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Far from the season’s first Slam in Melbourne, Australia, lies the beautiful island Tenerife, where the ATP Challenger Tour makes a visit this week and two more stops within the next month.

Tenerife, which is the largest of Spain’s Canary islands, is a piece of tennis paradise. The Challenger 100 event is staged around towering palm trees at the Abama Tennis Academy, where centre court spectators can enjoy panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean while soaking in world-class tennis.

Boasting a comfortable climate year-round, Tenerife is home to a thousand experiences that range from relaxing at the beach and whale watching, to visiting the impressive volcanic structure Mount Teide, which stands over 12,000 feet. It’s a stunning destination that tennis fans can add to their bucket list.

The Tenerife Challenger is one of several pro events spearheaded by MEF Tennis Events, which is an Italian-based company that started in 2007 and specialises in the organisation, management, and marketing of sporting events. MEF Tennis Events is managed by Marcello Marchesini, who is also the tournament director in Tenerife. When the opportunity came to expand running tournaments from Italy to the Canary Islands, it was a no brainer.

Novak Djokovic was once again pushed physically at the Australian Open on Saturday, but he found a way to keep alive his quest for a record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park.

Struggling with the hamstring injury that has plagued him since Adelaide, Djokovic looked in discomfort throughout his clash against Grigor Dimitrov. However, the Serbian dug deep and overcame the 27th seed 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

"Every point and game mattered," Djokovic said. "The turning point for both players was right from the start. Making an early break was important. I didn't know how I was going to feel physically. I was going up and down. Grigor is someone that I truly admire and respect. He is one of my best friends on Tour. We go back a long time. He is one of the most talented players you will see. He is such a great athlete." 

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In a tight clash, the former World No. 1 scrambled to win the first set, saving three set points before he converted his fifth set point with a diving forehand volley. After winning the set, the 35-year-old dragged himself to his feet and received a medical timeout, with coach Goran Ivanisevic watching on, concerned.

Andy Murray spent more than 10 hours on court across his opening two matches at the Australian Open, pushing his body to win five-set epics against Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Saturday’s third-round task against Roberto Bautista Agut proved a step too far, with the Spaniard defeating the five-time Australian Open finalist 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

In 2019, the pair met on Margaret Court Arena for an emotional encounter, with Murray losing what he feared would be the final match of his career. Competing in the same stadium four years on, Bautista Agut once again had the answers to triumph after three hours and 29 minutes.

"Always playing Andy is very tough," Bautista Agut said. "He knows very well how to play a Grand Slam match. I am happy with how I handled the nerves and tension through the match, to play good tennis. I am very happy with the win.

"I am feeling good on the court. I am competing well and I am doing everything I can off court to make sure I play good matches. Today was very tough."

Ben Shelton’s dream debut at the Australian Open keeps getting better. The #NextGenATP American advanced to the fourth round on Saturday when he defeated home favourite Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-4.

"It feels great," Shelton said. "I said on the court that it's a pinch-me moment. Unreal experience out there on the court today with that Aussie crowd. It was a lot of fun to be out there, and I'm happy to be moving on."

The 20-year-old saved all four break points he faced to become the fifth man to reach the Round of 16 on his Australian Open debut in the past 10 years. The fourth player to accomplish the feat, J.J. Wolf, did so earlier in the day and will also be Shelton's next opponent. 

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One year ago, Shelton was No. 569 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and still in college at the University of Florida. The lefty was not yet in the top spot of his team’s lineup.

Home favourite Alex de Minaur equalled his best result at the Australian Open Saturday when he cruised past Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-1 to reach the fourth round for a second consecutive year.

After winning a tight first set, in which he twice squandered break advantages, the Australian pulled away, committing just 12 unforced errors in the second and third sets combined to seal victory after two hours and 10 minutes.

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With his fourth victory of the season, De Minaur now leads Bonzi 3-0 in their ATP Head2Head series. He will look to keep his run going when he takes on nine-time champion Novak Djokovic or 27th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round.

The 23-year-old’s best result at a major came at the US Open in 2020, when he advanced to the quarter-finals.

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski were in danger of suffering an early exit at the Australian Open on Saturday, but the top seeds found a way through to the third round.

Koolhof and Skupski battled past Greek brothers Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(10-7) after two hours and 45 minutes. They are pursuing their first major trophy as a pair.

“We won a lot of titles last year. The only thing [that] was missing was a Grand Slam win,” Koolhof said. “We made it to the final of the US Open, but our goal is to get at least one Grand Slam this year, so why not here?”

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The Tsitsipas Brothers played well inside Kia Arena, where they happily involved the Greek fans. But Koolhof and Skupski rallied in the final-set tie-break.

Holger Rune suffered a scare when he turned his right ankle and tumbled to the court on Saturday at the Australian Open. The Dane quickly shook it off, though, and raced past Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time. 

It was a scary moment in the first game of the second set when Rune fell to the court and braced his fall with his wrist. But after receiving a visit from the physio, the 19-year-old quickly regained his composure and showed no ill effects inside John Cain Arena.

"I'm feeling better than I expected. I was a bit worried. My ankle is good but my wrist was hurting a bit, but the doctor checked me and he said it was fine, it's nothing to worry about," Rune said. "Of course it was painful, but I tried to focus on something else. I'm playing on such an amazing stage in the third round of a Grand Slam, so I didn't think about it. I just kept going."

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For much of the match, the ninth seed was in control despite the big-serving Frenchman's efforts. Rune won the rallies of 0-4 shots by a 71-55 margin against the powerful lefty.

Andrey Rublev unleashed a torrent of hard-hitting winners against Briton Daniel Evans Saturday to muscle his way into the fourth round of the Australian Open. The fifth seed clocked triple the number of winners (60-20) than his opponent en route to a dominant 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win.

Evans, a gritty opponent who can get under the skin of even the most unflappable players, had proven a difficult challenge for the combustible Rublev in six prior meetings, which the players had evenly split.

But on Thursday Rublev mixed devastating first-strike tennis with one of his stronger mental performances as he denied Evans a path into the match. Hitting a Serve+1 forehand 90% of the time, Rublev dominated points of 0-4 shots, winning 66 to Evans' 44.

Not even an act of kindness from Evans could soften up the 25-year-old, who recently passed $15m in career earnings. Early in the match when Evans heard Rublev call for a banana, he tossed one to his opponent.

"I didn't ask him for it, but I asked a ball boy. He had two so he threw one to me and I caught it. It helped with some energy," Rublev said with a smile.

Jenson Brooksby earned the biggest win of his career Thursday, when he upset Casper Ruud in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. The 22-year-old will next meet countryman Tommy Paul. 

In 2022, Brooksby enjoyed his career-best season, including rising to 33 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in June 2022. Should he beat Paul, Brooksby would tie his best Grand Slam result, which he reached at the 2021 US Open (R16, l. Djokovic).

A three-time finalist on Tour, the California native shared with ATPTour.com what he likes to cook and eat to prepare himself for competition.

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If you were having some friends over for dinner, what would you cook and why? 
I actually do cook once in awhile. My roommate Cam and I sometimes like to cook together. I would say I would cook salmon and steak with brussel sprouts and veggies. With salmon and steak I can get my protein, it’s pretty healthy and we can share it.

Michael Mmoh was sitting in his hotel room on Tuesday watching the Dallas Cowboys play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL playoffs. The American had lost in the final round of Australian Open qualifying and his hopes of taking a spot in the main draw appeared slim, so he booked his flight home.

“I was fully locked in on that game. Then all of a sudden I got a call from the ATP guy. Right when I saw the notification, I answered it right away. Like, literally,” Mmoh said Thursday. "I have never answered a phone call so fast in my life. First ring, and I was on it.”

The 25-year-old was told to be on site and get ready, since there was a possibility of a withdrawal that would see him enter the draw. Once David Goffin withdrew, the American was next on Court 13 to play Frenchman Laurent Lokoli. In the match ahead of them, Linda Fruhvirtova was leading Jaimee Fourlis 6-0, 2-0.

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“I literally just grabbed my bag, grabbed a bunch of match clothes. Luckily everything was kind of in there already. Went straight to the site,” Mmoh said. “Also luckily, that match slowed down a little bit…

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

Four years ago, nobody could’ve imagined that Roberto Bautista Agut and Andy Murray would cross paths at the Australian Open again. In January 2019, the Briton had announced in a press conference that he would soon be saying farewell to professional tennis, and that it would likely be his last appearance at the season’s first Grand Slam.

That day, the Spaniard picked up his first win over the former No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 in a thrilling match that the Scot’s brother (Jamie) and mother (Judy) witnessed from his box. The crowd also made themselves known during the encounter.

“There was a Davis Cup atmosphere,” the Castellon native Bautista Agut recalled this Thursday, after progressing to the third round. “I dug really deep. I ended up winning the match and it gave me a lot of confidence to reach the quarters here in Australia.”

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After enjoying a career-best season this past year, including making their debut at the coveted Nitto ATP Finals, Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara are showing no signs of slowing down.

The British-Finnish duo won their first event of 2023, the Adelaide International 1, and are now aiming for their maiden Grand Slam crown. The sixth seeds kicked off their Australian Open title quest Friday by taking down Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 7-6(3), 6-3.

In other doubles action, 2022 Roland Garros champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arevalo fended off all six break points faced to oust Diego Hidalgo and Emil Ruusuvuori 6-1, 7-6(1).

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Several first-round upsets occurred Friday, including French duo Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul taking out ninth seeds Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-3. The Austrian tandem Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler needed just one hour, nine minutes to get past 10th seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 6-3, 7-5. Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar defeated Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 7-6(5), 6-4.

Sebastian Korda delivered a special third-round performance on Friday to down two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open. So special in fact, that it had an ATP legend in a different time zone glued to his screen in the middle of the night.

Andre Agassi has been a mentor to Korda for the past couple of years, during which the American has developed into one of the most exciting young players on the ATP Tour. After notching his maiden Grand Slam win against a Top 10 opponent on Rod Laver Arena, the 22-year-old revealed that the eight-time Grand Slam champion Agassi had stayed up until the early hours to watch but wouldn’t be hanging around to hear more about the post-match celebrations.

“He texted me. He's going to bed now,” said Korda when asked about the eight-time Grand Slam champion Agassi, who resides in Las Vegas, at his post-match press conference. “That's the last thing he sent me. 

“He's one of the most special people in my life. We started talking during COVID in 2020. He's been one of the biggest parts in my rise. Just overall just as a tennis player, as a human being. We spend a lot of time together. Yeah, he's very special to me.

As to be expected when playing a former World No. 1 and 15-time tour-level titlist, Korda was kept on his toes throughout Friday’s victory despite the straight-sets scoreline. Medvedev rallied from 1-4 in the first set and 2-4 in the third set to force tie-breaks in both, but Korda believes a new mental approach was the key to keeping his cool whenever the momentum began to shift.

Daniil Medvedev was aiming for his second major title and first Down Under this fortnight. Instead, he will leave the Australian Open with disappointment for a third straight year.

After almost tasting victory a year ago in Melbourne, before Rafael Nadal’s epic comeback, Medvedev won’t see the second week of this year’s tournament after Sebastian Korda upset the seventh seed 7-6(7), 6-3, 7-6(4) on Friday.

Despite the disappointment of an early round straight-sets defeat, Medvedev gave a clear cut answer explaining the loss.

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“I think it was a match where he was just better than me,” Medvedev said in his post-match press conference. “Right now I'm struggling a little bit to win these kinds of matches against opponents that can play at a good level. That's what I have to find back.”

After an eventful first five days at the 2023 Australian Open, Saturday's action will narrow the men's singles field to 16 as the third round draws to a close.

Two men's matches feature on Rod Laver Arena — Novak Djokovic vs. Grigor Dimitrov and Alex de Minaur vs. Benjamin Bonzi — while Andy Murray takes on 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in a Margaret Court Arena evening match.

ATPTour.com breaks down some key contests on Day 6 in Melbourne.

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[4] Novak Djokovic (SER) vs. [27] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)

Djokovic hopes to repeat his heroics from the 2021 Australian Open, when he won the title despite dealing with an abdominal tear. Entering this year's event with a left hamstring injury, the Serbian has managed the problem well so far, even if he required a medical timeout during his four-set win against Enzo Couacaud on Friday.

Australian Alexei Popyrin lost a heartbreaking three-setter to countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis last week in the first round of the Adelaide International 2. After a back-and-forth battle, Kokkinakis used the crowd to triumph 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-5 after a grueling two hours and 45 minutes.

While Kokkinakis thanked the crowd and bathed in the cheers of his home fans, Popyrin was left empty-handed. It was another devastating defeat for a talented 23-year-old who struggled to a 5-17 tour-level record in 2022.

As Popyrin walked up the ramp to depart the Memorial Drive facility, fans waited for the one-time ATP Tour titlist to sign autographs, which he did happily. Popyrin then began the five-minute walk to his hotel when he noticed a boy more than 10 metres away trying to take a selfie with the Australian in the background. Popyrin might have lost the match, but he was still a star to the boy.

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The Sydney-native called the fan over to take a proper selfie and could not help but crack a smile. As tough as his loss was, all was not bad for the Aussie. And just more than a week later, things could not be more different.

Sebastian Korda backed up his impressive start to 2023 by delivering a statement performance on Friday at the Australian Open, where he outplayed Daniil Medvedev for a 7-6(7), 6-3, 7-6(4) third-round victory.

The American struck the ball confidently from the first point against the seventh-seeded Medvedev. He broke the 2021 and 2022 Australian Open finalist in the first game and was a constant threat in return games, ultimately converting five out of 10 break points and holding his nerve in first and third-set tie-breaks to seal a fourth-round spot in style.

“It was an unbelievable match,” said Korda in his on-court interview. “I kind of knew what I had to do. I stuck with it even when I was going up and down with the emotions, but I’m thrilled right now, I played amazing, and it was an unbelievable match from me.”

With his two-hour, 59-minute win, Korda rose to No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and is now likely to set a new career-high after the Australian Open. Meanwhile defeat saw former World No. 1 Medvedev drop out of the Top 10 in the Live Rankings, with the 26-year-old currently at No. 12.

In his first tournament of 2023, Korda defeated Andy Murray and Jannik Sinner en route to the final of the Adelaide International 1, where he held championship point before falling in three sets to Novak Djokovic. Having now dispatched Medvedev for his first Grand Slam win against a Top 10 opponent, the 2018 Australian Open boys’ singles champion will be feeling confident as he prepares to face Hubert Hurkacz in the next round.

Ben Shelton has looked at home at the Australian Open, where he is into the third round on his tournament debut. The #NextGenATP American is far away from home, though.

The 20-year-old is on his first international trip. Naturally, there was one thing he was excited to see in Australia.

“I definitely want to go see some animals,” Shelton said, before cracking yet another smile. “I don’t know if it’s at a zoo, but I want to see some koalas or kangaroos, something like that. I think that would be really cool.” 

Photo Credit: ATP
The zoo came to Shelton on Friday at Melbourne Park, where for two hours players were able to interact with a koala, snakes, wallabies, birds and possums. The American posed for photos with the koala and a wallaby.

The lefty will try to check off another first on Saturday when he attempts to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time. Shelton will play Australian wild card Alexei Popyrin.

Hubert Hurkacz withstood a mid-match revival from Denis Shapovalov on Friday to book his spot in the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time. In a thrilling clash that swung one way and then the other, the Pole raised his level on serve in a tight fifth set to advance 7-6(3), 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 after three hours and 40 minutes.

Competing in front of a full house on Margaret Court Arena, Hurkacz took early control, firing 18 winners across the first two sets to move ahead. However, Shapovalov refused to go away. The Canadian World No. 22 upped his level to force a decider, moving inside the baseline to strike his backhand with more precision and power as he forced Hurkacz deep.

In a tight fifth set, it was Hurkacz who regained momentum, though. The World No. 11 gained the only break of serve in the sixth game and won 91 per cent (20/22) of his first-serve points to improve to 4-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Shapovalov.

“From two sets up, Denis then started to play some really good tennis,” Hurkacz said. “He is such a good competitor and player, so I hope you guys had fun watching us compete.

“I needed to find some rhythm on my serve. I knew I would get a look on the return games, but I was just trying to stay in there. It was really tough. He was playing really well. It was super tough but it was super fun to play. The crowd was giving a lot of energy.”

Novak Djokovic suffered a scare Thursday evening in the second round of the Australian Open. The Serbian’s movement was noticeably limited at points during the clash and his upper left leg was wrapped.

But the nine-time champion survived and advanced to the third round, where he will face Grigor Dimitrov at Melbourne Park. Will the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion be able to spring the upset?

The former World No. 3 knows he faces a tough task. Djokovic has won nine of their 10 ATP Head2Head meetings, with the Bulgarian’s lone victory coming in 2013.

“The mental aspect leans more to his side and he’s always been able to get me in tight moments, I’m not hiding this,” Dimitrov told ATPTour.com. “Good things can happen. I’ve been on Tour for so long. It’s the same thing for him, how many times has he been out there and he has to prove it to himself? It’s the same thing for me.

“Yes [they have] been tight matches. I have to prove something to myself. Now, it’s the same player, different match.”