One of the stories of the year in all of sports came in February when Matija Pecotic, the 33-year-old Director of Capital Markets for a real estate investment company, stunned former Top 10 star Jack Sock at the Delray Beach Open. The Croatian took the tennis world by storm after surging from qualifying, where he was an alternate, to the second round of the main draw.

Following from across the Atlantic Ocean was Marcus Willis, tennis’ original Hollywood script writer, who is making a comeback in doubles. In 2016, the lefty battled through Wimbledon pre-qualifying and then defeated Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev in qualifying to reach the main draw. After the World No. 772 stunned Ricardas Berankis in the first round, Willis played Roger Federer on centre court, losing in straight sets.

“I was just happy. It’s a weird thing. I was just happy for the guy more than anything. It’s nice in sport, in tennis, when stuff like this happens. A lot of guys get to 200 and don’t have that break,” Willis told ATPTour.com of Pecotic. “His life is really interesting right now.”

Pecotic climbed as high as No. 206 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2015. But after suffering from a staph infection, attending Harvard Business School and the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, he traded hopes of a full-time career for a desk at the office. Willis is one of few people who can understand the whirlwind the Croatian went through in Delray Beach.

“He got significantly higher than I did in the singles rankings. So in a way, it’s not that I didn’t deserve it because I had the ability, but he really deserved that. He got lucky because he got in, but I saw that story and it took me back a little bit,” Willis said. “I think you can be misled sometimes. Certainly with my story… a lot of people sort of got the impression that I was just a random tennis coach who decided to sign up for Wimbledon one day.

“[Pecotic’s story] was kind of being spun like this guy goes to work in an office and he turned up and beat Jack Sock. Not only is that a discredit to Jack Sock, but it’s kind of a discredit to him for all the work he’s put in.”

^{Federer and Willis depart Centre Court after their match in 2016. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images.}
After competing in two tournaments in Greece in November 2020, Willis came to the realisation that continuing on was “financially impossible”. The Briton had “lost a bit of love for the sport” and in early 2021 he announced his retirement.

Willis thought: “I’ve got a family here, I can’t keep chasing this dream anymore.”

It had not been a perfect end to his dream journey.

“Post Wimbledon I remember I played a few more tournaments that year and I got injured. I think 2018 was my last singles match, but I sort of got myself into quite a negative mindset. I kind of told myself that nothing would ever be that good again, so what’s the point? I struggled,” Willis said. “I struggled with the comedown after Wimbledon. It was difficult. I put on a load of weight, I was struggling.

“I had to go and get some help. I had to go speak to a professional. It’s something I continue to do. It’s something I stay on top of because I don’t want to venture back to where I was.”

The lefty, who is in a much better place now, turned to coaching at a local club five to six days per week. Every so often he would take a private hit in London or work a clinic and do a Q&A session to speak about his incredible run at Wimbledon and facing Federer.

That all changed at the end of 2021, when he played an exhibition a friend was holding locally.

“One of the guys watching, who is obviously now a friend, said ‘I can sponsor you to go back on Tour if you want to play,’” Willis recalled. “I didn’t need asking twice. So I had to get myself in shape, because I was a little out of shape. It’s luck again. Someone saw something in me, saw ability.”

Willis, who knew he would only play doubles, worked to return to fitness. Last July, he played his first tournament back in Roehampton as a third alternate. His first doubles title came in September in Madrid, the same week Federer announced his retirement. “The news came out and honestly I felt like crying,” Willis said.

 

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Eight months later he is approaching the Top 300 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings. Willis was aiming for the Top 500 by July, four months from now.

The Briton was hoping to be in range of a potential Wimbledon wild card next year. But at the rate he is going, that is not out of the question for 2023. Willis and partner Scott Duncan, who played on opposite teams in Willis’ first tournament back, have won five ITF Futures titles together.

“At the start it was really fun. It’s still fun now, but it’s serious as well. I’ve got my goals. I’ve been doing much better than I thought I would, so now I’m kind of hungrier for every match. I’m going after it,” Willis said. “I love being out there competing, it’s what I love doing.”

Ironically, Pecotic and Willis had played each other twice, in 2014 and 2015, before either man enjoyed his breakthrough.

“When Willis made his run at Wimbledon, I thought the world was thinking the same thing that I was thinking when I saw him for the first time, which was, ‘Who the hell is this recreational player and what is he doing at a professional tennis tournament.’ And it was only when he beat me in straight sets and hit about 14 aces that I realised just how incredibly talented and what a high-IQ tennis player he was,” Pecotic told ATPTour.com. “Seeing him on that run didn’t surprise me at all. I know he plays well on fast surfaces and I remember he moves very well and has a world-class serve and has an incredible backhand slice and has amazing touch and just really good sort of court awareness. It just didn’t surprise me at all.”

His own journey in Delray Beach brought back memories of Willis’ run at SW19.

“I was actually disappointed that he didn’t continue to show the world on the Tour level just how good he could be, because I really thought he had a lot more to give,” Pecotic said. “Who knows, maybe my run in Delray will inspire him to give it one more go.”

Little did Pecotic know that Willis is well on his way.

“In one way I’m very happy how things have gone, but now I’m all about the next step,” Willis said. “I’m taking it in my stride, I’m really happy with where I’m at, but I want more. I have to stop myself and realise I’ve done really well, not expect so much and just take it a match at a time. The other side of me sort of [is wanting to] get where I want to get as soon as possible.”

The cries reverberated through the Santiago night countless times over the course of nearly three hours on Sunday.

“Ole! Ole, Ole, Ole! Nico! Nico!”

Those chants were for Santiago-native Nicolas Jarry, who rewarded his many fans with a performance to remember. The Chilean won the Movistar Chile Open with a memorable 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

“It’s really unbelievable. I can’t believe that I’m champion in this historic tournament of my family,” Jarry said after the match with his infant son in his arms. “It means a lot to me, especially for the two weeks in a row. It’s been very tough and I managed to keep on going this week. It’s been amazing.”

Jarry won his last four matches of the tournament in three sets and rallied from a set down in his final three clashes to claim his second ATP Tour title (also 2019 Bastad). After reaching the semi-finals last week in Rio de Janeiro and lifting the trophy at home, he will climb to No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, 100 spots higher than he started the season.

^{A scenic view during the Santiago final. Photo: Aljaro/Binder}
The Chilean and the home crowd were on the verge of going home disappointed. Although Jarry led 4-1 in the second set, his relative inconsistency compared to Etcheverry, who was pursuing his first tour-level crown, nearly cost him a chance at home glory. He double faulted the break back to the Argentine and trailed by a mini break in the ensuing tie-break.

But Etcheverry, who was within two points of his first ATP Tour title at 5/5 in the tie-break, was unable to take the match from his opponent. Jarry let out a massive roar after forcing a deciding set.

“I think [Tomas] went down a little bit in the third set. I tried to push with all my heart here,” Jarry said. “He played unbelievable tournament, an unbelievable two sets. I managed to win the second tie-break, which I knew was very important emotionally.”

The former World No. 38 had more firepower than his opponent and that proved critical. Jarry crushed a backhand winner to earn two break points in the first game of the third set and then punished a forehand to seize the lead.

The Chilean never looked back, riding his momentum to the finish line, much to the joy of the Santiago faithful. After holding to love to close out the match, thousands simultaneously leapt to their feet as Jarry celebrated his two-hour, 47-minute victory.

Jiri Lehecka began the 2022 season as the No. 141 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Little did the Czech know that 14 months later, he would be one of the most dangerous players on the ATP Tour.

Plenty of people have taken notice of the 21-year-old, who is into the world’s Top 50 after advancing to the Australian Open quarter-finals and the Doha semi-finals. One of those people is former World No. 4 Tomas Berdych, who spent a couple days with his countryman in Dubai.

“He’s very young. But what I’ve seen, it’s really the way he’s composed with his game. I think it’s very good,” Berdych told ATP Media in Dubai. “What I like is his fitness preparation or his body being strong and some of the young kids, they might struggle with it. They need more muscles or lack power. That’s definitely not his case, which I like.”

Watch Lehecka Train With Berdych:

Berdych even compared Lehecka to himself, calling his game and that of the 2022 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up “very similar”. That is high praise from a man who earned 640 tour-level wins and 13 titles during his illustrious career.

“Even he mentioned it many times, so it’s nice to hear for me when somebody took a bit of that inspiration,” Berdcyh said. “It’s funny to hear, he was 10, 11 when we won the Davis Cup, so he was really [a] kid and we were doing really well. So you already start to see those differences in ages, but other than that, very good. I think he has a bright future ahead of him.”

Berdych was returning home from vacation and decided to stop at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to get a closer look at Lehecka. He is friends with Lehecka’s coach, Michal Navratil, so it was natural. Although Berdych sat in Lehecka’s box for his match against Alexander Zverev, there are no plans for collaboration at this time.

“I was always the guy going by the instinct and by the constant feeling at the moment, so we will see how things develop, how it goes,” Berdych said. “[There are] not any commitments put on the table yet, which I don’t think is necessary. His team is good, is strong. They’re doing well, they’re doing a good job, so just maybe in the right time, right moment, we will see.”

For now, the 37-year-old is happy to see a man from his country surging. For a long time, Berdych and Radek Stepanek carried the Czech flag near the top of the sport. Will Lehecka be next?

“I think after a bit of a slow period after maybe myself and Radek — we stopped and we left the stage to the other guys — then I think he’s definitely the one that should carry the flag and go forward,” Berdych said. “That’s also one of the reasons [why I went to Dubai]. I just want to stop by and see him more personally, closely. We’ll see how things develop, how things go. Good stuff.”

For the second straight night in Acapulco, Alex de Minaur stormed back after losing the opening set against a red-hot opponent. On Saturday, his effort against Tommy Paul earned him the seventh and biggest title of his career at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

The Australian claimed his first ATP 500 crown with a battling 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory, his heart and staying power again making the difference in the Acapulco humidity.

“It feels great, it feels amazing,” De Minaur said just before the trophy ceremony. “I know the hard work that’s put in to be here and it’s good to see the results. It’s not always that you win the tournament and you get to finish a week unbeaten, so I’ll definitely cherish this going into Indian Wells and Miami.”

After methodically working his way back into the match in set two, De Minaur landed what proved to be a decisive blow by saving five break points in a marathon five-deuce game to open the final set. When De Minaur fought off those chances with a combination of big serves and steely baseline play, Paul could not recover as the Aussie rattled off seven straight games.

“Just to kind of stay in the match, especially in the second set… I just dug deep, managed to scrap my way through it,” the 24-year-old said of the turnaround. “And then the first game of the third set was exactly like my semi-final against Holger [Rune]. So I had that in the back of my mind, I just told myself to keep pushing. If I could keep pushing myself and get out of that game, the momentum was going to switch. I’m very happy I was able to get out of that.”

Both De Minaur and Paul played physical, three-set semi-finals that ended less than 24 hours before the final, with De Minaur’s comeback win against Holger Rune finishing near 3 a.m. But those previous exertions were not apparent in a high-quality match Saturday night — until Paul showed signs of wear late in the two-hour, 27-minute contest, with De Minaur adding to his torment with a slew of drop shots.

Paul started brightly after his three-hour, 25-minute win against World No. 5 Taylor Fritz, keeping tight to the baseline and pulling De Minaur around the court to secure an early break. But the match began to turn when the Aussie escaped a 0/30 hole to go up 3-2 in the second.

As De Minaur began to take the intiaitive in the rallies, he secured his first break on his sixth break point of the match in the following game — only for Paul to snap back and level at 4-4. Still, the tenor of the match had changed, and De Minaur made it count with another break in the set’s final game.

While the Aussie dominated the final set, Paul battled until the end, saving two match points and getting on the board with a hold at 5-0. But there would be no stopping De Minaur from becoming the second Australian champion in Acapulco, after Nick Kyrgios’ 2019 triumph.

De Minaur moved up four places to No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Ranking this week, leaving him three spots off his career high of No. 15.

“Like everything in my career, it’s been step by step,” he said of his return to the Top 20. “I just want to keep pushing, keep getting the most out of myself. I know I might not play unbelievable tennis every day but I know I’m going to fight to the end.

“I’ve got a whole lot of heart in this little body of mine and I enjoy competing, so I’m very happy with it.”

Paul, just over a month since his run to the Australian Open semi-finals, is also set to return to the Top 20. He moved up four places to No. 19 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. The 25-year-old was seeking his second tour-level title (Stockholm 2021) in his second final.

After being two points from defeat in their opening match at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler finished the week with another dramatic win to claim the doubles title in Acapulco. It is the third ATP Tour title for the team and their first outside of their native Austria.

The Austrians edged Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 7-6(9), 7-6(3) in Saturday’s final, saving six set points in the opening set and another in the second.

“It feels great,” said the 26-year-old Miedler. “After winning both titles in Austria, that was our next goal, to win one somewhere else. Mexico will always be in our hearts.”

After missing out on a set point at 5-4 in the first set, Erler/Miedler erased a 2/6 deficit in the tie-break and fought off two further set points at 8/9 before claiming the set. They denied Lammons/Withrow as the Americans attempted to serve out the second set at 5-4, saving a set point at 40/40, and never trailed in the second tie-break.

With the victory, the Austrians extended their perfect record in ATP Tour finals to 3-0. They improved to 20-13 overall and 9-6 on the 2023 season. 

“We are really happy. It was a great week,” said Erler, 25. “We’re improving on and off the court. It feels really special and we hope to come back next year.”

One for the memories 🏆

Erler and Miedler pose with their trophies in sombreros!@abiertotelcel #AMT2023 pic.twitter.com/TFTB8p02eI

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 5, 2023

To reach the Acapulco final, the unseeded champions upset third seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in the first round and top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in the semis, both in Match Tie-breaks. The pair, which ended the 2022 season at No. 36 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Teams Rankings, won its previous titles on home soil Kitzbuhel (2021) and Vienna (2022). 

Both Erler and Miedler moved up 14 spots this week in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Live Rankings, to No. 42 and No. 43, respectively. Both men are set for new career highs on Monday in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings.

Asked about their greatest strength as a team, Erler spoke about the pair’s complementary games and personalities.

“We are completely different on and off the court,” he said. “I think everybody who knows us knows that we are two [different] types of people but that obviously fits very good together. Probably that’s our best strength, that if we have some weaknesses the other guy can cover it.”

Lammons/Withrow fell to 1-4 in finals as a team, having won the 2022 San Diego title on home soil. The 29-year-olds ended last season at No. 32 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings.

Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori won a dramatic doubles final on Saturday to claim the Movistar Chile Open title in their team debut. The Italians saved a match point at 9/10 in a Match Tie-break before closing out a 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 victory against Thiago Seyboth Wild and Matias Soto.

A single break of serve decided both sets before Pellegrino/Vavassori battled back from 0/3 in the Match Tie-break, building an 8/5 lead and ultimately clinching victory on their second match point.

“It was incredible winning with one of my closest friends,” the 27-year-old Vavassori said after claiming his second tour-level title. “We are like brothers, so winning a title like this is something special. We worked a lot with my coach and also with my father in the past three months.”

Pellegrino, 25, won his first ATP Tour trophy in his first final.

“Like Andrea says, it’s incredible to be here with an ATP title,” he reflected. “Winning an ATP title with him is really emotional. I’m really happy for that. This tournament is very nice, they treat us unbelievably. The organisation is something special and I hope to come back next year.”

Discussing the back-and-forth finish to the final, he added: “We were a little bit tight but in doubles it’s like that with the no-ad and the Match Tie-break in the third set. The matches are very close so you have to be there every point. We were a little bit lucky at the end but we are happy for the title.”

Wild cards Seyboth Wild and Soto were also making their team debut this week. After winning three Match Tie-breaks to reach what was a first tour-level doubles final for both, the Brazilian/Chilean pair fell just short on the fourth occasion.

The 22-year-old Seyboth Wild, the 2020 Santiago singles champion, was seeking to become the first player win both the singles and doubles title at the ATP 250. Soto, 23, made his tour-level debut this week on home soil.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry continued his breakout week in Santiago by notching his second Top 50 win in three days at the Movistar Chile Open. In Saturday’s semi-finals, the 23-year-old defeated third seed and fellow Argentine Sebastian Baez 7-5, 6-3 to advance to his first ATP Tour title match.

“Really I can’t believe it,” Etcheverry said of the milestone moment. “This is a dream for me, for my family, for my friends, all the people that helped me to reach my goals. This is amazing. Just [will try] to enjoy tomorrow. That’s the key for my first final.”

Playing in his first tour-level semi-final, Etcheverry did not face a break point. In a tight opening set, the World No. 76 created the first break points of the match at 0/40 with Baez serving to force a tie-break, ultimately securing the set on his fifth set point. Etcheverry needed only one break point in the second, in its fourth game, to claim a decisive advantage.

“It was incredible today. Also like yesterday,” said Etcheverry, who lost three games in his Friday quarter-fnal win against Dusan Lajovic. “It was my first semi-final today so I tried to play aggressive, the same like in the other matches. Right now I feel a lot of confidence that I can play like this. Hopefully tomorrow I continue like this because I’ve been playing at a good level this week.”

Etcheverry earned the second Top 50 win of his career against second seed Francisco Cerundolo, another Argentine, on Thursday. He will face an unseeded opponent in the final: either Spain’s Jaume Munar or Chile’s Nicolas Jarry.

Already up 16 places to No. 60 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Etcheverry would enter the Top 50 by winning his first ATP Tour trophy on Sunday. No matter the result in the title match, he will reach a new career-high on Monday in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Daniil Medvedev completed an ATP Tour hat-trick Saturday when he overcame Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-2 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The third seed, who ended Novak Djokovic’s unbeaten start to the season in the semi-finals, produced a consistent performance throughout the 68-minute clash to extend his winning streak to 14 matches. Having lifted trophies in Rotterdam and Doha in February, Medvedev is the third player to win three titles in as many weeks since 2021, joining Casper Ruud (July 2021) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (October 2022).

“It is amazing because at the start of the year, it was not perfect. In tennis when you don’t win matches you have doubts. Now it just feels better,” Medvedev said. “I was really happy with these three weeks and I am looking forward to the next ones.”

The 27-year-old’s strong hard-court form has lifted him to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, rising above Rublev, who drops to No. 7. With his Tour-leading 19th win of the season, Medvedev improved to 5-2 in his ATP Head2Head series against the 25-year-old Rublev.

“It was very tactical [match],” Medvedev said. “I know Andrey can cause a lot of trouble to everyone on Tour. Every time we play he tries to make me suffer, I try to make him suffer. Today I managed to be on top, but the next match could be a different story.”

Top 5: Win-Loss Record 2023

Following his 18th tour-level title, Medvedev will next compete at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he will be looking to continue his winning run. The former World No. 1 is six victories from equalling his career-best winning streak on the ATP Tour, having earned 20 consecutive victories from November 2020 to January 2021.

Medvedev entered the final having not dropped a set all week and he played with confidence against Rublev to frustrate the second seed. The 27-year-old committed just two unforced errors in the first set as he sat deep behind the baseline to soak up Rublev’s aggressive hitting.

3 in a row for @DaniilMedwed 🏆🏆🏆#ShotQuality and more #ShotQuality on display 👏

A 9.5 #ShotQuality on return occurs in less than 0.3% of matches on the @atptour #TennisInsight | @DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/2czXZlg72W

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) March 4, 2023

After clinching the opener, Medvedev continued to find the perfect balance between defence and attack. He turned the tables in the baseline exchanges with his precise crosscourt forehand, breaking twice in the second set to seal his victory.

The 2022 champion Rublev was aiming to become the third repeat titlist at the ATP 500 event in Dubai, alongside Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Did You Know?
Medvedev has won his 18 tour-level titles in 18 different cities. He is the first man in the Open Era to accomplish the feat.

Maxime Cressy and Fabrice Martin capped their debut week as a team in style Saturday when they defeated third seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 7-6(2), 6-4 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The American-French tandem rallied from a break down in the first set, while they hit 14 aces and saved both break points they faced to triumph after one hour and 25 minutes at the ATP 500 event.

Teaming for the first time this week, Cressy and Martin defeated Australian Open finalists Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski in the first round, before moving past Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop and Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.

The Dubai title is Cressy’s first tour-level doubles crown. The 25-year-old lifted his maiden ATP Tour singles title in Newport last year. It is Martin’s eighth tour-level trophy but first since 2021, when he triumphed with Nicolas Mahut in Antwerp.

Third seeds Glasspool and Heliovaara were aiming to capture their second title of the season as a team, having clinched the crown in Adelaide in January. The British-Finn pair did not drop a set en route to the final.