Croatian Marin Cilic was on the brink of a five-match losing streak on Monday in Madrid. But the ninth seed saved four match points and dominated a final-set tie-break to defeat Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(0), advancing to the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open. 

Cilic had won just one match since the Australian Open. But the World No. 11 will take confidence from his two-hour, 48-minute victory, moving on to face German Jan-Lennard Struff, who defeated Aussie Nick Kyrgios on Sunday. Struff defeated Cilic in a final-set tie-break in Tokyo last year, and their FedEx ATP Head2Head series is tied at 1-1.

Klizan was never in good position to take advantage of any of his match points, making errors on three of them, and dropping a ball short that allowed Cilic to punish a forehand winner on the other. Cilic won 75 per cent of his first-serve points in his victory.

Another seeded player who did not face as much difficulty is 15th seed Gael Monfils, who dismissed Italian veteran Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-1 in 55 minutes. The Frenchman made 87 per cent of his first serves, and did not lose a second-serve point (5/5) in his victory.

Monfils is now 17-4 in 2019, and he has won at least one match at all seven tournaments he has played, with the highlight being his triumph at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, an ATP 500 event. Including this week, the World No. 18 has just 145 ATP Ranking points to defend through Roland Garros. So if he maintains his form, there is room for him to make a move during this European spring clay-court swing.

In a battle of Serbians, Rio de Janeiro champion Laslo Djere beat Monte-Carlo finalist Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-4. Djere, also a semi-finalist in Budapest, will next face seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine is playing just his second tournament of the year (also Delray Beach) as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Listen To ATP Tennis Radio’s Interview With Djere:

Frances Tiafoe led a banner day for young Americans at the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday, earning his third Top 20 win of the season by edging past No. 14 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours.

Tiafoe held set points at 5-4, with Basilashvili serving at 30/40, then two more in the tie-break at 6/5 and 8/7 in the first set. The 21-year-old then fell to a 1-3 deficit in the second set, with the match on Basilashvili’s racquet, before Tiafoe broke up his rhythm to start his comeback. One break of serve in the fifth game of the decider proved to be enough in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter, which included 11 aces for Tiafoe and 12 aces for Basilashvili.

The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier will now face experienced German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who saved six of seven break points in a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in one hour and 39 minutes.

Another American who competed in Milan last year, Taylor Fritz, went through qualifying this week for the first time this season. And now, after an impressive 7-6(8), 7-6(4) win against 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, Fritz is into the second round of the main draw in the Spanish capital.

Fritz has lost in the first round six times this year, but he showed no apprehension against the Bulgarian, playing some of his best tennis in crucial moments against Dimitrov to advance after one hour and 47 minutes.

Fritz saved one set point in the first-set tie-break to take the lead. And although Fritz double-faulted a break-lead back to Dimitrov in the second set, he remained calm and allowed Dimitrov to make the mistakes in the second-set tie-break. The American hit 15 aces in the match, which is his first-ever main draw win in Madrid.

The World No.57 will next face top-ranked  Novak Djokovic. In their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last month in Monte-Carlo, Djokovic cruised with the loss of just three games. The 21-year-old owns two wins against Top 10 opponents, defeating Marin Cilic at Indian Wells two years ago and John Isner in Auckland in January.

New York Open champion Reilly Opelka recorded just his second ATP clay-court match win to set up a clash against fifth seed and last year’s finalist Dominic Thiem. The 21-year-old struck 14 aces and lost just of his first-service points (34/39) in a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in 86 minutes. Carreno Busta had been seeking to win his first match since suffering a right shoulder injury in February.

Did You Know?
The last time three Americans reached the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open was in 2016, when Denis Kudla, Sam Querrey and Jack Sock did it.

Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori won their team debut on Monday at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Monte-Carlo singles champion Fabio Fognini and Swede Robert Lindstedt 5-7, 6-4, 10-4 in one hour and 34 minutes.

Del Potro’s lone doubles title came at 2007 Indianapolis with Travis Parrott and Nishikori has not been victorious on the doubles court, but they will try to continue their run against third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares or Moldovan Radu Albot and Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili. 

Five-time Madrid champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were upset in the first round, as 2016 titlists Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau saved two match points to beat the American twins 4-6, 7-6(2), 12-10. The Bryan brothers led by a set and a break and had two chances to go up a double-break in the second set, but they were unable to finish it off. They bounced back to take a 7-3 lead in the Match Tie-break, but Rojer and Tecau prevailed after one hour and 45 minutes.

Second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, the 2017 Madrid champions, were made to battle past Japanese Ben McLachlan and German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 5-7, 10-6. The Polish-Brazilian duo is now 6-2 in Match Tie-breaks this season, and will move on to play German brothers Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev or Dutchman Robin Haase and South African Raven Klaasen.

Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos, who triumphed in Buenos Aires, advanced to the final in Cordoba and reached the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo earlier this year, got off to a good start in Madrid with a 7-5, 2-6, 11-9 victory against American Rajeev Ram and Brit Joe Salisbury.

Gonzalez and Zeballos let slip a 7-2 lead in the Match Tie-break, but stayed the course to advance after one hour and 31 minutes. They will next play sixth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, who they beat in Monte-Carlo, or veterans Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Also through to the second round are Argentine Guido Pella and Portuguese Joao Sousa, who ousted Indian Rohan Bopanna and Brit Dominic Inglot 7-6(4), 6-3 in 68 minutes.

No. 33 (Career-High) Cristian Garin, +14
The 22-year-old Chilean rose 14 places to a career-high of No. 33 in the ATP Rankings on the back of lifting his second ATP Tour trophy of 2019 at the BMW Open by FWU (d. Berrettini) on Sunday. Having started the year at World No. 84, with one tour-level match win, Garin secured his first title at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston (d. Ruud) last month. Read More & Watch Munich Final Highlights

No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No Change
The 31-year-old Serbian today celebrates his 250th week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. Only four players since 1973 have been ranked more weeks at the summit of men’s professional tennis, and now the marks of Jimmy Connors (268) and Ivan Lendl (270) are coming into view for the Serbian, who began his fourth stint in the top spot on 5 November 2018. If Djokovic remains at No. 1, the total number of weeks of Pete Sampras (286) may be ticked off within the first month of 2020. Read Tribute

View Latest ATP Rankings

No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas, +1
The 20-year-old #NextGenATP star also picked up his second ATP Tour crown, moving to within one spot of his career-high first attained on 1 April this year. Tsitsipas beat Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 7-6(4) for the Millennium Estoril Open crown on Sunday to add to his first trophy in February at the Open 13 Provence (d. Kukushkin). The first Greek player in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, who began the year at No. 15, also advanced to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (l. to Federer) final. Read More & Watch Estoril Final Highlights

No. 28 Lucas Pouille, +4
The 25-year-old Frenchman, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Djokovic) in January, earned his first ATP Challenger Tour title on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux (d. Mikael Ymer) to rise four spots to No. 28 in the ATP Rankings. Pouille is the first player to win his first Challenger title after his first tour-level crown since Kei Nishikori and Sergiy Stakhovsky both did it in 2008. Interestingly, it now leaves Milos Raonic as the only current Top 50 player without a Challenger trophy.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 3 Roger Federer, +1
No. 23 David Goffin, +2
No. 31 (Career High) Matteo Berrettini, +6
No. 50 Philipp Kohlschreiber, -9
No. 51 Pablo Cuevas, +16
No. 66 Yoshihito Nishioka, +5
No. 75 Joao Sousa, -24
No. 87 (Career High) Lloyd Harris, +7
No. 90 Malek Jaziri, -15
No. 93 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, +8
No. 94 (Career High) Alexander Bublik, +2
No. 95 Ricardas Berankis, +7
No. 97 Ivo Karlovic, +6

Novak Djokovic is today celebrating his 250th week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

Only four players since 1973 have been ranked more weeks at the summit of men’s professional tennis, and now the marks of Jimmy Connors (268) and Ivan Lendl (270) are coming into view for the Serbian, who began his fourth stint in the top spot on 5 November 2018. If Djokovic remains at No. 1, the total number of weeks of Pete Sampras (286) and all-time record-holder Roger Federer (310) may be ticked off within the first four months of 2020.

ALL-TIME WEEKS AT NO. 1

MOVING UP THE NO. 1 LADDER – If Djokovic remains at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, he will pass Connors on 16 September 2019 and move to fourth place in the all-time list for most weeks spent at No. 1.

Twelve months ago, few would have predicted Djokovic’s return to No. 1. He’d missed six months of 2017, undergone right elbow surgery after the 2018 Australian Open and on the eve of Roland Garros was at No. 22 in the ATP Rankings with a 6-6 match record.

In a complete turnaround in fortunes by 5 November 2018, the 31-year-old had become the first player to be ranked outside the Top 20 then climb to No. 1 in the same season since Russia’s Marat Safin in 2000. In reuniting with his long-time coach Marian Vajda, Djokovic compiled a 44-6 match record, including a 35-3 mark from the start of Wimbledon until the end of the year.

Today, Djokovic is the current holder of three straight Grand Slam championship crowns and he is the only player to win titles at all nine ATP Masters 1000s in the tournament series history (since 1990). His discipline, dedication and passion has seen him soar among the sport’s giants and in his four combined stints in the top spot, Djokovic has compiled a 311-43 (.879) match record; gone 102-25 against Top 10 rivals and won 31 tour-level crowns from 43 finals.

As he begins his 250th week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, the relentless, superbly conditioned competitor has 11,160 points – 3,395 points ahead of No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal. Even with a whopping 7,755 points to defend the rest of 2019, Djokovic will be aiming to finish as the year-end No. 1 for the sixth time (2011-12, 2014-15, 2018) in the past nine years.

DJOKOVIC AT NO. 1 – Take a closer look at Djokovic’s match wins, Top 10 and finals record during his four stints at No. 1.

Statistical assistance by Joshua Rey and Greg Sharko

Lucky loser Pablo Cuevas might have fallen short in the Millennium Estoril Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. But the Uruguayan did not go down without showing some flair. With the #NextGenATP Greek up a set and a break, Cuevas pulled off a no-look forward-facing tweener half volley drop shot for a winner.

It’s not the first time that Cuevas sent the crowd in Portugal into a frenzy this week. In the semi-finals, the veteran was left scrambling against #NextGenATP Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, but he hit a behind-the-back forehand lob to stay in the rally, eventually winning the point to break serve.

The ‘Uruguayan Magician’ has long been renowned for his hot show prowess, and he joined ATP Uncovered presented by Peugeot last year to break down some of his all-time best shots, from his sensational no-look passing shot against Alexander Zverev in Madrid two years ago to his forward-facing tweener winner against Rafael Nadal in Paris, also in 2017.

Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem may be known for their efforts on the singles court, but they got off to a good start in doubles on Sunday when they pulled away from Spanish wild cards David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-3, 10-3 to reach the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

It is the fourth time the Argentine and Austrian have competed together, and it is their first ATP Masters 1000 tournament as a team. Schwartzman and Thiem made the Argentina Open final in February. Against home favourites Marrero and Verdasco, they won 84 per cent of their first-serve points en route to an 80-minute victory.

In the next round, Schwartzman and Thiem will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Russian Karen Khachanov, who upset fourth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-2, 7-5. Cabal and Farah, 2018 Nitto ATP Finals semi-finalists, have made the Madrid semi-finals twice, but Dimitrov and Khachanov broke serve four times to advance after 80 minutes, just like Schwartzman and Thiem. 

Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori will be in doubles action on Monday against Fabio Fognini and Robert Lindstedt, with five-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan facing 2016 titlists Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.