week’s Monterrey Challenger, is coached by his brother Keisuke, who is roughly five years older. Yosuke, World No. 130 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, claims they are a dynamic duo.

“I think it works for me and makes us stronger,” Watanuki said. “He cares about me so much. Sometimes people think it's not good enough because he wasn't a top player before, he's young, or because he hasn’t coached a Top-50 player. But we are going up together, it's good for us. He can hit and he's good with the mental side of the game. I think that's really good for me. Sometimes we fight, like brothers do!”

Watanuki has consistently kept his coach's corner within the family. Before Keisuke came on board, the eldest of the three brothers, Yusuke, was his full-time coach until about three years ago.

Top 5 stars Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud will lead the field at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco.

Here's what you need to know ahead of the ATP 500 hard-court tournament in Mexico:

When is the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC?

The 2023 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC will be held from 27 February - 4 March. The hard-court ATP 500 tournament, established in 1993, will take place at the Boulevard de las Naciones & Paseo de los Manglares. The tournament director is Alvaro Falla.

Who is playing at the 2023 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC?

The Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC will feature stars including Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune.

When is the draw for the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC?

The Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC draw will be made Saturday, 25 February at 3 p.m.

After Rotterdam and Rio de Janeiro, the ATP 500 action continues in the 2023 season with Novak Djokovic, defending champion Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andy Murray competing in the field at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Here's what you need to know ahead of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates:

When is the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships?

The 2023 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will be held from 27 February - 4 March. The outdoor hard-court ATP 500 tournament, established in 1993, will take place at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The tournament director is Salah Tahlak.

Who is playing at the 2023 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships?

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will feature stars including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, defending champion Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev and more.

When is the draw for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships?

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships draw will be made Saturday, 25 February at 1 p.m.

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

Life after tennis is not something that worries Thomaz Bellucci, who played his last ATP Tour match on Wednesday at the Rio Open presented by Claro. However, the clarity he now feels over his future is in stark contrast to the concern he felt at 16 and 17 years old, when he was close to an early retirement from the professional game. A left-knee injury sidelined him for almost a year and he was close to never coming back.

Back then, when he was a mere blip on the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, it took him six months to recover from surgery, followed by a long period of uncertainty. He started to read books on economy and thought about dedicating his time to his studies.

“I was in a lot of doubt,” Bellucci recalled to ATPTour.com. “I didn’t know if the best thing was to continue in tennis. I wanted to have fun doing other things.”

[ATP APP]

After moving within one game of an opening win on Tuesday at the Rio Open presented by Claro, Carlos Alcaraz faced an overnight wait as heavy rain suspended the day's play. The defending champion quickly finished the job on Wednesday to earn a 6-4, 6-4 win against home favourite Mateus Alves. 

"It was really tough," Alcaraz said of the delay. "We had to stop the match and start again. You have to sleep with the nerves before the match and get ready. It's not easy."

[ATP APP]

The World No. 556 Alves, a Brazilian wild card, took the fight to Alcaraz at the start of the match on Tuesday. Fuelled by the support of the crowd on Court Guga Kuerten, he led by an early break at 2-0 in the opening set. But Alcaraz won the next eight points to draw level and did not face another break point until midway through set two.

The match's drama peaked in windy conditions just before the Tuesday night rain, as three breaks of serve preceded the suspension of play. After a trade of breaks from 2-2, Alves relied on big serving to erase four break points at 3-3. But he could not save a fifth, ceding the game to Alcaraz, who quickly consolidated just before the skies opened with the Spaniard leading 6-4, 5-3.

Arthur Fils continued his red-hot form in France with another victory in his home nation Wednesday at the Open 13 Provence. After a run to the final of a Quimper ATP Challenger Tour event in January and the semis of the ATP 250 in Montpellier earlier this month, the 18-year-old wild card is off the mark this week in Marseille.

Fils opened his campaign with a power-packed 6-4, 6-3 win against Roman Safiullin, setting a rematch with Jannik Sinner less than two weeks after the Italian beat him in the Montpellier semis.

"I did a great match. I was really focused on every point, I served pretty good," said the Frenchman. "I just had one break point against me, but it was a good match and I'm happy about it."

ALLEZ ARTHUR! ?@ArthurFils1 powers past Safiullin 6-4 6-3 to move on in Marseille@Open13 #open13provence pic.twitter.com/wprB96OTiY

Fils did not face a break point against Safiullin until he was serving at 4-3 in the second set. Facing ad-out, he won six points in a row to set up triple match point on return, ultimately sealing the win on his second chance.

Andy Murray has had a flair for the dramatic in 2023. His win on Wednesday in Doha was no different.

The former World No. 1 clawed past two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-5 after a gruelling three hours and three minutes to reach the quarter-finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

“It makes a big difference for the players when we come and get a lot of energy and a great atmosphere from the crowd,” Murray said after the match. “Hopefully that continues the rest of the week, but I obviously enjoyed playing in that atmosphere tonight.”

[ATP APP]

Murray was twice two points from defeat when he served to stay in the match at 4-5 in the third set. In those pivotal moments, the 35-year-old took the initiative. Either he was going to stay alive, or he was going to go down with the points on his racquet.

Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco on Wednesday, citing a shoulder injury he sustained after the Australian Open.

“Mexico is one of my favorite destinations in the world, and I have always cherished the opportunity to compete in this prestigious tournament,” Tsitsipas wrote in an Instagram Story. “I am incredibly grateful for the support that I have received from the tennis people and the fans in Mexico over the past couple of years.

“Your unwavering support has been a tremendous source of inspiration and motivation for me, and I am truly thankful for all the encouragement and kindness that you have shown me.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas has withdrawn from the @AbiertoTelcel due to a shoulder injury.

Speedy recovery, @steftsitsipas. We are going to miss you!

Tsitsipas competed at the ATP 500 in each of the past two years, tallying a 7-2 record in Acapulco. In 2021 the Greek reached the final and last year he fell in the semi-finals.

WTA star Iga Swiatek has been in imperious form over the past two weeks. Not only has her level of play caught the attention of fans and commentators, but also former World No. 1 Andy Murray.

Swiatek lost just five games last week en route to the Doha title. This week, she has dropped only three games, all against elite competition. Murray tweeted about the Pole's level by writing, “She is different?"

She is different ? https://t.co/sZFbjHJDYh

Murray and Swiatek have long expressed admiration for one another. At the 2021 BNP Paribas Open, they shared a chat on the practice court. Swiatek paid back Murray for his tweet with one of her own.

“And you are a resilience role model and an inspiration on so many levels,” Swiatek tweeted in response. “Thank you for everything that you do for this sport.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime didn’t have things all his own way on debut at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open Wednesday, but he stepped up when needed to reach the quarter-finals in Doha.

Competing at the ATP 250 event, the second-seeded Canadian recovered from a slow start to overcome Australian Jason Kubler, advancing 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 after two hours and 16 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime struggled on return in the first set, winning just 20 per cent (5/25) of his points behind Kubler’s first and second serve. However, he found his range as the match went on, hitting with greater depth and aggression on return in the second and third sets to break the 29-year-old three times.

The 22-year-old, who is up one spot to No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, has levelled his ATP Head2Head series against Kubler at 1-1.

Auger-Aliasime will face seventh seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Soonwoo Kwon in his second tour-level quarter-final of the season. The four-time tour-level titlist reached the last eight in Rotterdam last week.

Frances Tiafoe was a natural fit for Netflix’s Break Point. Both the man and the docuseries share two major goals: entertain tennis fans and attract new fans to the sport.

Tiafoe is especially excited to see more diversity among tennis spectators.

“It’s cool to see more people of colour in the stands watching and becoming tennis fans,” he told the ATP Tour in a recent interview. “They don’t even know how to keep score but they're just so into it because I’m playing. 

“That’s cool... you're changing the game. That’s what I want, non-tennis fans to watch the game because Frances Tiafoe’s playing, to show young kids anything is possible.”

There's no alternative. Hard work pays off ? pic.twitter.com/yTboGkFfbM

Fourth seeds Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop made amends for an early exit last week in Rotterdam with a dominant win on Tuesday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. The Dutch duo defeated Malek Jaziri and Mubarak Shannan Zayid 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals at the ATP 250.

Haase/Middelkoop did not face a break point in the contest, winning more than 80 per cent of points on both first and second serve. They generated 12 break opportunities on return, converting on three of them. 

The five-time tour-level champions, whose most recent trophy came earlier this month in Montpellier, will continue their bid for a sixth team title against Constant Lestienne and Botic van de Zandschulp in Wednesday's quarter-finals. The French-Dutch duo defeated Raven Klaasen and Hunter Reese 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 on Tuesday.

Doha third seeds Matthew Ebden and Rohan Bopanna also advanced with a 5-7, 6-1, 10-3 win against Liam Broady and Alexander Zverev.

[ATP APP]

When the Rio Open presented by Claro was hit with heavy rain on Tuesday evening, Carlos Alcaraz quickly saved a ball kid from a soaking.

With the top-seeded Spaniard leading Brazilian Mateus Alves 6-4, 5-3, play was suspended due to rain. After taking shelter under cover, Alcaraz called over a stranded ball kid, who quickly took the opportunity to join him.

It is not the first time Alcaraz has helped the ball kids stay dry at the ATP 500 event, having ushered them under cover during his match against Federico Delbonis last year. The 19-year-old will be hoping his rain heroics is a sign of history repeating itself in Rio, after he went on to win the title at the clay-court event in 2022.

Following the suspension of play, Alcaraz will return to court on Wednesday when he will aim to seal victory against Alves and book a second-round meeting against Fabio Fognini or Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.

Phoenix, Arizona is known to be scorching hot. And next month, the ATP Challenger Tour will bring the heat to the Arizona Tennis Classic, the first event of the newly created Challenger 175 category.

Six Top-50 players are set to play the Phoenix Challenger, which begins March 13. Main-draw action will kick off following the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells. Several high-ranked players who lose early at the ATP Masters 1000 event are expected to play in Phoenix before continuing onto Miami to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’.

Players who will compete in Phoenix unless they are still alive in the Indian Wells draw, include Botic Van de Zandschulp, Sebastian Baez, Richard Gasquet, Jack Draper, Marc-Andrea Huesler, and Alexander Bublik.

Van de Zandschulp, World No. 34, is the highest-ranked player in the Phoenix field. In 2022, the Dutchman earned a career-best 38 tour-level wins, including victories over Cameron Norrie, Taylor Fritz, and Bublik to help his home country qualify for the Davis Cup Finals knock-out stage. 

Two days after he fell to Carlos Alcaraz in the Buenos Aires final, Cameron Norrie found his way back into the win column on Tuesday at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The second seed overcame a strong start from Argentine lucky loser Juan Manuel Cerundolo to run away with a 7-5, 6-1 victory.

From 3-5 down in the opening set, Norrie won 10 of the match's final 11 games to reach the Rio de Janeiro second round for the second time.

"He was playing well and had some matches here in qualies, so I knew he was going to start well," Norrie said. "But I was able to find my range and find my legs and really use my backhand pretty effectively towards the end."

[ATP APP]

Norrie's ability to make the match physical and attack the net also keyed his comeback against Cerundolo, according to the Briton. He will next face Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, who beat Dominic Thiem 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2) on Monday.

Taylor Fritz is not competing this week on the ATP Tour after compiling a 6-1 record over the past two weeks on home soil. Fritz followed a Dallas semi-final run with a title triumph in Delray Beach last week, claiming his fifth tour-level trophy and his fourth in the past 12 months.

While he is not in action on the court, Fritz is winning big this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. The American is up two places to No. 5 after Andrey Rublev and Rafael Nadal each dropped 500 points at the start of the week. The best part for Fritz: He is guaranteed to remain at No. 5 for next Monday's edition of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, when he will officially join that elite group for the first time and achieve a new career high.

Fritz will become the first American to be ranked inside the Top 5 since Andy Roddick in September 2009.

[BREAK POINT]

Fritz spoke of keeping a "Top 10 mentality" after he reached that milestone last October behind his Tokyo title run. Now the 25-year-old has hit even greater heights.