Tommy Haas began his Munich swan song with his 21^st victory in the Germany city, beating Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday at the BMW Open by FWU. The 39-year-old Haas, who’s playing in the Munich tournament for the 12^th and final time, didn’t face a break point in the final two sets and dropped only one point on serve (20/21) in the decider.

“I’m very excited to be back here after many years, on my last run in Munich,” said Haas, who last played in Munich in 2014. “It was a tough start for me. I think Sergiy played extremely well in the beginning, mixing it up and really letting me guess most of the time what’s going to happen. It took me a while to find my game, and I was happy to turn it around.”

The 2013 Munich champion will meet seventh seed and countryman Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. Struff dismissed German wild card Daniel Masur 6-3, 6-4. Ten Germans entered the main draw of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Eighth seed Thomaz Bellucci, a finalist in Houston last month, saved all three break points to beat Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2 in 77 minutes. The Brazilian will next play German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, who, playing in his first tour-level match, beat Austrian Gerald Melzer 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

A career breakthrough vaulted Croatian Borna Coric up the Emirates ATP Race To Milan standings in April, and now the 20-year-old right-hander is close to challenging #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev for the lead in the race to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 7-11 November in Milan.

On 3 April, Coric was in eighth place in the Race, 380 points behind Zverev. But a week later, the Zagreb native compiled the best week of his career at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech.

Coric won five consecutive matches in Morocco to celebrate his first ATP World Tour title, saving five match points in the final to beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5 in two hours and 38 minutes. Along the way, Coric prevailed past two other Top 40 players, including then-World No. 24 Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain and Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who reached a new career high of No. 34 in the Emirates ATP Rankings last month.

Coric became the third player from the current #NextGenATP contingent to lift an ATP World Tour trophy, joining Zverev (St. Petersburg 2016 & Montpellier 2017) and Russian Karen Khachanov (Chengdu 2016).

“It’s an awesome feeling. I didn’t know what to expect when I came here, and I wasn’t in the best shape. But I’ve been working very hard the past three or four months, and now it’s paying off,” Coric told ATPWorldTour.com. “I was focused in all the matches and didn’t lose my calm. I just played very well and served very well and that made it much easier for me.”

The next week, Coric struggled at the season’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament on clay, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, falling to French veteran Jeremy Chardy in three sets. Last week, at the inaugural Gazprom Hungarian Open in Budapest, Coric also dropped his opener, losing to Czech left-hander Jiri Vesely.

But Coric is now in second place in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan. He has 435 points, 265 points behind Race leader Zverev, who has 700 points.

Coric said qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan remains one of his top goals for the season. “For sure it is,” he said. “I’m not sure if it will happen or not, but that’s a goal for sure. I need to continue to work hard.”

Read More: #NextGenATP Race Leader Zverev Has Massive March

LOOK BACK

2017 Kunming Challenger (Anning, China): Janko Tipsarevic remains unbeaten on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2017, following another stellar week in Asia.

The former World No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings has won all 20 matches at this level, clinching his fourth Challenger title of the season with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 triumph over #NextGenATP prospect Quentin Halys.

The Serbian has dropped just two sets during this 20-match streak, including two titles in Bangkok and last week’s trophy in Qingdao. The win streak is the longest run on the ATP Challenger Tour since David Goffin also won 20 in a row in 2014.

Victory over the Frenchman boosted his ranking nine places to World No. 62 and also secured a 15th Challenger trophy, having now won 10 straight finals since 2006.

Tallahassee Tennis Challenger (Florida, U.S.A): Qualifier Blaz Rola built up momentum with eight wins in eight days to lift the title in Tallahassee.

In the longest final on the ATP Challenger Tour so far this season, at two hours and 37 minutes, the Slovenian prevailed past Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2, 6-7(6), 7-5.

His third ATP Challenger Tour title, a first since Santos, Brazil, two years ago, helps him climb from No. 271 back into the Top 200 at No. 198.

Internazionali di Tennis D’Abruzzo (Francavilla, Italy): Pedro Sousa picked up a maiden ATP Challenger Tour title with a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over second seed Alessandro Giannessi.

The 28 year old is the sixth first-time champion in 2017 and as a reward, moves up 47 places to World No. 172. Sousa is also the first Portuguese winner since Gastao Elias in Mestre, Italy, in May 2016.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Janko Tipsarevic: “It feels very good, I honestly wasn’t expecting to win these tournaments. I knew I could play well, but to win two big ATP Challenger Tour events in a row is really, really good.

“I think it was a high-quality match from both sides,” said Tipsarevic, referring to the final against Halys. “I was just able to take my small chances.

“I feel very tired, my body has been destroyed after these two weeks. The expectations, thinking that you can and should win these matches, is very draining, especially against these difficult opponents.

“I use a hashtag ‘keep digging’ on social media. It’s a metaphor for hard work and without that, there is no other way.”

Blaz Rola: “I don’t know how I did it, it’s not like I had any easy matches. I guess the hard work is paying off. I ended last year on a bad note with injuries, so I had plenty of time to prepare physically, mentally and technically.

“This will definitely help for the rest of the clay season. I don’t want to celebrate too much, maybe a day off before preparing for Savannah. This should give me a lot of confidence for playing on clay in Europe.”

A LOOK AHEAD

The $75,000 Challenger in Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A, leads a triple billing this week. Darian King is top seed of a strong field on the green clay, with Tallahassee champion Rola and finalist Ramanathan set to play, while Stefan Kozlov and Denis Shapovalov spearhead the #NextGenATP contingent.

Onto the red clay at the €64,000 Challenger in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and World No. 103 Norbert Gombos leads the pack with 2010 champion Lukas Rosol in the draw.

The hard courts at the $50,000 Challenger in Gimcheon, South Korea, welcome 2017 Santaizi Challenger champion Yen-Hsun Lu as the top seed. #NextGenATP player Duckhee Lee will also contend for the title in front of a home crowd.

View Draws & Watch Free Live Streams

ATP CHALLENGER TOUR ON TWITTER: 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.

#NextGenATP prospect Karen Khachanov has soared 14 places in the Emirates ATP Rankings to a career-high World No. 42, courtesy of a quarter-final showing at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

The 20 year-old, who trains in Barcelona, ousted 11th seed Pablo Cuevas before a first Top 10 victory over David Goffin sent Khachanov into the last eight (l. Zeballos). As a result, the Russian jumps seven positions to eighth in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan for the inaugural #NextGenATP Finals in November.

View Latest Emirates ATP Rankings

A run to the Gazprom Hungarian Open final (l. Pouille) has boosted Aljaz Bedene’s ranking by 10 places to World No. 58. The British No. 4 finished April with a 16-1 match record, following back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles along with his six-win streak through qualifying and the main draw in Budapest.

Horacio Zeballos has earned a 21-place rise to World No. 63, having reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final since 2013, when he won the Vina del Mar title. The Argentine defeated Joao Sousa, Benoit Paire and Khachanov in Barcelona, before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. Zeballos was World No. 84 last week and became the lowest-ranked semi-finalist in Barcelona since No. 85 German Denis Gremelmayr in 2008 (l. to Nadal).

A career-high ranking of World No. 73 is Yuichi Sugita’s reward for a first ATP quarter-final in five years. The Japanese rises 18 spots, having navigated through qualifying, to then post victories over Richard Gasquet and Pablo Carreno Busta, before finalist Dominic Thiem ended the charge.

#NextGenATP player Hyeon Chung also qualified for the Barcelona main draw and advanced to the quarter-finals (l.Nadal). Wins against Germans Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev helped Chung move up 16 positons to World No.78.

Busy Week With Estoril, Istanbul, Munich: The ATP World Tour European clay court circuit moves on to Estoril, Istanbul and Munich. Estoril is a third-year tournament at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril although Portuguese tennis on the calendar goes back to the Tour’s inception in 1990. Istanbul is also a third-year tournament on the ATP World Tour. Munich is one of the oldest clay court tournaments, which was first held in 1974. There are five of the Top 20 players in the May 1 Emirates ATP Rankings in action, led by No. 6 Milos Raonic and No. 8 Marin Cilic in Istanbul. No. 16 Gael Monfils, No. 18 Roberto Bautista Agut and No. 20 Alexander Zverev are the top trio in Munich. No. 21 Pablo Carreno Busta is the top seed in Estoril.

Emirates ATP Race to Milan Leaders: Five of the Top 8 #NextGenATP players in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan standings (as of May 1) are in action with leader Alexander Zverev in Munich and No. 2 Borna Coric in Istanbul. The Top 10 are:

1 Alexander Zverev – Munich
2 Borna Coric – Istanbul
3 Daniil Medvedev
4 Hyeon Chung – Munich
5 Ernesto Escobedo
6 Casper Ruud – Munich
7 Frances Tiafoe
8 Karen Khachanov – Istanbul
9 Quentin Halys
10 Andrey Rublev

BMW OPEN BY FWU (Munich): The first of five German tournaments on the ATP World Tour calendar takes place at Munich’s Iphitos Tennis Club, which was first staged in 1974. The International Tennis Championships of Bavaria was first held in 1900. There are three former champions in the field Philipp Kohlschreiber (2007, 2012, 2016), Martin Klizan (2014) and Tommy Haas (2013). Frenchman Gael Monfils is the top seed. The other seeds are No. 2 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 4 Fabio Fognini, No. 5 Kohlschreiber, No. 6 Mischa Zverev, No. 7 Jan-Lennard Struff and No. 8 Thomaz Bellucci.

10 THINGS TO KNOW IN MUNICH

Monfils Top Seed: Monfils is playing his 1st tournament since ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (4R) and withdrew from Miami and Monte-Carlo due to left knee and Achilles tendon injuries. Playing in Munich for 1st time since 2013.

Kohli Defending Champ: Last year Kohlschreiber won a tournament-best 3rd title (d. Thiem). No. 2 German is playing in Munich for 9th year in a row and 13th time overall (28-9 record). Also won 2007 and 2012 titles. Of his 7 career titles, 5 have come on German soil.

Sascha Eyes 1st Home Title: Top German Alexander Zverev is looking for his 1st home country ATP World Tour title. Last year he reached the SFs (l. to Thiem). His first ATP World Tour SF came in 2014 Hamburg. Last June he reached his first ATP World Tour German final in Halle (l. to F. Mayer).

Haas is Back: Haas returns to Munich for the 1st time since 2014 when he reached SFs. The former World No. 2 has a 20-10 record in Munich. He won the 2013 title (d. Kohlschreiber) and reached the final in 2000 (l. to Squillari). He made his debut in 1998, the year Alexander Zverev celebrated his 1st birthday.

Lone Spaniard in Draw: Bautista Agut, who reached the SFs in his previous visit in 2015, is the only Spaniard in the singles draw. The last Spaniard to win the title was Emilio Sanchez in 1986. Manuel Orantes won titles in 1976 and ’79.

Countrymen Meet: There are two all-German 1R match-ups with Dustin Brown vs. Mischa Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Daniel Masur.

Local Title Hopes: There are 10 Germans in the main draw with 4 seeds (No. 3 A. Zverev, No. 5 Kohlschreiber, No. 6 M. Zverev, No. 7 Struff) and 2 qualifiers (Hanfmann, Stebe). Overall there have been 7 German champions with Jurgen Fassbender winning the inaugural title in 1974. Others are Rolf Gehring (1980), Michael Stich (1994), Haas (2013) and Kohlschreiber (2007, 2012, 2016).

#NextGenATP Stars: There are a trio of #NextGenATP stars: Hyeon Chung, who is coming off his 3rd career ATP World Tour QF in Barcelona (l. to Nadal), Casper Ruud, who qualified and reached 2R in Barcelona and Zverev, who advanced to the 3R in Barcelona (l. to Chung).

Wild Cards: Local players Maximilian Marterer (21) and Daniel Masur (22) and Norwegian teenager Ruud (18), who is youngest in the draw, are the wild cards. Marterer is looking for his first career ATP World Tour match win (0-6) and Masur is playing in his first ATP World Tour main draw.

Doubles Draw: The seeds are No. 1 Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, No. 2 Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, No. 3 Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, and No. 4 Jose Peralta and Horacio Zeballos.

MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN (Estoril): The third-year clay-court tournament will take place at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril. A Portuguese tournament on the ATP World Tour calendar has been a fixture since the Tour’s inception in 1990. The top seed is Pablo Carreno Busta followed by 2015 champion Richard Gasquet. The other seeds are No. 3 Gilles Muller, No. 4 David Ferrer, No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 6 Joao Sousa, No. 7 Kyle Edmund and No. 8 Benoit Paire. Unseeded Nicolas Almagro is the defending champion.

10 THINGS TO KNOW IN ESTORIL

Carreno Busta Top Seed: Carreno Busta is the No. 1 seed in an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time in his career. The No. 21st-ranked Spaniard was a finalist last year (l. to Almagro) and SF in 2015. He comes in with an 18-11 match record on the season (12-6 on clay) and he was runner-up in Rio de Janeiro (l. to Thiem).

Almagro Reigning Champ: Almagro enters as the reigning champion. The 31-year-old Spaniard is ranked No. 86 with last year’s Estoril points having already dropped. He has a 4-6 record on the season and his best result is QF in Doha.

Gasquet Returns: Gasquet, who won the title two years ago (d. Kyrgios), is back in Estoril after missing last year due to injury. Gasquet underwent appendicitis surgery in early March and withdrew from Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo.

Ferrer Eyes Milestone: Ferrer is 4 match wins away from becoming the 13th player in the Open Era with 700 career match wins. The 35-year-old Spaniard comes in with a 3-7 match record in 2017 and he’s looking to break a 5-match losing streak. His last win came in the 2R at the Australian Open in January.

Sousa Eyes 1st Home Title: No. 1 Portuguese Joao Sousa is looking for his 1st home country ATP World Tour title. His best ATP result on home soil came in the old Estoril Open in 2012, when he reached the QFs. Sousa is the country’s top player at No. 36 in the Emirates ATP Rankings with a 13-9 match record this season. His best result was a runner-up in Auckland (l. to Sock).

Juan Martin Makes Clay Debut: Last year’s ATP Comeback Player of the Year, del Potro, makes his season debut on clay. This will be the No. 1 Argentine’s 5th tournament of the season (6-4 record), his 1st since reaching the 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Federer). All 4 losses this year have come to Top 6 opponents. His best result is SF in Delray Beach (l. to Raonic).

Sugita On Career-High: Yuichi Sugita of Japan comes into Estoril on a career-high No. 73 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Last week Sugita took advantage of a lucky loser opportunity in Barcelona and defeated former World No. 5 Tommy Robredo in 1R before posting his biggest career wins over No. 23 Richard Gasquet and No. 20 Carreno Busta before losing to No. 9 Dominic Thiem.

Local Title Hopes: There are 5 Portuguese players in the main draw led by No. 6 seed Joao Sousa. The country’s No. 2 player Gastao Elias is joined by wild cards Pedro Sousa and Frederico Ferreira Silva and qualifier Joao Domingues. There were 5 Portuguese players in the old Estoril Open in 2012. Silva is looking for his 1st ATP World Tour main draw win (0-2 in Estoril) and Domingues is making his ATP World Tour main draw debut.

#NextGenATP Star: The lone #NextGenATP player in the draw is 21-year-old Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer, who is ranked No .193. He is looking for his first ATP World Tour tournament win since July 2016 in Gstaad where he advanced to QFs. Last month he won both of his Davis Cup matches vs. Turkey.

Doubles Draw: The seeds are No. 1 Sam Groth and Robert Lindstedt, No. 2 Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop, No. 3 Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner and No. 4 Leander Paes and Andre Sa.

TEB BNP PARIBAS ISTANBUL OPEN (Istanbul): The third staging of the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open at the spectacular Garanti Koza Arena, features a retractable roof on Centre Court and provides seating for 7,500 spectators. There are two other clay show courts and the clubhouse features a fitness centre, spa, swimming pool and restaurant. Roger Federer won the inaugural title in 2015 and last year Argentine Diego Schwartzman captured his maiden ATP World Tour title. This year’s seeds are: No. 1 Milos Raonic, No. 2 Marin CIlic, No. 3 Schwartzman, No. 4 Paolo Lorenzi, No. 5 Viktor Troicki, No. 6 Bernard Tomic, No. 7 Borna Coric and No. 8 Steve Darcis.

10 THINGS TO KNOW IN ISTANBUL

Milos Top Seed: Raonic is playing his 1st tournament since ATP Masters 1000 Miami (3R) where he withdrew with a hamstring injury. He also withdrew from Indian Wells and Delray Beach final with same injury. He is 11-2 on the season with a SF in Brisbane and QF at the Australian Open.

Marin Eyes Jump Start: Cilic is looking to jump start his season. The World No. 8 enters with a 7-8 match record and in his last tournament at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo he advanced to the QFs (l. to Ramos-Vinolas). His best result came at Acapulco where he reached the SFs (l. to Nadal).

Schwartzman Defending Champion: A year ago Schwartzman came into Istanbul ranked No. 87 and he went on to capture his first ATP World Tour title, winning his last three matches from a set down, including a 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-0 final victory over Dimitrov. He saved 1 MP in his QF win. This season the 24-year-old Argentine reached his first ATP Masters 1000 QF in Monte-Carlo (l. to eventual champion Nadal). Afterwards he reached a career-high No. 34 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He is No. 46 this week.

Bedene Moving Up: British No. 4 Aljaz Bedene finished the month of April with a 16-1 match record. After winning back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles, last week in Budapest the 27-year-old Briton won two qualifying matches and four main draw matches before falling to top seed Lucas Pouille in the final. He began the month of April ranked No. 93 and he comes into Istanbul No. 58 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. His career-high ranking is No. 45 on Nov. 16, 2015.

Serb On The Rise: Laslo Djere, a 21-year-old Serb, comes in ranked a career-high No. 153 after reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final last week in Budapest (l. to Bedene) as a qualifier. It was Djere’s only fifth career ATP World Tour-level tournament. He earned a special exempt into Istanbul.

Darcis Back in Top 50: No. 2 Belgian Steve Darcis, who one year ago at this time was ranked No. 177, has climbed back into the Top 50 this season with a successful start. Darcis is 11-6 and has reached QFs in Sofia and Delray Beach, advanced to the 3R at the Australian Open. He also has helped Belgium reach the Davis Cup SFs by posting a 3-0 record in wins over Germany and Italy.

Baghdatis Returns: Former World No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis is playing his first Tour-level tournament since the Australian Open in January. The 31-year-old Cypriot withdrew from five tournaments due to a right foot injury. His all-time record 36-match win streak in Davis Cup ended April 7 with Group II loss to No. 799 Echargui of Tunisia. Two weeks ago he played in the Taipei Challenger and lost in 1R.

#NextGenATP Stars: There are three #NextGenATP stars in the draw: Croat Borna Coric, who recently captured his first ATP World Tour title in Marrakech, Russian Karen Khachanov, who enters a career-high No. 42 after reaching the QFs in Barcelona (d. Goffin, l. to Zeballos) and 18-year-old Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas. He finished as the No. 2 junior in the world last year.

Wild Cards: Along with CIlic, the other wild cards are Hungary’s No. 1 player, Marton Fucsovics, who is ranked No. 149, and Turkey’s No. 2 player, 21-year-old Cem Ilkel, who is ranked No. 323.

Doubles Draw: The seeds are No. 1 Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak, No. 2 Santiago Gonzalez and Dominic Inglot, No. 3 Jonathan Erlich and Scott Lipsky, and No. 4 Guillermo Duran and Andres Molteni.

When you’re as hot as Rafael Nadal has been on the European clay, a pool plunge is warranted. Nadal was joined by ball kids in taking the traditional dive at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, after claiming an unprecedented 10th Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell title.

The Spaniard defeated Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday, completing a dominant week in which he did not drop a set. He has won 20 of 21 sets thus far on the European clay-court swing, having also streaked to his 10th Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters crown a week ago.