Taro Daniel arrived at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open having never advanced to an ATP World Tour semi-final. The Japanese right-hander was on the verge of falling short again, trailing 0-4 in the deciding set of his quarter-final. But after an impressive performance Sunday against fellow first-time tour-level finalist Malek Jaziri, Daniel raised his first ATP World Tour trophy. 

Daniel spoke to ATPWorldTour.com after the match about what the victory means to him, how he approached the moment and more.

How does it feel to be holding your first ATP World Tour trophy?
Obviously I’m very happy. But I’m very surprised, mostly. I lost in the first round of a Challenger two weeks ago, so winning an ATP World Tour event is amazing.

Was your goal growing up always to one day win an ATP World Tour trophy?
It’s something I always dreamt of, but I was never the kind of guy to say, ‘Oh, it would be so good to win something’. I just always trusted the process. It’s been a really fun road.

It was the first final for both of you today. What was your mindset and approach and how did you feel when you walked on the court?
I think we were both nervous because it was a great opportunity for us to win our first ATP [World Tour title]. Maybe he was more nervous — he had more to lose than me. I kept telling myself that, because I was nervous. But if he was more nervous, then I could be a little bit more relaxed.

Can you talk about your road to the final? You came down from a break in the third set twice in the semi-finals against Jeremy Chardy and then you also came back in the quarter-finals against Rogerio Dutra Silva.
When I won the first match here against [Matteo] Berrettini, I felt very good. It was a good match, and I felt like I could do something decent here. And then I beat [Aljaz] Bedene really well. I played extremely well in that match and then I had faith to win. I beat Dutra Silva and Chardy in very tough matches, a little bit lucky because I was down in both matches in the third set. But then when you win those, you think anything can happen.

What did you do best this week? Was it that you came down in matches that you almost lost?
Coming into this tournament was very chaotic because I actually went to Estoril to play qualies and then I ended up coming here at the last minute, so I didn’t have much time to think about anything. That made me play a little bit looser and without much to lose.

You came into the tournament at a season-low in the ATP Rankings and on Monday you’ll crack your career-best, reaching No. 82. Can you talk about that ranking improvement?
I’ve been in the Top 100 or 110 the past two and a half years or maybe even three years. So it’s great to finally have a career-high again. When you think about winning an ATP event, I thought I was going to jump a little bit higher. But these 250 points are going to allow me to be patient for results again.

Now that you have reached a new career-high ATP Ranking, do you have any new ranking goals for this season?
It would be great to break into the Top 80, which is something I’ve never done. We’ll see. I never play well when I think about what I want to achieve in terms of rankings or results, so I just want to keep concentrate on my process of improving.

Is there anyone you want to thank for helping you to this moment in your career?
My parents, especially my Dad because he’s the one who got me into tennis. He’s always been there. He never pressured me like maybe some of the other parents, so I’m very thankful for that. And obviously all the coaches that I’ve encountered, but especially the ones now that I’m working with in the Japanese federation.

There may be an air of inevitability coming into the Mutua Madrid Open, with Rafael Nadal once again on a clay court rampage in 2018. But third seed Grigor Dimitrov is seeing the gauntlet laid down by the Spaniard as a challenge he’s up for facing.

Nadal comes into Madrid after his 11th tournament wins, respectively, in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. He is on a 12-match winning streak in all competitions and is looking to retain his title in the Spanish capital. Dimitrov will be one of those tasked with stopping the Mallorcan, and is relishing the opportunity to keep working and get himself to a level on clay where he can try to bring down Nadal.

“For me personally, [Rafa’s success] pushes me to do better and to work on the things that I think I can do better,” Dimitrov told assembled media on Sunday at the Caja Magica. “It’s nice to have such a measuring cup – so to speak! He’s the greatest player out there on clay. With the way he plays, you know where the ball is going to be and how it’s going to come, you know what to expect, but there’s not much you can do.

“This is something I enjoy a lot. I love practising against him, I love playing matches. I think it’s great to have a reference like that to improve yourself. It pushes you to do better. You have to give 100 per cent… and try to exploit his weaknesses. You can find them, but the problem is sustaining it during the match.”

Dimitrov comes into Madrid after a solid start to the European clay swing, reaching the semi-finals in at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (l. to Nadal) and the quarter-finals at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (l. to Carreno Busta). With Madrid at 700 metres above sea level, and the courts playing faster at altitude, the 26-year-old Dimitrov is hopeful of continuing his good run of form this week.

The Haskovo native opens his campaign at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament against Milos Raonic or qualifier Nicolas Kicker.

“I always like coming here a bit earlier. It always brings back good memories,” said the right-hander. “I enjoy playing here a lot. I think this is one of the events on clay that I really like. The clay is a little bit faster, so I really like that. It favours me. I’m looking forward to getting on the court. Everything is back to normal and healthy. That’s all I can ask for right now.

“I’ve never had a good relationship with Roland Garros,” said Dimitrov about the upcoming clay-court major, where he has never been past the third round. “But time has passed, and I’ve started the season pretty well on the clay. I want to keep playing that way and winning matches. When Roland Garros comes around, I hope I can do better. Simple as that.”

Alexander Zverev won his second successive BMW Open by FWU title on Sunday, defeating countryman and three-time champion Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3.

The top seed dropped just two points behind his second serve and converted four of his six break point chances to clinch the title for a second time after 71 minutes. The final was the first all-German championship match since Zverev lost to Florian Mayer at the 2016 Gerry Weber Open. After successfully retaining a tour-level event for the first time, Zverev now owns seven ATP World Tour titles. Zverev’s last title came at the 2017 Rogers Cup (d. Federer).

Kohlschreiber was bidding for a record fourth crown in Munich in his sixth final. The World No. 34 has won an ATP World Tour title in six of the past seven seasons, including the previous four years.

The 21-year-old Zverev found himself 2-3 15/40 down against Kohlschreiber, but, after managing to level the scores at 3-3, won three further games without reply to take a one-set lead. After exchanging breaks early in the second set, the same pattern appeared with Zverev securing three straight games from 3-3 to lift the title as Kohlschreiber’s final forehand return landed wide and clear of the baseline.

Zverev receives 250 ATP Ranking points and collects €89,435 in prize money for lifting the trophy. Kohlschreiber gains 150 points and receives €47,105.

Did You Know?
Alexander Zverev is the third man to win consecutive BMW Open by FWU trophies. Only Argentines Guillermo Perez-Roldan and Franco Squillari had previously won successive titles in Munich.