Rafael Nadal’s latest comeback bid came to an end as he was well beaten 7-5 6-1 by fourth seed Alex de Minaur at the Barcelona Open.

The 37-year-old was playing just his second tournament in 15 months after suffering another hip problem at his comeback event in Brisbane in January.

And having intimated that this will be his final year before retirement, Nadal’s defeat was likely to mark his final appearance at a tournament he has won 12 times.

Having overcome Italian Flavio Cobolli in the opening round, Nadal faced a much sterner test against the in-form De Minaur and was sent scampering around the court in a tight opening set which was edged by the Australian.

De Minaur went on to step up a gear, securing a double break over the Spaniard and racing over the line behind a strong service game on which he did not drop a single point in the second set.

Jack Draper made the most of a rain delay to defeat wild card Rudolf Molleker and reach the quarter-finals of the BMW Open in Munich.

German Molleker, ranked 179th, had been the better player in the first set but a brief stoppage ahead of the second set changed the momentum of the contest.

Draper began to assert his powerful game after the resumption and lost only two more games, pulling away to claim a 4-6 6-1 6-1 victory.

In the last eight the British number two, who is ranked 46th, will take on either third seed Taylor Fritz or Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Canas.

Speaking in an on-court interview, Draper said: “I think Rudy played an amazing level in the first set. The conditions were very rainy and very slow. In the second and third, the sun comes out and I start feeling better. I’m really proud of the way I played.”

Alex de Minaur has defended his Mexican Open title after defeating Norwegian Casper Ruud in straight sets in Acapulco.

The match took just under two hours as the pair battled in long rallies, with the difference being the Australian’s ability to capitalise on break points, nailing three of four while Ruud converted just one of four.

The 25-year-old took an early lead in the first set at 3-1 and served out the rest of the set, while in the second the pair broke each other before de Minaur had the decisive break in the seventh game.

De Minaur won the same competition last year, beating American Tommy Paul, and further solidified his ranking in the top ten.

He has won 10 straight games in Acapulco and is the first player since David Ferrer in 2012 to win back-to-back titles at the tournament.

He defeated Jack Draper in the semi-final after the Englishman retired ill in the third set.

Katie Boulter is enjoying being part of the “circus” surrounding Australian boyfriend Alex De Minaur.

De Minaur is the newest member of the world’s top 10 and the home country’s great hope for a grand slam champion at Melbourne Park in a fortnight’s time.

His relationship with Boulter has generated a lot of attention, with the pair playing mixed doubles together at Wimbledon last summer, and she is happy to share his moment in the spotlight.

“I am a very private person,” she said. “I like to keep myself to myself, my team close, the things that matter most to me away from everything.

“I think it’s definitely been fun to be a part of because it’s been a little bit of a circus, but a good circus. I think it’s awesome that he’s getting the attention that he really does deserve and he’s put the work in for it.

“He’s playing some of the best tennis of his life and it really does fill me with a lot of pride to actually watch him at this moment.

“I feel like I’m sharing him with everyone, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s definitely a lot. But he’s handled it a lot of his career and he knows how to deal with it and I’m right there next to him.”

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With Nick Kyrgios still sidelined through injury, De Minaur will carry home hopes virtually single-handed, but the 24-year-old sees only positives.

“I’m living my dream,” he said. “I can wake up in the morning and know that I’ve achieved a massive milestone, which was very tough to get to. I didn’t know if I was going to achieve it.

“Now I can look at myself and say that I’ve done it, that I’m a completely different player to what I was last year. It’s exciting because I’ve got bigger and better things to come hopefully.”

Boulter and De Minaur have been together since 2020 but the last 12 months have seen both hit new heights in their career.

Boulter enters the Australian Open ranked 57 and heads into a first-round clash with China’s Yuan Yue full of confidence after a great start to 2024.

At the United Cup in Perth, Boulter claimed the biggest victory of her career over world number five Jessica Pegula and has her sights set on another sizeable leap this year.

“It was huge,” she said of her win over the American. “I’m sure it wasn’t the best match of her career but I felt like I was right there.

“She’s one of the top players in the world and it gives you belief that that can be you and I strongly believe that if I keep working the way that I do that I can do that.”

She continued: “Top 100 has not been my number. I think I did that five years ago and now I really want to keep pushing. Even 50, I’ve ticked that off as well.

“And now it’s time to start getting up to the real business side of tennis and I think the work that we’ve been putting in has given me a great platform this past year to really push on and give these girls a go. Now it just takes a little bit of belief and a lot more hard work.”

British number one Katie Boulter will play mixed doubles with Australian boyfriend Alex De Minaur at Wimbledon.

The pair are one of the highest-profile couples in tennis and, having supported each other court-side on many occasions, they will now be on the same side of the net for the first time.

Boulter and De Minaur, who will face Australian duo Storm Hunter and John Peers in the first round, are not the only off-court couple in the draw.

World number five Stefanos Tsitsipas and Spain’s Paula Badosa, who recently made their relationship public, are also playing together and will take on top seeds Austin Krajicek and Jessica Pegula.

Other notable pairings are all-British duos Heather Watson and Joe Salisbury and Jodie Burrage and Lloyd Glasspool, while Jamie Murray will play with American Taylor Townsend.

Britain’s Neal Skupski and American Desirae Krawczyk, meanwhile, are bidding for their third successive title.

Carlos Alcaraz secured his first grass-court title and top billing at Wimbledon with victory over Alex De Minaur in the final of the cinch Championships.

The 20-year-old Spaniard overtook Novak Djokovic as world number one, and confirmed he will be a major contender to take the Serbian’s crown at SW19 next month, with a commanding 6-4 6-4 win at Queen’s Club.

Alcaraz was playing only his third ever grass-court tournament, and his first outside of two underwhelming visits to Wimbledon.

In his first match he needed a third-set tie-break to get past French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech, but as the week wore on he grew in confidence on the surface and by Sunday looked to the manor born.

Alcaraz will now be top seed at Wimbledon and, on this evidence, has a genuine chance to emulate compatriot Rafael Nadal, who won at Queen’s in 2008 and went on to claim the big one three weeks later.

A break of serve in each set proved enough to overcome Australian number one De Minaur, who competed well but had no answer to the pace and power of the favourite.

For example when De Minaur, 24, created the match’s first break point, at 4-3 in the opener, Alcaraz simply rolled out a 137mph ace.

A high-quality first set swung the way of the top seed when De Minaur sent a backhand wide, and then a forehand long, to gift Alcaraz the break.

The youngster from Murcia wrapped up the 49-minute set with an ace before taking a medical time-out for treatment on his right thigh.

Whatever the issue was, it did not seem to bother Alcaraz too much as he forced another break point at 2-2 in the second – and De Minaur picked the worst possible time to throw in a first double fault.

Victory was confirmed when De Minaur’s return floated long and Alcaraz celebrated an 11th career title, and surely the first of many on the lawns of London.

Alcaraz said: “It means a lot to have my name on the trophy. It was special to play here where so many legends have won. To see my name surrounded by the great champions is amazing.

“I started the tournament not very well, especially my movement on the grass, but it’s been an amazing week.”

De Minaur had been hoping to match his British girlfriend Katie Boulter, who won a first career title in Nottingham last weekend, but he just came up short.

He said: “It’s been a great week for me. We were close but I wasn’t quite able to get it done. Too good from Carlos.”

Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas progressed to the third round of the Madrid Open but there was no such luck for Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday.

Second seed Medvedev cruised past Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori 6-4 6-3, teeing up a meeting with Alexander Shevchenko, who overcame Jiri Lehecka in straight sets.

Tsitsipas was made to work by Dominic Thiem, but the fourth seed battling from a set down to win 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5).

World number 40 Dusan Lajovic provided the shock of the day by defeating seventh seed Auger-Aliassime 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-5).

Denis Shapovalov, the 21st seed, was another surprise second-round loser, falling 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-1) to China's Zhang Zhizhen.

Taylor Fritz avoided adding to the list of notable early eliminations in the Spanish capital, the eighth seed battling to a 7-6 (13-11) 6-4 victory over Christopher O'Connell.

Fritz's fellow American Frances Tiafoe progressed with a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) triumph over Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry, while 14th seed Tommy Paul crashed out after a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) defeat to Roman Safiullin.

Seeds Alex de Minaur and Sebastian Baez also navigated their way through to the third round, defeating Marco Cecchinato and Marcos Giron respectively, as did Cameron Norrie at the expense of Yosuke Watanuki.

Hubert Hurkacz prevailed 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6) in a thrilling three-and-a-half hour battle against Thanasi Kokkinakis during Saturday's second round of the Miami Open.

It was Hurkacz's first match of the tournament after the eighth seed received a bye through the first round, and he came up against a match-fit Kokkinakis after the Australian went three sets in his opening victory.

The world number nine had to save five Kokkinakis match points before sealing the win with his first chance, three hours and 34 minutes after the contest began.

Kokkinakis was not the only Australian on the day to go down in a gruelling three-setter as 15th seed Alex De Minaur fell 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-8) to Quentin Halys in three hours and 20 minutes.

It was far smoother sailing for fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in his 6-1 6-2 triumph over Roberto Carballes Baena, giving the Russian his first win since his 19-match unbeaten streak was ended at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells Open final.

The biggest upset of the day came from France's Gregoire Barrere as he eliminated 11th seed Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-2, before Adrian Mannarino ensured a great day for the French contingent with a 6-4 3-6 6-1 result against Ben Shelton in the late window.

Fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime needed a pair of tiebreakers to dispatch Brazil's Thiago Monteiro 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-8), while big-serving 19th seed Matteo Berrettini came out on the wrong side of some tiebreakers in his 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5) loss to Mackenzie McDonald.

The skid from 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti continued as the 21-year-old went down 6-4 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka, giving the Italian seven losses from his past eight matches.

Karen Khachanov fought off the challenge of recent Chile Open finalist Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-1 3-6 6-3, and second seed Stefanos Tsisipas received a walkover as Richard Gasquet withdrew.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz and reigning champion Taylor Fritz both overcame challenges to progress into the third round of the Indian Wells Open on Saturday.

Alcaraz won 6-3 6-3 over Thanasi Kokkinakis in one hour and 18 minutes in his opening match of the event, which also marked his return from a fortnight out with a hamstring injury.

The Spaniard, who reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last year, could return to the number one ranking with victory at this year's event in the absence of Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz hit 21 winners against the 94th-ranked Australian, dropping only one point on serve in the opening frame.

Fritz went a set down against 2023 Australian Open quarter-finalist Ben Shelton but eventually prevailed 4-6 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 53 minutes.

Both players were excellent on serve throughout the contest, with Fritz earning a break in the 10th game of the second set to tie up the match, before swooping again in the sixth game of the decisive frame.

Veteran Andy Murray moved into the third round with a 6-4 6-3 win over Radu Albot, with the Briton to take on countryman Jack Draper next. Draper won 6-4 6-2 over 24th seed Daniel Evans.

Murray had been set to face 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round, but he withdrew due to a muscle injury, allowing Albot into the draw as a lucky loser. Murray's win was his first in straight sets since October.

Seventh seed Holger Rune won 7-5 6-3 over American Mackenzie McDonald, progressing to face Stanislas Wawrinka after he toppled 26th seed Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

Ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz got past Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3 6-3, setting up a third-round clash with 17th seed Tommy Paul who won 6-3 6-3 over Jan-Lennard Struff.

Eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 over Pedro Martinez, while 11th seed Jannik Sinner got past veteran Richard Gasquet 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

Last week's Mexican Open champion and 16th seed Alex de Minaur was the highest seed to be knocked out on Saturday after a 6-4 6-2 loss to Martin Fucsovics.

Alex de Minaur secured his first ATP 500 title on Saturday after coming from behind to defeat Tommy Paul 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Mexican Open final.

It was a tremendous week in Acapulco for the Australian, having eliminated world number 10 Holger Rune in the semi-final en route to his seventh title overall, with the first six all at the ATP 250 level.

Against Paul, De Minaur blew a pair of break points in the opening set, and then gave up the break in the very next game, allowing the American to serve things out safely to take the first frame.

But mistakes started to creep into Paul's game the longer the match went. After landing 75 per cent of his first serves fair in the opener and avoiding any double-faults, Paul's first serve percentage dropped to 46 in the second, and he committed a pair of doubles.

He committed another two double-faults in the decider to hand De Minaur the early break, and his play from the baseline also deteriorated, hitting just six winners to go with 14 unforced errors.

Known for his resilience, De Minaur had to save five break points to hold serve in the opening game of the third set, but he held his nerve, and churned out five consecutive games as Paul ran out of gas.

The 500 ranking points will see the Aussie climb to 18th in the world, with his career-best mark of 15th now within reach.

Meanwhile, the fairytale continued for Nicolas Jarry at the Chile Open, with the Santiago-born talent electrifying his home crowd with a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 semi-final victory over Jaume Munar.

Jarry will get a chance for the second ATP title of his career, and the first since 2019, when he meets Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the final.

Etcheverry emerged victorious 7-5 6-3 in an all-Argentine showdown against third seed Sebastian Baez, earning his first final appearance at this level.

Alex De Minaur secured his first ATP 500 title on Saturday after coming from behind to defeat Tommy Paul 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Mexican Open final.

It was a tremendous week in Acapulco for the Australian, having eliminated world number 10 Holger Rune in the semi-final en route to his seventh title overall, with the first six all at the ATP 250 level.

Against Paul, De Minaur blew a pair of break points in the opening set, and then gave up the break in the very next game, allowing the American to serve things out safely to take the first frame.

But mistakes started to creep into Paul's game the longer the match went. After landing 75 per cent of his first serves fair in the opener and avoiding any double-faults, Paul's first serve percentage dropped to 46 in the second, and he committed a pair of doubles.

He committed another two double-faults in the decider to hand De Minaur the early break, and his play from the baseline also deteriorated, hitting just six winners to go with 14 unforced errors.

Known for his resilience, De Minaur had to save five break points to hold serve in the opening game of the third set, but he held his nerve, and churned out five consecutive games as Paul ran out of gas.

The 500 ranking points will see the Aussie climb to 18th in the world, with his career-best mark of 15th now within reach.

Meanwhile, the fairytale continued for Nicolas Jarry at the Chile Open, with the Santiago-born talent electrifying his home crowd with a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 semi-final victory over Jaume Munar.

Jarry will get a chance for the second ATP title of his career, and the first since 2019, when he meets Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the final.

Etcheverry emerged victorious 7-5 6-3 in an all-Argentine showdown against third seed Sebastian Baez, earning his first final appearance at this level.

Seventh seed Tommy Paul claimed a spot in the Mexican Open final after proving too good for countryman Taylor Fritz in the longest match in Acapulco history on Friday.

Paul edged the third seed 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-2) in three hours and 29 minutes in their semi-final clash in Acapulco.

World number 23 Paul actually generated a match point late in the second set but spurned his initial chance, then waiting another two hours before winning in the third-set tie-break.

Paul let match point slip at 5-4 in the second set and had to rally back from 3-1 down in the third, but triumphed on his fourth match point.

"I couldn't be happier," Paul said. "The goal for this year was to get the ranking up and get more trophies. I only have one trophy on Tour between singles and doubles.

"You don't get trophies unless your in the final, and hopefully I can play another good match tomorrow and get the winner's trophy."

The 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist will take on Alex de Minaur in Saturday's decider, after he defeated Holger Rune 3-6 7-5 6-2 in two hours and 50 minutes.

In the Chile Open, local Nicolas Jarry progressed into the semi-finals with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. Jarry will face Spaniard Jaume Munar after he won 6-3 3-6 6-2 over Thiago Monteiro.

Third seed Sebastian Baez got past Laslo Djere 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, setting up a semi-final date with Tomas Martin Etcheverry after he won 6-1 6-2 over Dusan Lajovic.

Second seed Casper Ruud suffered a shock three-sets second-round defeat to Japan's Taro Daniel at the Mexican Open in Acapulco on Wednesday.

The 2022 US Open and French Open runner-up had struggled past Guido Andreozzi in the first round and followed up that up with a 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7-5) loss to Daniel.

The Japanese qualifier, ranked 125th in the world, won in just under three hours, winning the final three points of the deciding tie-break after Ruud led 5-4.

Ruud had more winners (38-32) but committed 30 unforced errors compared to Daniel's 12.

Taylor Fritz cruised into the last eight with a 6-4 6-4 win over Canada's Denis Shapovalov, setting up a quarter-final with sixth seed Francis Tiafoe, who eased past Feliciano Lopez 6-2 7-6 (8-6).

Fourth seed Holger Rune was too strong for Nuno Borges 6-0 6-2 inside an hour, while eighth seed Alex De Minaur crushed Jacopo Berrettini in just over an hour 6-1 6-0.

Top seed Lorenzo Musetti was a surprise second-round loser at the Chile Open with Jaume Munar triumphing 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes.

Fourth seed Diego Schwartzman also bowed out, going down 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2) to local Nicolas Jarry.

Jarry will face Yannick Hanfmann in the quarter-finals, while Munar will take on Thiago Monteiro.

Cristian Garin enjoyed the hometown advantage during Tuesday's opening round of the Chile Open, defeating former world number three Dominic Thiem 6-2 7-6 (7-2).

Slotted into the primetime fixture, Santiago resident Garin did not let the locals down, securing a break in the first game of the match to set the tone.

The other Chilean hopeful in the field, Nicolas Jarry, kept up his terrific form to also book his place in the second round.

After making the semi-final of last week's Rio Open – where he took a set off world number two Carlos Alcaraz – Jarry beat Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 for an 11th victory from his past 14 matches.

Fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas was the highest ranked player in action, and he went down 7-5 4-6 7-5 against Brazil's Thiago Monteiro, while sixth seed Laslo Djere had a better outing in his 6-3 6-2 victory over Joao Sousa.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry will meet second seed Francisco Cerundolo in an all-Argentine second round matchup after advancing past Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-1 7-6 (7-1).

Meanwhile, in Acapulco at the Mexican Open it was the Berrettini brothers stealing the headlines on a day where top hopes Carlos Alcaraz and Cameron Norrie both withdrew due to injuries.

World number 24 Matteo Berrettini won the first seven games of his match against Alex Molcan before the Slovak decided to retire at 6-0 1-0, and his younger brother Jacopo Berrettini capitalised on his qualifier status with a 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 2-1 (retired) comeback against Oscar Otte.

Australian eighth seed Alex De Minaur was the top seed in action and he discarded of Mexico's own 17-year-old qualifier Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez 6-1 6-2, while rising 21-year-old American Brandon Nakashima overcame Germany's Daniel Altmaier 6-3 3-6 6-1.

Andy Murray will play Daniil Medvedev in the Qatar Open final after the 35-year-old came through yet another lengthy contest in his semi-final against Jiri Lehecka.

Murray appeared to be on course for a routine win after taking the first set 6-0, but was broken early in the second, eventually losing 6-3 to take him to a fourth three-set contest in four matches this week in Doha.

Lehecka should have won a hard-fought decider when 5-4 and 40-0 up on his own serve, but Murray's trademark resilience saw him break back despite facing five match points against, before ultimately winning the tie-break 8-6.

"I don't know how I managed to turn that match around," Murray said after the win. "In the 5-4 game, I think I played most of the match points really well. He missed one bad shot on the deuce point in that game at 5-4, but I played the match points pretty well.

"It's been an amazing start to the year. I have never experienced this in my whole career, like this many matches... It was sort of looking [like it might be a quicker match] for 30 minutes and then it turned into something completely different. Yeah, just amazing that I managed to turn that around."

Murray equalled Jimmy Connors for the fifth-most ATP hard court wins in the Open Era (489), and will play Medvedev in the final after the Russian's 6-4 7-6 (9-7) win against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Canadian had three set points in the second set tie-break to try and force a decider, but Medvedev showed determination to turn it around and seal his place against Murray in the final.

At the Open 13 Provence, number one seed Hubert Hurkacz is through to face Alexander Bublik in the semi-finals, with both also having to come through three-set matches in a deciding tie-break.

Hurkacz was finally able to overcome Mikael Ymer 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) before Bublik defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8-6).

Third seed Alex de Minaur was shocked by Benjamin Bonzi, who broke the world number 23 four times on his way to a 6-2 6-4 victory to avenge his third-round defeat at the Australian Open.

Bonzi will meet qualifier Arthur Fils in the final four after the French 18-year-old beat former world number three Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 to reach a second straight tour-level semi-final.

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.