If Dominic Thiem’s start to the Latin American Golden Swing is any indication of his 2018 form, the rest of the ATP World Tour better take notice. The Austrian blasted to the title at the Argentina Open, not dropping a set all week in notching the clay-court title.

Thiem dominated Sunday’s final, downing Aljaz Bedene 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes. He extended his perfect mark in Buenos Aires to 9-0, having previously won the title in 2016, and lifted his ninth ATP World Tour trophy in total. It was his first crown in nearly a year, since triumphing in nearby Rio de Janeiro last February.

Thiem’s victory puts him in elite company, becoming just the third player in the last 30 years to win multiple titles in the Argentine capital. The World No. 6 joins Spaniards David Ferrer (2012-14) and Carlos Moya (1995, ’03, ’06) in the exclusive club.

More to come…

9th career title for @ThiemDomi!

Tops Bedene 6-2 6-4 for second @ArgentinaOpen title.#ArgentinaOpen pic.twitter.com/G5NCUTMiuJ

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 18, 2018

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In the off-season, Thiem and Bedene jumped from the tennis court to the football pitch for a competitive match. The pair squared off in Bedene’s native Slovenia.

Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut ended Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic’s unbeaten start to the 2018 season 2-6, 6-2, 10/7 to lift the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Sunday.

The third seeds came from behind to hand the second seeds, who had won all 18 of their previous matches this season, their first defeat of 2018. Marach and Pavic had been bidding to win a fourth title of the season after earlier triumphs in Doha, Auckland and at the Australian Open, but it was the all-French duo who tasted victory after 68 minutes of play.

“[Winning for] the first time with Pierre is something great,” said Mahut. “We are pretty happy about the week, we played so many good teams, especially finally beating the undefeated team. It is something special in the final.”

Herbert and Mahut have now won 11 titles as a team, including three consecutive Masters 1000 titles in Rome, Canada and Cincinnati last season. This is also Mahut’s third title in Rotterdam, having previously lifted the trophy in 2014 (w/Llodra) and 2016 (w/Pospisil).

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Marach and Pavic started strong with two breaks of serve to secure a one-set lead, but were taken into a Match Tie-break after a vastly improved serving performance from their opponents in the second set. From there, a series of mini-breaks followed as both pairings struggled to hold serve. But, from 4/6 down, Herbert and Mahut improved their level and charged to victory, winning six of the last seven points, to take the title in the famous port city.

“They played an amazing level in the first set, we were slow to start,” admitted Herbert. “They played amazing and then we levelled it up. We played an amazing game in the beginning of the second [set] and then you go forwards into the [Match] Tie-break, it can go everywhere, but this time it was for us. We are really, really happy about the win today.

Herbert and Mahut will split $120,910 in prize money and earn 500 ATP Rankings points after their title-winning run. “Being able… to win the tournament is just an amazing feeling,” added Herbert. “[Our confidence] is going to get better, I hope, as the year will pass by.”

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Herbert and Mahut have also ended Marach and Pavic’s impressive Match Tie-break winning streak. Before their final loss, the duo had won their past nine extended tie-breaks dating back to the Western & Southern Open in August 2017.

Second seeds Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald ousted home favourites Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson 4-6, 6-4, 10/7 at the New York Open on Saturday to advance to their second final of the year (l. in Auckland).

But more notably, it secured Mirnyi his 100th combined tour-level final appearance. The Belarusian made four singles finals in his career (1-3) and will compete in his 96th doubles championship match (50-45) on Sunday.

If the 40-year-old and his partner raise the trophy in New York on Sunday, Mirnyi will have won a tour-level doubles title in 18 of the past 20 seasons. The former No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings has made at least one final in every season since 1997. Mirnyi and Oswald will play the winner between Wesley Koolhof/Artem Sitak and Radu Albot/Nikoloz Basilashvili.

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Grigor Dimitrov began to make good on his enormous potential last year, claiming his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title (Cincinnati), winning the Nitto ATP Finals and finishing the year No. 3 in the ATP Rankings.

Next on his to-do list is to address the imbalance in his FedEx ATP Head-to-Head records against the game’s very best. He is 1-10 against Rafael Nadal, 1-6 against Novak Djokovic, 3-8 against Andy Murray and 0-6 against Roger Federer.

Dimitrov has the chance to get to work Sunday in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament final in Rotterdam, where he will look for his first win over two-time tournament champion Federer.

“My goal will be to win and at the same time, raise the bar even higher,” Dimitrov said. “In order for me to do that, I just need to play on the court the same way I’ve been practising. I’ll be focusing on myself, as I’ve said throughout the week.”

The Bulgarian is chasing the ninth title of his career and his first of 2018. The second seed is yet to drop a set this week in Rotterdam and is now 10-2 on the season. He reached the semi-finals of the Brisbane International (l. Kyrgios) in the first week of the season. After avenging his loss to Kyrgios in the Australian Open fourth round, he fell to Briton Kyle Edmund in four sets in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.

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Federer, meanwhile, is looking to continue his unbeaten start to the 2018 season and shore up his hold on the No. 1 ATP Ranking, which he will reclaim Monday for the first time in more than five years. If Federer wins the Rotterdam title, he will be guaranteed to remain No. 1 ahead of Rafael Nadal in the lead-up to Indian Wells.

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Dimitrov has won three of his eight ATP World Tour titles indoors: Nitto ATP Finals, Sofia (2017) and Stockholm (2013).