Estoril, Istanbul, Munich Continue Clay Circuit: The ATP World Tour European clay court circuit moves on to Estoril, Istanbul and Munich. Estoril is a second-time tournament at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril although Portuguese tennis on the calendar goes back to the Tour’s inception in 1990. Istanbul is also a second-year tournament stop on the ATP World Tour. Munich is one of the oldest clay court tournaments on the ATP World Tour, which was first held in 1974. There are five of the Top 20 players in the April 18 Emirates ATP Rankings in action, led by World No. 13 David Goffin, No. 14 Gael Monfils and No. 15 Dominic Thiem in Munich, while in Estoril, No. 18 Gilles Simon and No. 20 Nick Kyrgios lead the way.

BMW OPEN BY FWU AG (Munich): The first of five German tournaments on the ATP World Tour calendar takes place at Munich’s Iphitos Tennis Club, which was first staged in 1974. The International Tennis Championships of Bavaria was first held in 1900. Germans have won the title six times since then, most recently Tommy Haas in 2013 (d.Kohlschreiber) in the tournament’s first all-German final since 1965. There are two former champions in the field: No. 1 German Philipp Kohlschreiber (2012, ‘07) and Mikhail Youzhny (2010). Last year’s champion is not returning World No. 2 Andy Murray, who won his first career ATP World Tour clay court title (d. Kohlschreiber). The seeds are: 1) David Goffin, 2) Gael Monfils, 3) Dominic Thiem, 4) Kohlschreiber, 5) Fabio Fognini, 6) Thomaz Bellucci, 7) Vasek Pospisil and 8) Alexander Zverev.

Goffin Top Seed: Goffin is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament for the third time in his career, the first this season. Last year, the top Belgian was the No. 1 seed in Bastad (bye, 2R, l. to eventual champion Paire) and in Gstaad (runner-up, l. to Thiem). The 25-year-old Belgian enters Munich for the third time (1-2) with an 18-7 match record on the season with SF showings at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Raonic) and Miami (l. to Djokovic). He began the season with a 6-4 record in the first two months but since March he is 12-3.

Monfils on the Move: Monfils comes into Munich as the No. 2 seed and off to a career-best 20-6 start. In his last tournament he reached the final at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal). He also was runner-up in Rotterdam (l. to Klizan) and a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open and at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. This is the Frenchman’s third Munich appearance, first since a second-round finish in 2013 (l. to Brands). He made his debut in 2008 (l. to Andreev in 1R).

del Potro Back on Clay: Wild card Juan Martin del Potro is playing in his first ATP World Tour clay court tournament since the week of May 13, 2013 at ATP Masters 1000 Rome (l. to Paire in 3R). This is also the Argentine’s second appearance in Munich, first since 2008 when he lost in the quarter-finals (l. to El Aynaoui). He has a 5-3 match record this season with a SF in Delray Beach (l. to Querrey) and second-round results at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Berdych) and Miami (l. to Zeballos).

Thiem Improvement: Thiem, who is playing in his 10^th tournament of the season, enters Munich with a 26-7 match record, which is the second-most wins on the ATP World Tour this year (only behind Djokovic-28). Last year he didn’t win his 26^th match until his title run in Gstaad in August. The 22-year-old Austrian has won titles in Buenos Aires (d. Almagro) and the 500 level event in Acapulco (d. Tomic). He has played well on both surfaces with a 16-5 record on hard courts and 10-2 on clay.

Sascha Eyes Top 50: German No. 2 Alexander Zverev is projected to break the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time this week (April 25). The recently-turned 19-year-old has a 13-10 match record on the season and a year ago he entered Munich ranked No. 119. He opens against Malik Jaziri and the Tunisian beat Zverev 76 64 in the third round of Barcelona last week. With No. 41 Borna Coric the other teenager in the Top 50, it will mark the first time since Sept. 15, 2008 two teenagers were ranked in the Top 50. On that date, Marin Cilic and del Potro, both 19, were ranked No. 22 and No. 13, respectively.

Local Title Hopes: There are nine Germans in the main draw (three qualifiers), led by No. 27-ranked Kohlhschreiber, who is a two-time Munich champion and last year’s runner-up. The No. 1 German has a 24-9 tournament match record. The other local title hopes are: Alexander Zverev, Dustin Brown and Jan-Lennard Struff along with wild cards Maximilian Marter and Mischa Zverev. Former World No. 18 Florian Mayer, who has been sidelined with a groin injury since most of last year, qualified into his first main draw of the season. Other qualifiers are Matthias Bachinger and Nils Langer or Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (met in final qualifying round).

MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN (Estoril): The second-year ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament will take place at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril. A Portuguese tournament on the ATP World Tour calendar has been a fixture since the Tour’s inception in 1990. In partnership with the Municipality of Cascais, the tournament will see fans enjoy greater proximity to the players and the action on court. There are three of the Top 25 players in the field, led by the top three seeds: 1) Gilles Simon, 2) Nick Kyrgios and 3) Benoit Paire. The others are: 4) Joao Sousa, 5) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6) Borna Coric, 7) Leonardo Mayer, and 8) Pablo Carreno Busta.

Simon Top Seed: Simon is the top seed for the eighth time in his career in an ATP World Tour tournament, the first since last August in Winston-Salem (l. to Bedene in 2R after bye). In 2009, when Estoril was held in the other location, Simon came in as the top seed ranked No. 8. He lost in the quarter-finals (l. to Montanes). His lone title as top seed came in Bucharest in 2012 (d. Fognini). The Frenchman has an 11-8 record on the season with a quarter-final showing at ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Goffin) and 4R at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic in five sets).

Kyrgios Makes Clay Debut: Last year Kyrgios came into Estoril ranked No. 46 and he advanced to his maiden ATP World Tour final (l. to Gasquet). Now a year later the Next Generation 20-year-old Aussie star (turns 21 on Wednesday) is the youngest player in the Top 20 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 20. The top Aussie is making his season debut on clay with a 14-4 overall match record. In February, he captured his first ATP World Tour title in Marseille (d. Cilic) and then reached the semi-finals in Dubai (ret. vs. Wawrinka) and ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Nishikori).

Next Generation: There are three Next Generation players in the main draw: Nick Kyrgios (AUS), Bornia Coric (CRO) and Kyle Edmund (GBR).

Verdasco Wild Card: Former World No. 7 Fernando Verdasco comes into Estoril after reaching his 20^th career ATP World Tour final in Bucharest (vs. Pouille). The 32-year-old Spaniard takes on countryman Carreno Busta in the first round.

Local Title Hopes: Portugal’s No. 1 player, Joao Sousa, is the country’s highest ranked player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 27-year-old is ranked No. 34, just one spot off his career-high No. 33 on Nov. 9, 2015. In 2013, he became the first Portuguese native to win an ATP World Tour singles title in Kuala Lumpur. He is the No. 4 seed in the tournament. There are three other Portuguese players in the draw: Gastao Elias, a quarter-finalist in 2013-14, along with wild cards Frederico Ferreira Silva, who is ranked No. 253, and No. 392 Pedro Sousa.

TEB BNP PARIBAS ISTANBUL OPEN (Istanbul): The second staging of the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open at the spectacular Garanti Koza Arena, features a retractable roof on Centre Court and provides seating for 7,500 spectators. There are two other clay show courts and the clubhouse features a fitness centre, spa, swimming pool and restaurant. Turkey is the 36^th different country an ATP World Tour tournament has been held in since the formation of the ATP World Tour in 1990. A year ago Federer won the inaugural title. This year’s seeds are: 1) Bernard Tomic, 2) Grigor Dimitrov, 3) Ivo Karlovic, 4) Federico Delbonis, 5) Marcel Granollers, 6) Jiri Vesely, 7) Teymuraz Gabashvili and 8) Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Tomic Top Seed: No. 2 Aussie Bernard Tomic, is the top seed for the second straight week and makes his Istanbul debut after returning from a right wrist injury. Last week the 23-year-old Aussie returned in Bucharest and lost in his opening match (vs. Haase). He last played at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells where he retired in the third round (vs. Raonic) on 14 March. Tomic comes in with a 14-9 match record on the season and his best result is a runner-up in Acapulco (l. to Thiem).   

Grigor No. 2 Seed: Dimitrov comes in as the No. 2 seed for the second year in a row with a 15-8 record on the season. He opened his clay court campaign in Monte-Carlo by reaching the second round. The 24-year-old Bulgarian, a three-time winner in 2014, reached the final in the second week of the season in Sydney (l. to Troicki), his best result to date. He also advanced to the semi-finals in Delray Beach (l. to Ram).

Jiri Turnaround: Vesely began the season with a 1-7 match record before turning things around with a semi-final in Marrakech (l. to Coric). He then followed with a third-round result at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo where he posted the biggest win of his career over No. 1 Djokovic in the second round before losing to eventual finalist Gael Monfils. The 22-year-old Czech Republic native is making his Istanbul debut.

Russians on the Rise: New Generation Russian teenager Karen Khachanov is a wild card entry into the main draw. Last week the 19-year-old qualified in Barcelona and posted three-set wins over Aljaz Bedene (plays in 1R Istanbul) and No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut before falling to Alexandr Dolgopolov. He is projected to jump to around a career-high No. 130 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Another Next Gen teenager, Russian Andrey Rublev, who last year came into Istanbul ranked No. 292, qualified into the main draw on Sunday. Rublev, who reached the second round last year, is ranked a career-high No. 154 on Mar. 21

Ivo Eyes 300^th Win: The oldest player in the singles draw, 37-year-old Ivo Karlovic, makes his Istanbul debut. The No. 3 seed is trying to earn his 300^th career match win (299-269). He returned in Monte-Carlo after being sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury. Karlovic is also looking for his first match win of the season (0-6).

Turks in Main Draw: Marsel Ilhan is the No. 1 player in Turkey at No. 152 after reaching a career-high No. 77 on Mar. 2, 2015. The 28-year-old has a 5-3 record in Challengers and 2-3 in ATP World Tour level play this season. The other Turk in the field is local wild card Cem Ilkel, a 20-year-old ranked No. 437. He is making his second Istanbul appearance. He is a member of the Turkish Davis Cup team.

In Case You Missed It

Rafael Nadal won a record ninth Barcelona Open title by defeating Kei Nishikori. Read

Bob and Mike Bryan capture their 111^th team title in Barcelona. Read

The BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy winners will be crowned on Monday due to rain. Read

Ecuadorian tennis rallies after the country is hit by devastating earthquakes. Read

Sascha Zverev remembers travel drama in exclusive Q&A. Read

Meet #NextGen star Karen Khachanov. Read

Birthdays

26 April – John Isner (31)

27 April – Nick Kyrgios (21), Horacio Zeballos (31)

1 May – Tommy Robredo (34)

Rafael Nadal dethroned two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori on Sunday at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell, capturing his ninth title with a 6-4, 7-5 victory in two hours and four minutes.

In notching his 49th clay-court crown, the top-seeded Spaniard drew level with Guillermo Vilas atop the Open Era list. Nadal added a ninth trophy to his stunning haul in Barcelona, and first since 2013, ending Nishikori’s two-year reign. He previously prevailed from 2005-’09 and 2011-’13.

“It was a very close match,” Nadal said. “There were a lot of chances for both of us but I think I have been solid.

“When you play against players with such a high level, the match is often decided by a few moments. So I feel happy that I handled all these important moments well mentally.”

Nadal was on the front foot from the start, breaking in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead behind an offensive onslaught. Nishikori executed his game plan from the baseline in immediately drawing level, but it was his Spanish opponent who would have the last laugh in the opener, breaking for 6-4.

Nadal did well to recover after being broken in the opening game of the second set, reeling off four straight games to take a seemingly insurmountable 4-1 lead. But Nishikori would not go down without a fight, breaking back in the seventh game and consolidating for 4-all. Nadal, however, would not be denied his return to the Barcelona throne, prevailing on his second match point after just over two hours. He fired 21 winners in total and benefitted from 34 Nishikori unforced errors. 

Most Titles At A Single Tournament (Open Era)

The win comes exactly one week after the World No. 5 claimed an unprecedented ninth crown at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Also a nine-time winner at Roland Garros, he is the only player to win as many titles in a single tournament in the Open Era. Nadal takes home 500 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €460,000 in prize money.

“I have been working so hard to enjoy moments like this,” Nadal said. “The fact that I’m playing at home is always even more special. I’m very happy and I feel lucky to enjoy this again.”

Nishikori, meanwhile, was bidding for a 12th ATP World Tour title in his 18th final. He saw his 14-match win streak at the Trofeo Conde de Godo snapped. The 26 year old earns 300 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €218,750 in prize money.

Most Clay-Court Titles (Open Era)

ATP World Tour star Marin Cilic has set up a foundation with the goal of supporting educational projects which will give young people improved access to education.

“I decided to start the Foundation several months ago, along with my manager, Vincent,” Cilic said. “An organisation in Croatia that I helped works with kids in orphanages. The orphans are helped until they are 18, and then from 18 they are more or less on their own. They have to start making money, they can’t go to university and make the best out of their potential. That’s one of the things I was trying to help with last year, raising awareness and helping the kids who are 13 and 14 to save up some funds, so that when they are older and on their own, they can cover expenses and go to university.

“The first launch will be in London on 25 June. We are organising an event just before the start of Wimbledon. We’ll have a dinner and small presentation. At that event we will launch the Foundation and start to build from there. The biggest targets are definitely going to be trying to help some organisations in Croatia, but also abroad in Monaco and different parts of Europe. There are, unfortunately, a lot of things happening in the world that are tragic, so we are also going to look into that and decide if we are able to help in some situations.”

In addition to a gala dinner, Cilic has a few other event ideas.

“It’s great to be an athlete and a tennis player, so you can organise exhibitions and events, dinners where you can raise money. Goran [Ivanisevic] is my coach as well and he’s very popular in the exhibition world! People like to watch him. So there are going to be different kinds of events and hopefully it’s going to work well. In the past I did things like this a couple of times and it was always very welcome by the players. I have good relationships with Novak, Rafa, Berdych, Milos – who last year came to my clinic in Monte-Carlo. Events are always very helpful in different countries as well.

“We’re going to try to organise some small events for the kids. We’re going to try and find some good talents and offer some tennis scholarships for the kids who are trying to become professional tennis players and help them with expenses and to have some funds for training and travelling.

“It’s a blessing when you are successful and can also give back to the community and make people happy. We will try to help as many people as possible.”

Gala Dinner Information

Saturday 25th June 2016 – 8.30 pm

ANGLER RESTAURANT – 7th Floor

South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, London EC2M 2AF

£ 5.000 Table for 10 guests

RESERVATION by Friday June, 10th, 2016 at m.cilic1988@gmail.com

Monday singles and doubles finals are on tap at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy after persistent rain showers washed out play on Sunday.

The action is scheduled to resume at 9:30am on Centre Court.

The start of the doubles final in Bucharest was initially pushed back two hours, before home hopes and top seeds Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau captured the first set 7-5 over Chris Guccione and Andre Sa. The skies would close once again, with ATP supervisor Gerry Armstrong eventually calling play at 5:50pm local time.

Tecau is bidding for a fourth title on home soil with a fourth different partner, after prevailing with Robert Lindstedt in 2012, Max Mirnyi in ’13 and Jean-Julien Rojer in ’14. Victory would see the Romanian claim the 300th match win of his career.

In the singles final, 22-year-old Frenchman Lucas Pouille is hoping to bring home his first ATP World Tour trophy when he faces Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco. Pouille has dropped only one set in four matches in Bucharest, upsetting three seeded opponents en route to the final. Verdasco, meanwhile, is appearing in his 20th ATP World Tour final and seeking a seventh title. The 32 year old is trying to become the second straight Spaniard to lift the Bucharest trophy after Guillermo Garcia-Lopez triumphed last year.

It is the first Monday finish on the ATP World Tour since October, when Tomas Berdych topped Garcia-Lopez at a waterlogged Shenzhen Open.

#NextGen star Jared Donaldson is still a teenager, but he’s been taking an adult approach to developing his game for continued success on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The 19-year-old American has reached his first ATP Challenger Tour final of the year at this week’s $50,000 event in Savannah, Georgia. After prevailing in two intense three-set battles on Thursday and Friday, with the latter being a win over No. 4 seed Gerald Melzer, Donaldson saved his best tennis so far this week for his semi-final against No. 2 seed Donald Young. Striking his forehand with authority and controlling the tempo of the baseline rallies, Donaldson handily prevailed over his more experienced opponent, 6-4, 6-3.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Donaldson’s performance against Young was his return of serve. Having once been one of the weaker parts of his game, he continually hit Young’s first serves close to the baseline and brought the rallies back to a neutral point. Donaldson clinched the match by blasting a return winner on his first match point.

“I’ve struggled on my return at times and felt like I wasn’t giving myself enough opportunities to put balls in play and break guys,” admitted Donaldson. “I’m playing more aggressively lately, but in the past I may have done it in a way where I was going for too much. Now I’m doing it in a way that has more spin and margin so I can hit those shots consistently.”

Donaldson also won an impressive 87 per cent of points when he got his first serve into play. Having attempted to revamp with his serve in the past without success, the American said that going back to basics has gotten the shot back to where he wanted it to be.

“I was serving amazingly well in Futures tournaments when I was 17, but when I started trying to hit the ball a little harder, my fundamentals started getting a little erratic,” said Donaldson. “I’ve felt more confident in my first serve and made some adjustments after the Challenger last week in Sarasota. My second serve can still be a little shaky, so I just need to make sure I don’t get too passive with it and keep up my racquet speed.”

Donaldson is now within striking distance of winning the USTA’s French Open Wild Card Challenge and could clinch it with a strong result in next week’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Tallahassee. Although the American said he would be thrilled to make his main draw debut in Paris, it’s far from his mind as he focuses on the championship match against either No. 1 seed Denis Kudla or Bjorn Fratangelo

“The wild card is more of an afterthought. I’ve gotten my fair share of wild cards over the years and they’re nice to have, but I’d honestly rather make the main draw at Roland Garros by going through qualifying,” said Donaldson. “It’s a nice bonus for doing well in these Challengers, but you have to worry about the match at hand instead of thinking about chasing ranking points and opportunities. It’s impossible to focus otherwise.”

Second seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan reached the Barcelona Open BancSabadell final for the fourth time, ousting Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 on Saturday.

The Bryans advanced to their 164th tour-level doubles final and second in three weeks, after lifting their first trophy of the year in Houston. They previously prevailed in Barcelona in 2003 and ’08, while finishing runner-up in 2011.

The American twins carry a 25-16 record in clay finals into Sunday’s title match, where they will face wild cards Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers. The Uruguyan/Spanish duo overcame a two-hour rain delay to defeat Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 2-6, 6-4, 10-3.

Bidding to become the first home grown doubles champion at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona since 1997, when Alberto Berasategui and Jordi Burillo triumphed, Granollers is appearing in his 26th final (10-15 record) on the ATP World Tour and fifth with Cuevas (2-2). Cuevas, meanwhile is vying for his sixth title in 12 finals.

The home-country favorites will have a chance to become the home-country champions on Sunday at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest. Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau beat Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 on Saturday to advance to the final in Bucharest. The No. 1 seeds won nearly 70 per cent of their first-serve points and broke their opponents three times in the win.

“It was tough,” Mergea said. “We lost the first set after having seven or eight break points. Our opponents became more confident.”

Tecau, though, said a close semi-finals match should help them on Sunday. “It’s good for us to face such tough situations. After a 6-3, 6-3 victory, you don’t think too much,” he said. “It benefits the team to have close matches, that’s helping us to see what we have to improve.”

Mergea and Tecau will go for their first ATP World Tour title together against Chris Guccione of Australia and Andre Sa of Brazil. Mergea has won five tour-level doubles titles and Tecau has 27 doubles titles. Guccione/Sa will be playing in their third ATP World Tour final together. Last year, the duo won the Aegon Open Nottingham and reached the final of the Shenzhen Open.