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Grigor Dimitrov snapped a three-match losing streak on Tuesday when he cruised past Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The Bulgarian arrived at the ATP 500 event off the back of disappointing opening-round exits on home soil in Sofia and in Stockholm. However, he produced a strong serving performance against Monteiro to earn his 22nd tour-level win of the season.

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Dimitrov fired 10 aces, won 86 per cent (30/35) of his first-serve points and did not face a break point to reach the second round after 75 minutes. The 31-year-old, who is making his fifth appearance in Vienna, will next play third seed Andrey Rublev.

In other action, Daniel Evans rallied from 2-5 in the second set to overcome German Oscar Otte 6-4, 7-6(3). The Briton has fond memories in Vienna, having advanced to the semi-finals on debut in 2020. The 32-year-old will next meet Karen Khachanov.

Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Italian Mattia Bellucci continued their sizzling runs on the ATP Challenger Tour this week as they each claimed their second Challenger title this month. Cerundolo collected the title at the Coquimbo Challenger while Bellucci triumphed in Vilnius, Lithuania. The #NextGenATP stars Bellucci and Cerundolo are among five Challenger champions this week.

Cerundolo defeated countryman Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the championship match to win the Challenger Dove Men+Care Coquimbo 2.

Following his breakthrough season in 2021, when Cerundolo collected a trio of Challenger titles and won the ATP 250 event in Cordoba, the lefty has battled a psoas muscle injury [located in the lower lumbar region of the spine] that forced him to take time off this summer.

 

Since returning to competition, the Buenos Aires native has made a sudden impact on the Challenger Tour, winning 12 of his past 13 matches, including triumphing in his home city, Buenos Aires, earlier this month. The 20-year-old boasts a 21-8 Challenger-match record this season and the title in Coquimbo lifts him to 136 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Carlos Alcaraz fought off a strong challenge from #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper to earn his first tournament win since his US Open title on Monday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. After dropping the opening set and surrendering a break advantage in the third, Alcaraz got back on track with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory in his debut at the ATP 500.

The World No. 1 was beaten by David Goffin three weeks ago in the Astana opening round and was made to work to avoid another early exit against the 20-year-old in the pair's first ATP Head2Head meeting.

"In the beginning of the match it was tough," he said. "I did a lot of mistakes in the beginning. I wanted to play really aggressive on this court. For me, it's a bit slower than the other tournaments. But obviously I had to handle that, I had to work on my problems and change my tactics a little bit in the second set.

"I knew that Jack is playing great. He is a really dangerous player and I really had to be focused and, of course, never give up."

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Taylor Fritz boosted his Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances on Monday when he earned a comeback victory against Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The American was two points from defeat in the second-set tie-break and trailed Nishioka 1-3 in the third set before he won the final five games of the match to advance 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3.

With his two-hour, 45-minute win, eighth-placed Fritz has climbed to 2,910 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. The 24-year-old trails seventh-placed Felix Auger-Aliassime by 315 points, with the Canadian in action in Basel this week.

[ATP APP]

Fritz is aiming to make his debut at the prestigious end-of-year event, to be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 13-20 November. Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic have all already qualified.

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In a week when Felix Auger-Aliassime strengthened his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, Matteo Berrettini kept his Turin hopes alive by reaching the final in Naples.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Race following a three-tournament week on Tour.

View Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin Rankings

13th, Matteo Berrettini, +2
The Italian has jumped two spots to 13th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin after he reached the final at the Tennis Napoli Cup. Berrettini dropped just one set en route to the championship match before falling to #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti. The 26-year-old is currently on 2,375 points, 850 points behind seventh-placed Felix-Auger-Aliassime with two weeks of The Race to go. Berrettini will need to have deep runs in Vienna and Paris if he is to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the third time.

Seventh, Felix Auger-Aliassime
The Canadian (3,225 points) pulled further clear of eighth-placed American Taylor Fritz (2,885) when he won his third tour-level title of the season at the European Open in Antwerp. The 22-year-old, currently seventh, could climb as high as fifth this week when he competes at the Swiss Indoors Basel, depending on Daniil Medvedev (3,555) and Andrey Rublev’s (3,440) results at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. If Auger-Aliassime triumphs in Switzerland, he will finish the week with 3,635 points in the Live Race.

A host of #NextGenATP stars will this week battle for the final spots at the eight-player Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals as the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan concludes Sunday.

Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Jack Draper, Brandon Nakashima and Jiri Lehecka have already qualified for the 21-and-under event. Who will join them at the Allianz Cloud in Milan? Chun-Hsin Tseng, Francesco Passaro and Dominic Stricker lead the hunt to claim the remaining places.

View Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan

Tseng of Chinese Taipei has 490 points, but is not in action this week. The 21-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough season, clinching two ATP Challenger Tour titles and earning his first ATP Tour win in Los Cabos.

Italian Passaro will be looking to make his debut in Milan, where he could join his countryman Musetti. The 21-year-old has 473 points, 51 points clear of 10th-placed Dominic Stricker (422 points). The Swiss lefty is competing on home soil at the ATP 500 event in Basel, where he will face American Maxime Cressy in the first round.

The ball is in Felix Auger-Aliassime's court in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

With back to back titles, the 22-year-old has positioned himself well to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The job is far from done, however, and a pivotal week featuring ATP 500 events in Basel and Vienna could see the Canadian surge into a comfortable place or fall outside the cut.

Auger-Aliassime, who is seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, currently holds the final qualifying spot for the season finale, to be played from 13-20 November. Tenth-placed Novak Djokovic, this year’s Wimbledon winner, has already qualified under the Grand Slam champion provision.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (as of 23 October)

Player	Current Pts	Max Pts (on 31 Oct)
5) Daniil Medvedev	3,555	4,055
6) Andrey Rublev	3,440	3,850
7) Felix Auger-Aliassime	3,225	3,635
8) Taylor Fritz	2,885	3,365
9) Hubert Hurkacz	2,770	3,270
10) Novak Djokovic*	2,720	Not playing
11) Alexander Zverev	2,700	Not playing
12) Cameron Norrie	2,400	2,855
13) Matteo Berrettini	2,375	2,875

*Djokovic has qualified under the Grand Slam champion provision
The winner of back-to-back titles in Florence and Antwerp, Auger-Aliassime now has a 340-point advantage over eighth-placed Taylor Fritz (2,885). He is just 215 points behind sixth-placed Andrey Rublev (3,440) and 330 points behind fifth-placed Daniil Medvedev (3,555).

Auger-Aliassime could climb as high as fifth this week when he competes at the Swiss Indoors Basel, depending on Medvedev and Rublev’s results in Vienna. If the Canadian triumphs in Switzerland, he will finish the week with 3,635 points in the Live Race.

Brandon Nakashima and Jiri Lehecka have qualified for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, joining Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune and Jack Draper. The 21-and-under season finale will be played at the Allianz Cloud in Milan from 8-12 November.

Nakashima will compete in the prestigious event for the second consecutive year after advancing to the knockout semi-finals last November.

In July, Nakashima cracked the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time. The 21-year-old continued his ascent last month, when he won his first ATP Tour title in San Diego.

This California native has excelled on the big stage this year, reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third round at both Roland Garros and the US Open. Nakashima is the youngest American in the world’s Top 100.

Lehecka broke into the spotlight early in the season at the ATP 500 in Rotterdam. Entering the week, the Czech player had not won an ATP Tour match. The qualifier battled to the semi-finals, defeating then-World No. 12 Denis Shapovalov along the way.

There will be no shortage of popcorn matchups in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will start his tournament against #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper, while second seed Casper Ruud will open against former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka. Both clashes will be first-time ATP Head2Head meetings.

Alcaraz will meet Draper in what could be the first meeting of a longtime rivalry. Alcaraz is set to compete in his first Nitto ATP Finals, while Draper will make his Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals debut. The lefty, who has an all-around game, will try to prevent his Spanish opponent from finding rhythm in Switzerland.

The last time Ruud competed in Basel, in 2019, the Norwegian lost in the second round of qualifying. Now he is the No. 3 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and will pursue his fourth title of the season. Ruud has proven successful in Switzerland, lifting four of his nine ATP Tour trophies in the country.

It will not be easy against Wawrinka, the home favourite who is trying to win his first title in Basel. The two-time semi-finalist, who recently advanced to the last four in Metz, will try to blast through Ruud’s heavy groundstrokes at the ATP 500. 

If Daniil Medvedev is to win his second title of the season at the Erste Bank Open, he will need to battle through a daunting path of tough opponents.

Medvedev, who opens against three-time ATP 500 titlist Nikoloz Basilashvili, could face resurgent former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem and sixth seed in the second round and Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.

Thiem will need to bring his best tennis to make it to a potential clash against Medvedev, as the 2019 Vienna champion will play American Tommy Paul in the first round.

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There are plenty of intriguing first-round clashes that carry implications on the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. Rublev, who is sixth in the Live Race, will play former Top 10 star Diego Schwartzman. Rublev leads their ATP Head2Head series 2-1.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is making his case for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals loud and clear.

The Canadian won his second title in as many weeks on Sunday when he defeated Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 for the European Open trophy in Antwerp.

“It’s another great week. I played some great tennis and really fought hard to stand here in front of you today, so big shoutout and thank you to my team,” Auger-Aliassime said during the trophy ceremony. “My coach and my physio [are] here and my whole family that came all week, so thank you very much, it’s been a great week.

“It wouldn’t be so special of course [if we weren’t] in front of all of you. That’s why we play tennis, to play in front of big numbers of people like this on centre court, so thank you all for coming in big numbers this week.”

Auger-Aliassime remains seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, but he now holds a 340-point lead over eighth-placed Taylor Fritz. Auger-Aliassime currently holds the final qualifying position because 10th-placed Novak Djokovic has guaranteed his place under the Grand Slam champion provision, which awards entry to a current-year major winner who finishes between eighth and 20th in the Live Race.

Lorenzo Musetti capped his stunning week at the Tennis Napoli Cup on Sunday when the 20-year-old prevailed 7-6(5), 6-2 against Matteo Berrettini in an all-Italian championship match in Naples.

The fourth-seeded Musetti claimed a pulsating opening set against his countryman by staying consistent to clinch the only point against serve in the tie-break. Moving a set ahead seemed to invigorate the #NextGenATP star to find an even higher level, and his clean hitting off both wings overwhelmed Berrettini in the second set as he accelerated to a two-hour, one-minute victory.

Musetti moved past Laslo Djere, Daniel Elahi Galan, Miomir Kecmanovic and Berrettini this week in Naples to clinch his second ATP Tour crown. He is the ninth player on Tour to win a title in 2022 without dropping a set.

Having also reached the semi-finals on the indoor hard courts in Florence last week, Musetti carries significant momentum into the final weeks of the 2022 season. The Italian is currently third in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan and has already secured his spot at November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive year.

More to follow…

Just three ATP Tour events remain this year before the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, two of which will be played this coming week.

The Swiss Indoors Basel and the Erste Bank Open in Vienna will provide some of the final opportunities for players to jockey for qualification for the year-end events, with the Milan field being finalised after this week's play. 

Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud lead the field in Basel, while Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are the top seeds in Vienna.

ATPTour.com looks ahead at five things to watch from each event.

View Draws: Basel | Vienna

#NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune wrote another chapter into his standout season on Sunday at the Stockholm Open, where he upset top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to win his second tour-level title.

The 19-year-old opened his shoulders and hit through the World No. 5 throughout the one-hour, 35-minute clash, firing 20 winners and saving the one break point he faced to earn his third Top 5 win.

The Dane now leads Tsitsipas 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series after defeating the 24-year-old at Roland Garros in June. Rune is up to No. 24 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his title run at the ATP 250 event.

“It was an unbelievable match from my side,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “I knew it was going to be difficult, but I just tried to stick to the game plan. I had to play my best tennis today and it was good that I could find the level. I am super happy.

“It was very close to perfection. I was making a lot of returns and playing pretty well behind my serve. Stefanos is an amazing player, who always makes it difficult. It was a super fun match to play.”

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek held their nerve in a Match Tie-break for the second time in as many days on Sunday to clinch the Tennis Napoli Cup in dramatic fashion.

The top seeds prevailed 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 against Matthew Ebden and John Peers in Naples by reeling off four points in a row to recover a 6/8 deficit in the decider. Despite their Australian opponents having the momentum for much of the second half of the championship match, Dodig and Krajicek found a late surge to wrap an 84-minute win and lift their second tour-level crown of the year.

“It was very difficult,” said Dodig after the match. “In doubles a lot of matches are decided by a few points. Today, like yesterday, I think we connected good shots in big moments, and it was the key. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, but we have felt great these last two weeks, we’ve played really good tennis and have a lot of confidence, and I think that was the main reason for the win.”

[ATP APP]

Having reached the final in Florence a week ago, Dodig and Krajicek dropped just seven games across their opening two rounds at the ATP 250 event in Naples. They then edged Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori 11/9 in a Match Tie-break in Saturday’s semi-finals before downing Ebden and Peers in the championship match.

Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp completed their dream week at the European Open in style Sunday when they defeated second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.

In a hard-fought clash, the Dutchmen fired eight aces and held their nerve in the crucial moments, pulling away from 3/3 in the Match Tie-break to triumph after 68 minutes in Antwerp.

[ATP APP]

Before arriving in Belgium, Griekspoor and van de Zandschulp had not won a tour-level match as a team this season, holding a 0-4 record. However, they dropped just one set en route to the title as they turned the tables in dramatic fashion in Antwerp.

The 26-year-old Griekspoor and the 27-year-old van de Zandschulp were both competing in their first tour-level doubles final. Griekspoor’s best result prior to this week was a run to the quarter-finals in Gstaad in 2021 and Kitzbühel in 2022. Van de Zandschulp advanced to the semi-finals in Doha earlier this season with Mackenzie McDonald.

Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer captured their fourth tour-level title of the season Sunday at the Stockholm Open, where they overcame third seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 6-3, 6-3.

In a strong display, the top seeds broke three times and won 79 per cent (15/19) of points on their opponents second serve to triumph after 67 minutes at the ATP 250 event.

Arevalo and Rojer were competing for the first time since they reached the semi-finals at the US Open in September. However, they showed little sign of rustiness in Stockholm, dropping just one set en route to the title.

[ATP APP]

Earlier this season, the pair won tour-level crowns in Dallas and Delray Beach before they clinched their maiden Grand Slam at Roland Garros. The Salvadoran-Dutch team will compete at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin in November after they secured qualification for the prestigious end-of-year event last month.

Felix Auger-Aliassime did not create a break point on Saturday against Richard Gasquet, but still progressed to his second ATP Tour final in as many weeks by dominating two tie-breaks in a 7-6(2), 7-6(3) win at the European Open.

After claiming his second tour-level title last week in Florence, Auger-Aliassime will face Sebastian Korda on Sunday in Antwerp as he contests his 12th tour-level final. He will seek to extend his winning streak to eight matches and further solidify his seventh-place position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as he chases his Nitto ATP Finals debut.

"It was the most difficult match this week so far," said the second seed, who came from set down to defeat Daniel Evans in the quarter-finals. "If I didn't serve the way I did it would have been really tough to win. My serve helped me tremendously to get through my service games easily and then, after, giving myself chances.

"But he was playing really good. He's still playing so well after so many years on the Tour. All credits to him for pushing... He's been a great leader in our sport and a great example."

[ATP APP]

Stefanos Tsitsipas delivered a clinical semi-final showing on Saturday at the Stockholm Open, where he eased past Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2, 6-2 to maintain his unbeaten record at the ATP 250 event.

The top seed broke Ruusuvuori’s serve five times in the pair’s maiden tour-level meeting, finding consistency behind his groundstrokes to overpower the Finn in 74 minutes. The win improved Tsitsipas’ record in Stockholm to 7-0, and the Greek will hope to seal a second title at the hard-court event when he returns on Sunday for the championship match against Holger Rune.

“[It was] a great match from my side, I think I played very well,” said Tsitsipas after his victory. “I was really focused, [it was] one of the matches where I was really into the game and I was able to produce some really good tennis throughout the entire match, pretty much. I was there, I was very daring, I was really going for it, and it worked in my favour.”

Tsitsipas has shown no nerves upon returning to compete in Stockholm for the first time since 2018, when he lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in the Swedish capital. He has not dropped a set in moving past Maxime Cressy, home favourite Mikael Ymer and Ruusuvuori, and he believes that his past success at the event has helped him find his best level this week.

“I’ve created some good memories here,” said Tsitsipas. “2018 was the year that I got my first title here. Of course, I love good things in the back of my head. I’ve had some good interactions with the crowd, the people here are lovely, and I’m enjoying the Swedish hospitality.”