A LOOK BACK
Santaizi ATP Challenger (Taipei City, Chinese Taipei): Welcome to the winners’ circle, Dennis Novak! For five years the Austrian has been fighting for his first ATP Challenger Tour title, and on Sunday he finally celebrated his maiden moment.

Novak lifted his first trophy on the hard courts of Taipei City, upsetting third seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-4 in just 61 minutes. Competing in his 61st Challenger main draw, the 25-year-old not only reached his first final, but went all the way in claiming the title. He dropped one set all week, including victories over Yuichi Sugita in the quarters, Soonwoo Kwon in the semis and Stakhovsky in the championship.

Novak, who has already tasted tour-level success in reaching the third round at Wimbledon last year, rises to a career-high No. 122 in the ATP Rankings.

“I am very happy to win my first Challenger title in Taipei,” said Novak. “It’s been a very special week for me and the organization and the people from Taipei City were all very impressive. I will never forget this. I hope to get into Top 100 during the clay- court season.”

?? Dennis Novak is the champion in Taipei!

First #ATPChallenger title for the 25-year-old, dropping just one set all week. pic.twitter.com/QUpk6wCLbJ

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 14, 2019

Murcia Open (Murcia, Spain): Roberto Carballes Baena was the comeback king on home soil, rallying from a set down in both the semis and the final to lift the trophy. The Spaniard emerged victorious on the clay of Murcia with a 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 win over #NextGenATP star Mikael Ymer on Sunday.

It was Challenger title No. 6 for the Granada native, who rises 10 spots to No. 103 in the ATP Rankings. Carballes Baena is the fourth different player from Spain to reign on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2019, joining two-time winner Pablo Andujar, Marcel Granollers and Enrique Lopez Perez.

Moreover, the inaugural Murcia Open was notable for the breakout performance of 15-year-old Carlos Alcaraz Garfia. The teenager not only reached the third round, but became the youngest player to upset a Top 200 opponent in more than a decade.

Photo Credit: Florian Heer/Tennis Tour Talk

Open Città della Disfida (Barletta, Italy): On the 20th anniversary of the Challenger in Barletta, the tournament saw native son Gianluca Mager lift the trophy. Mager is the first Italian to prevail on home soil in tournament history.

The Sanremo native did not drop a set entering the final, where he prevailed 7-6(7), 5-7, 3-2 when Nikola Milojevic retired with a left elbow injury. Mager, who rises 31 spots to a career-high No. 144 in the ATP Rankings, is enjoing a breakthrough 2019 campaign. In January, he claimed his maiden title in Koblenz, Germany.

A LOOK AHEAD
Three former champions descend on Anning, China for the Kunming Open. Second seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran is targeting a second straight title on the Chinese clay, while top seed Jordan Thompson is looking to add to his victory in 2016. Alex Bolt, titlist in 2014, is seeded sixth.

The three-week U.S. clay-court swing kicks off in Sarasota, Florida, with reigning champ Hugo Dellien leading the pack. Americans Tennys Sandgren and Bradley Klahn lead the home charge.

The lone Challenger in Africa is held in Tunis, Tunisia, where Pablo Cuevas is the top seed. Pedro Sousa, Guillermo Garcia Lopez, Pedro Martinez and Facundo Bagnis round out the top five seeds.

And at the San Luis Open in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, the second-longest running Challenger enters its 34th edition. Alexander Bublik looks to continue his winning ways after prevailing in nearby Monterrey. The same goes for Sophia Antipolis champ Dustin Brown.

After 10 years of waiting, Chile has an ATP Tour singles champion. Christian Garin dug deep on Sunday in the final of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, weathering a barrage of aggressive forehands from #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud to prevail 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3.

The 22-year-old is the first Chilean champion since Fernando Gonzalez prevailed in Vina del Mar in 2009. Garin is also the first player from his country to win an ATP Tour clay-court event on American soil since Gonzalez won an all-Chilean final against Nicolas Massu in Orlando in 2000. He improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Ruud to 2-0 after previously defeating the Norwegian last month in the Brasil Open semi-finals.

Garin’s run to the Houston title was far from simple. He was pushed to three sets in his opening round against Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and saved five match points to defeat second seed Jeremy Chardy of France in the second round.

His maiden ATP Tour title signified the rapid progress he’s made over the past 12 months. Garin was ranked outside of the Top 200 last year, but finished 2018 with a flourish by winning three straight ATP Challenger Tour titles in South America. He then reached his first ATP Tour final last month in Sao Paulo (l. to Pella). Garin will have a new career-high ATP Ranking on Monday and is projected to break into the Top 50.

Despite the loss, Ruud can be pleased with reaching his first ATP Tour final. He and his father, Christian Ruud, are the only two players from Norway to ever reach a final at this level. Ruud has continued to be solid on the clay this season, reaching the quarter-finals at the Rio Open presented by Claro and semi-finals in Sao Paulo. The latter result enabled him to crack the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time.

Garin earned 250 ATP Rankings points and $100,600, while Ruud picked up 150 ATP Rankings points and $54,395.

Both men struggled to hold serve in the early stages of the match and each dropped serve twice in the first eight games. Little separated them through the tie-break until 4/3, when Garin rifled a backhand return winner for the mini-break and went on to grab the early advantage.

Ruud rallied from a set down in his second-round win over fourth seed Reilly Opelka and was up for a fight. Finding the range on his serve and forehand, he applied pressure to Garin and eventually got a backhand error from the Chilean on break point to lead 3-2. The slight lead was all the Norwegian needed and he eventually forced a decider.

The turning point came at 2-2 in the final set, when Ruud was unable to capitalise on three break point chances. Sensing the opportunity, Garin raised his level and broke in the next game by chasing down a drop shot and flicking a forehand winner.

Serving for the title at 5-3, Garin held his nerve and hammered an ace to set up championship point. A heavy forehand on the next point brought the crowd to their feet and Garin to his knees as he wrapped up the contest in two hours and 29 minutes.

Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, last year’s finalists, were forced to save one match point on Sunday en route to the second round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The fifth seeds defeated Ben McLachlan and Jan-Lennard Struff 5-7, 7-6(4), 11-9 after finding themselves one point from defeat on deuce deciding point at 4-5 in the second set. Marach and Pavic saved five of seven break points to set a second-round meeting with Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos. The Argentine duo beat Italians Marco Cecchinato and Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares also came from the brink of defeat to reach the second round. The third seeds saved three match points in a thrilling 24-point Match Tie-break to beat Rohan Bopanna and Dominic Inglot 4-6, 6-3, 13-11.

On Court 11, Karen Khachanov and Feliciano Lopez overcame Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-4, 6-3. The Russian-Spanish tandem saved four of five break points to claim victory in 67 minutes.

Main draw action heats up on Day 2 of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with 15 first-round singles matches taking place on Monday at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

View Day 2 Schedule

Denis Shapovalov, the fifteenth seed, is the first #NextGenATP player to take the court this week when he faces Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. The Canadian saved a match point to defeat Struff in their lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last October in Tokyo. Shapovalov has enjoyed success on clay before by reaching the semi-finals last year at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Tenth seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia opens up play on Court Rainier III when he takes on Joao Sousa of Portugal. The pair split both of their FedEx ATP Head2Head battles last year, but Sousa won their only clay-court match on home soil in Estoril. Medvedev has been in fine form in recent months, having advanced to at least the quarter-finals in seven of his past 13 ATP Tour events.

Fabio Fognini, the thirteenth seed, will have a battle of experience against youth when he meets Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev. The Italian is making his 11th straight appearance in Monte-Carlo and reached the semi-finals here in 2013. Fognini leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Rublev 3-1, but the Russian picked up his lone victory on red clay two years ago in Umag.

A bevy of high-profile doubles teams will also be in action on Monday. Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert / Nicholas Mahut, Grigor Dimitrov / Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev / Mischa Zverev, and Novak Djokovic / Marko Djokovic will all compete in first-round matches.

This week, the ATP Tour’s elite will vie for the coveted trophy at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with glory in the Principality on the line.

But first, a select group had the privilege of being received by H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco at the Palace. The Prince has long been an integral participant of the tournament, taking in the action every year.

On Sunday, he welcomed top seed Novak Djokovic, 11-time champion Rafael Nadal, as well as Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime, David Goffin, Daniil Medvedev and Mischa Zverev. Nishikori finished runner-up last year, while Auger-Aliassime is coming off a semi-final finish at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami.

When tennis royalty meets Monaco royalty ?

ATP players had a special trip to Prince Albert II’s Palace…#RolexMCMasters pic.twitter.com/GCG5xvOFfS

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 14, 2019

At the opening of the 113th edition of the prestigious tournament, the 11 players visited the Throne Room in the State apartments and discovered the Palace Tank, and entered the Mirror Gallery for a cocktail. Djokovic presented two balls signed by all the players present for the royal children H.S.H. Crown Prince Jacques and H.S.H. Princess Gabriella.

Nadal, who made his tournament debut in 2003, will look to add to his record haul of 11 titles in Monte-Carlo and 33 at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, while Djokovic, a two-time Monte-Carlo champion, can match the Spaniard’s Masters 1000 titles mark with victory this week in the Principality. Zverev and Indian Wells titlist Thiem are seeded third and fourth, while last year’s runner-up Nishikori returns as the fifth seed.

Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi won their first ATP Tour title as a team on Sunday, defeating British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 to win the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.

Gonzalez and Qureshi reached their first tour-level final in February at the New York Open, ultimately falling short. But they took the next step at the ATP 250 clay-court event, entering the winners’ circle after one hour and 24 minutes. It’s been a long time coming for the Mexican-Pakistani duo, which captured an ATP Challenger Tour trophy together in Brazil 11 years ago.

“Thanks to Santiago. He’s been sticking up with me and believing in me,” Qureshi said. “I’m super-happy that we managed to win it. At the end of today he stepped his game up and really showed why he’s been Top 20, why he made the final of the French Open also on clay. This is his favourite surface and he definitely made the difference in the end today.”

It is Gonzalez’s 13th ATP Tour victory, and Qureshi’s 17th. Three years ago, Gonzalez made the Houston final with the Dominican Republic’s Victor Estrella Burgos, falling short against twins Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. He got revenge against the Americans on Saturday in the semi-finals.

Gonzalez and Qureshi were tremendous on return in the Match Tie-break, winning five of eight return points to beat the Brits. The winners earn 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points and a share of $33,000. After agreeing to become full-time partners in December, they hope to continue this success.

“We’re going to have ups and downs, but at the end, there are going to be more ups I think because we feel great on court and outside the court so the partnership is doing great,” Gonzalez said. “Hopefully this title will give us confidence for the rest of the clay-court season.”

The Skupski brothers will be disappointed to just miss out on their second ATP Tour title together, but this was their sixth final as a team. The fourth seeds add 150 points and a split of $16,920.

Former World No. 3 and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka recovered from a slow start to defeat Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday and advance to the second round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

On the verge of dropping the first set at 3-5, Wawrinka found his best level to claim seven straight games and establish a commanding 7-5, 3-0 lead. After failing to capitalise on his first two match points, Wawrinka converted his third opportunity with a well-placed forehand volley.

The 34-year-old Swiss will be hoping to find his best form in the Principality after a second-round loss to Filip Krajinovic at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Wawrinka will meet Marco Cecchinato or Damir Dzumhur for a place in the third round. The World No. 36 has reached the quarter-finals or better in Monaco on five occasions.

Borna Coric earned his 10th tour-level victory of 2019, which is just his second win in four appearances at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament. In a rain-delayed encounter, the 22-year-old overcame BNP Paribas Open quarter-finalist Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in two hours and 52 minutes.

Coric needed two attempts to serve out the match after dropping serve at 5-4 in the decider, but recovered quickly to book his place in the second round. The ninth seed will face Jaume Munar or Lucas Catarina of Monaco for a spot in the third round.

Last year’s semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov also advanced, beating Matteo Berrettini of Italy 7-5, 6-4. The 27-year-old, who improves to 13-6 in Monte-Carlo, saved six of eight break points en route to victory.

In the only other singles match of the day, Argentine Guido Pella overcame two break points at 4-4 in the third set before beating Rio de Janeiro champion Laslo Djere 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes. Pella will next play seventh seed Marin Cilic, whom he defeated last year at Wimbledon in five sets.

After lifting his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Open last month, Dominic Thiem enters the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters with high expectations.

The World No. 5, who reached his maiden Grand Slam final at Roland Garros last year (l. to Nadal), has lifted eight of his 12 ATP Tour titles on clay and looks set for another successful campaign on the surface this year. But the Austrian is well aware that despite his high standards, it will require his best level to succeed in a packed draw at the first Masters 1000 event of the European clay swing.

“I expect a lot, of course, like in every clay-court season… [There are] only strong tournaments and, especially here, the draw is a joke. It is so strong,” said Thiem, who will open his tournament against Slovak Martin Klizan or Argentine qualifier Federico Delbonis. “In general, the level of men’s tennis is pretty high at the moment. I think everybody has to be ‘full power on’ from the first point of every match, myself as well. That is what I will try [to do] and I hope good things are coming in this clay-court season.”

Last year, Thiem advanced to his first quarter-final at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. The Austrian star defeated current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in three sets to reach the last eight before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. One year on, Thiem shared his belief that while Nadal remains the man to beat on clay, he should also expect to face greater challenges on the surface.

“I think that as long as Rafa is playing, he will always be the top favourite for any clay-court title, but I think there are more serious challenges to him than the in past years,” Thiem said. “Sascha [Zverev is] always [a threat] and Novak is back on the top of his game and, I hope, me. There are the really young guys like Felix, I think he likes clay a lot. He played amazing in Miami and [there are] also other very young guys like Stefanos and Shapovalov. There are many challenges for Rafa.”

After strong starts to the 2019 ATP Tour season, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov occupy the top three positions in the ATP Race To Milan. When Thiem was asked to compare his abilities to theirs at a similar age, the 25-year-old heaped praise on the trio of #NextGenATP stars for their quick rise up the ATP Rankings.

“Compared to [Auger-Aliassime, Tsitsipas and Shapovalov], I was really bad at 18,” said Thiem. “They are so good already. They are already [around] the Top 20, Top 30. When I was 18, I was ranked No. 700 or something. I think time changed again. When I broke into the Top 100, I was the [second] youngest guy there.”

Following success at Indian Wells in the early stages of their partnership, Thiem is confident that the addition of former World No. 9 Nicolas Massu to his coaching team will take his game to the next level on clay. The Chilean lifted five of his six tour-level titles on the red dirt.

“I started a relationship with Nico [Massu] in Rio and Buenos Aires and then, of course, I did great practice with him before Indian Wells where I achieved this title,” said Thiem. “I was thinking it was a great relationship with him and he can add many good things to my game. He grew up on clay, it was his favourite surface. So I expect good things to happen in this relationship, on this surface and in this period of the year.”

Some things are worth the wait. Benoit Paire experienced that on Sunday at the Grand Prix Hassan II.

Four years after he last lifted a trophy on the ATP Tour, the Frenchman returned to the winners’ circle. Paire celebrated his second tour-level title with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 victory over Pablo Andujar in Marrakech.

It was Paire’s first crown since he defeated Tommy Robredo on the clay of Bastad in 2015. The Frenchman was clutch in the big moments in Marrakech, having rallied from a set down on two occasions, including a first-round win over Aljaz Bedene and semi-final victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Revenge was sweet for Paire, who had fallen to Andujar in the final of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella, Spain, just two weeks ago. The Avignon native held a match point in that encounter, eventually conceding a set and a break lead. But this was Paire’s day, cruising to victory after one hour and six minutes.

Paire sprinted out of the gates on a sun-kissed afternoon in the Moroccan city. Having edged past countryman Tsonga in the semis, needing five match points to prevail, the Frenchman would turn in a near-flawless performance in the championship.

The 29-year-old was efficient from the back of the court throughout the encounter, not conceding a break all afternoon. He pulled ahead at 4-2 in the first set with a perfectly placed drop shot, before sealing the opener with a second break after just 32 minutes.

Andujar had converted a combined 11 break chances entering the final, but Paire refused to blink on serve, claiming 89 per cent of first serve points. And he was unflappable in the second set, striking a sublime lob of the outstretched arm of Andujar to consolidate another break for 5-2. He would close out the championship with a forehand into the open court on his first match point.

Main draw action begins on Sunday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with four intriguing matches kicking off the third ATP Masters 1000 event of the year.

2014 champion Stan Wawrinka returns to Court Rainer III to face Frenchman Lucas Pouille. The Swiss has reached at least the quarter-finals here on five occasions and seeks another big run in Monte-Carlo, while Pouille is looking for his first win since reaching the Australian Open semi-finals.

Ninth seed Borna Coric of Croatia and in-form Pole Hubert Hurkacz will kick off action on Court Rainer III. Coric is competing in Monte-Carlo for the fifth straight year and Hurkacz is making his first appearance at this event.

Who will win the first @FedEx #ATP Head2Head clash between these players?

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) April 14, 2019

Last year’s semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov starts his week against Matteo Berrettini of Italy. The Bulgarian has reached at least the quarter-finals in three of his past six main draw appearances in Monte-Carlo.

The final main draw singles match of the day will see this year’s kings of Brazil face off. Rio Open presented by Claro champion Laslo Djere of Serbia will face Brasil Open winner Guido Pella of Argentina.