A LOOK BACK
Morelos Open Credito Real (Morelos, Mexico): The same mantra goes for every player. Have a more professional attitude on the court, focus on what you can control and the results will likely follow. In 2019, Jurij Rodionov admitted that he strugged in that department. As the calendar flipped to 2020, those issues are long gone.

Armed with a more mature approach, the #NextGenATP Austrian is hitting his stride behind two titles in three weeks. Rodionov lifted the trophy in Morelos on Sunday, rallying from a set down in both the semis and final to take the title. He defeated Argentina’s Juan Pablo Ficovich 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 for the championship.

Rodionov entered the month of February outside the Top 350 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. But thanks to titles on the indoor hard courts of Dallas and outdoor hard courts of Morelos, he will vault to a career-high No. 172 on Monday.

The 20-year-old is the first player to win multiple titles in 2020, boasting a 12-1 mark since the start of February. He now owns three crowns in total, having lifted his maiden trophy in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2018.

Challenger Banque Nationale de Drummondville (Drummondville, Canada): Sunday’s final in Drummondville was a meeting of former college standouts, as UCLA’s Maxime Cressy met Texas A&M’s Arthur Rinderknech for the title. What started with an extravagant pre-match light show and concert was capped by a Cressy triumph after two hours and six minutes.

The American became the last man standing after a marathon 6-7(4) 6-4, 6-4 win. He did not drop serve all week, riding his dominant delivery to victory. Cressy, who left UCLA to return to pro tennis in 2020, claimed his second Challenger crown. He previously prevailed in Cleveland a year ago.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I didn’t get broken this week,” said Cressy. “That’s pretty cool and it never happened in my life. I’m super happy to win here. I battled through every single day, physically, mentally and emotionally. It was a rollercoaster this week. I’m just happy I fought through all of it.”

Cressy rises 61 spots to No. 191 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Koblenz Open (Koblenz, Germany): The future of Czech tennis has arrived. In September, Jonas Forejtek captured the US Open boys’ title, and on Sunday, countryman Tomas Machac triumphed for the first time on the ATP Challenger Tour. The Beroun native prevailed in Koblenz, defeating Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 56 minutes.

Machac is the first teenage winner on the Challenger circuit this year and joins Rodionov as the only #NextGenATP champions (born 1999 or later). It also marks the first time a Czech teen has lifted a trophy since Jiri Vesely in 2013.

“I knew that it will be tough today, as our previous two matches [both won by Van De Zandschulp] were also very close,” Machac told Florian Heer of Tennis-TourTalk.com. “I was so nervous and I am really tired right now. It was really great to see that a lot of fans came to watch this match. It was special for me today and I am very happy.

“I will next get back to Prague to see my parents before heading for Trento, Italy, to compete in an ITF tournament. Then I will enjoy one week off, having some practice and rest.”

Machac was making just the ninth Challenger appearance of his young career, but the Czech was hitting top gear from first ball. He did not drop a set in reaching the final. Having entered the week just inside the Top 350 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, he is projected to soar nearly 100 spots to a career-high No. 251.

Trofeo Perrel – Faip (Bergamo, Italy): Government suspension of all sporting events in the Lombardy and Veneto regions of Italy, due to the coronavirus, forced the cancellation of the Bergamo final. Illya Marchenko and Enzo Couacaud split honours, with both receiving finalist points and prize money for the week.

Earlier in the week, 16-year-old Leo Borg, son of former World No. 1 and tennis legend Bjorn Borg, made his professional debut. He fell to Chun-hsin Tseng in straight sets.

A LOOK AHEAD
Last year, Jeremy Chardy launched a Challenger tournament in his hometown of Pau, France. Now, the Terega Open Pau-Pyrennes is back for a second edition. Jiri Vesely, Norbert Gombos and Sumit Nagal lead the field.

In 2018, Ivo Karlovic became the oldest champion in Challenger history, triumphing in Calgary, Canada. Seeded third, Karlovic is back as the tournament welcomes a second edition. Home hope Vasek Pospisil leads the pack.

And in Columbus, 10th seed Peter Polansky looks to retain his trophy. He is joined by leading men Christopher O’Connell, Marc Polmans and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.

Thirteen of the Top 20 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings will be in action this week, spread across the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is competing in Dubai, and World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is in Acapulco.

DRAWS: ACAPULCO | DUBAI | SANTIAGO

Stream live on Tennis TV or watch on your local TV channel – see more information on the ATP Tour TV Schedule.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ACAPULCO
1) Rafa Going For No. 3: Top seed Rafael Nadal has won the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC twice, in 2005 and 2013. He will try this week to win a tour-level title for the 17th consecutive year. The Spaniard plays countryman Pablo Andujar in the first round.

2) Defending Champ: Nick Kyrgios went on a memorable run in Acapulco last year, including victories over Nadal and 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev. Kyrgios is 6-2 on the season, and he will play his first match since the Australian Open against 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Ugo Humbert.

3) FAA Has Momentum: Felix Auger-Aliassime reached his fourth and fifth ATP Tour finals in Rotterdam and Marseille in the past two weeks. The Canadian is still pursuing his maiden tour-level crown, and he will try to lift the trophy at this ATP 500 event. The #NextGenATP star, who is the fourth seed, will begin his tournament against lucky loser Alex Bolt of Australia.

4) Zverev Back Again: Could this be the year Zverev breaks through in Acapulco? Two years ago, he reached the semi-finals. Last year, he fell in the championship match. The second seed, chasing his 12th ATP Tour title, will try to get off to a good start to this edition of the tournament against qualifier Jason Jung.

5) Zverev Brothers In Doubles: Zverev and his brother, Mischa Zverev, won the Acapulco doubles title last year, and they are back to defend their trophy. The top seeds are Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah, the second seeds are Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo, and third seeds Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos are fresh off a title at the Rio Open presented by Claro.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN DUBAI
1) Novak Leads The Way: World No.1 and four-time Champion Novak Djokovic returns to Dubai for the first time since 2016 with a 13-0 record in 2020. Djokovic, fresh off leading Team Serbia to ATP Cup glory and winning a record-extending eighth Australian Open title, is the top seed at this event for the seventh time.

2) Stefanos Shining: Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas arrives in Dubai after winning his fifth ATP Tour title last week in Marseille without dropping a set. It was the first time that the Greek has retained a tour-level title. Tsitsipas, the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion, reached the final in Dubai last year.

3) Titlists All Around: There have been 13 tour-level singles tournaments played so far this year, and six of them have been won by players in the Dubai draw. Djokovic (Australian Open), Andrey Rublev (Doha, Adelaide), Gael Monfils (Montpellier, Rotterdam, currently on a nine-match winning streak) and Tsitsipas (Marseille) are the 2020 champions in the field.

4) Musetti Magic: Lorenzo Musetti, 17, used his qualifying wild card well, winning both of his matches in straight sets to reach the main draw. He is the first player born in 2002 to qualify for an ATP Tour event. Musetti is the lone #NextGenATP player in the main draw.

5) Defending Champs The Top Seeds: Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are the top seeds in the doubles draw, fresh off their Australian Open title. Ram and Salisbury earned their first trophy together in Dubai last year, and they did not drop a set. They will face a star-studded team in the first round in Djokovic and former singles World No. 3 Marin Cilic.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN SANTIAGO
1) Welcome Back, Chile: This is the inaugural edition of the Chile Dove Men+Care Open. Previously, Chile hosted another ATP Tour event in Santiago from 1993-2000 and 2010-11, and that same tournament was held in Vina del Mar from 2001-09 and 2012-14.

2) Home Favourite: Cristian Garin hopes to give home fans plenty to cheer about as the top seed. He grew up watching Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu at the tournament in Vina del Mar, and in 2013, he made an impressive tour-level debut at that event as a 16-year-old, defeating Dusan Lajovic to become the fifth player aged 16 years and under to win a tour-level match since 2000. Garin has won nine consecutive matches, lifting titles this year in Cordoba and Rio de Janeiro.

3) Ruud Rising: Casper Ruud will attempt to win his second title of the 2020 ‘Golden Swing’. The 21-year-old triumphed at the Argentina Open to become the first player from Norway to win an ATP Tour title. Ruud is the second seed.

4) Two Chilean Wild Cards: This ATP 250 has awarded home favourites Alejandro Tabilo and Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera wild cards into the main draw. Both men own one tour-level win, and Tabilo is at a career-high World No. 166.

5) Demoliner/Middelkoop Top Seeds: Marcelo Demoliner and Matwe Middelkoop are the top seeds in the doubles draw. They have won two ATP Tour titles together in the past four months, triumphing last October in Moscow and earlier this month in Cordoba.

Reilly Opelka had to overcome plenty of hurdles on Sunday, playing two matches against opponents — one 6’5” and the other 5’7” — with completely different game styles. But the 6’11” American literally and figuratively stood tall to win the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com title.

Opelka claimed his second ATP Tour trophy behind 27 aces with a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 victory against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. Earlier in the day, the 22-year-old rallied past former World No. 3 Milos Raonic, saving a match point in the semi-finals to triumph 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3.

That match was postponed due to rain Saturday evening. However, Nishioka was able to finish his semi-final on Saturday, so he only needed to play one match on Sunday. Nothing could stop the big-hitting Opelka, though, as he defeated the 2018 Shenzhen champion after two hours and 10 minutes.

The fourth seed is the fourth American champion in Delray Beach in the past five years, with Moldovan Radu Albot being the exception last year. Opelka lifted his maiden ATP Tour trophy 53 weeks ago at the New York Open.

Opelka played Nishioka for the first time in their ATP Head2Head series last week in New York, winning that match 6-4, 6-4. In those indoor conditions, Opelka saved all four break points he faced. He was broken in Delray Beach, but he saved three of the four break points he faced, playing courageous tennis under pressure.

Opelka showed no fear of engaging in rallies with Nishioka, displaying great footwork for his height by playing dogged defence when needed. But he also went for his shots when balls sat up, and that paid dividends in key moments.

Opelka crushed a forehand at 6-5 in the opener to earn his third set point. And after playing plenty of defence on the forehand side, he hit a cross-court backhand passing shot that Nishioka couldn’t handle, sprinting to his chair and smacking his chest in celebration.

Nishioka was under pressure in the second set, needing to save three set points — Opelka faced none — but he hung around to force a tie-break, where his solid play helped him force a decider. The 24-year-old continued to make Opelka move, putting the American in awkward positions, which led to mistakes.

But a lapse of concentration in the first game of the third set proved deadly for Nishioka. He double faulted to give Opelka the break, and that was all the champion needed. Nishioka later missed a backhand down the line wide to give the home favourite a second break in the set, and Opelka finished off his win with his 27th ace.

Opelka adds 250 FedEx ATP Ranking points to his total and earns $97,585, while Nishioka leaves Florida with 150 points and $53,615.

Did You Know?
Opelka hit a total of 46 aces on Sunday, striking 27 against Nishioka and 19 against Raonic.

Ten months ago, Cristian Garin didn’t own an ATP Tour trophy. Just more than a year ago, he had never reached a tour-level final.

But after beating Italian qualifier Gianluca Mager 7-6(3), 7-5 on Sunday in a physical battle to win the Rio Open presented by Claro, Garin is now a four-time ATP Tour titlist. The Chilean has won a personal-best nine consecutive matches after also triumphing earlier this month at the Cordoba Open in Argentina.

“I think this is a gift from all those years working hard, suffering. This is my dream. I’m enjoying it,” Garin said. “I didn’t expect this ever in my life. I’m so, so happy.

“I’m really emotional and winning the Rio Open means a lot to me. It’s hard to describe this past week. I slept only four or five hours and woke up nervous this morning and it ended up being one of the best days of my life.”

Watch Garin Hot Shot:

With rain suspending play in both singles semi-finals on Saturday evening, Garin had to do double duty in Brazil on Sunday. He needed only four games to finish off a straight-sets victory against fifth seed Borna Coric. The third seed then returned to Quadra Guga Kuerten later in the afternoon to beat Mager in one hour and 35 minutes for the trophy.

“He played an amazing match. I didn’t feel my tennis today, I just tried to give my 100 per cent. He was hitting as hard as I can and it’s very tough for me to play against people like that,” Garin said. “Gianluca had an amazing tournament.”

This is Garin’s first ATP 500 crown. Not only does he earn $355,530 for his victory, but an important 500 FedEx ATP Ranking points, which will propel him to a career-high No. 18 on Monday. He began the week at a career-best World No. 25.

“Winning an event of this magnitude motivates me even more. I will never forget this week. And receiving the trophy from Gustavo Kuerten’s hands means so much to me,” Garin said. “It’s for moments like this that I play tennis and make daily sacrifices. This means so, so much to me and I’m still really emotional. Now it’s time to enjoy a bit and tomorrow I’m back to work.

“I’m happy with my ranking and I also know I have a lot of things to get better, so that’s a good a thing. It means I still have a long way to go.”

Garin was the favourite heading into the final, not just because of his FedEx ATP Ranking — No. 25 to Mager’s No. 128 — but because he played far less tennis on Sunday in his semi-final. Mager resumed play with a 7-6(4), 3-3 lead against Hungarian lucky loser Attila Balazs, whom he also defeated 6-0, 6-2 in the final round of qualifying. The Italian had to battle from down a break in the decider to win 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(2) just to reach the final.

But Mager — who was broken in the first game of the match — showed no fear of the stage, despite winning only two tour-level matches before this week. He used his first serve to elicit short balls, which he was unafraid of going after, winning 78 per cent of those points. Mager also played plenty of cat-and-mouse rallies with the Chilean, using short angles to get the third seed on the move.

Garin’s experience paid dividends, though. Mager failed to serve out the second set, and Garin capitalised, winning four straight games to clinch his victory.

It was a memorable week for Mager, who upset top seed and World No. 4 Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals. The three-time ATP Challenger Tour champion earns $178,455 and 300 points, which will see him climb inside the Top 80. Previously, the Italian’s career-high was No. 114.

“Incredible week. It’s unbelievable for me. It’s a dream to beat the No. 4 in the world, go to the final of an ATP 500,” Mager said. “I am very happy and I’ll keep working every day and fight every day.”

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan ended their final Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com campaign in familiar fashion on Sunday, lifting the trophy for a record-extending sixth time after a 3-6, 7-5, 10-5 victory against Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan.

The top seeds, who will retire following this year’s US Open, broke serve late in the second set and charged to victory in the Match Tie-break after 82 minutes. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan claimed each of their three tournament victories in Match Tie-breaks this week.

“It’s amazing to win this title again in our back yard,” said Bob Bryan. “I have been staying at home and I got so much friends and family here. They kept us fighting and they kept us focused. Those are the people that have your back.”

In an interesting tactical change, the brothers switched sides in the opening set with Mike Bryan playing in the deuce court and Bob Bryan in the Ad court. After losing the opening set, the defending champions reverted to their traditional sides before claiming the trophy.

This is the third time that Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have won back-to-back titles in Delray Beach. The American twins also lifted the ATP 250 trophy in 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2019.

“We were down most of the match. The other team was outplaying us for over an hour,” said Bob Bryan. “Had it been any other place, it would have been easy to lay down. But here, they kept us in it until we got a little bit of luck.”

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have now won six tour-level events on six occasions as a team. The 41-year-old brothers also own six team crowns in Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Monte-Carlo and at the Australian Open.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan own 119 doubles titles from 178 tour-level finals as a pairing. The twins have now won at least one ATP Tour title as a team for 20 consecutive years.

“It’s cool [to win an ATP Tour title in 20 consecutive seasons]. It makes us feel old, but it makes us feel great that we can win and be this consistent over 20 years,” said Mike Bryan. “It feels like we are unscathed here, we won our last match in the city. We are always going to have pretty awesome memories coming to Delray.”

On Tuesday night, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan collected another prize at this event. To mark their 13th and final appearance in Delray Beach, the Florida residents were awarded the key to the city in honour of their positive impact on the tournament.

Bambridge and McLachlan were attempting to collect their second team title of the season. The British-Japanese pairing earned its maiden ATP Tour crown at last month’s ASB Classic in Auckland. Bambridge and McLachlan were competing in their second match of the day, after Saturday rain forced their semi-final match to be played on Sunday morning.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan receive 250 FedEx ATP Doubles Ranking points and split $34,100 in prize money. Bambridge and McLachlan gain 150 points and share $17,480.

Third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos won their third ATP Tour team title on Sunday, triumphing at the Rio Open presented by Claro with a 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 victory against Salvatore Caruso and Federico Gaio.

Granollers and Zeballos needed to win two matches on Sunday due to rain on Saturday, and they also defeated home favorites Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves and Thiago Monteiro 7-6(6), 6-4 in the semi-finals. In the championship match, they trailed 4/7 in the Match Tie-break before winning six consecutive points to win the trophy.

The biggest moment of the match came at 7/7, when Caruso and Gaio charged the net and appeared to be impassable, sending volley after volley back to the third seeds. But Granollers hit a perfect backhand lob off his back foot to pull his team ahead, and they’d never relinquish that lead. It is the second team title of the season for Granollers and Zeballos, who also were victorious in Buenos Aires.

The Spaniard and Argentine split $114,200 and each earn 500 ATP Doubles Ranking points. They have proven a tough duo since debuting at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal last year, winning that ATP Masters 1000 event. This is Granollers’ 20th tour-level doubles crown, and Zeballos’ 15th.

Caruso and Gaio fell just short of completing a dream week. The Italian qualifiers stunned second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 in the semi-finals. They had never previously played together on the ATP Tour (6-8 at ATP Challenger Tour events), and only Gaio owned a tour-level doubles victory, and only one at that.

Caruso and Gaio claim 300 points each and they will share $55,900 for their efforts.

Making his first appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships since 2016, four-time champion Novak Djokovic arrives at the ATP 500 event on a 13-match unbeaten streak in 2020.

The 32-year-old will be competing on the ATP Tour for the first time since reclaiming the World No. 1 FedEx ATP Ranking from rival Rafael Nadal, following success with Team Serbia at the inaugural ATP Cup and a record-extending eighth title run at the Australian Open last month.

“I missed it. I haven’t played here for [four] years and I look forward to getting out on the court,” said Djokovic. “I started off the season in the best possible way in Australia and I am hoping I can continue that streak this week in Dubai.”

When first-round opponent Malek Jaziri attended this year’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships draw, the wild card was hoping for a low-key start to an event where he has faced Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov in the early stages during four of his six-main draw appearances.

“Hopefully this year the draw will be good for me,” said Jaziri on Saturday. “Usually I play a seeded [player] always here. I’ve played Roger, I’ve played Novak, I’ve played Andy. I played Grigor as well two years ago.” 

It was not only Jaziri and fellow draw attendees Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev who saw the funny side of the Tunisian’s latest unlucky draw experience at the ATP 500 event. Djokovic also shared his thoughts on the unlikely sequence of events, as he looks to capture his first title in Dubai since 2013.

“We get along very well. He is a super nice guy and we train a lot,” said Djokovic. “It is unfortunate. It is very odd that that happened, in terms of the draw, but he is a very talented player and he is very experienced as well. He has played many years on the Tour.”

Djokovic’s last victory in Dubai came against Jaziri en route to the quarter-finals in 2016, but the World No. 1 is well aware of the threat the 36-year-old poses in high-profile matches.

In Jaziri’s last appearance in Dubai two years ago, the Tunisian upset Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas to make it through to his maiden ATP 500 semi-final. In the same year, Jaziri also beat Alexander Zverev at ATP 500-level in Beijing.

“He upset Zverev [two years ago] in China, so he doesn’t feel much pressure playing on the centre courts of the big tournaments,” said Djokovic. “I have got to approach that very seriously and try to bring my best game, because my first match after several weeks of a break is tricky. You have to approach it seriously.”

Reilly Opelka saved one match point in a second-set tie-break on Sunday before rallying to reach the final of the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com with a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 win against former World No. 3 Milos Raonic. This semi-final was delayed from Saturday evening due to rain.

Opelka will face Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka later in the day for the title. Both men own one ATP Tour title, but Opelka leads their ATP Head2Head series 1-0, defeating the lefty in straight sets last week at the New York Open.

Watch Incredible Opelka Passing Shot:

Opelka let slip a 5/0 advantage in the second-set tie-break, losing six consecutive points. But he erased the only match point he faced with a booming ace down the T. The 22-year-old crushed 19 aces in the match to Raonic’s 16, triumphing after two hours and seven minutes. 

That wasn’t the only tough moment for Opelka. After winning all 37 of his service games to reach the final, he hit back-to-back double faults in the first game of the semi-final to hand Raonic the early advantage. The Canadian, who was trying to reach his first ATP Tour final since 2018 Stuttgart, took full advantage.

Raonic won 89 per cent of his first-serve points in the opener to cruise to within one set of the final. But the big-serving Opelka hung around in the second set — in which he hit 11 aces — to battle to a decider.

After not breaking Raonic’s serve in the 29-year-old’s first 14 service games, Opelka won back-to-back return games to reach his second ATP Tour final. He will try to become the fourth American champion in Delray Beach in the past five years. Moldovan Radu Albot was victorious last year at this ATP 250.

Did You Know?
In just a few hours, Opelka will transition from facing a 6’5″ opponent in Raonic to a 5’7″ player in Nishioka.

Chilean Cristian Garin won a personal-best eighth consecutive match on Sunday afternoon, finishing off a 6-4, 7-5 win against fifth seed Borna Coric to reach the final of the Rio Open presented by Claro.

The third seed slept on a 6-4, 4-4 advantage, with rain suspending play. Garin wasted little time completing his victory, needing just four games on Sunday to reach his fifth ATP Tour final (3-1). All five of the 23-year-old’s tour-level championship matches have come in the past year.

Garin faced a break point in the first game of the resumption, but he was able to maintain his poise and advance after one hour and 44 minutes.

The Chilean may have experienced deja vu. Last year at the Libema Open, Coric saved one match point before defeating Garin in their only previous ATP Head2Head meeting. In Rio de Janeiro, serving at 5-6, Coric saved match point when he hit a big serve out wide and followed it up with a big forehand swinging volley into the open court. Garin got to the ball in time, but missed his forehand passing shot down the line wide by a couple of feet.

Garin remained undeterred, though. He earned his first victory against the Croatian when Coric missed a forehand into the net.

The recent Cordoba Open champion will face Italian qualifier Gianluca Mager or Hungarian lucky loser Attila Balazs in the final. Those men are currently in the third set of their semi-final, which was also suspended Saturday evening due to rain.