Guido Pella and Diego Schwartzman led Team Argentina in Sydney at the inaugural ATP Cup. At the 24-team event, they were buoyed by Argentine fans who came to support. Now, one month later, they get to compete at home at the second edition of the Cordoba Open.

“It’s the second city in Argentina [with an ATP Tour event]. That is very important. We have a lot of friends, a lot of people who try to watch tennis,” Schwartzman said. “This is a new tournament for them and they are enjoying last year and this year again. We are here to do well and to try to enjoy it with the people in this amazing city.”

In Sydney, there were plenty of vuvuzelas, drums and other instruments Argentine fans used to cheer on their players. In Cordoba, the atmosphere will certainly be special for the home favourites.

“I think they are the best fans. Here in Argentina it’s very nice,” Schwartzman said. “Here we have a lot of good people. They are the best fans for me and for every Argentine. The people here enjoy a lot to see every sport. When some Argentine is playing, it’s very, very nice for us.”

One year ago, Pella reached his first final of the season in Cordoba, ultimately losing in the championship match against countryman Juan Ignacio Londero. Making that run in front of his home fans gave the lefty, who is seeded second this year, plenty of confidence. Pella broke into the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time in August.

“It’s great to play in front of your people, in front of all your country, so I think it’s a good opportunity for all the Argentine players to play [at home], to try to play their best,” Pella said. “Of course to play here in Cordoba is very nice because I did my first final here last year, so I hope to keep playing like this.”

The Cordoba Open is the first clay-court event of the season, which keeps the players in the field on their toes. Schwartzman says preparing for the switch from hard court to clay is key.

“I’m trying to think to be ready with my legs, mentally, physically, everything. I need to be ready because here on clay and with this weather, [it is] very hot, you need to be ready to play two, three hours on clay for three sets,” Schwartzman said. “I think if I am in my 100 per cent, I have a good chance to do well.”

Schwartzman will begin his tournament against countryman Leonardo Mayer or Spaniard Jaume Munar, while Pella will play Frenchman Corentin Moutet or Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

“The beginning of the year was very good for me. Good start in Australia at the ATP Cup. I’m [feeling] very good right now, trying to be at my 100 per cent on clay,” Schwartzman said. “It’s been seven months already without playing on clay. It’s a different way to see every point on court, so I need to have a few days, enjoy here in Argentina and try to do my best and try to play my best tennis.”

World No. 198 Carlos Taberner sprung Monday’s biggest upset at the Cordoba Open, defeating seventh seed Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 48 minutes to earn just his second ATP Tour victory.

The qualifier was competing in his first tour-level match since losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a four-setter in the first round of 2018 Roland Garros. But he showed few nerves against his Spanish countryman, saving seven of the 10 break points he faced, converting five of his nine opportunities.

Taberner arrived in Cordoba without a win at any level this season. But he rallied from down a set and a break in the first round of qualifying, and now he will play Argentine Federico Coria or Slovakian Andrej Martin in the second round of the main draw.

Verdasco appeared in control after the first set, playing the match on his terms. But 15 unforced errors in the second set turned the tide, and the Spaniard was unable to find his rhythm again. He wasn’t the only player to suffer a surprise loss on the first day of main draw action, though.

World No. 108 Attila Balazs upset 2019 Antalya champion Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 7-6(3), triumphing after two hours and one minute. The Hungarian saved all eight break points he faced to advance to a second-round showdown against third seed Cristian Garin, who won two ATP Tour titles (Houston, Munich) last year.

The winner of that match will play sixth seed Pablo Cuevas or Italian Gianluca Mager. Cuevas beat home favorite Federico Delbonis 7-5, 6-2 on Monday, while Mager battled past Argentine qualifier Juan Pablo Ficovich 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Slovakian Norbert Gombos earned the upset of the day on Monday at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.

The 29-year-old right-hander knocked out sixth seed and former World No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the second round of the ATP 250. Gombos, No. 104 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, will next meet Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori or Austrian Dennis Novak.

France’s Gregoire Barrere set up a second-round meeting with fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov after beating Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-2, 7-6(6). The 25-year-old Frenchman saved 88 per cent (7/8) of the break points he faced and won 60 per cent (15/25) of his second-serve points.

In the only other main draw match of the day, Canadian Vasek Pospisil was perfect on break points and beat Slovenian Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4. The 29-year-old Pospisil saved all five break points faced and converted both break points he saw on Bedene’s serve.

Pospisil will next face countryman and third seed Denis Shapovalov. The #NextGenATP left-hander leads their ATP Head2Head 1-0, a straight-sets win last month at the ASB Classic in Auckland.

Second seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau defeated Canadian #NextGenATP stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4 on Monday to reach the second round of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.

Rojer and Tecau, who have won 20 tour-level titles as a team, saved all seven break points they faced against Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov. They broke twice — once in each set — en route to a 78-minute victory. Rojer and Tecau will next play Dominic Inglot/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi or Alexander Bublik/Damir Dzumhur. 

In the other doubles match of the day in Montpellier, Nikola Cacic and Mate Pavic eliminated wild cards Kenny De Schepper and Hugo Gaston 6-4, 6-4. They will face the winner between top seeds Kevin Krawietz/Nicolas Mahut and Adrian Mannarino/Hugo Nys.

At the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, Italians Paolo Lorenzi/Stefano Travaglia beat Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis and Russian Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 6-4. On Tuesday in India, there will be a blockbuster when doubles legend Leander Paes and his partner, Matthew Ebden, face second seeds Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak.

In Cordoba, fourth seeds Leonardo Mayer/Andres Molteni ousted fellow Argentines Guillermo Duran/Juan Ignacio Londero 6-3, 1-6, 10-5 to reach the second round of the Cordoba Open.

Nick Kyrgios returned to the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday for the first time since 13 August 2018, coming in at World No. 20. The Aussie, who lost to top seed Rafael Nadal in four tight sets in the fourth round of the Australian Open, fell as low as World No. 72 last February. 

“Hopefully I can keep doing it,” Kyrgios said of his good form. “I’m just taking it day by day, trying to be positive, just bringing positive vibes.”

Kyrgios won ATP 500 tournaments in Acapulco and Washington last year to rebuild his standing. He won four of his seven matches against Top 10 opponents in 2019.

The six-time ATP Tour titlist is next scheduled to compete at the New York Open, the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where he is defending champion. Outside of the 500 points he is defending in Acapulco, Kyrgios is only defending an additional 220 points through Wimbledon.

Kyrgios’ career-high FedEx ATP Ranking is No. 13, which he reached in October 2016 after triumphing in Tokyo. The 24-year-old has played well so far this season, winning three of his four singles matches at the ATP Cup before making the fourth round in Melbourne.

Japan’s Yuichi Sugita set a second-round showdown with Serbian Viktor Troicki on Monday at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune.

The fifth-seeded Japanese beat Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano 6-3, 6-0. Sugita saved six of seven break points to improve to 2-1 in 2020. 

The 33-year-old Troicki qualified for the ATP 250 and secured his first singles win of the season with a 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-1 win against Indian Sumit Nagal, who took a set off Roger Federer last year in the first round of the US Open.

In other action, German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe beat 2019 finalist Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 and will next meet second seed Ricardas Berankis. Seventh seed Salvatore Caruso of Italy also advanced, holding off Indian wild card Ramkumar Ramanathan 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

A LOOK BACK
Oracle Challenger Series Newport Beach (Newport Beach, California, USA): To say that Thai-Son Kwiatkowski earned his first ATP Challenger Tour title would be an understatement. The American reeled off six wins in six days in Newport Beach, lifting his maiden trophy in emphatic fashion. Not only did Kwiatkowski topple four seeds in a row, but he rallied from a set down to overcome Brayden Schnur and Steve Johnson along the way.

The former University of Virginia standout dominated Sunday’s final, beating Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-1 in just 58 minutes. Appearing in his first final, Kwiatkowski exhibited nerves of steel in taking the title. He soared 89 spots to a career-high No. 181 in the FedEx ATP Rankings with the victory.

“I almost didn’t come to this tournament,” said Kwiatkowski during the trophy ceremony. “I had a really bad week of training last week and my girlfriend dumped me two weeks ago so to win this is amazing.

“He qualified for the Australian Open last week so I knew he’s super match tough and playing well. I was incredibly nervous, it was my first ATP Challenger final. I just tried to not think about what was on the line and play every point. It was super difficult, it was a little bit cooler than yesterday. But I hung in there really well.”

The NCAA singles champion in 2017, Kwiatkowski was also an integral part of three national championship runs for the University of Virginia. Now, three years after turning pro, he is putting it all together on the professional scene alongside longtime coach Carlos Benatzky. He is coming off a 23-win season that also saw him claim his first Top 100 victory.

Kwiatkowski, who was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, is three-quarters Vietnamese and one-quarter Polish. Last year, he visited Vietnam to hold a series of kids’ clinics in Ho Chi Minh City. The 24-year-old has stressed the importance of growing the game in his mother’s native country.

Meanwhile, in doubles, Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar continued their impressive run together, earning a seventh Challenger title as a team. All seven titles have come within the past year, as the Uruguayan-Ecuadorian pair move closer to the Top 50 of the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings.

Caterpillar Burnie International (Burnie, Australia): Top seed Taro Daniel was a class above the rest in Burnie. The World No. 110 dominated from start to finish, not dropping a set en route to lifting the trophy. He conceded just five games in the quarter-finals, four games in the semis and routed Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-2 in Sunday’s championship.

It was a long-awaited return to the winners’ circle for the Japanese star, who celebrated his first title since 2017. It was his sixth overall on the ATP Challenger Tour and first alongside new coach Sven Groeneveld. Closing in on a Top 100 return, he rises eight spots to No. 102 in the latest FedEx ATP Rankings.

Watch Daniel Interview

Punta Open (Punta del Este, Uruguay): The first clay-court champion of 2020 is Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro. The 25-year-old successfully defended his Punta del Este crown in dramatic fashion, saving three match points against Marco Cecchinato in Sunday’s final.

Monteiro, who fought off those three championship points at 5-4 in the third set, prevailed 7-6(3), 6-7(6), 7-5 after two hours and 51 minutes. He turned in a clutch serving performance as well, denying eight of nine break points faced.

In 2019, Monteiro broke through with three Challenger titles and soared inside the Top 100 to become the No. 1-ranked Brazilian. This week, he picked up right where he left off, adding a sixth title overall after opening the year with a run to the second round at the ASB Classic in Auckland as a qualifier.

Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale (Quimper, France): Kwiatkowski wasn’t the only player to lift his first trophy on Sunday. In Quimper, Cem Ilkel reigned for the first time, defeating home hope Maxime Janvier 7-6(6), 7-5 for the title.

The 24-year-old Ilkel is the first player from Turkey to win a Challenger title since Marsel Ilhan in 2016. He earned every bit of the victory, with four of his wins coming in three sets. He rises 65 spots to a career-high No. 200 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Meanwhile, in Quimper, another first-time winner was crowned.

Cem Ilkel is Turkey’s ?? first #ATPChallenger champion since 2016, taking the title @OpendeQuimper. pic.twitter.com/loE0VswQ3q

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 2, 2020

A LOOK AHEAD
Two tournaments highlight this week’s slate, with Frances Tiafoe headlining the RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas. He is joined by Andreas Seppi, Dominik Koepfer, Brayden Schnur, defending champion Mitchell Krueger and two-time runner-up Mackenzie McDonald.

And in Launceston, Australia, Marc Polmans and Alex Bolt lead the charge on home soil. Max Purcell, seeded 10th, is coming off a run to the Australian Open doubles final with countryman Luke Saville.

No. 56 Tennys Sandgren, +44
The American, who dropped out of the Top 100 on 13 January, bounced back with a 44-place rise to No. 56 in the FedEx ATP Rankings after reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals for the second time (also 2018). Sandgren reached a career-high No. 41 on 14 January 2019.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic, +1
The Serbian star captured his eighth Australian Open crown — which marked his 17th Grand Slam championship title — for a return to No. 1. Djokovic, who has now been World No. 1 for 276 weeks during nine of the past 10 seasons (2011-16, 2018-20), will break Roger Federer’s record for most weeks at No. 1 (310 weeks) if he stays at the top until 5 October. Read More

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No. 20 Nick Kyrgios, +6
The Australian returned to the Top 20 for the first time since 13 August 2018 (at No. 18) after advancing to the Australian Open fourth round (l. to Nadal). Kyrgios attained a career-high No. 13 on 24 October 2016.

No. 53 Marton Fucsovics, +14
The Hungarian beat Denis Shapovalov, Jannik Sinner and Tommy Paul en route to the Australian Open fourth round for a second time (also 2018) to rise up 14 places in the FedEx ATP Rankings. He remains 22 spots below his career-high of No. 31 on 4 March 2019. Read Feature

Other Notable Movers
No. 15 Andrey Rublev (Career High), +1
No. 31 Cristian Garin (Career High), +5
No. 41 John Millman, +6
No. 66 Yoshihito Nishioka, +5
No. 70 Tommy Paul (Career High), +10
No. 78 Jannik Sinner, +4
No. 90 Egor Gerasimov, +8

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic today returns to the top of the FedEx ATP Rankings for a fifth stint after capturing a record-extending eighth Australian Open title. It will be his 276th week at the top, replacing Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who had overtaken him at No. 1 on 4 November last year.

Djokovic, who has now been World No. 1 during nine of the past 10 seasons (2011-16, 2018-20), will break Roger Federer’s record for most weeks at No. 1 (310 weeks) if he stays at the top until 5 October.

“That’s one of the two biggest goals, for sure. I mean, there is no secret in that,” said Djokovic, after winning in Melbourne.

View Latest FedEx ATP Rankings

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said, “Novak has had a faultless start to the season, leading Serbia to victory at the ATP Cup and capturing a record eighth Australian Open crown. He has proven yet again that he is the man to beat and his record in Australia is second to none. Many congratulations to Novak and his team on such impressive start to the year and his deserved return to World No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.”

Djokovic first ascended to No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings aged 24 on 4 July 2011 for a total of 53 weeks until 8 July 2012. The Serbian returned to top spot on three further occasions between 5 November 2012 and 6 October 2013 (48 weeks), from 7 July 2014 to 6 November 2016 (122 weeks) and from 5 November 2018 to 3 November 2019 (52 weeks).

The 32-year-old Djokovic is unbeaten in 2020 with a perfect 13-0 match record, which includes helping Team Serbia clinch the inaugural ATP Cup trophy. His Australian Open win takes Djokovic’s Grand Slam championship tally to 17 (third in the all-time list behind Federer on 20 and Nadal on 19) and gives him a strong lead in the year-to-date FedEx ATP Race To London.

Tickets are now on public sale for the Nitto ATP Finals, which marks the 50th anniversary of the season finale and will be the 12th and final edition held in London, before it moves to Turin, Italy, in 2021. The Nitto ATP Finals will be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. Buy Tickets

MOST WEEKS AT NO. 1 IN FEDEX ATP RANKINGS (since 1973)
A list of the total number of weeks each player has spent at No. 1 in the history of the FedEx ATP Rankings (since 1973):