Yoshihito Nishioka followed up a claiming a series of scalps by avoiding a shock of his own as he defeated ATP Tour main-draw debutant Aleksandar Kovacevic to reach the Korea Open final.

Nishioka, who will return to the ATP's top 50, eliminated fifth seed Dan Evans in the first round and later top seed Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Kovacevic made his main-draw bow on Monday, beating seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic, and continued a sensational run all the way to the last four.

The American threatened another upset on Saturday, but Nishioka held his nerve to advance 6-3 4-6 6-3 in Seoul.

And now the Japanese will revert to the role of underdog on Sunday, with fourth seed Denis Shapovalov his opponent in the championship match.

Nishioka has only one ATP Tour title to his name, and he will have his work cut out if he is to add to that against Shapovalov, who is yet to drop a set this week.

The Canadian continued that sequence with a 7-5 6-4 success against Jenson Brooksby in the first semi-final.

Anett Kontaveit secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Tallinn Open after overcoming Ysaline Bonaventure 6-3 3-6 6-3.

On home soil, the top seed won 80 per cent of total service points in the opening set but Bonaventure fought back in the second to send the match to a deciding set.

A valiant effort from Kontaveit in the third set secured a spot in the final four, where she will face compatriot Kaia Kanepi after her 6-2 3-6 7-6 (8-6) victory over Karolina Muchova in the final match of the day.

Earlier on Friday, second seed Belinda Bencic defeated Donna Vekic to set up a semi-final clash against Barbora Krejcikova, who defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets.

At the Parma Ladies Open, the scheduled semi-finals were postponed due to rain and will instead be played on Saturday, with the final to follow later in the day.

Top seed Maria Sakkari faces Danka Kovinic, with play to begin at 10:30 local time, and will be followed by Ana Bogdan against Mayar Sherif.

Novak Djokovic sealed his place in the final four at the Tel Aviv Open after beating one of his "best friends" Vasek Pospisil on Friday.

The Serbian was made to work hard by his Canadian opponent, particularly in the first set, but eventually won 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Djokovic was particularly impressive on his second serve, winning 70 per cent of them, only four per cent less than his first serve success rate, and he hit just eight unforced errors compared to Pospisil's 21.

"It was a great, positive win," Djokovic said afterwards. "Vasek is one of my best friends on the Tour. We have known each other for many years. It is never easy playing someone you respect so much and like so much, but we are both professionals and wanted to win the match and you can see that.

"I think the level of tennis was really high. Especially towards the end of the first set and the second set. Credit to him for fighting. It's great to see him back."

The number one seed will play Roman Safiullin in the semi-finals after the Russian beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-4 6-1.

Constant Lestienne came through a tight contest with Maxime Cressy, winning 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3), and will face number two seed Marin Cilic in the other semi after the Croatian was handed a bye following Liam Broady's withdrawal prior to their match.

At the Sofia Open, Jannik Sinner remains on course for a third successive title at the tournament, setting up a final-four encounter with Holger Rune after easing past Aleksandar Vukic 6-2 6-3, with Rune eventually dispatching Ilya Ivashka 6-2 5-7 6-4.

The other semi-final in Bulgaria will see Lorenzo Musetti take on Marc-Andrea Huesler after both won their respective quarter-finals against Jan-Lennard Struff and Kamil Majchrzak.

Casper Ruud stumbled to defeat against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka as the French Open and US Open runner-up bowed out in the Korea Open quarter-finals.

World number two Ruud lost 6-2 3-6 6-2 in Seoul on Friday as the Norwegian found the going too tough in his first tournament in Asia for three years.

Ranked 56th before this week, Nishioka is one win away from vaulting back into the top 50, potentially going beyond his highest ranking of 48th if he reaches the final.

He said, quoted on the ATP website: "I feel great. My motivation is very high. I am playing very well, very smart."

Assessing top seed Ruud, Nishioka said: "I know he came from Europe and played at the Laver Cup, which is not easy matches. He wasn't settled on this court or this country yet, maybe. I was ready. I was focused on playing against him and I had a plan and it worked."

Nishioka had an outstanding run to the Washington final in August, before losing out to Nick Kyrgios in the title match. That was a major outlier in his season, which has consisted largely of early-round defeats.

His semi-final opponent will be American Aleksandar Kovacevic, a 24-year-old world number 222 who is enjoying the biggest week of his career. A 'lucky loser', handed his place in the draw when a spot opened up, Kovacevic has taken full advantage and beat compatriot Mackenzie McDonald 4-6 6-3 6-2 in their last-eight battle.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov, still seeking a first final appearance of the year, moved one step away by beating Moldova's Radu Albot 6-2 6-2, setting up a clash with American Jenson Brooksby, who was handed a bye due to Cameron Norrie pulling out with illness.

Novak Djokovic cruised past Pablo Andujar to reach the quarter-finals of the Tel Aviv Open on Thursday, showing no signs of rustiness on his first Tour-level outing since July.

Djokovic had not featured in an ATP-level match since his final victory over Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon, having been forced to miss the US Open due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.

But the Serbian needed little time to find his feet in Israel, winning the first seven games of the match and breaking the Spaniard's serve four times en route to a 6-0 6-3 victory.

Speaking on court afterwards, Djokovic said: "Fantastic atmosphere here tonight, thank you very much. I like the court, it's very intimate and it's very loud. 

"The crowd here is very passionate about the sport, about tennis and I'm really, really happy to be here and to perform here in front of you, so thank you for your support."

The 21-time grand slam winner will face Canada's Vasek Pospisil in the last eight after he beat home hopeful Edan Leshem 6-3 6-2.

Two of Djokovic's fellow seeds fared less well, however, with Diego Schwartzman and Botic van de Zandschulp both being ousted after three-set contests.

Third seed Schwartzman failed to capitalise on a third-set match point in his 6-3 2-6 7-6 (9-7) loss to Arthur Rinderknech, while Britain's Liam Broady teed up a clash with Marin Cilic by beating Van de Zandschulp 6-4 4-6 6-3.

The Sofia Open also saw a couple of seeds fall to surprise defeats on Thursday, although Jannik Sinner avoided any drama in his 6-3 6-4 win over Nuno Borges.

Sinner now has a perfect 10-0 record at the event, which he won in both 2020 and 2021, and will face Australia's Aleksandar Vukic for a place in the final four.

Holger Rune also progressed to the last eight, though he was forced to rally after losing the opener against Lorenzo Sonego, but Pablo Carreno Busta and Oscar Otte were both dumped out.

Second seed Carreno Busta fell to a 6-3 3-6 6-2 reverse against Switzerland's Marc-Andrea Huesler, who will face Poland's Kamil Majchrzak in the quarter-finals after he came back to beat Otte 4-6 6-2 6-4.

Tallinn Open top seed Anett Kontaveit kept her hopes of winning her home tournament alive with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of Tereza Martincova on Thursday.

The 26-year-old won five out of the final six games as she stormed to the first set, before securing her place in the quarter-finals with a superb second set in which she broke Martincova four times.

Fellow Estonian Kaia Kanepi is also through to the quarter-finals after a 7-5 7-5 victory over Ann Li.

The world number 32 found a crucial break with the opener tied at 5-5 as she took the first set, before breaking Li three times in the second to seal the win.

Eighth seed Shuai Zhang was dumped out by Donna Vekic in a 6-2 6-4 defeat, while fellow seed Jil Teichmann also saw her tournament ended as Ysaline Bonaventure beat her 7-6 (10-8) 6-3.

At the Parma Ladies Open, top seed Maria Sakkari came from a set down for the second consecutive match to overcome Maryna Zanevska and reach the semi-finals.

Zanevska sparked hopes for an upset as she broke the world number seven three times on her way to taking the opening set.

But Sakkari improved in the second to tie the match, before overcoming two breaks of serve from her Belgian opponent to win six of the last seven games and earn a 2-6 6-4 6-4 success.

Sakkari will face Danka Kovinic in the semi-finals, after the 27-year-old's 6-4 6-4 triumph over Italian Jasmine Paolini.

Irina-Camelia Begu's run of 12 consecutive wins on clay came to an end as she was defeated 6-2 7-6 (8-6) by Ana Bogdan in an all-Romanian clash. 

Bogdan's opponent in the final four will be Mayar Sherif, who beat American Lauren Davis 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.

Casper Ruud saw off a fightback from Nicolas Jarry to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the Korea Open, as well as this year's ATP Finals.

The top seed was given a second set scare by the Chilean but wrestled back control to emerge as the victor in a 6-2 3-6 6-3 encounter.

The two-time grand slam finalist, having been runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open this year, will face Yoshihito Nishioka after he saw off Japanese compatriot Taro Daniel in a 6-2 6-4 win.

His victory also ensured his place at the ATP Tour's end-of-year finale in Turin, alongside Spanish duo Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.

Cameron Norrie remains on course to set up a potential final in Korea with Ruud after brushing aside Kaichi Uchida with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory.

The Briton will face eighth seed Jenson Brooksby after he turned over home favourite Kwon Soon-woo in a 6-3 6-4 result in Seoul.

Brooksby's fellow Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Aleksandar Kovacevic also came through their last-16 encounters to set up a quarter-final clash against each other.

Korea Open finalist Jelena Ostapenko was knocked out in the first round of the Tallinn Open after letting a one-set lead slip against Kaia Kanepi.

Ostapenko looked to be cruising after winning the opener, but Kanepi levelled in the second despite the Estonian watching five set points come and go.

Kanepi then romped to victory with a stunning final set to defeat Ostapenko 4-6 6-4 6-0 and keep her hopes of winning her home tournament alive.

In second-round action, Beatriz Haddad Maia is through to the quarter-finals after a 6-1 7-5 success over Linda Noskova.

After Haddad Maia cruised to a one-set lead, the second was a much tighter affair before the Brazilian's class showed as she broke Noskova and then held serve to earn a straight-sets win.

Second seed Belinda Bencic also secured her place in the final eight with a 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 triumph over Katie Boulter.

At the Parma Ladies Open, top seed Maria Sakkari came from behind to beat Arantxa Rus and seal her quarter-final spot.

Rus saved five out of five break points as she won the opening set 6-3 to give her hope of an upset.

Those hopes were soon dashed though as world number seven Sakkari broke twice to take the second set 6-2, before clinching the match in the third to tee up a clash with Maryna Zanevska.

World number 33 Irina-Camelia Begu made it 12 consecutive wins on clay by overcoming Matilde Paoletti in straight sets and will face fellow Romanian Ana Bogdan in the next round after she beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 3-6 6-3.

Fourth seed Sloane Stephens saw her tournament come to an end after she was defeated by Danka Kovinic.

Marin Cilic had to come from behind to defeat Dominic Thiem as he sealed a spot in the quarter-finals of the Tel Aviv Open.

Cilic, who was also celebrating his 34th birthday, was given a thorough test initially by the wild card, but Thiem ultimately faded away.

After losing the first set, second seed Cilic eventually won 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-4 as he succeeded in putting the Austrian's serve under intense pressure, setting up a quarter-final with either fifth seed Botic van de Zandschulp or Liam Broady.

Reacting to the victory, Cilic said: "I think it was a fantastic match. I think it was an amazing, amazing level.

"We don't get so many chances to play [a] second-round [match] in front of this big [of a] crowd, so thank you so much. It was a fantastic birthday."

Maxime Cressy, seeded fourth, was far more comfortable as he defeated fellow American Sebastian Korda 6-4 6-4 thanks to a break of serve in either set.

The only other seed in action was seventh favourite Adrian Mannarino. The Frenchman came unstuck against his countryman Constant Lestienne, who won 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.

At the Sofia Open, two high seeds were surprisingly dumped out on Wednesday.

Home favourite Grigor Dimitrov, seeded third, was beaten in straight sets by Ilya Ivashka, who showed commendable focus to see out a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) win despite the crowd's support of his opponent.

Number six seed Nikoloz Basilashvili was the other big name to suffer a shock defeat, with 38-year-old Fernando Verdasco beating him 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 as the seven-time ATP Tour title winner rolled back the years.

Lorenzo Musetti bucked the trend, however. Seeded fourth, the Italian was made to sweat by Bulgaria's Alexander Lazarov as the first two sets went to tie-breaks, but the Italian had too much in the end as he won 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (10-8) 6-2.

Earlier in the day, Musetti's compatriot Lorenzo Sonego comfortably dealt with Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3 6-4.

Novak Djokovic wants to replicate Roger Federer's emotional farewell by having all his tennis rivals present when he brings down the curtain on his own career.

Federer played his final top-level tennis match in last week's Laver Cup when partnering long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal in doubles competition

Djokovic and Andy Murray, two of Federer's other great adversaries, were also part of the 41-year-old's side at London's O2 Arena.

Despite boasting an all-star cast of talent, Team Europe fell to a first ever defeat against Team World, yet it was Federer's teary send-off that made the headlines.

And Djokovic, who has no current plans to retire, would like to share a similar moment at the end of his playing days.

"It was just a very touching, very emotional moment," Djokovic told reporters ahead of his second-round match against Pablo Andujar at the Tel Aviv Open.

"Seeing his kids and his family, it got me emotional as well. I also must say I was thinking about how it would look for me when I say goodbye to tennis.

"There is definitely one thing that I will wish to have, other than, of course, my family and the close people in my life, I would love to have my biggest rivals and competitors there. 

"Because it added something more special; it added more importance to that moment."

Federer retires as a 20-time grand slam winner – one fewer major title than Djokovic, who is himself one behind men's record holder Nadal.

With Federer now out of the picture, Djokovic says Nadal remains his biggest rival on the court.

"We played the most matches against each other of any other rivalry in the history of tennis," he said. "The rivalry is very special and keeps going. 

"Hopefully, we'll get a chance to play against each other more times. Because it's exciting for us and also for tennis fans and sport fans around the world."

Denis Shapovalov claimed a spot in the quarter-finals of the Korea Open by seeing off the challenge of Spain's Jaume Munar on Wednesday.

The 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist needed 109 minutes to claim a 7-5 6-4 win over Munar, assuming control by breaking in the seventh game of the opener before doing likewise early in the second set.

Canadian Shapovalov – who is seeded fourth for the event – had not featured since a dramatic loss to Andrey Rublev at the US Open earlier this month, but produced a consistent display in Seoul, not committing a single double fault during the match.

His reward for the victory is a last-eight tie with Radu Albot, who held his nerve in two tie-breaks to record a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) win over Steve Johnson.

In Wednesday's other match, Japan's Taro Daniel beat Ecuador's Emilio Gomez in straight sets in the duo's round-of-32 tie. 

Top seed Casper Ruud begins his campaign against Nicolas Jarry on Thursday.

Holger Rune saw off a spirited challenge from Tim van Rijthoven to progress to the second round of the Sofia Open on Tuesday, while a pair of seeds suffered surprise exits at the Tel Aviv Open.

Rune – the fifth seed for the tournament in Bulgaria – required two tie-breaks to clinch victory in his first meeting with Van Rijthoven on the ATP Tour, eventually claiming a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) win.

After the match, Rune expressed his relief at avoiding a third set, saying: "I didn't want to go to three sets. If it [had happened], I was going to fight for sure and try to take it in three, but I'm very happy to finish in two."

Meanwhile, eighth seed Oscar Otte beat Dragos Nicolae Madaras 6-3 6-2, and Portugal's Nuno Borges overcame Mirza Basic in three sets to tee up a meeting with defending champion and top seed Jannik Sinner.

In Tel Aviv, seeds Aslan Karatsev and Tallon Griekspoor fell at the first hurdle with three-set reverses to Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Vasek Pospisil, respectively. 

Etcheverry rallied after Karatsev took a second-set tie-break in comprehensive fashion to post a 6-2 6-7 (0-7) 6-4 win, while lucky loser Pospisil stunned Griekspoor for a 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 triumph.

Fifth seed Botic van de Zandschulp fared better, however, dispatching Joao Sousa 6-2 6-3 after producing a top-class display of serving.

The Dutchman will meet Britain's Liam Broady in the next round after he recorded a straight-sets win over Hamad Medjedovic.

Anett Kontaveit fought back to secure her place in the last 16 of the Tallinn Open in her native Estonia against a spirited Xiyu Wang.

The in-form Wang made life difficult for top seed Kontaveit initially, impressively taking the first set against the world number four.

Kontaveit then appeared to be cruising to victory when she took the second set 6-2 and found herself 5-1 up in the third, but Wang staged something of a revival.

Wang won four games on the trot to stun Kontaveit, only for the 21-year-old to lose her nerve as her opponent broke again and then served out the match 3-6 6-2 7-5, taking her through to face Tereza Martincova.

Beatriz Haddad Maia was also caused problems by a Chinese player, with Xinyu Wang taking the third seed to three sets.

Haddad Maia took the first set fairly comfortably but was blown away in the second before her composure returned in the decider, winning 6-3 1-6 6-4 to also progress to the last 16.

The other seed in action on Tuesday was Jil Teichmann, and she had no such issues seeing off Laura Siegemund 6-4 7-6 (9-7), although the day's most impressive win saw Donna Vekic thrash Maileen Nuudi 6-2 6-0.

At the Parma Ladies Open, second seed Martina Trevisan was stunned 7-5 6-0 by Sara Sorribes Tormo.

It was a bad day for seeds throughout the draw in Italy. Anna Bondar (fifth), Nuria Parrizas Diaz (seventh) and Lucia Bronzetti (eighth) all lost in straight sets.

Third favourite Irina-Camelia Begu did buck that trend, however. She benefited from Viktoriya Tomova retiring, although the Romanian was already a set and 5-1 up.

Yoshihito Nishioka knocked fifth seed Dan Evans out of the Korea Open with a straight-sets victory on Tuesday.

Nishioka moved into the second round in Seoul with a 6-2 7-6 (7-3) defeat of the Briton.

The world number 56 from Japan will face Taro Daniel or Emilio Gomez in round two after winning 70 per cent of points on his first serve and breaking Evans four times.

Jenson Brooksby was forced to go the distance, but delivered a final-set bagel as the eighth seed saw off Wu Tung-lin 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-0.

Qualifier Nicolas Jarry will take on top seed Casper Ruud after defeating Ryan Peniston 6-3 7-6 (10-8), while American duo Mackenzie McDonald and Steve Johnson also advanced.

Tseng Chun-hsin progressed with Chris O'Connell retired with an injury after losing the first set before Kwon Soon-woo beat Yunseong Chung in an all-South Korean contest.

Dominic Thiem fought back from a set down to reach the second round of the Tel Aviv Open with victory over Laslo Djere.

The former US Open champion needed two hours and 40 minutes to produce the turnaround, his 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 win setting up a meeting with another former winner at Flushing Meadows, Marin Cilic.

"I didn't get off to a great start. I got the break in the second set, and then I was a bit lucky I could turn the match around," Thiem said on court after the match.

"The third set was a real grind. I am very grateful to everyone who came tonight. It is really nice to play in Israel."

Roman Safiullin beat Hugo Grenier in the day's other match.

At the Sofia Open, Ilya Ivashka, fresh off a run to the US Open last-16, defeated Mikael Ymer 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 7-5.

There were also wins for Kamil Majchrzak and Alexandar Lazarov.