Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray battled to outlast their opponents at the Qatar Open, while Daniil Medvedev breezed into the quarter-finals.

Top seed Rublev, who won this tournament in 2020, responded to a first-set setback to rally to a 1-6 6-1 7-6 (8-6) win over Tallon Griekspoor on Wednesday.

The world number five was staring at a fourth opening-round defeat in five appearances this year but saved three match points en route to fighting back from 5-2 down in the decider.

Murray and fourth seed Alexander Zverev played out another three-set thriller in the Middle East, with the former world number one triumphing 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 7-5.

That clash lasted three hours and three minutes in another marathon match for Murray after defeating Italian Lorenzo Sonego in a final-set tie-break in the first round.

Medvedev (3) had no such difficulty in a comfortable 6-4 6-3 victory over world number 147 Liam Broady.

Second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime had to regain his composure during his debut in Doha, but ultimately prevailed 4-6 6-1 6-4 against Jason Kubler.

World number eight Auger-Aliassime had lost his only previous meeting with Kubler, and an upset was on the cards after the Canadian was broken in the third game and was unable to recover.

Yet he found his form with a blistering second set, reeling off five straight games to restore parity and keeping his cool in the decider.

That victory teed up a last-eight meeting with seventh seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who downed Kwon Soon-woo 6-3 6-2.

Jiri Lehecka will meet favourite Rublev after beating Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2 7-6 (7-2), while Botic Van De Zandschulp was shocked by world number 170 Alexandre Muller in a straight-sets defeat.

Elsewhere at the Open 13 Provence, fifth seed Maxime Cressy fell to a surprise second-round elimination after a 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-3 loss to home favourite Benjamin Bonzi.

There was no such luck for the other Frenchmen in Marseille as Alexander Bublik eased past Gregoire Barrere, while Stan Wawrinka beat Richard Gasquet 4-6 7-5 6-2 to reach the last eight.

Novak Djokovic says his participation at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open is "out of his control".

Djokovic, who last month won the Australian Open to move level with Rafael Nadal on 22 grand slam titles, has not played since claiming the title in Melbourne.

The world number one was nursing a hamstring issue throughout the season's first major, but he confirmed at a press conference in Belgrade on Wednesday that he will return to action at the Dubai Tennis Championships next week.

Djokovic could not compete in the United States last season due to his COVID-19 vaccination status, though his brother Djordje has claimed the 35-year-old has applied for a "special permit" to enter the country.

He has received clearance from the tournament organisers to play at the two Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and in Miami but now faces a wait to find out if the U.S. government will grant him entry.

"The process for that has started. It is out of my control now," Djokovic said.

"I'd love to play and I'm glad I received the approval of directors in Miami and Indian Wells. I hope the decision makers will give the approval."

On his progress on the injury front, Djokovic explained: "As for the injury I sustained at the Australian Open, it's healed, but I'm not 100 per cent yet.

"Things are looking very good. As a team, we made the decision to go to Dubai."

Djokovic has won the Dubai Tennis Championships five times, though the last of those titles came in 2020.

He was knocked out by Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals last year.

Djokovic this week tied Steffi Graf on 377 weeks spent as world number one.

The outright record is set to become his next week, with Carlos Alcaraz unable to surpass him even if the young Spaniard wins the Rio Open.

Emil Ruusuvuori consigned Dan Evans to a first-round exit at the Qatar Open with a straight-sets victory on Tuesday.

Finn Ruusuvuori ousted the sixth seed with a 7-5 6-4 victory in Doha with a powerful display.

There were 26 winners from the racket of Ruusuvuori, who had only come out on top in one of his previous eight matches against top-30 opponents.

Ruusuvuori's next assignment will be a meeting with Jiri Lehecka, who saw off qualifier Damir Dzumhur 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

Roberto Bautista Agut, the fifth seed from Spain, saw the back of Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 6-4.

Botic van de Zandschulp, Tallon Griekspoor and Soonwoo Kwon also made it through to round two.

Maxime Cressy had to dig deep to make it out of the first round of the Open 13, beating Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4).

The fifth seed from the United States was joined in the last 16 by David Goffin, who defeated qualifier Lukas Klein 6-2 6-4.

Eighth seed Marc-Andrea Huesler made an early departure after going down in straight sets to Gregoire Barrere in Marseille.

Andy Murray saved three match points before seal a thrilling comeback victory over Lorenzo Sonego at the Qatar Open.

Making his first competitive appearance since his run to the third round of the Australian Open, Murray rallied after losing the first set to clinch a 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) win in Monday's first-round contest.

The three-time grand slam winner – given a wildcard for the event in Doha – was the master of his own downfall in the opener as a double-fault handed Sonego the decisive break.

Having failed to force a single break point in the first set, Murray dominated the second but was facing an early exit when Sonego forced three match points in the decider, only for the momentum to swing again as the former world number one took it to a tie-break.

Sonego raced into a 3-0 lead, but Murray again came roaring back, squandering one match point when he flicked a backhand into the net but making no mistake second time around.

Murray will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round, as he bids to reach his first tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina saw off Constant Lestienne 6-4 6-3, while Murray's fellow Brit Liam Broady saw off qualifier Oleksii Krutykh 6-0 4-6 7-6 (7-2).

Australian duo Jason Kubler and Christopher O'Connell also progressed in Doha.

Stan Wawrinka moved into the last 16 of the Open 13 with a 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 victory over Zizou Bergs.

Benjamin Bonzi and Alexander Bublik were the other first-round winners, ousting Luca Van Assche and Filip Krajinovic respectively in Marseille.

Cameron Norrie was not the only opponent Carlos Alcaraz had to overcome in the Argentina Open final, as he battled feelings of guilt after not doing "the right things" to recover from injury.

Alcaraz made it one title from one tournament in 2023 as he overcame Norrie 6-3 7-5 in Buenos Aires on Sunday.

Last year's US Open champion dropped just one set through the tournament as he marked his return to action in style, with the 19-year-old having missed the Australian Open due to a hamstring issue.

Alcaraz had not featured since November, and the world number two admitted he did not feel his application during his extended break was always as good as it should have been.

"This trophy is special. During those four months I had a hard time and I didn't do the right things off the court, and I felt a bit guilty after the injury," Alcaraz said.

"Fighting against this is not easy. Coming here, my first tournament after four months, and winning the first tournament since the US Open is very special for me."

Alcaraz won seven games on the bounce to swing the final in his favour, and believes he hit peak performance during the match.

"I felt very comfortable playing the final," Alcaraz added.

"I knew that it was going to be really difficult. I started really focussed on what I had to do at the beginning, my game, my level. 

"This is the level that I have to play in finals."

Alcaraz has already collected seven titles in his young career, with five of those coming on clay.

His idol and compatriot Rafael Nadal won 13 clay-court tournaments prior to turning 20.

Combined with Alcaraz's haul, that total of 18 betters the 13 managed by all other players combined on the ATP Tour in the 21st century before turning 20.

Alcaraz is now set to play in the Rio Open, where he is the reigning champion, this week.

Daniil Medvedev had no problems against Grigor Dimitrov as he eased into Sunday's Rotterdam Open final.

The former world number one took just 82 minutes to win 6-1 6-2, converting six of 13 break points against his Bulgarian opponent.

Medvedev rises back up to 10th in the world rankings after the win, and will go ninth if he can claim the title.

"It was an amazing match," Medvedev said after his victory. "The score [looks] easy, but the match was not. I felt physically like I was playing five sets.

"It would be amazing [to win the tournament]. Every time I come here, and I think it is my fifth time here, everywhere there are photos of the winners and their names.

"I don't remember who won it first time, but then Arthur Ashe won it [twice]. Then [John] McEnroe, [Bjorn] Borg, [Stefan] Edberg, and I'm like, 'Well, that tournament has a history for sure'. To add my name there would be amazing, but for this I need to play well in the final."

That final will be against Jannik Sinner after the Italian overcame spirited home wildcard Tallon Griekspoor.

It was Sinner's impressive serve that saw him through 7-5 7-6 (7-5), not facing a single break point, and ruthlessly taking the only one he carved out all match to take the first set.

He kept his nerve to see out a second set tie-break, and now has the chance to follow up last week's Open Sud de France title with another in Rotterdam.

Daniil Medvedev was at his brilliant best as he ended Felix Auger-Aliassime's title defence at the Rotterdam Open.

Former world number one Medvedev committed just five unforced errors in a 6-2 6-4 win on Friday that saw him progress to the semi-finals.

"Today was my best match of the week, but I have to build on this," Medvedev said afterwards.

"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."

He will next face Grigor Dimitrov, who needed three sets to see off Alex de Minaur.

Dimitrov saved two match points in claiming a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) victory but seemingly has an uphill challenge having lost four of his six matches against Medvedev.

"I kind of know the plan for the game,” Medvedev added of his clash with Dimitrov. "The thing is, he is going to try to do the same, to make up a good plan. If we take the last two matches, it's 1-1. So I always say a new match is a new match, no matter the head to head. 

"I'm preparing for a tough one tomorrow, he's such a great player and today was a great match from him, a great comeback actually. So I'm ready for the tough fight tomorrow."

Jannik Sinner was just as impressive as Medvedev, cruising to a 6-1 6-3 victory over three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka.

Sinner, who won the Open Sud de France last week and has already dumped out top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, will face Tallon Griekspoor after the Dutchman's win over fellow home hope Gijs Brouwer.

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime must overcome a dismal record against Daniil Medvedev to go any further at the Rotterdam Open after both won on Thursday to set up a heavyweight quarter-final, while Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out.

Third seed Auger-Aliassime beat French qualifier Gregoire Barrere 6-4 6-3, while Medvedev earned a 6-2 6-2 victory against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Despite being the higher-ranked of the two at present, Canadian Auger-Aliassime has a 0-4 career record against Russian Medvedev.

Those losses include a painful defeat from two sets up in the 2022 Australian Open quarter-finals, and a US Open semi-final knockout blow in the previous season.

It is a record that is all the more surprising considering Auger-Aliassime has wins over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Carlos Alcaraz to his name.

Auger-Aliassime sits eighth on the ATP ranking list, three places clear of former number one Medvedev, who is relishing their clash on Friday.

Medvedev said on Amazon Prime: "Felix is a top player. He won here last year and played amazing at the end of last season. I'm looking forward to a tough match, and hopefully I can be at my best.

"He's going to take his opportunities. He's going to go for it when he has the chance. So I will need to be at my best and everything has to be better."

Top seed and Australian Open runner-up Tsitsipas was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Jannik Sinner, with last week's Open Sud de France champion winning in an hour and 21 minutes to set up a quarter-final against Stan Wawrinka.

It was Sinner's first career win over a top-three opponent. The Italian held a 0-8 record against such opponents coming into this match.

Fourth seed Holger Rune is also out after retiring hurt while 6-4 4-0 down to Dutch wildcard Gijs Brouwer, who advances to play compatriot Tallon Griekspoor.

Australian Alex de Minaur advanced to the final eight with a 7-5 3-6 6-3 win over American Maxime Cressy, earning a shot at Grigor Dimitrov next.

Andrey Rublev suffered a first-round defeat to Alex de Minaur on a bad day for the big names at the Rotterdam Open.

Second seed Rublev won this event two years ago but there will be no such run this time around after his 6-4 6-4 loss on Wednesday.

De Minaur broke the world number five early in each set and sealed the win at the first time of asking, moving to a 3-0 head-to-head record against Rublev on hard courts.

The Australian will face Maxime Cressy in the next round, who bounced back from his Open Sud de France final defeat by beating Tim van Rijthoven.

Jannik Sinner saw off Cressy in that Montpellier showdown and the Italian carried that form into this tournament, though he needed three sets to overcome Benjamin Bonzi.

Frenchman Bonzi forced a decider but Sinner regained his composure in the final set to prevail 6-2 3-6 6-1 and set up a heavyweight clash with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

There was no such progress for Alexander Zverev, who joined Rublev in suffering an early exit.

The German came unstuck 4-6 6-3 6-4 to home favourite Tallon Griekspoor, whose four wins over top-20 opponents have all come in Rotterdam.

Stan Wawrinka, the champion in 2015 and runner-up four years later, will face the winner of that tie, after he beat Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

Holger Rune reached the semi-finals in Montpellier, and like Sinner the fourth seed progressed into round two, claiming a routine straight-sets victory over qualifier Constant Lestienne.

"It was tricky. It's a lot about finding the rhythm here in the beginning of the tournament and first match you have to really be on your toes, especially I played a qualifier today who already has two matches in his bag," Rune said.

"It made it more difficult, but I'm happy how I handled every situation today."

Hubert Hurkacz was another seed to fall out, with the world number 10 going down 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) to Grigor Dimitrov.

Carlos Alcaraz has described Novak Djokovic as "like a god", but fully intends to take his world number one spot back from the Serbian.

Alcaraz has been out of action for four months through injury, but will return at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires on Wednesday when he faces another Serbian, Laslo Djere.

The 19-year-old had been top of the men's world rankings when he suffered a leg muscle injury, causing him to miss the Australian Open.

Djokovic leapfrogged Alcaraz into top spot after he won in Melbourne, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in last month's final.

"It has been a long time [I spent] at No. 1," Alcaraz said. "Now it's a goal for me to recover No. 1 and try to do my best in these tournaments to be back on that number. I'm looking for that."

The young star acknowledged that he has a big job on his hands though, recognising that Djokovic is one of the greatest of all time.

"He has no weaknesses. Every shot, it's amazing," he said. "His physical condition is amazing, his mental condition is amazing.

"He's like a god and I admire him over the years staying at the same level, staying at the top. It's really, really difficult and I admire that."

Despite his ultimate lofty goals, Alcaraz does not want to push himself too fast after his injury, and suggested his main aim at the Argentina Open is just to regain fitness and confidence.

"It's tough to play my first tournament after a long time for me, after four months," he said. "So it's going to be really, really tough to win the tournament or be close to winning.

"My hope is to feel that I am okay with the injury, with my body and try to play well."

Part-timer Matija Pecotic had to put a request in for another day off work to play in the second round of the Delray Beach Open after pulling off a shock win over Jack Sock.

The Croatian came through qualifying to make his ATP Tour main-draw debut in Florida and the 33-year-old is through to the last 16 after a 4-6 6-2 6-2 victory against former world number eight Sock on Tuesday.

World number 784 Pecotic has a full-time job in finance and he will be in the money after setting up a meeting with Marcos Giron in the last 16 of the ATP 250 event.

The Princeton and Harvard graduate's boss was in his box to watch him see off Sock and Pecotic hopes he will get a chance to book a quarter-final spot on Wednesday rather than return to balancing the books.

He quipped: "I had to leave work early today. I had to send an email to the whole team. [My boss] let me off. I'm going to have to ask for another day off tomorrow."

Pecotic, who served 10 aces and struck 30 winners, added: "I certainly didn't expect to win, but certainly didn't come into the match thinking that I'm definitely going to lose.

"You've got to be realistic. This is a former top 10 guy with an incredible amount of tennis experience, with a huge serve.

"He came out serving 134 [mph] on the first serve. It would be arrogant to think that I'm going to come out and expect to win.

"But I certainly figured if I could sink my teeth into the match and work on the two or three patterns that I prepared before, that I'm going to have a chance. And then let's see... if I was going to fall under pressure or not be able to serve it out at some point. But I didn't and I got the win."

Jannik Sinner claimed his first title of the season with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over Maxime Cressy at the Open Sud de France.

Cressy defeated top seed Holger Rune in the semi-finals but could not repeat that level of performance against Sinner, who is set to rise to 14th in the ATP rankings.

Sinner is the first Italian champion in the history of the tournament, having failed to win a match in his previous two appearances in Montpellier.

He has now collected seven Tour-level titles, with six of those coming on hard courts.

"To be honest, the first key was to hold the serve. In the tie-break I knew he may miss something," said Sinner, who saved all three break points he offered to his American opponent.

"I tried to keep my serve, which I have done, so I am very happy about the first set.

"The second set was a little bit different. I had a couple of good chances but he then served very well.

"I am very happy I broke him here and then I served very well at the end of match."

Sinner claimed two early mini breaks in the first-set tie-break to nose into a 4-0 lead, holding his nerve to win the set at the first time of asking.

A crucial break in the second came in the eighth game, with Sinner clinching victory when Cressy sent a weak volley into the net.

Open Sud de France top seed Holger Rune stayed on course to make the final in Montpellier after a straight-sets defeat of Gregoire Barrere.

Last year's Paris Masters champion Rune, who is in the hunt for his first title of the season, beat the Frenchman 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5) and is yet to drop a set in the tournament.

The 19-year-old looks sharp, but so too does Jannik Sinner. Two years Rune's senior, the Italian made light work of his good friend and compatriot Lorenzo Sonego on Friday.

Sinner took just over 90 minutes to triumph 6-4 6-2 and tee up a semi-final with history-making 18-year-old Arthur Fils.

Fils, the world number 163, beat Quentin Halys to become the youngest Frenchman to reach a tour-level semi-final since Richard Gasquet in 2004.

"I have seen him [Fils] play here at this tournament," Sinner said of Fils, as quoted by the ATP Tour's official website.

"He is very strong physically already. He understands the game very well. He started off the year very well, so it is going to be an interesting match for sure."

Sinner will be the favourite despite Fils' hot streak, while Rune will go up against Maxime Cressy in a rematch of their Australian Open second-round match.

Cressy went down 7-5 6-4 6-4 in that meeting in Melbourne last month, though has the chance for revenge after seeing off Borna Coric 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.

Denis Shapovalov suffered defeat at the hands of China's fast-rising Wu Yibing at the Dallas Open.

Wu landed a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 win against the Canadian Davis Cup winner and former top-10 player in their second-round contest.

World number 97 Wu, who this week became China's second player to reach the ATP top 100, has surged from 1,869th on the ranking list last April and believes he can crack the top 30 by the end of the year.

Speaking after getting the better of Shapovalov, who stands at 27th in the rankings, Wu said: "I've been playing great tennis the past few months. Hopefully I can keep playing good."

Frances Tiafoe cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-3 win over fellow American Mackenzie McDonald.

Second seed Tiafoe was playing for the first time since his third-round elimination to Karen Khachanov at the Australian Open last month.

He faced just one break point in the entire match and needed just 59 minutes to deal with the world number 59.

J.J. Wolf, seeded sixth, will face Tiafoe in the last eight after he saw off Romania's Radu Albot in a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) win.

At the Cordoba Open, fifth seed Pedro Cachin was the biggest casualty on Wednesday as he was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien.

Seventh seed Pedro Martinez was also ousted in the first round, while Bernabe Zapata Miralles was sent packing by Tomas Barrios Vera in the last 16, losing 5-7 6-4 6-3.

Fourth seed Sebastian Baez had no such issues with Italy's Luciano Darderi, however, reaching the quarter-finals as a 6-3 6-4 winner.

Alexander Bublik failed to bring an end to his woeful 2023 form on his return to the Open Sud de France.

Bublik's only career title to date came in Montpellier last year, but he will not defend his crown after losing in three sets to Gregoire Barrere in the first round on Wednesday.

That remarkable 6-4 6-7 (12-14) 7-6 (7-3) reverse represented Bublik's seventh loss in seven singles matches so far this season.

The 25-year-old, who has fallen to 50th in the rankings, has lost nine in a row going back to last year.

Bublik worked hard to stay in Wednesday's match in the second set, fending off three match points in the tie-break, but he could not show the same resilience in the decider as Barrere prevailed.

With the champion out, those hoping to take the title this week found life a little easier elsewhere.

Both Jannik Sinner and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina benefited from walkovers, albeit the Spaniard first had to dig in to level his match against Ugo Humbert, who had taken the opener 6-1.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.