If Dominic Thiem's start to the Latin American Golden Swing is any indication of his 2018 form, the rest of the ATP World Tour better take notice. The Austrian blasted to the title at the Argentina Open, not dropping a set all week in notching the clay-court title. Thiem dominated Sunday's final, downing Aljaz Bedene 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes. He extended his perfect mark in Buenos Aires to 9-0, having previously won the title in 2016, and lifted his ninth ATP World Tour trophy in total. It was his first crown in nearly a year, since triumphing in nearby Rio de Janeiro last February. Thiem's victory puts him in elite company, becoming just the third player...
Sunday was already special for Max Mirnyi, as the Belarusian was competing in his 100th combined tour-level final. But it got better for the 40-year-old, who partnered Philipp Oswald to defeat Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak 6-4, 4-6, 10/6 in one hour, 29 minutes at the inaugural New York Open. "I'm thrilled that we got through," Mirnyi said. "A couple tough matches. I felt like the match yesterday we kind of got lucky towards the end. They were a better team than us. Today was maybe 50-50 and there was definitely some magic for us in New York. I'm thrilled about that." [ALSO LIKE] It is the pair’s second title together (2017 Moscow) in their third final (l. 2018 Auckland)....
Roger Federer will surely never forget his week in Rotterdam. Two days after securing a return to the top spot in the ATP Rankings, the Swiss notched his 97th tour-level trophy on the indoor hard courts of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The newly minted World No. 1 breezed to the title under the lights at the Ahoy Rotterdam, needing just 55 minutes to dismiss Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2. The Bulgarian was far from his best on Sunday afternoon and Federer refused to relinquish his grip after grabbing an early lead. Putting Dimitrov under heavy pressure throughout the championship clash, he fired 15 winners and converted four of eight break chances. Federer, who will return to the summit of...
Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut ended Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic’s unbeaten start to the 2018 season 2-6, 6-2, 10/7 to lift the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Sunday. The third seeds came from behind to hand the second seeds, who had won all 17 of their previous matches this season, their first defeat of 2018. Marach and Pavic had been bidding to win a fourth title of the season after earlier triumphs in Doha, Auckland and at the Australian Open, but it was the all-French duo who tasted victory after 68 minutes of play. “[Winning for] the first time with Pierre is something great,” said Mahut. “We are pretty happy about the week, we played so many...
Six wins in seven days. Roberto Carballes Baena could not have written a more dramatic script to lift his first ATP World Tour trophy at the Ecuador Open. The Spanish qualifier was made to work to claim his maiden crown, upsetting a trio of seeded players in Quito, while rallying from a set down in both the quarter-finals and semis. The drama was just as palpable in Sunday's championship against countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Carballes Baena would emerge victorious 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a tense two hours and 28 minutes. The Granada native had not won a match on the ATP World Tour in nearly one year, but, behind upsets of second seed Ramos-Vinolas, fourth seed Paolo Lorenzi and eighth...
