Grigor Dimitrov wasted little time kick-starting his 2023 ABN AMRO Open campaign on Monday, when the World No. 28 eased past Aslan Karatsev 6-1, 6-3 in just 59 minutes in Rotterdam.

The Bulgarian is a former finalist at the ATP 500 tournament, and he delivered a confident performance on the indoor hard courts of the Rotterdam Ahoy. Dimitrov did not face a break point against Karatsev and converted four from five of his own to improve his record in opening rounds at the event to 8-1.

It was a second victory of 2023 for Dimitrov against the three-time tour-level titlist Karatsev. The pair also met in the first round at January’s Australian Open, where the Bulgarian also prevailed as a straight-sets winner. The 31-year-old Dimitrov went on to reach the third round in Melbourne, where he was beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

The eight-time ATP Tour champion’s reward for Monday’s victory is a second-round clash against fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz or Roberto Bautista Agut.

Matteo Gigante was down and out in the second round of qualifying at the Tenerife Challenger-3. Following a straight-sets defeat against Giovanni Fonio, it seemed the Italian was off to his next tournament. But little did he know what the rest of the week held for him.

After receiving a lucky loser spot in the Tenerife main draw, Gigante went on a run to collect his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title. In the final, he defeated countryman Stefano Travaglia 6-3, 6-2 in just one hour, 10 minutes.

“I’m so proud, I played amazing tennis this week,” Gigante said. “[The final] was against a good friend, when we are in Rome we practise every day. It’s difficult mentally but I’m so happy.”

The 21-year-old is the first lucky loser champion on the Challenger Tour since 2018, when Tommy Paul won in Charlottesville and just the 16th lucky loser champion in Challenger history.

A rain-delayed quarter-final, which was halted at 1-1, forced Gigante to spend almost four hours on court Saturday, including a comeback 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 semi-final victory over Riccardo Bonadio.

Matteo Gigante claims the Challenger 75 event in Tenerife. Credit: Joana Wallmeier

Gigante adds his name to a plethora of young Italian stars who are finding early success on the Challenger Tour. In 2022, seven Italian #NextGenATP players collected Challenger titles: Matteo Arnaldi, Mattia Bellucci, Flavio Cobolli, Francesco Maestrelli, Lorenzo Musetti, Luca Nardi, and Francesco Passaro. The Rome-native Gigante is the third #NextGenATP winner of this season, joining Frenchmen Arthur Fils and Arthur Cazaux.

Following his Challenger 75 title on the Canary island, the lefty rises to a career-high No. 194 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

At the Vitas Gerulaitis Cup in Vilnius, Lithuania, Liam Broady claimed his first Challenger title since September 2021 (Biel). The British lefty didn’t drop a set all week and downed Czech Zdenek Kolar 6-4, 6-4 in the championship match.

Liam Broady at the 2023 Vilnius Challenger. Credit: Saulius Čirba

Broady, 29, is a former junior World No. 2 and was a finalist at the 2011 Wimbledon and 2012 US Open boys’ singles events.

In 2022, Broady made his career-best Grand Slam result by reaching the third round at Wimbledon (l. de Minaur), where he earned a wild card and won back-to-back five setters, including against 12th seed Diego Schwartzman.

This is what it means.@Liambroady | #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/xWtOkVAThH

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 12, 2023

Wu Yibing made history on Sunday when he triumphed in a three tie-break Dallas Open final against John Isner to become the first Chinese ATP Tour titlist.

After Wu earned the biggest victory of his career, the 23-year-old spoke to ATPTour.com about the importance of his win back home, overcoming injuries, why he loves Kevin Durant, cooking and more.

What does it mean to you to win your first ATP Tour title?
I feel happy. It’s not only about winning the title. It’s more about me personally making history, also for the country. It’s huge for the next generation. For me, I need to keep going, keep my body healthy and I’m sure there’s more to come.

It has been a long wait to see this success from Chinese men’s tennis, which could create a lot of pressure, but you seemed so relaxed this week. How have you managed to not allow the pressure to bother you?
I’ve been through a lot of things. I’ve been through injuries, I’ve been through many difficult situations when I was growing up. I think the reason why I’m relaxed now on the tennis court is because I trust myself. If you want to beat me, you have to work hard.

When you were away from professional tennis for about three years because of injuries and the pandemic, did you ever doubt you would reach a moment like this? How does it feel to persevere?
Of course there were a lot of doubts because I did surgery and the rehab wasn’t going well. It took longer than it should [have], but it turned out I’m here. I’d be [lying] if I said 100 per cent I’m going to be here today. But the process is always the most important thing.

I trust myself and I work hard for it. In the gym, on the tennis court, off the court, I always think about tennis. The way I look at tennis, now it’s more relaxing, more enjoyable than before.

You first started playing tennis by coincidence when the badminton net was too high for you. Have you ever thought about what you might be doing today if there wasn’t a tennis court near the badminton court that day? If not, what do you think you would be?
I don’t know! I’m happy with what I am now. But I have this confidence [that] if I chose badminton or sports or just being a student, I would do good things because I trust in myself. When I do things, I’m very focused and if I want to do good, normally I would say 70 or 80 per cent is going to turn out good.

Who are some of your key team members and how have they helped you get to this point?
Of course my tennis coach now Gerardo [Azcurra], he’s been helping me. We see each other’s faces every day! Through IMG [we connected]. He gives me a lot of positive tips and working with him is a very happy thing. Also David the physio here, he keeps my body healthy. It’s just my first week working with him, and good for him!

Also back in China I have my support team, especially Team China and the association, they give us the best conditions to play, the chances to travel around the world and support us.

Also my family. I haven’t seen my family in more than a year. Back in China because of the pandemic and the Covid situation, I’m not allowed to go back home like every day so I can see my parents or my grandparents maybe like twice a week or twice in two weeks. I’m sure they’re still up now. They watch all my matches, especially my mom and grandpa. They take notes! I couldn’t do any of this without their support, especially my family’s.

How did Kevin Durant become your favourite athlete and what do you like most about him?
When I first watched the NBA, I think that was the 2011-2012 season. That’s when Westbrook, Harden and Durant played on the Thunder and they made the finals that year and lost to LeBron [James]… That is my first memory of NBA basketball.

I bet everybody in China knows basketball by Yao Ming. He’s the Chinese giant, he’s a legend. I had some sponsor stuff with him once and we took a picture. I think he’s even taller than John [Isner]. It’s a lot of pressure when you’re standing right next to him.

Back to Durant, I think he has this thing. He’s very cool on court. He doesn’t show much emotion and he’s not a really outgoing guy on court and I want to be like him. I want to be a cool guy on court. There’s not much talking, there’s not much bulls%^!. You just do the job your own way. I think that’s very cool.

What are some of your other favourite hobbies off the court?
I play video games a lot and I love music. But I don’t really listen to Western [music]. I am getting better with it.

What is something fans might not know about you?
I can cook! Is that a thing? I’m pretty into cooking TV shows, which I watch every day. I love cooking different food and I think this also gives me inner peace when I’m alone in the house or after practice. Even if you’re tired, you still cut the food, you cook and you wash. That makes me more comfortable. I don’t know if it tastes good because sometimes it can be terrible, but you just enjoy the process.

How will you celebrate this milestone moment in your career?
Maybe have some beer! I’m not really a celebratory person. Maybe playing some video games will do.

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus began their partnership this year. On Sunday, they stepped into the winners’ circle together for the first time.

The top seeds rallied past second seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 1-6, 7-6(4), 10-7 to win the Dallas Open for their first title as a team.

“Obviously it’s great, we just started the year and as a new partnership you want to spend as much time on the court together [as possible],” Venus said. “So, to be able to do it in matches, I think that’s great, because that’s where you learn the most about each other.

“We had some tough matches here, and just really happy to get the title.” 

Murray and Venus were in danger of losing a straightforward encounter when serving at 3-4, 0/40 in the second set. But they managed to hold firm under pressure to escape. That allowed them to then win the second-set tie-break and the ensuing Match Tie-break.

“We had a great week, obviously. To win the tournament, not easy, we had to battle a lot,” Murray said. “Especially today we went down really hard in the first set… But I think we stayed calm and kind of committed to what we were trying to do out there and worked our way into the match. Had a good hold half-way through the set at 0/40, which probably would have been curtains for us.

“But as that set went on we got stronger and stronger, and we played a really solid tie-break, so super happy with how it turned out.” 

Murray is now a 28-time tour-level titlist and has earned at least one crown in 11 consecutive seasons. Venus, an 18-time tour-level champion, has now earned glory in nine straight years.

This was the pair’s second final of the year after reaching the championship match at the Adelaide International 1. They will try to maintain their momentum next week at the Delray Beach Open, where they are the second seeds.

There is nothing quite like victory at home, as Sebastian Baez found out Sunday at the Cordoba Open.

The World No. 47 prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in an all-Argentine championship match against Federico Coria on Sunday at the ATP 250 event. Although it was Baez’s fourth ATP Tour championship match, it was his first on home soil, and his one-hour, 50-minute win was followed by an emotional courtside huddle with his team.

“Winning a tournament in Argentina is something very difficult to describe with words, all my friends and family were there, it was something incredible,” Baez said. “I couldn’t find any celebration when the match point ended, I was able to get out what I felt when I got to my team. [My coach] Seba has supported me for as long as I can remember in my career, I am very grateful to him.”

In a hard-fought final, the 30-year-old Coria dug deep in pursuit of his first ATP Tour title, but Baez’s powerful forehand frequently proved decisive in the baseline exchanges. Despite an early exchange of breaks in the deciding set, it was Baez who held firm to add the Cordoba crown to his 2022 victory in Estoril. 

“The balance of the match is very positive, I held [my level] a little longer than him and that’s why I think I was able to win the tournament,” Baez said. “In the difficult moments I played my best tennis and that makes me happy. I knew it was going to be a tough match because we know each other very well with Fede and that’s how it was, but I managed to control the tension, the nerves and I managed to do it.”

After competing at the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals, Baez enjoyed a breakout season on the ATP Tour last year, and notably on clay. He defeated Frances Tiafoe for his Estoril title while also reaching finals in Santiago and Bastad and pushing Alexander Zverev to five sets in a Roland Garros thriller.

As well as his countryman Coria, the fourth-seeded Baez also defeated Luciano Darderi, Tomas Barrios Vera and Hugo Dellien this week in Cordoba, where he reached the quarter-finals on tournament debut a year ago. This year’s run will lift the 22-year-old 11 spots to No. 36 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday, just five places shy of his career high.

“I’m 22 years old and I’m in the place I’ve always dreamed of,” Baez said. “Obviously I want more but I [will] enjoy it to the fullest. I’m sure I’ll celebrate it with a good ‘asado’ with my friends and family.”

Wu Yibing came back from the brink to make history Sunday at the Dallas Open, where the fast-rising 23-year-old saved four championship points before downing John Isner 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-6(12) to become the first Chinese player to lift an ATP Tour trophy.

Before this week, no Chinese man had ever reached a tour-level final in the Open Era or defeated an opponent in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Wu achieved both of those in one go with his semi-final victory against World No. 8 Taylor Fritz in Dallas, and he continued his history-making run in Sunday’s final with a milestone victory for tennis in his country.

“I made history here for my country and for my home,” said Wu at the trophy ceremony. “I’m very proud of myself and especially thanks to all the fans and my team who came here to support. I couldn’t do this without any of you guys.”

After a bright start, Wu appeared to have faded in the face of a trademark serving barrage from Isner at the indoor ATP 250 event in Texas. The American held championship point on his opponent’s serve at 6-5, 30/40 in the second set, but Wu kept his cool to recover before sealing a historic victory in a nerve-wracking deciding-set tie-break.

Wu forced Isner to push a forehand long to clinch a third-set tie-break in which the first 22 points went with serve. He completed a remarkable two-hour, 59-minute win despite Isner firing 44 aces in the match.

“It’s a tough one to lose,” said Isner, who is now 16-15 in tour-level finals. “I don’t know how many match points I had, I’m sure it’s a lot. I swear I thought I won the match a few times. I know he hit one ball… It had to be [on] the back sixteenth of the line on one of the points… Sports can be brutal. I had match point in the second set too.

“It’s like he plays every point the same, so definitely no nerves,” added Isner when asked about Wu’s performance. “He gets a ball to hit, he hits it, and on this court it’s hard to hit him a shot he is uncomfortable with… He is an unbelievable ballstriker and a very good talent.”

Even after falling a set behind, Wu continued to strike aggressively from the baseline in his maiden tour-level meeting with Isner. His combination of power and accuracy brought him 41 winners, including seven aces, while the Chinese also won all 13 points he played at the net.

Wu, who did not compete on the ATP Tour from March 2019 to January 2022 due to a series of injuries, had notched just six tour-level wins prior to this week. Yet he showed no sign of nerves throughout his run, during which he defeated Michael Mmoh, third seed Denis Shapovalov, Adrian Mannarino, top seed Fritz, and Isner.

On Monday, Wu became just the second Chinese player to crack the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Now he will rise to a career-high World No. 58 just one week later.

Isner, who pledged to donate $100 to the Isner Family Foundation for each ace he hit this week, finished the tournament with 138 aces, raising $13,800 for needy children in the Dallas area.

Second seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni lost a set in their opening match of the Cordoba Open. But the Argentines did not lose another from there, surging through the rest of the tournament to capture the ATP 250 trophy.

Gonzalez and Molteni defeated Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to clinch the crown. They converted three of their four break points to triumph after one hour and 24 minutes.

“It’s a very important week for us, we didn’t start the year well,” Gonzalez said. “We had some tough matches and winning at home is a motivation for what comes next. I had lost two times against Molteni in Cordoba, so now I decided to join him to finally become champion here!”

Molteni has dominated in Cordoba in recent years, earning the title in 2019 with Roman Jebavy and 2022 with Santiago Gonzalez before his latest win alongside Maximo Gonzalez.

“With Machi we played many tournaments. Last year we started in ATP-level and now we are going to continue and hopefully we will have more results together,” Molteni said. “For me to win for the third time in Cordoba is spectacular. Here I feel good on and off the court and I hope to come back for more every year.”

The victory marked the second title as a team for Gonzalez and Molteni. They also emerged with the trophy last year in Gijon. Gonzalez has won 13 tour-level doubles titles and Molteni has claimed 12 crowns.

Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop captured their first title of the season on Sunday when they lifted the trophy at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier.

The Dutchmen defeated wild cards Maxime Cressy and Albano Olivetti 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-6 in the final of the ATP 250 for their fifth tour-level crown as a team. The fourth seeds lost a set in three of their four matches, but emerged victorious in France.

Haase and Middelkoop withstood 13 aces from their opponents in the championship clash. In the Match Tie-break they rode their own serves to victory, claiming seven of their eight service points — including all five behind their first serves — to close out the week in style.

Haase and Middelkoop also advanced to the third round of this year’s Australian Open, giving them a 7-3 tour-level record on the season. Next week they will try to defend a title on home soil at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

Cressy was competing in his second final of the day in Montpellier after losing a tight singles final in straight sets to Jannik Sinner. Both the American and Olivetti, a Frenchman, were trying to lift their first ATP Tour doubles trophy.

Did You Know?
Middelkoop has now won at least one ATP Tour doubles in eight consecutive seasons. He owns 14 tour-level doubles trophies and his partner, Haase, has claimed eight.

When Felix Auger-Aliassime steps onto court at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam this week, he will be returning to the scene of his first ATP Tour title triumph.

The Canadian arrived at the ATP 500 event in 2022 in confident mood after reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open. Determined to have a positive week, Auger-Aliassime quickly found his range in the Netherlands.

“Every week is an opportunity in tennis. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. Starting with the first round, I lost the first set [against Egor Gerasimov] but felt I was playing good tennis. Then I actually won 6-2, 6-2 after, if I recall,” said Auger-Aliassime, a star in the first season of Netflix’s Break Point.

“As the week went on, I felt that I was playing better and better. Playing Andy [Murray], one of the best players in the history of our sport, is always special. I had an amazing start and played some of my best tennis of the year. I went up 4-0 and then, as he always does, he broke me back and came back. I was able to close out the first set. And then again the second set started my way and I was able to dictate the match and be really dominant. It was a great win.”

After defeating Murray, Auger-Aliassime moved past Cameron Norrie to set a semi-final clash against Andrey Rublev. The 22-year-old clawed past Rublev 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 in what he recalls as the most challenging match of the event.

“The match against Andrey in the semi-finals was the toughest match of the week,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I had a lot of chances to win the first set and I thought I should win it and then I lost the tie-break. We played some good tennis.

“And then the second set he should have won and I won it. I was down 0/40 at some point on my serve. I was able to save that game and break him right after. Then after the third set I felt there was a big momentum shift. I felt good physically and then I just started dominating the play.

Having booked his spot in the final, Auger-Aliassime was determined to clinch his first tour-level title and improve on his 0-8 record in championship matches.

“Every time I lost one of those finals it was tough mentally,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I said this year I am going to try to be a different player. I am going to try to be a better player than I was the year before. That means I am going to try and play a better match when I get to those finals. So I really felt I was able to put all those negative things on the side and really focus on the positives and be optimistic and approach the match with a lot of confidence.”

With the pressure on, Auger-Aliassime rose to the occasion, clinching a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas. It is a moment that will live long in his memory.

“When I saw the ball go out on match point, it was a big relief for me and my team. Having my mum, dad on FaceTime, that is what got me emotional,” Auger-Aliassime said.

“I think on the court I was really happy but wasn’t feeling all the emotions, but once you’re close with your people and share a moment with them, that’s when you really start feeling your emotions because you think of the tough moments of losing finals. You think of the work that you put to get there. It is a big relief, the stress goes out at the same time. I think that is why you feel emotions as a player.”

Having clinched three tour-level crowns since, Auger-Aliassime will try to repeat his Rotterdam heroics and add to his trophy collection at the ATP 500.