Diego Schwartzman is the champion at the Rio Open presented by Claro, easing his way past Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-3 to claim the biggest title of his career and first ATP World Tour 500 crown. The 5’7” Argentine, who didn’t drop a set all tournament, will make his Top 20 debut in the ATP Rankings next week (No. 18).

Schwartzman got off to an inauspicious start, as he was broken in the opening game of the final by an aggressive Verdasco, whose signature forehand appeared to be firing on all cylinders. However, the Spaniard, who just yesterday claimed the doubles title with partner David Marrero, quickly dropped serve himself, allowing the Argentine back on level terms. 

As both players settled into the match, Schwartzman was able to counter Verdasco’s aggressive hitting with sublime clay-court counterpunching tennis and eventually sealing the first set 6-2.

The second set was a tighter affair with Verdasco generating five break points on Schwartzman’s wavering serve. Yet the dogged defense and pinpoint accuracy of the 25-year-old Schwartzman proved too much for the left-hander, who was unable to break serve despite his many opportunities. Showing few signs of nerves and steely determination in his final service game, Schwartzman sunk to his knees in celebration following a final Verdasco return error into the net after 83 minutes.

For his win in Brazil, the Argentine claims 500 ATP Rankings points and pockets $365,560 in prize money. The title is just his second at the tour-level, following his maiden crown two years ago in Istanbul (d. Grigor Dimitrov). Schwartzman improved to 2-2 at ATP World Tour finals, having succumbed in 2016, 2017 Antwerp (l. to Gasquet, l. to Tsonga).

Meanwhile, Verdasco falls to a 7-16 record in ATP World Tour finals, and remains in the hunt for his first title since 2016 as he continues his 2018 season. The Spaniard celebrated big wins in Rio, including an emphatic victory against two-time defending champion Dominic Thiem and former finalist Fabio Fognini.

Next up for Schwartzman is the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where his first-round opponent will be a familiar one: He and Verdasco are slated for a rematch next week in Acapulco, Mexico.

First final nerves? Not for Frances Tiafoe. The 20-year-old American coasted to his first ATP World Tour title on Sunday, beating German Peter Gojowczyk of Germany 6-1, 6-4 at the Delray Beach Open. Tiafoe becomes the youngest American to win an ATP World Tour title since 19-year-old Andy Roddick at 2002 Houston, and his maiden crown caps off the best two weeks of his career.

Before last week’s New York Open, Tiafoe had won nine tour-level matches (9-31) and had never reached a tour-level quarter-final. But after reaching the last eight in New York (l. to Anderson) and triumphing in Delray Beach, Tiafoe almost doubled his tour-level win count (16) in two weeks.

“I just can’t believe it. A lot’s going through my mind. If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I was going to win a title at 20 years old, I probably would have laughed. It’s unbelievable,” Tiafoe said.

In South Florida, the #NextGenATP American had to beat World No. 10 Juan Martin del Potro and Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung, who is the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion. In the semi-finals, Tiafoe knocked out #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who was also seeking his first first tour-level final.

Gojowczyk, however, had been a tricky opponent for Americans all week. The German had beaten a trio of Tiafoe’s compatriots – John Isner, Reilly Opelka and Steve Johnson – to make his second ATP World Tour final (2017 Metz, d. Paire).

But the German was slow to start on Sunday. Tiafoe rattled off his service games with ease, and he smacked a forehand return winner to gain a double-break lead at 4-0. Gojowcyzk had his left hamstring wrapped during the 5-0 changeover, but Tiafoe didn’t slow down, taking the first set after 25 minutes when Gojowcyzk slapped a forehand return long.

The 28-year-old German improved his level in the second set, keeping more balls in play. But almost every time Tiafoe faced pressure on his serve, he was brave and earned the reward for it: his first ATP World Tour title. The 20-year-old fell to the court after a second-serve ace on match point.

He’s the first among a heralded class of #NextGenATP Americans, which includes Opelka and Taylor Fritz, to win an ATP World Tour title. Tiafoe will receive 250 ATP Rankings points and is projected to rise to No. 61 in the ATP Rankings, just one spot off his career high, on Monday. He will also receive $94,280 in prize money. Gojowczyk will receive 150 ATP Rankings points and $49,650 in prize money.

Karen Khachanov lifted his second ATP World Tour title on Sunday, beating home favourite Lucas Pouille 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 at the Open 13 Provence.

“It is the second title in my career, so I am extremely happy. I just need to keep working and keep going,” said Khachanov. “I felt I was playing good here from the first day. It’s nice to play on a full court in the final, and I hope to come back next year.”

Between his maiden ATP World Tour title at the 2016 Chengdu Open (d. Ramos-Vinolas) and this week in Marseille, Khachanov’s best result was a semi-final appearance at the 2017 Gerry Weber Open (l. to Federer) last July. But the Russian turned that around in impressive fashion, earning victories against World No. 17 Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals and Pouille (No. 16). It is the first time that Khachanov has defeated two Top 20 players in the ATP Rankings in the same week, and he did not drop a set before the championship match.

The ninth seed notched his 10th win of 2018 to earn the trophy in the port city, remaining undefeated in tour-level finals (2-0). The Russian hit 16 aces in the one-hour, 49-minute clash to win his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with the recent Open Sud de France champion, who was bidding to win a second title in three weeks in southern France.

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It was Khachanov who began the final on the front foot, securing the first break of the match in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. But, after three service holds from both men, Pouille fired a backhand down the line to get back on level terms as the Russian failed to serve the set out at 5-4. Not to be deterred, the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier went back on the offensive in the next game, re-establishing his break advantage with a strong forehand approach up the line before serving the set out at the second time of asking.

Pouille survived an early attack from Khachanov to hold serve in the second set, and secured the only break of the set in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. The Frenchman levelled the match at a set apiece three games later with another solid backhand up the line, much to the delight of the French crowd.

The final set proved a tight affair, with both players holding serve with reasonable comfort before Khachanov pounced at the most crucial of moments. With Pouille serving to force a final-set tie-break, the 21-year-old reached championship point. A missed overhead gave Pouille a reprieve, but Khachanov would not be denied. The Frenchman double faulted for the fourth time to hand the World No. 47 a second opportunity, which he took as Pouille dumped a forehand into the net to end the match.

Pouille fell just short of winning his second title of 2018 in front of home support, after triumphing in the nearby city of Montpellier just two weeks ago. The Frenchman was aiming to win his fifth title in 10 months.

“It was a good week. Karen is a young player who will be Top 20 soon. Congrats to him. Overall it was a great match,” Pouille said. “Another final is always positive. I hope that I can continue to play well in the next few weeks.”

Khachanov earns 250 ATP Rankings points and €115,150, while Pouille will take away 150 points and €60,645 for his runner-up finish.

Did You Know?
Khachanov is the first player who competed in last year’s inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan to win two ATP World Tour titles.

Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus clinched their first title as a team at the Open 13 Provence, defeating fourth seeds Marcus Daniell and Dominic Inglot 6-7(2), 6-3, 10/4 on Sunday.

Competing in their first tour-level final together, Klaasen and Venus battled past their opponents without dropping serve in 82 minutes. It is Klaasen’s 14th ATP World Tour doubles triumph and Venus’ eighth tournament crown. Venus has now won the title in Marseille on two occasions, having previously lifted the trophy with Mate Pavic in 2016.

“It is really exciting [to win our first title],” said Venus. “We have been working hard on the practice court, and every time we have been out there competing, we have felt like we have gotten more comfortable with each other… playing better each week. So we are really excited to get the title here and keep building on it.”

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The first set did not feature a single break point, with both teams holding serve with relative ease to force a tie-break. From there, Daniell and Inglot increased their level to secure two crucial mini-breaks and, with that, the opening set. Klaasen and Venus regrouped in the second set, grabbing the first break of the match before saving a break point in the next game to move ahead 4-1. Two further service holds were enough to take the final to a Match Tie-break.

The momentum had swung in favour of the top seeds, with Daniell and Inglot needing to quickly recover from dropping their first set of the tournament. Klaasen and Venus raced out to an 8/3 lead, and never looked back, clinching the title on their first championship point.

“It was a lot of fun today to play in front of such a big and enthusiastic crowd,” said Klaasen. “I am happy to celebrate our first title together.”

Klaasen and Venus will receive 250 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €34,980, while Daniell and Inglot collect 150 points and a share of €18,390.

Did You Know?
Klaasen and Venus’ title run in Marseille was just their fourth tournament together. The two began their partnership at the ASB Classic in Auckland last month.

Before the 2018 season, Ilya Ivashka had never competed in an ATP World Tour main draw. But this week, the 23-year-old has played the best tennis of his career to advance to the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. The World No. 193 not only qualified, but ousted Laslo Djere, was leading second seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 1-1 when the Swiss retired due to a knee injury, and then held on to defeat home favourite Nicolas Mahut in three sets on Friday evening.

“It’s a very good feeling,” Ivashka told ATPWorldTour.com after beating Mahut in the quarter-finals. “It was a tough match today and I’m happy that I’m in the semi-finals and that I’ll play tomorrow.”

What makes his run even more special is that Ivashka is the first Belarusian to make the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour event since Max Mirnyi at 2005 Nottingham — better yet, it is only the third tour-level event of his career (2016 US Open, 2018 Pune).

“It means a lot because I didn’t know that he was the last player,” Ivashka said of Mirnyi. “I knew that he won the title in Rotterdam [in 2003]. I knew he was the last one who won an ATP [World Tour] title, but I didn’t know about the semi-finals. It’s a great feeling and I enjoy representing my country and I’m very proud of that.”

In fact, 11 of the right-hander’s 17 tour-level matches have come in Davis Cup competition for Belarus. However, Ivashka has been training in Barcelona, Spain for more than a year. Why did he make the decision to work on his game away from home?

“It’s quite tough to say, but it was very good conditions for me,” Ivashka said. “I had a coach there who I really liked to work with and I decided to go there.”

But last November, the Belarusian made a coaching change and began working with former World No. 230 Jose Checa-Calvo. And while it would have been tough to envision such a massive success this quickly, the semi-finalist is not shocked.

“I was not thinking about this, but maybe I would believe [in a big result] because I’m working really hard and I have a lot of goals,” said Ivashka, who captured his lone ATP Challenger Tour title last June in Fergana, Uzbekistan. “So maybe I would believe it, but not this soon.

“It’s a great feeling because before I didn’t play a lot of ATPs… I didn’t have a lot of experience, but now it feels good to be here and win matches here, so I really enjoy it.”

Ivashka is not done yet, as he looks to spring another upset on Saturday against third seed and recent Open Sud de France winner Lucas Pouille. 

“I just go day-by-day and I try to work hard every day, do my routines and it helps me to be focused,” Ivashka said. “Every day is another day and I need to keep working and keep playing.”