No. 14 Juan Martin del Potro, +4

A convincing straight-sets triumph over top seed Grigor Dimitrov in the final of the Intrum Stockholm Open lifted Juan Martin del Potro into contention for a return to the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 12-19 November at The O2 in London. Del Potro secured his 20^th ATP World Tour title and jumped four spots to No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Race to London by retaining his Stockholm crown. Read Report.

The Argentine has 2,135 points in the Race, 470 points behind eight-placed Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. The 29-year-old is looking to secure his first Nitto ATP Finals berth since 2013 as one of the top eight players to qualify for the season finale. He is fourth seed at the Swiss Indoors Basel this week.

No. 5 Grigor Dimitrov, +1

The Bulgarian, who is next in line to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, improved his chances with a run to his third Stockholm final. It was his first defeat in four ATP World Tour finals this season.

The 26 year old rose one spot above Marin Cilic to No. in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 3,560 points, just 25 points ahead of the Croatian. He could seal his debut berth at the Nitto ATP Finals this week when he the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna.

No. 15 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, +7

A career-best fourth ATP World Tour title of 2017 for the Frenchman has further crowded the battle for Nitto ATP Finals berths. Tsonga’s straight-sets victory over Diego Schwartzman in the European Open final in Antwerp has catapulted him seven spots up to No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Race to London.

The 32-year-old Tsonga had already landed titles in Lyon, Marseille and Rotterdam earlier this year. Tsonga now has 2,055 points in the Race, 550 points behind Carreno Busta. He will attempt to make up ground in Vienna this week.

No. 29 Damir Dzumhur, +10

Damir Dzumhur’s love affair with Russia continued when the Bosnian and Herzegovinian clinched his second ATP World Tour title there on Sunday. The St. Petersburg Open champion improved to 10-0 on Russian soil this season with his VTB Kremlin Cup triumph by overcoming Lithuanian Ricardis Berankis.

With his confidence riding high, it marked Dzumhur’s third ATP World Tour final from his past seven tournaments. He will look to crack further improve on his career-high position in the Emirates ATP Rankings at Vienna this week.

Other Top 100 Movers This Week

No. 64 Federico Delbonis, +6

No. 82 Andreas Seppi, +8

No. 92 Ruben Bemelmans, +24

No. 93 Stefanos Tsitsipas, +26

No. 96 Julien Benneteau, +10

No.98 Mikhail Youzhny, +27

A LOOK BACK
Las Vegas Tennis Open (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA): #NextGenATP star Stefan Kozlov returned to the winners’ circle on Sunday, storming back from a set down to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title. The American teen overcame Liam Broady 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 19 minutes for his first crown since lifting his maiden trophy in Columbus nearly one year ago.

Kozlov failed to convert on two match points at 5-3 in the decider, but held his nerve and closed out the win on his third at 5-4. The 19-year-old’s win is the 13th for teenagers this year and 10th among Americans.

“We both just put it on the line today and it was 50-50,” Kozlov said. “We were both left gasping for air and it wasn’t easy. It could have gone either way today. I was very impressed with Liam’s sportsmanship today. I haven’t had the best last couple of months, a lot of ups and downs. For all the downs, you have to kind of look for the ups and today I had to dig deep for mine.”

Yinzhou International Men’s Tennis Challenger (Ningbo, China): Former World No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny is on the precipice of a Top 100 return after streaking to the title in Ningbo on Sunday. Youzhny did not drop a set all week, capped by a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Taro Daniel in the final. The Russian will rise to No. 101 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, improving to 6-1 in finals on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The week in Ningbo also featured one of the biggest comebacks and upsets of the year, as Austrian teen Jurij Rodionov stunned second seed Jordan Thompson from 3-6, 1-5 down to reach his first Challenger semi-final. Another teenager making noise at the $125,000 event was Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki. The 19 year old reached the quarter-finals and will rise 62 spots to a career-high No. 368 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Wolffkran Open (Ismaning, Germany): The inaugural tournament in Ismaning was a great success, with the top German players showcasing their talents on home soil. Six of the eight seeds were from the European nation and one of them – No. 3 Yannick Hanfmann – would take the title on Sunday. Hanfmann clinched his maiden ATP Challenger Tour crown 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 over Lorenzo Sonego. Runner-up at the ATP World Tour event in Gstaad earlier this year, he will rise to a career-high No. 113 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Three months after reaching his first @ATPWorldTour final @SwissOpenGstaad, @YannickHanfmann celebrates his first #ATPChallenger ? in Ismaning. pic.twitter.com/r4j5OxsQs6

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 23, 2017

First ATP Challenger title?✌️?☺️! Especially happy it being on home soil. ?? Thanks for the… https://t.co/YJJSnFY3xN

— Yannick Hanfmann (@YannickHanfmann) October 22, 2017

“It was an amazing feeling to win my first Challenger title in front of this home crowd,” said Hanfmann. “Especially after being down a break in the third set and looking like the loser. It gave me a huge boost that the crowd kept cheering me on. The tournament was greatly organised and I hope they will continue for many more years. It presents a great opportunity for our young guys from the region to fight for [Emirates ATP Rankings] points.”

Milo Open (Cali, Colombia): World No. 69 Federico Delbonis lifted his ninth ATP Challenger Tour trophy and second of the year, defeating Guilherme Clezar 7-6(10), 7-5 in Cali on Saturday. The Argentine had also claimed victory on the clay of Todi, Italy, in June. It marks the second straight week in which a player from Argentina has won a Challenger title, following Nicolas Kicker’s triumph in Buenos Aires.

A LOOK AHEAD
There are five tournaments on four continents. In Asia, Blaz Kavcic leads the field in Suzhou, China, while Taylor Fritz is the top seed at the third annual Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh City.

In Brest, France, third seed Norbert Gombos will seek to successfully defend his title. The €106,000 event also features #NextGenATP stars Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas is coming off his first ATP World Tour semi-final last week in Antwerp.

Also, in Traralgon, Australia, top seed Jordan Thompson will look to retain the title. Christian Garin seeks to do the same in Lima, Peru. 

Believe it or not, a player with a record 19 Grand Slam crowns, 94 titles overall and 302 weeks at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings still feels the pressure.

The Swiss Indoors Basel has always been a special tournament for Roger Federer, who has not only won the event seven times, but has made the final in each of his past 10 appearances. Although the Basel native missed his hometown tournament last year after shutting down his 2016 season early due to nagging injuries, he makes a long-awaited homecoming this week – but not without the weight of expectation.

“I hope I can stick around for a little bit. I do feel a lot of pressure, I must admit,” said Federer. “On Tuesday I play against a good first-round opponent in Frances Tiafoe, who is going to have a great career – I hope he’s not going to start his full-blown career right here in Basel, my hometown, I hope he leaves me this one and maybe he can have the next one!”

Tiafoe, who took Federer to five sets in a thrilling first-round match at the US Open this summer, is just one of many landmines in a tricky draw for the Swiss legend. Other seeds at the Swiss Indoors Basel include defending champion Marin Cilic, 2014 finalist David Goffin and two-time champion Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated Federer in both 2012 and 2013 to claim his crowns.

But Federer, like many players, lives by the well-known platitude of focusing on one match at a time, and given the loaded draw in Basel this year, he acknowledges that it is more important than ever to abide by it. 

“I’m really hoping to win that first one and then sort of get into the tournament. I have a really tough draw as well if you just look one round ahead with Benoit Paire or Steve Johnson – I usually don’t do that but it’s a tough little section for an ATP 500. It’s a tough start so I don’t know what to expect, personally.

“Thankfully [feeling the pressure] has not been a big issue for me here in Basel because I’ve been in the finals the last 10 times that I have played here, but there’s no guarantee I will do it again this year,” he added. “So that’s why I arrived early, I’ve practised a lot here on the centre court already, I’m starting to feel the ball better and my body is ready to go, so I’m hoping to play a good tournament.”

With the Nitto ATP Finals in London just around the corner following the European indoor swing, Federer admits that already qualifying for his 14^th appearance at the prestigious season-ending event relieves some of the pressure of playing in Basel this week.

“My first qualification was back in 2002, so a long, long time ago,” said Federer, who will not only be looking to lift the trophy there for the seventh time, but will also be chasing rival Rafael Nadal for the year-end No. 1 ranking. “I’ve always played very well there and I have a great record: I won it twice in London, twice in Shanghai and twice in Houston, so I’d love to win again. It’s nice to know that you’re already qualified; it settles the nerves a little bit here at the indoor season at the end of the season. 

“It would be an amazing finish to the season, but I know other players have the same idea, so we’ll see what happens.”

Sunday was not Max Mirnyi’s first trip to titletown — not even close. But it will certainly be a moment that the 40 year old won’t soon forget.

Mirnyi won his 50th ATP World Tour doubles title, joining Philipp Oswald to defeat singles champion Damir Dzumhur and Antonio Sancic, 6-3, 7-5, in the final of the VTB Kremlin Cup.

“You never can say the victory was easy just looking at the score,” Mirnyi said. “There is always a special pressure when you are playing at home. And I think the VTB Kremlin Cup is a home tournament for me as unfortunately we haven’t got an ATP tournament in Minsk…many of my relatives and friends came to watch my matches and that is the one more reason to show your best. And when you managed to do this, it is a great pleasure.”

It was the Belarusian’s fifth VTB Kremlin Cup title with his fifth different partner. In his career, Mirnyi has partnered 19 different players to at least one title, starting with Kevin Ullyett in Shanghai 20 years ago.

Sunday’s victory was his first since capturing last year’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel with Treat Huey.

Mirnyi/Oswald did not drop a set en route to the title, with this event their fourth main draw appearance together. Oswald leaves Moscow with his third title this season after winning the Ecuador Open (w/Cerretani) and the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open (w/Marach).

“It means a lot because when you look at the list of winners with Max, he’s won this tournament five times with Federer and all those top stars and now it also says 50th title with Oswald,” Oswald said. “Partnering with Max is like being in an elite club of top players.”

Mirnyi has won three of his 50 titles with Roger Federer, with two in 2002 (Rotterdam, Moscow) and another in 2003 (Miami).

Dzumhur came close to becoming the first player to win both the singles and doubles title in Moscow in the same year since Nikolay Davydenko in 2004.

It was Sancic’s second doubles final. He lost in the final of the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag with Nikola Mektic.

Mirnyi and Oswald earned 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points each and will split $40,400 in prize money, while Dzumhur and Sancic take 150 points and will share $21,240.

As far as titles go, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga clinched the best year of his career on Sunday. The Frenchman won his fourth ATP World Tour title, a career best, beating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 7-5 at the European Open in Antwerp.

“I’m feeling good. It’s always good to win tournaments. I played really good tennis this week. I had a very good opponent today. He gave me a hard time. And I played some of my best tennis today on court,” Tsonga said.

“It’s really good, really positive for me and I hope I will be able to do something even better in the next week.”

Tsonga had captured titles in Lyon (d. Berdych), Marseille (d. Pouille) and Rotterdam (d. Goffin) earlier this year. With his 16^th career title (16-11), the 32-year-old also vaulted himself into contention to make his fourth appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 12-19 November at The O2 in London.

Tsonga now has 2,055 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London, 550 points behind Pablo Carreno Busta, who currently holds the final qualification spot. But there are still two weeks remaining in the season for Tsonga to make up ground. He will try to do so this week at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna, where he is the eighth seed.

 Watch Full Match Replays

The Frenchman has to like his chances: No one on tour has played better than him this year indoors. Three of his four titles have come indoors – Lyon was on clay – and he boasts a 16-2 record this year under a roof.

Against Schwartzman, Tsonga saved four of six break points and won 73 per cent of his first-serve points. Tsonga will receive 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €105,045 in prize money for winning the title.

Schwartzman said, “I think it was really tough against Jo. He was serving unbelievable today. I am trying always to return but he played better than me. He deserved to win. He’s a big player.”

The Argentine was looking to take home his second ATP World Tour title, after winning the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open last year (d. Dimitrov). He fell in the 2016 European Open final to Tsonga’s countryman Richard Gasquet. The Argentine will receive 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €55,325 in prize money.

“It was an unbelievable week for me. Second year here in Antwerp, second final,” Schwartzman said. “I am trying next year to win but it’s not going to be easy. I hope I don’t play against another Frenchman here.”

Maybe Scott Lipsky of the U.S. and Indian Divij Sharan should play together more often. In their first ATP World Tour tournament together, Lipsky/Sharan won the European Open in Antwerp, beating Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and Julio Peralta of Chile 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 in Sunday’s final.

Two weeks ago, Lipsky/Sharan reached the semi-finals of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and they raised their level in Belgium, especially in the big moments. The American/Indian pairing won all four matches in Match Tie-breaks.

“It was a great match. Those are two great friends of ours, so we’re happy to get through. It was fun to play against them,” Lipsky said.

 Watch Full Match Replays

Lipsky improved to 16-12 in tour-level doubles finals for his career. Sharan improved to 3-1.

“It was a great experience, playing here. It’s my first time in Belgium so I really enjoyed it,” Sharan said. “We had a great time on court. We played four very good matches so we’re really happy.”

The champions will receive 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €31,910 in prize money.

Gonzalez/Peralta were playing together for the third consecutive week and posted another good result. They also made the semi-finals in Tokyo and the quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Shanghai.

Gonzalez was playing in his 20^th career final (11-9) and was trying to extend his ATP World Tour title streak to eight consecutive years. Peralta was trying to win his fifth career tour-level doubles title (4-4). They will receive 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €16,780 in prize money.

The “Tower of Tandil” is rising toward the top of the tennis world again.

Fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro defended his Intrum Stockholm Open title on Sunday, defeating top seed and 2013 champion Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 23 minutes. It is the Argentine’s first title since he lifted the trophy in Sweden last year.

“I played the best match of the week against Grigor today. Unlucky for that, sorry Grigor,” del Potro said. “It’s amazing to come back and hold this big trophy. And hopefully I can come next year as well. I love to be in Stockholm. I like the city a lot. I like the Swedish people and you treated me very, very good this week and I would like to thank everyone.”

Not only did del Potro capture his 20th ATP World Tour title, but he launched himself into contention in the Emirates ATP Race To London. The 29-year-old will move up to 14th in the Race with 2,135 points, 470 points behind Pablo Carreno Busta, who currently occupies the final qualifying spot. The Argentine also has his eyes set on the possibilities for him in the future.

“I’m still going up in the [Emirates ATP] Rankings. I’m already in the Top 20 and I don’t have too many points to defend next season. Could get close to the Top 10 guys,” del Potro said. “[It] could be a dream after all my problems with the wrist. To reach that ranking, that number again, would be fantastic for me. But I’m very calm. I’d like to stay in good shape, keep healthy and keep playing tennis.”

Del Potro dominated the final with his serve, notching nine aces and saving all four break points he faced. He earned a double-break lead in the second set while returning up 4-2, as Dimitrov launched a forehand approach shot long to virtually put the match out of reach. Fittingly enough, del Potro ended the championship with a big serve in the deuce court down the middle, eliciting an error from his opponent. When the ball landed in the net, del Potro’s arms rose straight toward the ceiling in celebration.

The Argentine extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against the Bulgarian to 6-2, despite losing their past two matches, both this year, in straight sets.

It was still a strong effort for Dimitrov in Stockholm. Dimitrov is fifth in the Race standings, next in line to qualify for London with 3,560 points, nearing his first appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals.

“I couldn’t have lost to a better gentleman on and off the court. Juan, congrats…you’ve been playing great the whole year, quite a few battles and wishing you the best of luck for the rest of the season,” Dimitrov said. “Unfortunately I couldn’t bring a lot more fight today. But again, Juan totally deserved it.”

Del Potro earned 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points along with €105,045 for his efforts, while Dimitrov added 150 points to his tally and pocketed €55,325.