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.

The all-British team of Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie continued their run of form on Saturday, as they navigated past Leonardo Mayer and home-favourite Joao Sousa 6-2, 7-6(4) at the Millennium Estoril Open.  Edmund had faced Sousa just a day earlier in singles, with the Portuguese emerging victorious in three sets. But it was Edmund who came out on top in doubles with Norrie, with both reaching their first tour-level doubles final.

In the first semi-final of the day, Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak beat Jonathan Eysseric and Joe Salisbury, 7-5, 6-3. The Dutch-Kiwi duo was unbroken throughout the match and converted both break points on Eysseric/Salisbury’s serve to claim victory in one hour, 11 minutes.

Dodig/Ram Blitz Germans
At the BMW Open by FWU, doubles veterans Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram advanced to the final following a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory over the all-German team of Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff. Despite dropping serve once, No.2 seeds Dodig and Ram won 80 per cent of first-serve points and were able to put away the Germans in less than an hour, setting up a final with the third-seeded team of Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya.

No. 1 Seeds Take Out Nestor/Cerretani 
Daniel Nestor’s resurgent run to the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open semi-finals came to an end on Saturday, as he and partner Jamie Cerretani fell to No. 1 seeds Ben McLachlan and Nicholas Monroe. McLachlan and Monroe defeated the North American duo 6-2, 2-6, 10-6 to advance to the final, where they’ll face Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt. Inglot was the champion last week at the Gazprom Hungarian Open alongside Franko Skugor.

McLachlan is bidding for his second ATP World Tour doubles title after claiming his first in Toyko last season, while Monroe will play for his fourth; as a team, they’ll play for their first.

Portugal’s Joao Sousa entered the 2018 Millennium Estoril Open with a 0-3 record at his home tournament. 

On Saturday, he became the first Portuguese finalist at the event, beating #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4).

The home favourite booked a place in his 10th ATP World Tour final after two hours and seven minutes, converting his third match point in a final-set tie-break. Sousa has now won 14 of his past 18 tour-level matches, dating back to the beginning of March. He began the season with a 3-6 tour-level record.

Sousa will meet defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta or Delray Beach winner Frances Tiafoe in Sunday’s championship match.

Sousa secured the only break of the first set to take a one-set advantage, before the in-form 19-year-old levelled the match with two breaks of serve in the second set. The third set was dominated by serve, with just two of the 12 games reaching deuce and no break points on offer. Sousa raced out to a 4/0 lead in the decisive tie-break and, despite losing his first two match points, clinched his place in the final on his third opportunity.

Tsitsipas was bidding to become the first teenager since Juan Martin del Potro in 2008 (Los Angeles, Washington) to reach consecutive ATP World Tour finals.

Did You Know?
Joao Sousa has reached an ATP World Tour final in five of the past six ATP World Tour seasons dating back to his maiden title in Kuala Lumpur (2013).

Japan’s Taro Daniel shocked the tennis world at Indian Wells when he ousted Novak Djokovic in the second round. And now, two months later, he is into his maiden ATP World Tour final.

Daniel defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open in a gritty two-hour, 33-minute encounter that saw a combined 10 breaks of serve.

Daniel got off to an emphatic start to the match, claiming the first set with two breaks of the Chardy serve, which wavered under the constant pressure of Daniel’s returning prowess. The second set was a different story, as Chardy upped his level and began dictating with his heavy forehand groundstrokes to even the contest at a set apiece.

The final set was a seesaw affair featuring four straight breaks, a run that was eventually stopped by the Japanese in the crucial ninth game. Daniel was able to fend off three break points to hold serve, before breaking Chardy one last time in the following game to claim the win.

“I’m very happy, but more relieved because there was a lot of tension in the last few games,” said the 25-year-old. “The first set I played really well; second set – maybe I could have finished in two sets because I was playing a little bit better than him today.”

“You never know what’s going to happen in tennis,” added Daniel on what he expects for Sunday’s final. “It could be a really easy match, I could lose easily, win easily; win tough, lose tough. It’s more important to think about how to recover the best I can for tomorrow.”

The World No. 114’s victory ends Chardy’s bid for his first tour-level title since 2009, while Daniel himself will look to become the first Japanese titlist since Yuichi Sugita in Antalya last season when he faces Malek Jaziri in the final, guaranteeing a first-time ATP World Tour champion.

Jaziri earned his shot at the title with a straight-sets win over Serbian Laslo Djere in Saturday’s second semi-final. The Tunisian earned the 6-3, 6-2 decision in one hour, 31 minutes, using his variety to reach his maiden ATP World Tour final

At 34 years old, Jaziri has put together one of his most noteworthy seasons in 2018. Earlier this year in Dubai, he claimed his first Top 10 victory over Grigor Dimitrov, which he followed up this week by defeating top-seeded Marin Cilic en route to the final.

Did You Know?

Four unseeded players advanced to the Istanbul semi-finals, the second time that has happened on the ATP World Tour this year (also Delray Beach).