Carlos Alcaraz finished the job against Brazilian wild card Mateus Alves to set up a second-round meeting with Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open.

Alcaraz's first-round meeting with Alves was halted on Tuesday due to heavy rain with the 2022 US Open champion leading 6-4 5-3, but the Spaniard clinched victory on Wednesday 6-4 6-4.

The top seed will take on 35-year-old Italian Fognini, who also was made to wait to secure his progress due to the Tuesday rain, eventually triumphing 6-2 6-3 over Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.

Second seed Cameron Norrie endured a tough second-round tussle with local Thiago Monteiro, needing two hours and 30 minutes to triumph 7-5 7-5.

The Briton prevailed in one hour and 25 minutes in the first set against the 83rd-ranked Brazilian, while he was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second frame.

Norrie, however, rallied to break straight back before securing victory after successfully serving the match out on the second attempt.

Fifth seed Diego Schwartzman was the major casualty of the day's play, going down 6-1 6-4 to Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in one hour and 29 minutes.

Brazilian veteran Thomaz Bellucci farewelled the ATP Tour after losing 6-3 6-2 to sixth seed Sebastian Baez.

Albert Ramos Vinolas, Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Hugo Dellien were also winners on Wednesday, with the latter progressing into the quarter-finals to face Norrie.

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.

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka fought back from a set down to end the title defence of Jelena Ostapenko at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Sabalenka, playing in her first event since claiming a maiden grand slam title in Melbourne, recovered from falling behind in style to win 2-6 6-1 6-1 on Wednesday.

Ostapenko won the tournament last year and looked to be in with a chance of extending her winning streak in Dubai to seven matches.

But Sabalenka launched a strong recovery to reach the quarter-finals and extend a stunning run to start the season to 13 consecutive wins.

The second seed tightened up her game in the second and third sets and will face either Petra Kvitova or Barbora Krejcikova in the last eight.

Sabalenka had been broken three times by Ostapenko in the opening set, but she only had to fend off one break point from there.

"In the first set, she played unbelievable tennis and I couldn't do anything," Sabalenka said.

"I was looking at my team asking like, 'What can I do?', but somehow, I turned around this game and started playing really incredible tennis. 

"She plays really fast, deep balls, and I tried to stay super low, stay focused, and try to put more balls in than she did. I'm so happy that I did it."

A lower back injury for Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina robbed supporters of what had looked like being a thrilling matchup against Coco Gauff.

The withdrawal of Rybakina meant Gauff progressed via a walkover and will face fellow American Madison Keys next.

Keys and Gauff have played twice before, winning one match apiece.

It was Gauff who won their most recent encounter in the third round of the US Open last year.

Top seed Iga Swiatek had earlier booked her place in the last eight, with the Pole's latest dominant showing in Dubai earning praise on social media from Andy Murray.

And news followed that Karolina Pliskova, her semi-final opponent, had been forced to withdraw.

Swiatek benefited from a walkover in the quarter-finals en route to winning the Qatar Open last week and is now only two wins away from another title.

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.

Iga Swiatek stormed into the last eight at the Dubai Tennis Championships with an emphatic victory over Liudmila Samsonova.

It only took 76 minutes for the number one seed to record a 6-1 6-0 triumph on Wednesday, continuing a fine run after her triumph in Qatar last week.

Swiatek had only narrowly beaten Samsonova in an epic three-set encounter in the Stuttgart semi-finals last year, but was completely dominant this time around at the WTA 1000 event.

Samsonova struggled in recording a first-serve percentage of just 58.5, and Swiatek was ruthless in winning 19 of 22 points on the Russian's second serve.

Swiatek did not even have to fend off a break point in cruising to victory and will play Karolina Pliskova in the quarters.

Pliskova, the two-time grand slam finalist, battled to a 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 win over Anhelina Kalinina to reach the last eight in Dubai for the fifth time in her career.

There were also two American successes, with Madison Keys needing only 57 minutes to beat Victoria Azarenka, who appeared to be struggling with her movement.

Keys had lost all of her previous four meetings with Azarenka but triumphed 6-2 6-1 in routine fashion.

And Jessica Pegula joined her compatriot in progressing, winning her first career meeting with Ana Bogdan in straight sets.

Elsewhere, 2019 winner Belinda Bencic crashed out, with Karolina Muchova, who also knocked out Maria Sakkari this week, triumphing 6-1 6-4 to book a quarter-final date with Pegula.

Sunday's Argentina Open champion Carlos Alcaraz was one game away from victory against Mateus Alves before heavy rain halted play at the Rio Open first round on Tuesday.

Alcaraz led 6-4 5-3 over the Brazilian wildcard, but was denied a shot at victory as rain interrupted play, which ultimately suspended for the day. Alcaraz's match is scheduled to resume on Wednesday afternoon local time.

The 2022 US Open champion had triumphed last week in Buenos Aires in his first tournament since November following injuries that kept him out of the 2023 Australian Open. Alcaraz is the reigning Rio Open champion.

Cameron Norrie, who Alcaraz beat in the Argentina Open final, progressed with a 7-5 6-1 win over Juan Manuel Cerundolo in one hour and 29 minutes.

Norrie had rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the first set to claim the opening frame, winning 10 of the final 11 games for victory.

Italian veteran Fabio Fognini's charge into the second round was also delayed on the brink of triumph, leading 6-2 5-2 against Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera when rain intervened.

Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo won 4-6 6-3 6-3 over Roberto Carbellas Baena while Colombia's Daniel Galan and Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas were also winners on Tuesday.

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.

Iga Swiatek continued her ruthless form as she progressed with ease to the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships third round on Tuesday.

The world number one cruised to a 6-1 6-1 triumph over 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, just three days after winning the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha.

That marked Swiatek's 41st main-draw victory in WTA 1000 events in just her 53rd outing, only Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova (52 each) have won more than 40 such matches in fewer attempts.

The 21-year-old has won her last 35 hard-court matches against opponents ranked outside the world's top 30, though Swiatek said she had to adapt against Canada's Fernandez.

"It wasn't that easy for sure. It was much tougher than the score said," said Swiatek, who will look to make the fourth round for the first time in Dubai when she faces Liudmila Samsonova.

"In the second set ... I needed to go a level up. I didn't have much time to get used to the conditions, but I'm just happy I could play solid tennis."

Jessica Pegula, the third favourite at the tournament, defeated Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 5-7 6-1 to set up a third-round battle with Ana Bogdan, who overcame Shelby Rogers 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Fifth seed Coco Gauff coasted past Aliaksandra Sasnovich with a 6-0 6-4 victory, teeing up a meeting with Elena Rybakina, who slammed six aces in a 7-5 6-2 defeat of Marie Bouzkova.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Rybakina at this year's Australian Open final, made light work of lucky loser Lauren Davis in a straight-sets rout as she claimed her 12th straight win in 2023.

Dubai's defending champion Jelena Ostapenko will be the next challenge for Sabalenka after defeating 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova for her seventh straight win at the event.

Barbora Krejcikova saved four match points en route to a 6-4 4-6 7-5 win over seventh seed Daria Kasatkina and will meet Karolina Pliskova next after she downed sixth favourite Maria Sakkari in straight sets.

Belinda Bencic and Marta Kostyuk played out the match of the day as the former claimed a 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 triumph, with that clash taking three hours and 27 minutes – the second-longest on the WTA Tour this year.

Thiago Monteiro enjoyed a memorable victory on Monday as he defeated former world number three Dominic Thiem 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2) in his opening match of the Rio Open.

The highest-ranked Brazilian in the field made a winning start at South America's only ATP 500 event, but he had to work for it, emerging victorious after an 88-minute third set.

A raucous crowd cheered on every point down the stretch, and after saving four break point opportunities to force a tiebreaker, he jumped ahead to a 5-1 advantage and served it out.

He will face the winner between second seed Cameron Norrie and rising Argentine talent Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the next round.

Meanwhile, the top seed in action on Monday – third seed Lorenzo Musetti – continued his recent rough stretch of form with a disappointing 6-4 6-1 defeat at the hands of Chile's Nicolas Jarry.

Musetti, already ranked 18th in the world at 20 years old, has now lost four of his past five matches, while Jarry has won eight out of 10.

Jarry will play Spain's Pedro Martinez in the second round after he spoiled a potential all-Chilean matchup, eliminating Cristian Garin 7-6 (7-0) 6-4.

The only other Brazilian in action, Joao Fonseca, had no luck against Slovakia's Alex Molcan as he went down 6-0 6-3, while Bolivia's Hugo Dellien was similarly dominant in his 6-0 6-2 trouncing of Portugal's Joao Sousa.

After taking a set off world number two Carlos Alcaraz at last week's Argentina Open, Laslo Djere advanced into the second round as Facundo Bagnis retired in the second set while trailing 6-2 3-2.

Hosts France are among 34 countries to have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are also among those to have called for a ban to be imposed.

A joint-statement released on Monday detailed reasoning based around "Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice [against Ukraine], facilitated by the Belarusian government."

Russia's sports minister, Oleg Matytsin, said earlier this month that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for governments to attempt to influence the IOC.

The IOC confirmed last month it intended to uphold sanctions against Russian and Belarusian state and government officials ahead of next year's Games in the French capital, but added it would explore opportunities for athletes from both nations to compete under a neutral flag.

Monday's statement from the 34 countries addressed that plan, welcoming "the IOC’s reaffirmation and reinforcement of their existing sanctions in place" while suggesting their neutrality comments raised "many questions and concerns".

"While recognising the autonomy of sports bodies, given the invasion of Ukraine and its devastation is ongoing, we agreed that the IOC's proposal on exploring a pathway back to competition for individual Russian and Belarusian athletes raises many questions and concerns," the statement read.

The signatories also referenced a lack of "clarity" around the neutrality model as a key reason why athletes from the two countries should not be present in Paris.

"We have strong concerns on how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as 'neutrals' – under the IOC's conditions of no identification with their country – when they are directly funded and supported by their states," the statement continued.

"The strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military are also of clear concern. Our collective approach throughout has therefore never been one of discrimination simply on the basis of nationality, but these strong concerns need to be dealt with by the IOC.

"As long as these fundamental issues and the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail on a workable 'neutrality' model are not addressed, we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition."

The statement finished by outlining the position would be altered should the war in Ukraine be ended, saying: "We also note that Russia and Belarus have it in their own hands to pave the way for their athletes' full return to the international sports community, namely by ending the war they started."

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.

Sorana Cirstea beat world number 12 Beatriz Haddad Maia in the longest WTA Tour match of the year so far at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Liudmila Samsonova ousted Paula Badosa on Sunday in a three-set victory that lasted three hours and 22 minutes.

That record was exceeded by eight minutes a day later – Cirstea prevailing 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 in her first-round encounter with 11th seed Haddad Maia.

Cirstea, ranked 70th in the world, fended off two match points in the second-set tie-break and took that momentum into the decider.

Haddad Maia has lost four of her five meetings with Cirstea, though had defeated the Romanian in Adelaide in January.

"I fought really hard today. I really think I gave it all," Cirstea said.

"I have nothing left. Sometimes you just have to stay in there. Bia played amazing. You know, tennis is not fair sometimes. You play for three hours and a half, and it's a difference of a point.

"I wasn't planning to break the record! But Bia's been in great form, and I knew coming in she's a great fighter.

"I think this is what tennis is about, where all the work pays off. Sometimes it doesn't matter if it's a first round or a final, the joy is the same."

Another marathon encounter was played out between Veronika Kudermetova and Anhelina Kalinina, with the latter winning 6-3 5-7 7-5 in three hours and three minutes.

Karolina Muchova will face Cirstea in the next round after she saw off Bernarda Pera 6-1 6-4, with her victory including an early contender for shot of the tournament.

Muchova was scampering back towards the baseline as she looked set to lose a thrilling rally, only for the Czech to execute a perfect tweener lob.

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka received a bye to round two, where she will face Lauren Davis after the American's victory over Jil Teichmann.

Jelena Ostapenko dispatched Katarina Zavatska 6-1 6-4 with the minimum of fuss, while Victoria Azarenka overcame Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets.

Azarenka has won 135 WTA-1000 main-draw matches in straights sets, at least three more than any other player.

Karolina Pliskova defeated Marketa Vondrousova to set up a meeting with Yulia Putintseva, with Ana Bodgan, Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Shelby Rogers also victorious.

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.

Novak Djokovic claimed a share of yet more history on Monday as he started his 377th week as world number one.

Djokovic has won 22 major titles, the joint-most among men, and has long since held the record for the most weeks at the top of the ATP rankings.

His nearest rival on the men's tour – since the rankings were introduced in 1973 – is the now retired Roger Federer, who spent 310 weeks in top spot.

But Djokovic has also matched Steffi Graf, the WTA leader, in making it to 377 weeks.

Graf was the women's number one 45 weeks longer than second-placed Martina Navratilova (332), with Serena Williams in third (319).

The WTA rankings began in 1975.

Taylor Fritz showed why he is ranked top-10 in the world and rising after beating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0 5-7 6-2 in Sunday's final of the Delray Beach Open.

Fritz, 25, came into the tournament sitting at a career-best rank of seventh, and he did not lose his first set in Delray Beach until the final.

The top seed, Fritz was nearly perfect in the opening set, hitting 15 winners with only one unforced error and taking 72 per cent (28-of-39) of the total points. Kecmanovic did not hit a single winner in the set.

The 23-year-old Serbian showed far more fight in the second, and after saving all three of Fritz's break-point opportunities – including one match point – Kecmanovic capitalised on his one and only break-point chance of the match to force a third set.

But the mistakes crept back into the underdog's game, shooting himself in the foot with a pair of double faults and more unforced errors than winners.

Fritz took full advantage, securing two breaks down the stretch to run away with the victory and his first title of 2023.

After winning just one of his first six finals on the ATP Tour, Fritz has now won the past four finals he has reached.