Diego Schwartzman shares the last time…

I missed a flight?
The last time I missed a flight was in Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2011. I was alone… I was supposed to go to see (house music DJ) Bob Sinclar and then I missed my flight. I stayed longer than I needed to and I missed my flight to come back to (Buenos Aires).

I lost something important?
One month ago, I forgot the key inside my car… I put my shoes in the trunk, and I forgot I had put my keys in my shoes… Then I needed to call a service, and they came two hours later, and it was a problem… Because I needed to pay a lot of money for them to open the trunk and the car. And then I took the key and left… It cost around $1,000. Yeah, it was too much. Argentina is not cheap.

I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls?
Sometimes when it’s raining in Buenos Aires, you need to pay for the indoor courts… We don’t have many indoor clay courts in Argentina… The balls, I think my coach pays but I don’t know the price… Indoor courts in Argentina? Ten. In the winter, it’s really tough to play outdoors because it rains a lot.

Being famous helped me?
Sometimes that happens in Buenos Aires. I see people around my age… The boys always say, “Oh, he’s Diego Schwartzman.” I am Jewish and in Argentina, we have many Jewish (people) there, and all the people there know me…(They say), “Enjoy! Good luck this season. Come on, keep going!”

I strung a tennis racquet?
Never… I tried but it’s too difficult… Six years ago. When I was playing Futures…. Now I go to the stringer (and say), “Here’s my racquet. Do it, please.”

I cooked for myself and others?
This year, many times in Miami, Melbourne… We rent an apartment. And I stay with my coach, my physio, and my friends, and I cook. I like to cook.

I met a childhood idol?
My idol is Juan Román Riquelme… a football player in Argentina… Never met him.

I shared a hotel room with another player?
One year or two years ago.

I asked someone famous for an autograph or selfie?
I take some selfies with the football players in Argentina… last year in November, December. I put it on my Instagram.

Fernando Verdasco captured his first ATP World Tour title in two years on Monday at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy.

Verdasco swept past first-time finalist Lucas Pouille, part of the ATP’s Next Generation, 6-3, 6-2 in 75 minutes.

“I’m very happy because I won this trophy,” said Verdasco. “It was a long time since I was in this position, to win a tournament or to play in a final.

“It’s not easy to wait a day to play. It wasn’t stressful, but hard. When it rains you have to be ready to play at every moment, especially if it is a final, not a first round. I wanted to play, no matter what. We did play, even if the last game was complicated when it started raining again. I’m glad that it all ended there.”

The 32-year-old Spaniard improved to 7-13 in finals by lifting his first trophy since April 2014 at Houston (d. Almagro). He earned €82,450 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points for his efforts in Bucharest.

Verdasco saved three break points in a 17-point third game before breaking Pouille to love. He went on to open up a 4-1 lead and completed the 43-set on his first set point opportunity.

The World No. 60 carried the momentum into the second set, breaking Pouille to love in the opening game. He took a 5-1 lead courtesy of another break to 30 in the fifth game. Verdasco is now 13-7 on the season.

It was the first title match to be carried over to a Monday since 5 October 2015, when Tomas Berdych overcame Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for the Shenzhen title.

The 22-year-old Pouille goes onto his next tournament with €43,430 and 150 points. He had been trying to become first French winner since Gilles Simon in 2012.

“It was not easy to play my first final in these conditions,” said Pouille. “We had to wait for a long time. We didn’t know when we would play. However, it was the same conditions for both players and Fernando just played better than me today.

“I had some break points in the first set, it was close and very intense from the beginning. Then I started the second set poorly and Fernando played some really good tennis. He didn’t give me many points. Congratulations to him. As far as I am concerned, despite the loss, it was a positive week and I hope to keep on improving in the coming weeks.”

Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea delighted Romanian supporters on Monday morning when they were victors in a rain-interrupted BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy final.

Tecau claimed the 300th match win of his career with his fourth title at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament by partnering fellow 31-year-old Mergea to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Chris Guccione and Andre Sa in 76 minutes.

Tecau has now won four titles on home soil with as many partners, prevailing with Robert Lindstedt in 2012, Max Mirnyi in 2013 and Jean-Julien Rojer in 2014.

“All these days we’ve done everything to be prepared to play when the weather allowed it,” said Tecau. “We waited on Sunday, we played a set, and today we woke up very early, like 6:00 a.m. to be here and see what happens. This title, for us, is a dream come true. Something we thought of since we were children. We are happy and we thank our team and the people who came to support us all week, despite the rain.”

Mergea added, “It wasn’t an easy week for us, but we wanted to play together here. We are happy with the title. Now we have more confidence in ourselves, in our game. It’s a first step towards our goal, which is a medal at the Olympics in Rio.”

This week, Tecau and Mergea played together at an ATP World Tour event for the first time since the same tournament in 2008. They shared €25,070 in prize money and earned 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points.

The start of the doubles final on Sunday was initially pushed back two hours. Mergea and Tecau eventually sealed the first set 7-5 in 41 minutes, but no further play was possible as ATP supervisor Gerry Armstrong called off play at 5:50 p.m. local time.

Scheduled for an 9:30 a.m. resumption on Monday, the final did not begin due to light rain until 10:25 a.m. Both teams exchanged early serve breaks, but Mergea and Tecau broke for a fourth time in the match for a 4-3 lead en route to the title.

Mergea is now 6-6 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals, while Tecau – in his first title match of 2016 – improves to 28-16 overall. Tecau has won 16 straight matches in Bucharest since his last loss in the 2011 quarter-finals with Robert Lindstedt.

Guccione and Sa were contesting their third ATP World Tour team final, having won in Nottingham and reaching the final in Shenzhen last year. Guccione is 4-6 in finals, while Sa dropped to 10-17. They moved onto their next tournament with €13,170 and 150 points.

A LOOK BACK
Torino Challenger (Torino, Italy): Gastao Elias had his back against the wall on multiple occasions in Sunday’s Torino final, but the Portuguese escaped with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over World No. 300 Enrique Lopez-Perez. Elias, who becomes the fourth player to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time in 2016, fell down an immediate break in the third set, but fought back to claim his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title. It was his third crown in seven months, following late-season victories in Lima and Guayaquil last November.

St. Joseph’s/Candler Savannah Challenger (Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.): Bjorn Fratangelo was ruthless in completing a dream week on the green clay of Savannah, dropping a combined eight games in the semi-finals and final to lift his second ATP Challenger Tour trophy. He downed #NextGen star Jared Donaldson 6-1, 6-3 in an all-American title match, a day after knocking out top seed and countryman Denis Kudla 6-2, 6-2. Fratangelo, who is closing in on a Top 100 debut, rises to World No. 117 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

The 22-year-old, who notched his maiden title more than a year ago in Launceston, Australia, is riding a tidal wave of momentum after also winning his first ATP World Tour main draw match in Indian Wells and reaching the semis last week in Sarasota. He takes the lead in the USTA’s Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge.

Sao Paulo Challenger de Tenis (Sao Paulo, Brazil): It was over in a flash. Fifth seed Gonzalo Lama completed the fastest victory in an ATP Challenger Tour final this year, needing just 49 minutes to defeat Ernesto Escobedo 6-2, 6-2. It was the 22-year-old’s second Challenger crown. An integral part of Chile’s resurgence, along with Nicolas Jarry and Christian Garin, Lama rises to a career-high World No. 166 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Escobedo, meanwhile, was contesting his first Challenger final. The 19 year old from Los Angeles is the seventh different American teenager to reach a title match on the circuit in the last seven months.

American Teen Challenger Finalists Since October

TAC Cup China International Nanjing Challenger (Nanjing, China): Two weeks, two surfaces, two titles. Top seed Ricardas Berankis went back-to-back in Asia, claiming the clay-court Nanjing title 6-3, 6-4 over Grega Zemlja one week after also downing the Slovenian for the crown on the hard courts of Gwangju, South Korea. It was the Lithuanian’s sixth ATP Challenger Tour title in total. He improved to an impressive 14-2 on the circuit this year, joining Gerald Melzer, Mikhail Youzhny, Facundo Bagnis and Malek Jaziri as the lone multiple title winners.

What The Players Said
Elias: “First of all, I will enter the Top 100 after this tournament. This is my best ranking and another very important step for my career. It has been a pleasure to know the people that organised the tournament, the drivers, the ball boys and all the staff that worked hard for all details.”

Lopez-Perez: “I arrived after reaching the semi-finals in Barletta and I had confidence. I played well in all the rounds of the tournament, especially in the first and in semi-final against a very good player like Volandri. In the final, I did not like the weather conditions. There was too much wind, but Elias has been very able to dominate these conditions.”

“Just play in that moment (on the four match points saved). I had some bad luck with the net on break point and I was going a little bit crazy. But in tennis that can happen, so it’s an unbelievable sport for that. Maybe he got tense.”

Lama: “I am very happy. Winning a Challenger is very difficult. This is my second. I am very happy. I almost lost the match against (Juan Ignacio) Londero and ended up winning the tournament, so I had a bit of luck too.”

A LOOK AHEAD
There are four tournaments on the calendar event this week, with the $100,000 event in Anning, China, taking top billing. #NextGen star Yoshihito Nishioka will look push into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings as the No. 1 seed, while Jordan Thompson, a winner in February at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Cherbourg, is the No. 2 seed. Other notable names in the draw include Turin finalist Enrique Lopez-Perez, former World No. 53 Grega Zemlja and and former World No. 50 Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo.

The $75,000+H event in Taipei, Taiwan, returns for the third straight year. No. 1 seed Ricardas Berankis will look to continue his dominant form in Asian challengers this month, while defending champion Sam Groth returns as the No. 2 seed. Former World No. 31 Sergiy Stakhovsky is the No. 5 seed, while Daniel Evans, a winner last month at the ATP Challenger Tour event, is the No. 6 seed. Another notable name in the draw is last year’s finalist, Konstantin Kravchuk, who returns as the No. 8 seed.

The $50,000+H tournament in Ostrava, Czech Republic, is back for the 13th consecutive year. Last year’s finalist and No. 1 seed Adam Pavlasek will look for a big run this week to allow him to make his debut inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Former World No. 8 and 2004 champion Janko Tipsarevic also returns to the tour after a seven-month layoff due to a knee injury.  Pedra Krstin, who won last month’s ATP Challenger Tour event in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, is the No. 4 seed.

The always-popular $50,000 event in Tallahassee, Florida, also returns for the 17th consecutive year. The tournament features an illustrious list of past champions including Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri. Top seed Donald Young hopes to add his name to that list, but has a tricky opening round against teenager Ernesto Escobedo, who (reached the final or won) last week in Sao Paulo. A slew of #NextGen stars are also in the draw including No. 7 seed Jared Donaldson, Noah Rubin and Frances Tiafoe. Other notable names in the draw include former world No. 51 Brian Baker, who is continuing his comeback from injury.

View Draws & Watch Free Live Streams

ATP CHALLENGER TOUR ON TWITTER: New in 2016, the ATP Challenger Tour has launched a dedicated Twitter account for the latest news and information about players and events. Follow @ATPChallengerTour at twitter.com/ATPChallengerTour.

Rain in Bucharest, snow in Munich… Players encountered both ends of the weather spectrum on the ATP World Tour on Sunday.

While the singles and doubles finals at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy were postponed due to persistent downpours, competitors at the BMW Open by FWU AG fought through the snowflakes ahead of the outdoor clay-court tournament.

Qualifying at the ATP World Tour 250 event was briefly halted due to a snow shower that hit Munich, and main draw players practising at the venue were also given a unique opportunity by Mother Nature.

“I have never seen anything like this before,” said John Peers, who is seeded third in the doubles draw with Henri Kontinen. “It’s the first time at an outdoor tour-level event that I have seen snow and matches had to be suspended. Being Australian it was definitely something different. We actually got lucky as it didn’t snow during practice, but literally right before and right after it did. It was so cold and our hands were frozen. Apparently we could get some more over the next day or two. Time to rug up I think.”

Do we have a “snow rule” @ATPWorldTour @BMWOpenbyFWUAG ☃☃? pic.twitter.com/iwZXmzyDTn

— John Peers (@johnwpeers) April 24, 2016

Less than two weeks ago, Neal Skupski was battling the heat and humidity at the ATP Challenger Tour stop in Sarasota, Florida. On Sunday, he and brother Ken were bundled up, hitting through the hail and snow in preparation for their first-round clash against home hopes Dustin Brown and Florian Mayer.

“It was actually my second time hitting in the snow,” Skupski added. “Many years ago I remember clearing the court back home (in England) with Ken to try it out for a bit of fun, but it’s not the same as practising for an ATP World Tour event. It was good to practise in it today because we may have to get used to it for this week’s tournament, looking at the weather forecast!” 

Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, seeded seventh in singles, experienced a taste of home weather with the April snow. He took to Twitter to comment on the rare conditions.

“We heard that it might snow today and I have to admit I was a bit excited because I rarely get to see snow anymore,” said Pospisil. “I started the day with a run outside and it was snowing a bit, which was good enough for me. It seemed to clear up but then it started snowing again when I began practising a few hours later. It was coming down pretty hard at one point. It was the first time I have played in snow as a professional and I have to admit that, although I had played in snow as a youngster growing up in Canada, I didn’t think it would ever happen again. It actually made me feel right at home this week. Canadians don’t shy away from cold weather.”

Main draw action in Munich gets underway on Monday, with snow in the forecast for much of the week.