Kevin Anderson was playing some of the best tennis of his life. In only his fourth tournament of the year, the South African had already reached his third final of the season at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco.

But none of that mattered to Juan Martin del Potro in Mexico on Saturday night. The 6’6” Argentine outplayed Anderson for the seventh time in a row in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (7-0), beating Anderson 6-4, 6-4 to win the ATP World Tour 500 title, his biggest trophy since 2013 Swiss Indoors Basel (d. Federer).

It’s Del Potro’s first title of 2018, and he had to fight through a wicked draw, including three Top 10 players, for the crown. The Argentine beat serve-and-volley throwback Mischa Zverev, four-time Acapulco champion David Ferrer, No. 6 Dominic Thiem and No. 5 Alexander Zverev before toppling No. 8 Anderson in the final.

The Argentine now has 21 tour-level titles and, what might be especially encouraging for Del Potro, this title on 3 March is the earliest in a season he’s hoisted a trophy since 2014, when he won the Sydney International (d. Tomic) on 11 January.

“It’s a very special tournament to me. I beat three Top 10 guys in the same tournament, which is very important for myself. I’m so glad to win my 21^st title playing in Acapulco,” Del Potro said.

The 29-year-old Argentine is projected to rise to No. 8 in the ATP Rankings, switching spots with Anderson. Their seventh FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup, their first meeting in a final, was a heavy-hitting contest, as predicted. Del Potro and Anderson were exchanging powerful strokes from both wings before the Argentine seized his opening, coming back from 15/40 in the seventh game to break Anderson on his first break-point opportunity.

Anderson would push Del Potro to deuce but no further as the Argentine served out the set. In the second, a scary fall at 1-1 pushed Anderson off his game. The South African approached the net at 15/0 but tweaked his left leg when Del Potro lifted a surprise lob.

Two points later, at 15/40, Anderson received treatment from the trainer but he couldn’t recover in time. Del Potro smashed a forehand crosscourt winner for the break. He’d finish with 26 winners. After the final, however, Anderson downplayed the effect his fall had on the match.

“It was a little bit uncomfortable at first… I think in the bigger picture of things it didn’t really affect things too much,” Anderson said. “I think he played really well. He’s obviously a tough competitor and a great player. I just needed to do a little bit more today.”

Del Potro later served out the final before raising his arms and screaming in celebration. “[Anderson is] a very dangerous guy. His serves are so strong but I got lucky in the important moments of my return games, and I broke just twice and that was the key of the match,” Del Potro said.

He now heads to the BNP Paribas Open as one of the top contenders to bring home his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. Del Potro will receive 500 ATP Rankings points for winning the Acapulco title and $354,130 in prize money.

Anderson, who finished as a runner-up for the second time this year (Pune, l. to Simon), will receive 300 ATP Rankings points and $173,610 in prize money.

“I can take a lot of confidence going into Indian Wells and Miami, two tournaments I really enjoy playing. I feel like I’m playing really good tennis,” Anderson said. “As always, I’ll pick myself up. I’ll try to learn as much as I can from tonight’s match.” 

The players have provided countless thrills at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo this week. But they were not the only stars sprinting around the red clay.

That’s right — the ball dogs were back in action, partaking in a special exhibition on Saturday that featured ATP World Tour-ranked Brazilian Eduardo Russi Assumpcao, Brazilian junior Gustavo Pereira and Argentina’s Davis Cup captain Daniel Orsanic.

New Zealand’s Artem Sitak also saw some of the action. “It was very entertaining, and lots of fun. Cool little thing that was added to an already awesome atmosphere at the stadium,” Sitak said.

It is the third year in a row that the ball dogs have participated in the indoor red-clay event, showing their skills by chasing after balls that were hit into the net, and returning to the net post like any good ball boy or ball girl would.

Bobby, Duda, Gabriel, Kika, Mel and Thor, the six dogs (ranging in age from 1 to 5 years old) that took to Centre Court, were rescued after they were abandoned by their owners. The group of six currently lives at the NGO, Patinhas Unidas, ‘United Paws’, and is awaiting adoption. Tournament sponsor PremierPet feeds the dogs as they await their new homes.

Game, set, match: ball dogs!

For nearly a decade, the South American nation of Chile has been waiting for a superstar to follow in the footsteps of legends Marcelo Rios and Fernando Gonzalez. That is, someone to carry the mantle in the country with a strong tennis-rich culture.

Enter Nicolas Jarry. The Santiago native became the first Chilean to reach an ATP World Tour final since former World No. 5 Gonzalez lifted the trophy on home soil in Vina del Mar in 2009. Jarry defeated Horacio Zeballos 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the title match at the Brasil Open, where he awaits Italy’s Fabio Fognini.

Jarry has been the comeback kid all week in Sao Paulo, rallying from a set down in three straight matches to reach the final. He battled back to register upset wins over Guido Pella and top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, before topping Zeballos. The 22-year-old needed two hours and seven minutes to advance to the championship match, firing 20 aces, while not facing a break point.

“It was another amazing day,” said Jarry. “When I lost the first set, I was thinking if I could come back again once more. I had more confidence as the match went on and moved better to break him. Once I did it, it was just a matter of serving well and going point-by-point. The things went my way.”

The grandson of former Top 20 star Jaime Fillol, Jarry has tennis in his blood. Following a breakthrough ATP Challenger Tour campaign in 2017 that saw him win three titles and break into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings, he has stormed onto the scene on the ATP World Tour this year. A quarter-final in Quito was followed by a semi-final run last week in Rio de Janeiro and now a final in Sao Paulo. He is projected to rise to a career-high of No. 61 on Monday.

“It’s been a heck of a ride. I have to keep going and try to improve on and off the court and play as hard as I can. If the things go my way, then that’s good. I’m very happy and it’s my first ATP final. I hope to have many more.”

On Sunday, Jarry will face Fognini for the first time. The Italian veteran has not dropped a set all week, blasting into his 15th ATP World Tour final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over three-time defending champion Pablo Cuevas. Fognini dethroned the Uruguayan in one hour and 11 minutes, saving all three break points faced.

“Today was my best match this week by far,” said Fognini, who has opened the season with a 13-4 record. “I’m really happy about my game and how I feel on court. I’m in the final now and will try to win the title. I’m feeling really good and while it’s only the beginning of the year, I’m happy and confident with my team. I have a special feeling in Brazil and hopefully they will continue to support me in the final.”

Fognini, who scored his fourth FedEx ATP Head2Head victory in six meetings against Cuevas, remains in search of his sixth ATP World Tour title. He has lifted trophies in each of the past two seasons, most recently prevailing on the clay of Gstaad in July. The 30-year-old is bidding for his second title in South America, having triumphed in Vina del Mar in 2014.

“I was going to lose here at some point,” said Cuevas. “He is a difficult opponent. Fabio played really well, solid and defended really well from the back. I made a lot of errors, maybe because of yesterday’s match, that it was too long. The court was a little bit more slow today. I made several errors and I didn’t feel comfortable at any moment during the match.”

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Roberto Bautista Agut arrived in Dubai on a three-match tour-level losing streak, his first of that length since 2016. But after a tremendous week of tennis in which he dropped just one set, the Spaniard leaves with his second title of the season.

Bautista Agut, the third seed, defeated second seed Lucas Pouille to triumph at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday evening and deny the Frenchman his first appearance in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, which the 24-year-old would have earned with a victory.

The World No. 23 captures his eighth ATP World Tour title, and his first at the ATP World Tour 500 level. It is the second time Bautista Agut has beaten a Top 20 player in the ATP Rankings in a final, with the other result coming earlier this year in Auckland against Juan Martin del Potro. Bautista Agut claims $565,530 and 500 ATP Rankings points, which will propel him to World No. 16 on Monday.

Pouille, who won the Open Sud de France in February and also reached the final at last week’s Open 13 Provence (l. to Khachanov), claims $277,255 and 300 points. And while he will not break into the Top 10, the top-ranked Frenchman will climb to a career-best No. 12 in the ATP Rankings. 

More to come…

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Juan Martin del Potro notched his 10th win of the season to reach his second ATP World Tour final of 2018 at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, defeating second seed Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2.

The World No. 9 produced an impressive performance throughout the one-hour, 31-minute clash, breaking the German on three occasions to move one win away from his 21st ATP World Tour crown. Del Potro has now beaten Top 10 players Zverev and Dominic Thiem, plus four-time champion David Ferrer, in consecutive matches.

The ‘Tower of Tandil’ will face inaugural New York Open champion Kevin Anderson in Saturday’s final. The South African reached his third final of the season after a three-set win over American Jared Donaldson. Del Potro holds a 6-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series record over Anderson, winning 12 of their previous 14 sets.

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Despite eight aces from Zverev in the first set, it was Del Potro who secured the only break of the opener, in emphatic fashion, to establish control. The ASB Classic finalist (l. to Bautista Agut), broke to love in the third game of the match to take a 2-1 lead, and confidently held each of his next four service games to earn a one-set advantage.

With the freedom of leading the score line, Del Potro found more success on his return in the second set. The 29-year-old found more success on Zverev’s first serve and, again, broke in the third game, before a further break four games later created the opportunity to serve for a place in the championship match. Del Potro raced to a 40-0 lead, before moving into his 31st tour-level final, on his second match point, courtesy of his sixth ace of the match.

Did You Know?
The last time Juan Martin del Potro won back-to-back matches over Top 10 opposition was at the 2017 US Open. Del Potro beat Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer to reach the semi-finals, before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal advanced to the championship match where he met Del Potro’s final opponent in Acapulco; Kevin Anderson.