Can anyone stop Rafael Nadal? Another week, another clay-court crown for the World No. 1. Nadal stormed to a staggering 11th title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Sunday, dismissing Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-1. Not even an early rain shower could stop the scintillating Spaniard, who extended his win streak on clay to 19 straight and sets-won streak on the surface to 46 in a row. It marks the second straight week in which he has completed an 'undécima', hoisting an 11th trophy at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters before replicating the feat at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona. "I'm very happy for the victory against a very difficult opponent," said Nadal. "Tsitsipas has an amazing future. It was...
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez won their third team title on Sunday, defeating Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer 7-6(5), 6-4 at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The 2016 Roland Garros champions won 88 per cent of points behind their first serves (35/40) in the one-hour, 52-minute encounter to win their first tour-level title together since their success in Paris two years ago. It is Feliciano Lopez’s fourth doubles crown, while Marc Lopez has now lifted 14 titles. Both men had previously advanced to the Barcelona final, with Feliciano Lopez doing so in 2005 alongside Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez reaching the final with Marcel Granollers in 2012. Qureshi was bidding to retain his Barcelona trophy, having won the title in 2017 with Florin Mergea. Rojer was aiming to...
Neither team competing in the Gazprom Hungarian Open final on Sunday had played together prior to this week. But one of the pairings knew they’d be leaving Hungary with an ATP World Tour title. That team was Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor, capturing the Budapest trophy with a victory against Matwe Middelkoop and Andres Molteni 6-7(8), 6-1, 10-8 in one hour, 34 minutes. "I want to thank everyone who came out and supported us and really showed good support for the doubles, so thank you," Inglot said. It is the first ATP World Tour triumph for the Croatian, Skugor, who had lost his previous six tour-level matches with three different partners prior to arriving in Hungary. His partner, Inglot, claims...
Rafael Nadal continued to build upon his extraordinary legacy at Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Sunday when he captured his 11th trophy, which represented a record 31st ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown. The Spanish superstar, who boasts a 396-35 record on clay courts (.919) according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, beat Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3, 6-2 in a one-hour and 34-minute final. It was their third clash in a red dirt title match — also 2014 Mutua Madrid Open and 2016 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Watch: Nadal's Road To La Undécima "My true feeling is these kind of things are not going to happen forever, so I just try to enjoy them and to play with the full...
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan extended their rich vein of form on Sunday when they captured their sixth Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters doubles title. Their 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in 79 minutes keeps up the pressure on the early leaders of the ATP Doubles Race To London, for one of the eight spots at the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in November. Bob Bryan admitted their form in the principality of Monaco may be down to a lucky charm he received this week. During the on-court trophy ceremony Bob admitted, “Thank you to Prince Albert in the stands there, he gave me a lucky coin on the first day of the tournament and he told...
