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Frances Tiafoe's home will always be the tennis court, but the American star had a blast on the basketball court Friday evening in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.

Tiafoe, the No. 15 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, made two shots to help NBA legend Dwyane Wade's team to victory. 

Tiafoe made a teardrop shot from close range in the early going to settle the nerves and early in the third quarter, he knocked down a midrange jumpshot over 2016 NBA champion Richard Jefferson. That bucket thrilled Team Dwyane coach Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player.

It was not just about the basketball, though. Tiafoe met several superstars, from current NBA players like Pascal Siakam to other players in the game such as teammates DK Metcalf and Janelle Monae.

Carlos Alcaraz’s comeback continues to gain steam in Buenos Aires.

The World No. 2 advanced to the Argentina Open semi-finals on Friday evening when he defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-2. The Spaniard will next face fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo or Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

“I think I played really, really well from the beginning until the last ball, the last point,” Alcaraz said. “I knew that it was going to be really, really difficult. Dusan is playing great on clay, [he is] a great player, a really tough one.”

Entering the week, Alcaraz had not played a match since last year’s Rolex Paris Masters because of an internal oblique muscle tear. But he has shown no signs of discomfort in Argentina. To the contrary, he is improving by the game.

“I had to be really, really solid from deep in the court,” Alcaraz said. “My second match of the year and I’m really happy with my performance.”

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek have had a solid start to the 2023 season. The Croatian-American duo, which reached the final at last month’s Adelaide International 2, is looking for a fourth team title this week.

On Friday, the pair earned a razor-thin 7-6(5), 7-6(5) quarter-final victory over Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

When Dodig and Krajicek made a run to the Adelaide-2 final earlier this year, misfortune struck them before the championship match. Dodig suffered an injury that forced them to give a walkover to Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.

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After a disappointing first-round exit at the Australian Open, Dodig and Krajicek are hoping to make a statement at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, where they are the only seeded team remaining. They will next meet Belgian qualifiers Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in the semi-finals.

Miomir Kecmanovic is inching closer towards his first ATP Tour title since September 2020.

The Serbian, who last triumphed three years ago in Kitzbuhel, downed Marcos Giron 7-6(5), 6-3 to open Friday’s quarter-final action at the 2023 Delray Beach Open. The World No. 33 saved five of six break points faced during his one-hour, 34-minute victory, which was halted by rain on several occasions.

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Moldova’s Radu Albot upset second seed Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-2 to score the seventh Top-20 win of his career. The 33-year-old stayed steady from the baseline and won 32 of 40 points off his first serve to defeat the American.

Albot, who won the Delray Beach Open in 2019, advanced to his first semi-final since Singapore in 2021 (l. Bublik). Friday’s victory lifted Albot to No. 99 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He will next meet Kecmanovic in Saturday's semi-final.

The fast-paced nature of the ATP Tour leaves little time to savour success. Just three weeks have passed since Tommy Paul's run to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, but moving on quickly has been no problem at all for the American.

“I’m not really looking back at it too much,” Paul told ATPTour.com when asked about how he is reflecting on his Melbourne run. “I’m kind of trying to look forward, you know? I’m pretty focused on this week and the rest of the year.”

While proud of becoming the first American man to reach an Australian Open semi-final since 2009, the 25-year-old is unwilling to let it define his season with so much tennis left to play.

“I think it’s pretty easy to put it behind you, because it’s not going to win me the next match that I play,” he said. “I’ve got to win the next match that I play anyway. The rest of the year is really important to me, and I want to keep getting better. I wasn’t perfect in Australia, and I want to be better than I was in Australia.”

That’s not to say Paul hasn’t taken the opportunity to relax away from the court. After guiding the United States to victory against Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Qualifiers in the wake of his Melbourne exploits, he travelled to his girlfriend’s house in Connecticut to turn his attention to two off-court passions — horse-riding and his favourite NBA team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Despite several challenges in Friday's rain-hindered quarter-final in Buenos Aires, second seed Cameron Norrie prevailed to book his ticket into the Argentina Open semi-finals.

The World No. 12 had to rally from a set down against home hope Tomas Martin Etcheverry to claim a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 victory. After the Argentine grabbed the opening set, rain halted play for a brief period before Norrie won 12 of the next 15 games to advance.

“I knew it was going to be difficult, he came out and played really well,” Norrie said. “It was so different today than the other day when I played Facundo [Diaz Acosta] when it was boiling. Today was freezing. Probably a bit warmer in London today than here in Buenos Aires!

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“He played a really good first set and served well. I came out really strong after the rain delay and again after the second rain delay. I managed to scrape through in a pretty difficult match.”

On a roll on European indoor hard courts, Jannik Sinner will be tough to oust this week at the ABN AMRO Open.

The day after he dispatched top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets at the ATP 500 event, the World No. 14 returned to down Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 and reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam for the first time.

Sinner raced through the first set in Friday's clash with 2015 champion Wawrinka and, despite the Swiss showing some late resistance to reclaim a break and level at 3-3 in the second, the 21-year-old Italian’s combination of consistency and power proved key as he frequently outlasted his more experienced opponent from the baseline.

The 72-minute victory extended Sinner’s winning streak to six matches, with Rotterdam victories against Benjamin Bonzi, Tsitsipas and Wawrinka backing up his run to his seventh tour-level title last week in Montpellier.

“I just try to play every match with a high intensity, try to play my game, try to adapt myself,” said Sinner, when asked about his good form. “The first round match here was very important for me, then I try to keep going, to get more rhythm. Today I think it was also a good match. It’s never easy playing against him, so I’m very happy.”

Lorenzo Sonego lost in the first round of this week’s ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam. But off the court, the Italian won big.

The song ‘Un Solo Secondo’, which Sonego created in collaboaration with friend ‘AlterEdo’, soared past the one-million listen mark on Spotify.

“We did some songs together when we were young for a hobby,” Sonego told ATPTour.com last year. “And then, we tried to do something together for enjoyment in the summer and only to enjoy the moment and do something different, not always [focus on] tennis.”

‘Un Solo Secondo’ is not the only song they have created together. They also published ’Swing’ last year. Would Sonego ever collaborate with one of his ATP Tour colleagues?

Matteo Berrettini is well accustomed to taking on the world’s best players on some of the most iconic courts in the world. Yet even after lifting seven ATP Tour titles, surging to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and reaching a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, the Italian sometimes still wonders how it all came about.

“My whole family plays tennis. They always told me, ‘Do what you love, and give your best’,” Berrettini said recently in an interview with the ATP Tour. “Growing up, I never thought about it. I was dreaming about playing maybe [in] Rome, [but] I was more like a child that is dreaming and saying, ‘I want to go to the moon’… And then it happened. Everything [happened] so fast.”

Netflix’s Break Point followed Berrettini’s stellar run to the semi-finals at the 2022 Australian Open in the second episode. Despite that Melbourne campaign ultimately ending in disappointment with a four-set defeat to legend Rafael Nadal, the 26-year-old remains grateful for every experience he has in his life as a pro. Berrettini believes that the more he gives, the more he gets back, no matter the result on court.

“It teaches you a lot about who you are,” said Berrettini of competing on the ATP Tour. “[When] I was a kid, I had idols. I want to be one of those players. I would like to have kids that are looking and are like, ‘I’m going to decide to play tennis or I’m going to improve this thing because I saw that Matteo is doing it’.

Daniil Medvedev maintained his perfect record against Felix Auger-Aliassime in style Friday at the ABN AMRO Open, where the sixth seed took out the defending champion 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.

The 27-year-old Medvedev was relentless from the baseline in the 83-minute quarter-final in Rotterdam, hitting just five unforced errors across the two sets to Auger-Aliassime’s 20. That consistency proved crucial in enabling the World No. 11 to break the Canadian's serve four times en route to extending his lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series to 5-0.

“Today was my best match of the week, but I have to build on this,” said Medvedev post-match. “Usually, the best weeks you play, many times you’re going to play your best tennis in the last match, so that’s definitely a goal. But I’m happy with my level today, beating someone like Felix in straight sets.”

With the win, Medvedev advanced to the semi-finals in Rotterdam for the second time, having also reached that stage in 2019. His next opponent in the Netherlands will be Grigor Dimitrov, after the Bulgarian saved two match points to down Alex de Minaur 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) in a dramatic opening quarter-final earlier on Friday.

Auger-Aliassime lifted his maiden ATP Tour crown at the Rotterdam Ahoy a year ago. The 22-year-old struggled to match the level he showed during that title run against Medvedev, yet many of his wayward groundstrokes could be attributed to the superb defensive skills of his opponent at vital moments.

Lorenzo Musetti won his first ATP Tour title on the clay of Hamburg last July, defeating fellow Argentina Open seed Carlos Alcaraz in the final. In his first match on the surface in nearly seven months, the Italian eased back into the win column with a 6-2, 6-3 win against home favourite Pedro Cachin on Thursday in Buenos Aires.

Patient but aggressive in his tournament debut, Musetti opened the court time and again to earn his first victory since he won four straight matches at the United Cup. He created 10 break points, converting half, and sealed the win by claiming the final three games of the one-hour, 25-minute contest.

"It was not easy because Pedro was playing good. It was his second round and for me it was the first match here," the third seed said. "I feel great. I felt great from when I arrived here. I feel at home even if we are in Argentina. I think Italian culture and Argentinian culture is really close. So I'm happy with the win because I played great tennis."

Entering the week as World No. 20, Musetti is up two places to No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, a mark which would match his career high. He will meet qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas in Friday's quarter-finals after the Peruvian defeated Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day.

"He beat Thiem so I think he's playing pretty well," Musetti said ahead of the pair's first ATP Head2Head meeting. "I have to focus on my game and concentrate on myself and try to play, like today, really solid."

Playing in his first ATP Tour match since his breakthrough run to the Australian Open semi-finals, Tommy Paul continued his red-hot form with a victory at the Delray Beach Open on Thursday. The second seed defeated countryman Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals at the ATP 250.

Both players were part of the United States Davis Cup team that defeated Uzbekistan earlier this month, with both earning road singles victories. With the pair on opposite sides of the net in the U.S., Paul's speed and athleticism helped him advance at his home tournament.

"It’s always nice to be home. I live like 15 minutes away from here," said Paul, who hit seven aces and 14 winners. "It’s nice to play in front of of my friends and some of my family here. It’s easy to have my whole team here so it’s always a good time."

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While it took the American some time to adjust to the windy conditions in Delray Beach, he wrestled away control of the match by winning five straight games from 3-3 in the opening set. In holding for a 2-0 lead in set two, Paul saved what proved to be the last break point of the match for either man.

Jannik Sinner emphatically ended his four-match losing streak against Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4, 6-3 win on Thursday night at the ABN AMRO Open. The Rotterdam victory is the Italian's first against a Top 3 opponent.

The 21-year-old, who lost in five sets to Tsitsipas in one of the matches of the Australian Open, used a dominant serving performance and an aggressive return game to earn his first win against the Greek since 2020. Sinner won 89 per cent of his first-serve points and converted on three of his four break points, a backhand passing shot clinching his third break and the match after one hour, 21 minutes. He did not face a break point.

"It means a lot obviously," Sinner said of the biggest win of his career by measure of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. "A lot of work behind. I'm very happy. I played some good tennis, very focussed today. Hopefully I can keep it going but for sure, Stef is an incredible player. I have a lot of respect for him. He played incredible tennis this year already.

"I was looking forward to this match to be honest, after my win yesterday already. So I'm very happy about my performance today."

Sinner improved to 2-5 in his ATP Head2Head against Tsitsipas, the top seed in Rotterdam. After three straight-set defeats from 2021-22, the Italian has turned around their rivalry this season, winning four of the past five sets. He fell just short in a five-set thriller in the Australian Open fourth round, but left nothing to chance in a comprehensive victory at the ATP 500.

At the highest level of the sport, tennis is a game of small margins. In these settings, tactical innovations can be very effective.

Whether it's Novak Djokovic often serving to the forehand on second serve or Maxime Cressy regularly storming the net to serve and volley on second serve, strategic innovations breathe new life and excitement into the game.

One recent and highly effective tactical innovation is the use of the forehand drop shot by the 2022 year-end World No. 1, Carlos Alcaraz.

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Drop shots are nothing new on the tour, particularly on clay. But for players at the very top of the game, Alcaraz has employed the forehand drop shot with an unusually high frequency and effectiveness, including on hard courts.

Netflix’s Break Point told the story of the biggest victory of Taylor Fritz’s career, when he won his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Open in his native Southern California. 

But there was no camera crew following the American when he was grinding his way through the junior ranks and the ATP Challenger Tour — periods filled with difficult moments, hard work and sacrifice with no guarantee of success.

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“I’ve given my whole life to the sport,” he reflected in a recent interview with the ATP Tour. “Parties, high school, none of that… college, didn’t happen. I definitely traded a normal life. I knew what I wanted, I knew I wanted to be a professional athlete.

“I’ve had so many days where you just question why you’re even doing it. That’s how hard you need to be pushing yourself all the time. You need to be working so hard that it’s not fun.”

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev have set a blockbuster quarter-final showdown at the ABN AMRO Open after comfortable second-round victories Thursday.

Third-seeded Auger-Aliassime served nine aces in a 6-4, 6-3 win over French qualifier Gregoire Barrere. But the Canadian will look to improve his lackluster 50 per cent first-serve percentage before coming up against Medvedev.

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Medvedev saved all six break points faced in his 6-2, 6-2 win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Felix, but three have gone the distance, including a 2022 Australian Open quarter-final meeting, in which Medvedev rallied from two sets down to win. The World No. 11 is expecting another close battle.

Michael Mmoh is feeling right at home at the Delray Beach Open after his second straight three-set win earned him a place in the quarter-finals of the Florida ATP 250. The 25-year-old, who was born in Saudi Arabia and holds both American and Australian citizenship, upset third seed Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday night.

Mmoh stormed back from 1-4 down in the opening set, then escaped 0/40 at 2-2 in the third before claiming his third break late in the set and serving out the victory.

"It's amazing," Mmoh said after winning in front of the supportive Delray Beach crowd. "I've been in Florida for the past 10 years. I call this my home state. To have a packed-out crowd like I did tonight, there was lot more people on Wednesday night than there was on Monday. Thank all you guys for coming out."

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After riding a hot start in his first-round win against fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Mmoh overcame a slow opening against Shapovalov, who suffered his third straight tour-level defeat.

Playing his first ATP Tour match in more than three months, Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to competition on Wednesday night at the Argentina Open. The first former World No. 1 to compete in Buenos Aires since Gustavo Kuerten in 2004, the Spaniard lived up to lofty expectations with a powerful performance at the ATP 250.

Returning from recent abdominal and hamstring injuries, Alcaraz earned a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victory in two hours against Laslo Djere. He was at his best early and late as he moved through the gears, treating the expectant crowd to the full range of magic that helped him claim the 2022 year-end No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

"It's a great feeling to win again," Alcaraz said post-match. "It's been a long time for me with no competition, with no matches, just recovering. Finally I got my first win of 2023."

A fast start quelled any early nerves, as the 19-year-old raced to a 3-1 lead. But he could not win a wild second set that included 15 combined break points, none of which were converted until Djere made the breakthrough on his second set point. Any disappointment was short-lived with an immediate break putting Alcaraz back in command. Like in the opening set, he did not face a break point in the decider. 

While he did most of his damage with heavy baseline blows, Alcaraz mixed in a few drop shots and net approaches as he eased back into competition in a welcoming atmosphere. He was serenaded with an "Ole Carlos" chant in between sets, with Argentine legend Gabriela Sabatini among those in the stands to see the the Spaniard's tournament debut.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz caused an upset at the ABN AMRO Open on Wednesday when they defeated top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Germans won 86 per cent of their first-serve points and saved all three break points they faced to advance at the Rotterdam ATP 500 event.

Krawietz and Puetz are finding their rhythm in their second tournament of the year together after reaching the semi-finals last week in Montpellier.

In other action, Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin ousted home favourites Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6(6), 6-4. They will next play third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

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Cameron Norrie was two points from defeat on three occasions on Wednesday at the Argentina Open, but the Briton found his best tennis at the crucial moments to deny Argentine wild card Facundo Diaz Acosta an upset win in his native Buenos Aires.

In a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) victory, Norrie never truly hit top gear, but the second seed showed his champion mentality to get over the line at the ATP 250. 

"I thought Facu played great and it was a battle out there. It was my first [ATP Tour] match on clay in a while," said Norrie, who earned two Davis Cup wins on the clay of Colombia earlier this month. "I have a lot of things to work on but it was a great atmosphere and I had a lot of people supporting me as well, so I really enjoyed. But I need to improve a lot."

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In the closing stages, Norrie was able to redirect the pacy groundstrokes from his opponent to great effect, attacking without taking big risks as the pressure mounted. Diaz Acosta was two points from victory on return at 5-4, 30/30 and twice in the tie-break at 5/5 and 6/6 after leading 4/1. But each time, Norrie had the answer.