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.

It took Kevin Anderson more than two years to capture his fourth ATP World title. But after defeating 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Jared Donaldson 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC on Friday evening, the 2014 Acapulco finalist is now just one victory away from winning his second trophy in a row.

“It just feels great to win tonight’s match,” Anderson said. “When you’re out there, you’re not really thinking about finals and what happened before. In the heat of the battle, I thought it was a really tough match.”

After triumphing at the New York Open two weeks ago in his most recent event, Anderson will get a crack at his fifth trophy on Saturday. The South African, who is now at a career-high No. 8 in the ATP Rankings, will play second seed Alexander Zverev or sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro in his third final of the season (1-1, l. in Pune, w. New York).

Anderson fell to as low as World No. 80 last January after a variety of injuries and health issues set the right-hander back. But since then, he has made five tour-level finals (Washington D.C., US Open, Pune, New York, Acapulco), in a run that includes a runner-up finish at last year’s US Open.

The semi-final appeared completely in his hands at the beginning of the second set, as Anderson’s massive serving and court positioning kept Donaldson from clawing his way into neutral rallies. The fifth seed held five break points in the first game of the second set to grab a commanding lead, but failed to convert. The fifth seed was still controlling play, though, and lost just four points in his first three service games of the set.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Donaldson began to find greater length on his returns, keeping Anderson back, which then allowed the 21-year-old to play more aggressively. The American used that slight opening to not only earn his first break point of the match at 4-3, but go on to break twice in a row to claim the second set.

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But Anderson, who is now 11-2 on the season, had too much experience in the moment, breaking to open the decider and gain a lead he would not relinquish. Anderson struck 18 aces in the victory, and hit a wicked inside-out forehand winner to clinch the battle.

“I really felt I did well just fighting as hard as I could,” Anderson said. “The match point felt great to really go after it and execute the way I wanted to. So, right now I’m just really pleased to be through to the finals here. I have a shot at playing for a title.”

It was a strong week for Donaldson despite the loss, as the 21-year-old American reached his first tour-level semi-final. Donaldson is projected to climb to a career-high No. 48 in the ATP Rankings on Monday.

Anderson will face a tough test regardless of who is across the net on Saturday. The fifth seed is a combined 0-10 against his possible opponents in the Acapulco final. He has lost his past five sets against Zverev to trail the German 0-5 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The 31-year-old has also dropped his past six sets against Del Potro, and has fallen short in all six of their FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.

“It’s another opportunity for me,” Anderson said. “I’m looking forward to it. I feel like I’m playing great tennis. [It’s] just about recovering and resting up right now and being as prepared as possible for tomorrow.”

Blockbuster Doubles Final Set

Defending champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares have won three tour-level titles in each of the past two seasons. On Saturday in Acapulco, they’ll have a chance to earn their first trophy of 2018 after defeating last week’s finalists in Rio de Janeiro, Nikola Metic and Alexander Peya, 7-5, 6-3. The pair seeks its seventh tour-level title together.

They won’t have it easy in the final, coming up against the duo that has triumphed more than any other pair in history — Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who have captured 114 tour-level titles together. The fourth seeds ousted their compatriots, Americans Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock, 7-5, 1-6, 10/8. The twin brothers won the Acapulco trophy in 2002 and 2004.

Bryan/Bryan lead the FedEx ATP Head2Head series between the two teams 2-1, with two of the three meetings (1-1) coming at the Nitto ATP Finals (2016, 2017).

Did You Know?
Anderson won his third ATP World Tour title at 2015 Winston-Salem, but needed more than two years to capture his fourth, which came at the inaugural New York Open in February (d. Querrey).

Cuevas became the first player to advance to the semi-finals in Sao Paolo with a 6-2, 6-7(13), 7-6(5) win over Leonardo Mayer on Friday. The tournament’s third seed needed five match points before downing the Argentine in two hours and 55 minutes. 

The total points won summarised the close contest: 111 for Mayer, 112 for Cuevas. After the match, the 32-year-old Uruguayan admitted he was proud of his 15-match winning streak at the Brasil Open and happy to have support from the fans in attendance. 

“It was a very tough, long match,” Cuevas said. “I had a lot of chances in that second set [four match points]. Then in the third, my return wasn’t so good, plus Leo was serving so well.”

“The [15-match win streak] feels incredible. I felt the support from the Brazilian fans and today a lot of Uruguayans showed up, even the ex-captain of the Uruguayan soccer team showed up. I’m happy to once again be in the semi-finals. I’m going to enjoy this win, play doubles later and focus on tomorrow’s match.”

With the win, Cuevas moves to 2-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Mayer. Cuevas will play the winner between Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and second seed Fabio Fognini for a spot in the final. 

Did You Know?
In all, Cuevas has played 11 tie-breaks at the Brasil Open. In his previous match, the Uruguayan needed a tie-break to decide his second set against Sebastian Ofner before prevailing 6-4, 7-6(4).