Dominic Thiem started slowly and finished brilliantly on Sunday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The third seed went down an early break to seventh seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, but won 12 of the last 13 games to take the title 6-4, 6-0.

The Austrian became just the fourth player in the past 15 years to lift the title in Barcelona, joining Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco. He’s also the first Austrian winner at this event since Thomas Muster in 1996. Thiem now has 13 ATP Tour titles, nine of which have come on clay.

“Winning this means a lot to me because it’s such a traditional and special tournament,” said Thiem. “Only great players have won here. Rafa has won it 11 times and it means a lot that Muster won it twice. It’s a big moment for me.”

Thiem was at the top of the game from the first ball this week. He raced to the title without dropping a set and made headlines with his semi-final upset over 11-time Barcelona champion Nadal. Thiem became the first player to ever beat Nadal in the semi-finals or beyond at this event and picked up his fourth clay-court win over the three-time defending champion. 

His current form will make him one of the favourites when he competes next at the Mutua Madrid Open. Thiem has been the runner-up in Madrid for the past two years.

“A title like this always gives you a lot of confidence, so I’ll be in a good mood going into Madrid. But the special thing about tennis is that I’ll start from zero in Madrid,” said Thiem. “All the guys there are really strong, so I’ll need to be ready from the first point.”

Despite the loss, Medvedev has plenty of positives to take from his start to the clay season. The Russian is 8-2 on clay this year after also reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final last week at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (l. to Lajovic). The World No. 14 in the ATP Rankings has reached at least the semi-finals in five of his nine ATP Tour events this season and won more matches (25) than anyone else in 2019.

“I tried my best, but Dominic was too good,” said Medvedev. “At one point today, even just getting a point off him was a great achievement.” 

Medvedev started the match in perfect form. He mixed up the pace and depth on his shots to get Thiem out of his rhythm and earned a 3-0 lead. But once Thiem found his footing, he used his forehand to create angles that pushed Medvedev off the court and opened up ample opportunities for winners. Thiem went on a five-game run and fired an aggressive forehand to wrap up the opening set.

The backlog of matches this week finally caught up with Medvedev, who took a medical timeout at 4-5 in the opening set for treatment on his right shoulder. Thiem dominated the second set, dropping just five points and going on a 14-point run at one stage. A forehand volley winner on his first championship point wrapped up the contest after 73 minutes.

Thiem picked up 500 ATP Rankings points and a cheque for €503,015. Medvedev earned 300 ATP Rankings points and €253,000.

Matteo Berrettini arrived in Budapest on a five-match tour-level losing streak. But the Italian is leaving with his second ATP Tour title.

Berrettini defeated qualifier Filip Krajinovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday to win the Hungarian Open. His aggressive play from the baseline slowly wore down Krajinovic’s defences, dropping his racquet to the red clay in celebration after one hour and 41 minutes.

“It was a really tough match. The conditions [were tough], it was cold and windy. The balls were moving a lot. So I was really focused on my game,” Berrettini said. “After the first set I just told myself to fight game after game, point after point and I’m really happy because it was really difficult.”

Outside of one hiccup in the opening set, Berrettini set the tone for the match with his serve, winning 81 per cent of his service points. The victory will send the 23-year-old to a career-high ATP Ranking inside the Top 40 on Monday. 

The Italian won 15 of his first 16 service points in the match. But one sloppy game against the solid Krajinovic was enough to allow the Serbian to win the opening set. However, Berrettini held the match on his racquet, dictating from the baseline with his forehand, while also throwing in a number of drop shots to keep Krajinovic thinking. 

Berrettini did not let slip his momentum in the third set, playing aggressive tennis while maintaining consistency, as Krajinovic began to make more mistakes. The Italian won 10 of the final 12 games and captured 59 per cent of his return points in the decider, breaking three times in the third set.

“I was winning not too much and I think the key was my serve. I improved a lot my backhand. Those were the keys,” Berrettini said. “My forehand, especially on the clay, is a good weapon. Today was a great day for my forehand. But during the tournament my backhand and my serve helped me a lot.”

Berrettini leaves Hungary with €90,390 in prize money and 250 ATP Ranking points, while Krajinovic adds 150 points and €48,870.

Krajinovic fell just short on his second chance to win his maiden ATP Tour title. The 27-year-old Serbian reached his first final two years ago at the Rolex Paris Masters. He struggled with injuries in 2018, but Krajinovic’s efforts this week will send him back into the Top 100.

“He deserved to win, so I’m happy for him,” Krajinovic said. “It’s been a great week for me coming through qualies, now into the final. I’m going home happy.”

Third seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah won their 12th ATP Tour doubles title as a team on Sunday, defeating second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-4, 7-6(4) to triumph at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

The Colombians have played more than 350 tour-level matches together and last year, for the first time, they qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals. Their long journey as a team keeps paying off.

“[It takes] a lot of patience. It’s just resilience I think, sticking together and improving together and moving forward, pushing each other to achieve more goals through the years. I think this week that’s what we did. We pushed hard,” Farah said. “We both came out as a team and we got the victory.”

Revenge was sweet for the Colombians, as they lost to Murray and Soares in the Sydney final in January, their only other championship match this season. In fact, Cabal and Farah entered Sunday’s clash having lost four consecutive matches against the British-Brazilian duo, including last year’s Cincinnati final.

But Cabal and Farah came from a break down in both sets and saved five set points in the second set to emerge victorious in Barcelona after one hour and 39 minutes. The Colombians saved nine of the 12 break points they faced.

It’s not long ago that the Colombians were unsure they’d be able to compete this week due to a Cabal injury. But holding the trophies, that seems a distant memory.

“It’s really special, especially this week. One week ago I didn’t know if I could play the tournament. I was really struggling with an injury and now we’re the champions,” Cabal said. “It was hard work, teamwork, and it’s more special than sometimes the other [wins]. It shows us that we’re doing things on the right track, so it’s good motivation for the rest of the year.”

Cabal and Farah leave Spain with 500 ATP Doubles Ranking points each and a share of €169,300. Murray and Soares fell short of lifting their 10th tour-level trophy as a team, but they take 300 points and a split of €82,880.

Did You Know?
Three of the first five FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings between Cabal/Farah and Murray/Soares went to a Match Tie-break. But their four matches since have all gone in straight sets. Murray/Soares now lead their rivalry 6-3.

#NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur is returning to action in Estoril this week for the first time since the BNP Paribas Open due to a hip injury. While competing at the Millennium Estoril Open might seem a long way from home, it isn’t for the 20-year-old.

“I was born in Australia, in Sydney. When I was five, the whole family, we moved over to Spain for eight years, grew up there, started going to school there,” De Minaur said in his ATP My Story delivered by FedEx. “Because of the financial crisis, we all had to move back to Australia as a family. We spent three years there where Australia just helped me out massively. I was able to pursue my dream of playing tennis and we ended up moving back to Spain with all the help of Tennis Australia.”

Spain and Portugal are neighbours, so De Minaur is plenty familiar with the country, and he reached the second round in Estoril last year. This year’s Sydney champion has also been coached by Spaniard Adolfo Gutierrez since he was nine.

“I’ve had the honour to be in both places and to sort of try and absorb the best things of the two countries. It’s different cultures and different ways of living,” De Minaur said. “I sort of like the contrast of the more relaxed Spanish lifestyle and then the hardworking and on-the-ball Australian life. It’s really helped me become the player and the person I am right now.”

De Minaur was 111th in the ATP Rankings this time last year, but he has quickly ascended since. The Australian No. 1, easygoing off the court but as competitive as they come on it, will try to lift his second ATP Tour trophy this week on the Portuguese red clay.

“At the end of the day I’ve probably spent half of my life in each country,” De Minaur said. “But in my heart I’ll always be Australian.”

Brits Neal Skupski and Ken Skupski made four ATP Tour finals together over the past 10 months, falling short of lifting the title on each occasion. But the brothers would not be denied on Sunday, defeating New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof 6-3, 6-4 to win the Hungarian Open for their second team title.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. We’ve been in a few finals over the past 12 months and we haven’t been able to get over the line,” Neal said. “It’s our first title on clay together at an ATP 250. It’s been a great week and hopefully we could keep on going heading into the French Open.”

The Skupski brothers also triumphed together last February in Montpellier. This is Ken’s fifth tour-level trophy and Neal’s third. Ken is seven years Neal’s elder. And while Ken noted that sometimes losing could be tougher when sharing the court with a sibling, it makes winning even sweeter.

“It’s the best thing in the world to share winning things with your brother,” Ken said. “You can get over things when you lose and you move on, but winning is so much more special.”

Skupski/Skupski were clutch on serve in their 71-minute win, saving all four break points they faced. They earned 75 per cent of their service points compared to just 60 per cent for Daniell and Koolhof.

“I think we played lights-out, really. I think it was probably our best match of the week, in very tough conditions. It was very windy so we thought [of aiming for] bigger targets, a lot of first serves,” Neal said. “We just kept putting the pressure on. Putting the pressure on in the wind is a very good thing to do and it obviously worked.”

The Skupski brothers leave Budapest with 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points each and a share of €29,650. They will be the third seeds next week in Munich.

This was Daniell and Koolhof’s third ATP Tour final as a pair, having won in Brisbane this year and finished runner-up in Stockholm in 2018. The Kiwi-Dutch team adds 150 points each and a split of €15,200.

“I want this to be a Challenger that feels like an ATP Tour event. If the players have everything they need and the fans have a great experience, I’ve done my job.”

Professional tennis players lead a very busy lifestyle. Constantly in flux, it takes them to all corners of the globe for 11 months of the year. Not only are they focused on their performance on the court, but their lives outside the lines are managed with great attention to detail and meticulous care.

Jeremy Chardy has taken the latter to the next level. Last month, the World No. 42 launched his own tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour. Located in his hometown of Pau, France, the Teréga Open Pau–Pyrénées kicked off its inaugural edition under Chardy’s direction.

The Frenchman has achieved great success on the court. From his lone ATP Tour title in Stuttgart in 2009, to signature wins over Roger Federer and Andy Murray, and a quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open in 2013, he has finished inside the year-end Top 50 in seven of the past 10 seasons. But he admits that running a world-class event on the ATP Challenger Tour is one of the most arduous things he’s done in his career.

Nonetheless, the tournament was a raging success. With years of knowledge and experience from competing on the professional circuit, Chardy was well-equipped to meet the needs of the players, while giving back to his hometown and the surrounding region.

Earlier in the week, Chardy hosted a coaches clinic with Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of Serena Williams. On the Friday of the tournament, renowned chef Yves Camdeborde cooked up a feast for a VIP event. And on Saturday, a star-studded exhibition featuring Chardy, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Mansour Bahrami took centre stage.

Chardy spoke to ATPChallengerTour.com about the new role…

Jeremy, talk about the role as tournament director in Pau and how it came about.
It is a really different job. It’s the first time for me as a tournament director. I was working on it for a year and a half actually. It’s completely new and a different pressure, but it was a great experience.

You’ve played professionally for nearly 15 years. What is it like to see the tour from a different perspective?
When you are a player, you have to practise, see the physio, rest, go to the hotel and wait for your match. When you are tournament director, you have more things to do. Much more than expected. You have to look at the matches differently, because you want the best players to go far in the tournament. You need to think what is good for the tournament and the crowd. You want French guys to win and your top seeds too.

How important is it to encourage the growth of the game in your hometown of Pau and the region?
For me, it’s really important because I love tennis and it’s my career. I always want to give back to my sport. When I was young, the city and the area supported me a lot. They gave me the chance to be a professional and I’ve always wanted to give back to them. That’s why I always want to do something here. It’s my way of giving back to the people.

What was the biggest challenge in running a Challenger?
The biggest challenge was finding a sponsor actually. Running a tournament costs a lot of money and especially in the first year it was not easy. But I was lucky because my personal sponsor helped me straight away. And through them, I found so many other people and organisations who love tennis and want to support me and our team. It was really nice to meet new people and for them to help us and give us advice.

Being a player gives you a unique insight into life on the tour that most tournament directors don’t really have. How has that helped you here?
I think I know exactly what the players want to be happy. When you are a player, you want a nice hotel, good transportation, practise courts, treatment with the physio and of course food. I was really focused on that. We have a great hotel and food, as well as the gym and the physio. We have ice baths and hot baths for the recovery. It’s difficult to make three similar match courts too, but I did that and I’m really happy.

How did you get the local kids involved with the tournament?
We did three days of kids clinics and kids events. We put some smaller mini-tennis courts, we let them serve with the speed machine and we even created a tournament for them. It was for kids under 10 years old. They started in September and the winners of each tennis club in the region played against each other. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were held during the week, with the final on the centre court before the Challenger final. It was nice because the kids were so nervous, but they were happy. They played first to four games. It was really cute and the people liked it. We had 197 kids who played the tournament in total. The future of tennis is the kids.

Your wife is actively involved in your tournament. How important is it to make this a family affair?
My wife loves sports and always supports me. She had a big part of the tournament, wanting to help with anything she can. She’s from England, so it’s easier for her to communicate and she helped us with some players, social media, the organisation. It’s always nice to feel the support from the people you love.

You also had a charity exhibition with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Mansour Bahrami. How did that come about?
When I first thought of it, all the guys liked the idea. They supported me and it was nice. Patrick Mouratoglou also came to talk with the coaches. On the Monday morning, we had a conference with 35 tennis coaches of the region. We all talked about our experiences and answered questions. Especially with Patrick, because all of the coaches know him. It was also a good mix of ages of the coaches, from younger to older.

You’re less than a year removed from winning a Challenger title in Surbiton. They have a great fan experience there. How important is it to make this a great experience for the players, but for the fans as well?
The fans are the most important part. Without fans, you cannot have a tennis tournament. For me, it’s really important to attract fans to come to the stadium and let them interact with the players, and have a lot of activities for them too. My goal is to make the people happy. I want the people to really want to come back here. That they enjoy it a lot. I know people love sports in Pau. We have basketball, football and handball, but were missing tennis. It was my goal to bring back the tennis. It’s a little easier as a player, because the people are excited to support you.

You have won six Challenger titles in your career. What are your fondest memories competing on the tour? How special was it?
When you’re competing in Challengers, it always important because you’re trying to get through to the Top 100. For that, you need to play good at this level and win titles. Whenever you win one, you’re on the right path. You only have one goal: to get into the Top 100 and get to the ATP Tour. There are a lot of good memories for me. And I also won two titles coming back from injuries, so it’s the same thing there. It’s a mix of the young players with many dreams and the older players who get injured and try to come back up the ATP Rankings. I think the fans like it for this reason. There are a lot of really close matches.

Daniil Medvedev began the 2019 European spring clay-court swing with a 2-11 record on the surface in his career. So perhaps it’s fitting that after winning eight of his first nine matches on clay this season, it’s on the red dirt that the Russian is in good position to make a major move in the ATP Rankings, perhaps even into the Top 10.

With his run to the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell final, Medvedev has now put himself in strong position to climb higher than his current career-high of World No. 14. If he defeats Dominic Thiem in Sunday’s final, Medvedev will pass 13th-ranked Karen Khachanov to become the Russian No. 1.

But the real opportunity for improvement will be throughout the rest of the clay court season. Medvedev lost in the first round at Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros last year, so he is only defending 30 points through Paris. Of the six players ranked directly ahead of the Russian, none of them are defending fewer than 200 points.

ATP Ranking Points To Defend Through Roland Garros

* Points up to date including points both dropped and earned this week

With all the points players are defending during this clay swing taken off, Medvedev would move into 10th even if he loses Sunday’s final. World No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro, who will move up to eighth on Monday since Stefanos Tsitsipas did not defend the 300 points he earned by reaching the Barcelona final last year, is defending 900 points through the rest of this clay swing. A massive 720 of those points will come at Roland Garros.

Miami finalist John Isner, who will move to ninth on Monday, is defending 415 points through Roland Garros. The American suffered a stress fracture in his left foot in that final against Roger Federer, which will keep him out through at least Madrid. Isner told ATPTour.com three weeks ago that while he hopes to return in Madrid, he will only compete at that ATP Masters 1000 tournament if he feels he is in satisfactory ‘tennis shape’. 

Medvedev is in some of the best form of any player on the ATP Tour. The Russian, who has made the semi-finals or better at five tournaments this year, owns a Tour-leading 25 wins, six ahead of second-placed Tsitsipas and Guido Pella. His semi-final victory against Kei Nishikori on Saturday was his third against a Top 10 opponent in the past two weeks.

“[It’s more] evidence that I could beat these Top 10 players. I can play at the same level. I can stay there physically, mentally,” Medvedev said. “It gives you a lot of confidence. If I manage to beat guys like Kei in the semi-finals of an ATP 500 event, then I can do a lot and hopefully I will.”

The only player in the group who is ranked just ahead of Medvedev (up until Del Potro) who has earned comparable results on clay this year is Italian Fabio Fognini, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters champion. But since Fognini made the Rome quarter-finals, Geneva semi-finals and the fourth round at Roland Garros last year, he is defending 430 more points than Medvedev through the clay-court Grand Slam. 

Editor’s Note: Medvedev will not make a straight add of 500 points to the 2,505 he began the week with if he defeats Thiem for the Barcelona title due to the number of countable results he already has at the ATP 500 level. Instead, he will replace a previous semi-final result at this level, which means he would add 320 points to his current total, netting out at 2,825 points on Monday.