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Watch as Felix Auger-Aliassime shows off his athleticism at the Rio Open presented by Claro. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com. Photo: Rio Open/FotoJump

Christian Garin breaks up the rally pattern well against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Rio Open presented by Claro. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

Roger Federer has committed to play at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, which will mark his return to the European clay-court swing for the first time since 2016. The Swiss superstar is a winner of three titles at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in 2006, 2009 and 2012.

“Federer is one of the best players of all time, it’s no secret”, said Feliciano Lopez, the Tournament Director of the Mutua Madrid Open. “We are happy because his return to Madrid is a gift to the tournament, but above all the fans will be able to see a unique player in the Caja Magica. Having the Swiss player back on clay with [Novak] Djokovic and [Rafael] Nadal is going to be unmissable.”

Manolo Santana, the tournament’s Honorary President, said “Roger’s presence in the Caja Magica will make this year’s Mutua Madrid Open special. It doesn’t matter that he’s 37 because he still has that unmistakable class; the innate talent that has made him one of the best of all time. Being able to enjoy his tennis is something that no fan of the sport should miss.”

The 37-year-old Federer last competed at a clay-court tournament in May 2016 at the International BNL d'Italia in Rome, where he lost to Dominic Thiem in the third round. Eleven of his 99 career trophies have come on clay courts (214-68 match record).

In his most recent match on 20 January, 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Federer in the Australian Open fourth round. Federer will attempt to lift his eighth trophy at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships next week.

Juan Martin del Potro shares how he developed his legendary forehand. Video courtesy Delray Beach Open. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP Tour

Jaume Munar talks about his thrilling win against Cameron Norrie at the Rio Open presented by Claro. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

He'll want to clean up around the edges, including bolstering his match fitness, but Juan Martin del Potro will overall be pleased after winning his season opener 6-3, 7-5 against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka on Tuesday at the Delray Beach Open presented by VITACOST.com.

The top seed seized enough of his chances (3/7 on break points), and although he wore a bandage on his rehabbed right knee and admitted to feeling some pain, Del Potro darted freely around the blue courts he's come to know well.

“It was a tough first round because Nishioka is a solid player from the baseline. But I played well in specific moments of the match,” Del Potro said. “I need to keep working hard on my legs because I felt tired at the end of the second set, but that's normal for [right now].”

Del Potro will face a much bigger test – literally and figuratively – when he plays 6'11" Reilly Opelka for a place in the quarter-finals. The American won his maiden ATP Tour title at the New York Open on Sunday, and the 21-year-old stayed hot, beating countryman Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-0.

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Del Potro, No. 4 in the ATP Rankings, hadn't played a match since 11 October, when he fractured his right patella at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. He missed the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals to finish 2018, and the Australian Open to start this year.

But, unfortunately for Del Potro, opening his season in South Florida has become somewhat of a tradition. Tuesday night marked the third time (2016, 2017) he has started his year at the ATP 250, and all three times he's celebrated a successful debut. 

The 2011 champion raised his level – and the mph on his forehand – to break in the eighth game and served out the opening set. Del Potro stumbled briefly in the second – blame his lack of matchplay – dropping his serve after breaking Nishioka.

But the Japanese left-hander sailed a backhand long on break point at 5-5 to hand Del Potro the break, and he served it out behind some of his best baseline play of the night.

“I didn't feel really well on court, but I think that's very normal for [right now]. I'm looking forward to feeling better in the next round,” Del Potro said. “I need time to get better, to feel confidence with my knee, with my body.”

Defending champion Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. was upset by Brit qualifier Daniel Evans 3-6, 7-6(1), 7-5. "It was difficult conditions. I was just fighting as hard as I could," Evans said.

Tiafoe was two points away from winning at 6-5, 30/30 in the second set, and led 4-1 in the third. “Very frustrating, very frustrating,” Tiafoe said. “I definitely shouldn't have lost tonight. I probably rushed on big points, instead of working the point a little more.”

Three-time semi-finalist (2012, 2013, 2014) John Isner saved all four break points and hit 23 aces against Canada's Peter Polansky to advance 6-3, 7-6(4). The second-seeded Isner will meet Slovakian Lukas Lacko, who knocked out Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 6-4. "The first match out in the heat and humidity is always pretty tough," Isner said.

Steve Johnson, the fourth seed, fought off Jason Jung of Chinese Taipei 7-6(3), 6-4 to setup a second-round meeting against Italy's Paolo Lorenzi, a winner against American qualifier Tim Smyczek 7-5, 6-3.

American Jared Donaldson, playing in his first match since 6 August, fell short against Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Donaldson, who played at the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, was sidelined with tendinitis in his right knee.

 

Reilly Opelka had the best week of his career at the New York Open, lifting his maiden ATP Tour trophy. And the American on Tuesday maintained his momentum with a 6-4, 6-0 win against compatriot Tennys Sandgren at the Delray Beach Open presented by VITACOST.com.

Never before had he lost so few games in a tour-level match. You can say it was a knockout performance. So it was only fitting that World Boxing Organisation Middleweight Champion Demtrius Andrade was in Opelka’s box cheering on the 6’11” right-hander.

“He’s from here and I met him a couple years back,” said Opelka, who began training in nearby Boca Raton at 13. “He’s doing great. He’s had an unreal year, and last year, too. He’s very professional.”

While Opelka and Andrade don’t often speak about tennis or boxing, they’ve struck up a friendship. Both men have the utmost respect for one another’s efforts in their respective fields.

“I didn’t realise how tough it is on those guys,” Opelka said. “They go a few days without even drinking much water [when they have to cut weight]. It’s brutal.”

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Andrade used to play some tennis. While he doesn’t have much time for it anymore with his boxing obligations, the 30-year-old enjoyed watching his first live tennis match.

“It was cool,” Andrade said. “It was a good experience to understand the whole game, the format of it and seeing my boy Reilly put in some work and get the ‘W’.”

Opelka is in great form, climbing to a career-best World No. 56 this week thanks to his triumph in New York. He will look to make his second consecutive quarter-final in Delray Beach when he faces Juan Martin del Potro or Yoshihito Nishioka.

“It’s great. It’s always good to see anybody doing well, especially if you know them and can support them. I had time to come support him today so I’m here and I plan on supporting him on Thursday, hoping to see him get the ‘W’ as well,” Andrade said. “Just as I support him he’s going to come out to my fights and events and support me. It’s a great experience to meet people in different sports and different levels of their life.”

While Opelka is quickly ascending the ATP Rankings and he is happy to have Andrade in his corner, you won’t see him stepping in a boxing ring against the champion anytime soon.

“No,” Opelka said, cracking a laugh. “That wouldn’t be fun.”

Before Tuesday, Serbian Laslo Djere didn't have a win on clay this season or a Top 10 win for his career. Now he has both. The 23-year-old, No. 90 in the ATP Rankings, routed No. 8 Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-3 at the Rio Open presented by Claro.

“It was a great day. The biggest win in my career so I'm really happy right now... I hit the ball really well. He played a bit worse than normally I think, to be honest. But I had a great day. I felt the ball really well, hitting well from the baseline and then attacking well when it was time for that,” Djere said. “This is my favourite surface. So I know that I can play great tennis on clay.”

Soak it in

Having moved from Red Bull to Renault, Daniel Ricciardo's luck with cars remains rough — the Aussie's first testing session with his new team ends dramatically thanks to DRS failure.

#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime had nothing to lose on Tuesday evening against second seed Fabio Fognini, and he played like it. The 18-year-old wild card picked up one of the biggest wins of his career, dismissing the Italian 6-2, 6-3 at the Rio Open presented by Claro.

“It's at the top, for sure, with my most memorable wins,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You come here, you play the second seed, obviously you're not favoured. But you just believe in your tennis, you believe in your game. These wins, that's what you work for.”

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Serving for the match, at 5-3, 40/15, Auger-Aliassime needed three match points, but the teenager ultimately put away Fognini, who fell to 3-5 this year, including 0-3 on clay.

“After losing the first point, I got a bit worried. You always want to win the first point of the last game, but then I recovered well with some good serves, and I think I did what I had to do on the match points,” Auger-Aliassime said.

The win against Fognini, who finished 2018 at a career-high No. 13 but has since fallen to No. 16, is Auger-Aliassime's biggest win by ATP Ranking. In August, at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, he beat then-No. 18 Lucas Pouille for his first Top 20 win.

Flashback: Felix, 17, Notches 'Statement' Top 20 Win In Toronto

The teenager will next meet Chile's Christian Garin, who beat Auger-Aliassime in three sets last week at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires. Garin advanced on Tuesday in Rio with a 7-5, 6-3 win against Germany's Maximilian Marterer.

Spain's Jaume Munar knocked out Argentine Leonardo Mayer 7-6(5), 6-4. The 21-year-old Munar will meet Brit Cameron Norrie, who needed only 59 minutes to beat sixth seed Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-1.

He's played more than 900 matches, but this may be a first for Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in his first-round match at Delray Beach against Denis Istomin. Video courtesy IMG and Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com

Watch as Frances Tiafoe shares his thoughts on returning to the Delray Beach Open after an impressive start to the 2019 ATP Tour season. Photo credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour. Video courtesy of Delray Beach Open.

Watch as Tommy Haas discusses his favourite memories of the Delray Beach Open, before reacting to the news of his induction into the Delray Beach Walk Of Fame. Video courtesy of Delray Beach Open.

Andrey Rublev recovered from a set down to defeat three-time former champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday at the Open 13 Provence.

The 21-year-old Russian earned his first victory in Marseille after one hour and 33 minutes, withstanding 13 aces and winning 71 per cent of service points (50/70). Rublev will meet Matteo Berrettini for a place in the quarter-finals. Berrettini, who saved eight set points in the first set, defeated eighth seed Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6(12), 7-6(0).

"We did a great match, and I'm really happy for the win," Berrettini said. "I was able to... stay focused on my service games."

Tsonga, who lifted the title in Marseille in 2009, 2013 and 2017, drops to 11-4 this season. After missing seven months of the 2018 ATP Tour season following left knee surgery, the 33-year-old Frenchman has impressed throughout this year. Earlier this month, Tsonga lifted his 17th ATP Tour title in Montpellier (d. Herbert) and reached the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament quarter-finals (l. to Medvedev).

"I won the first set 6-2, then I was broken at the beginning of the second set. [Andrey] was very aggressive. I had some tough moments with my serve. He played better in the end," said Tsonga. "I feel that I played a lot of matches in a row and back-to-back tournaments. I have to get used to it again."

Fernando Verdasco saved three match points to beat Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. The fifth seed, who saved all three match points serving at 4-5 in the decider, fired 15 aces throughout the two-hour, 11-minute first-round meeting.

Peter Gojowczyk moved into the second round after 79 minutes, beating Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-4. The 29-year-old German, making his debut in Marseille, saved six of seven break points en route to victory and will meet two-time former champion Gilles Simon for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Lucky loser Sergiy Stakhovsky landed 10 aces to beat French qualifier Constant Lestienne 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3. Benoit Paire also advanced, defeating Simone Bolelli 6-4, 7-6(1) to book a second-round clash against third seed David Goffin.

"I enjoyed the match because I was fighting a lot... We both played well today," said Paire. "I will have to do the same against Goffin. It will be a complicated match and I will give everything."

Watch as Dominic Thiem and Marcelo Demoliner play tennis at Forte Copacabana ahead of the Rio Open presented by Claro. Photo credit: Rio Open/FotoJump. Video courtesy of Rio Open presented by Claro.

ATP World Tour Uncovered presented by Peugeot goes behind the scenes at the Argentina Open.

ATP World Tour Uncovered presented by Peugeot goes behind the scenes at the New York Open.

Watch as Diego Schwartzman looks back on his run to the Argentina Open final, before sharing his thoughts on returning to the Rio Open presented by Claro as the defending champion. Watch live matches at http://www.tennistv.com.

View the latest ATP Rankings, as of 18 February 2019.