Matteo Berrettini First ATP Player This Year To Win On Three Surfaces - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Matteo Berrettini beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 7-6 (11) to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany

Adrian Mannarino beat Jordan Thompson 7-6 (7) 6-3 to win the Libéma Open men’s singles in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Alison Riske beat Kiki Bertens 0-6 7-6 (3) 7-5 to win the Libéma Open women’s singles in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Caroline Garcia beat Donna Vekic 2-6 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4) to win the Nature Valley Open women’s singles in Nottingham, Great Britain

Daniel Evans beat Evgeny Donskoy 7-6 (3) 6-3 to win the Nature Valley Open men’s singles in Nottingham, Great Britain

Magda Linette beat Zarina Diyas 7-6 (1) 2-6 6-3 to win the Manchester Trophy in Manchester, Great Britain

SAYINGS

“I never lost my serve, but all the matches were so close and I’m really happy for what I did on the court because it was mentally really difficult to stay there and I’m really proud of myself.” – Matteo Berrettini, after winning the Mercedes Cup.

“I think I surprised myself every match this week being able to reach another final and my first one on grass, so it’s been amazing. – Felix Auger-Aliassime, who lost in the final to Matteo Berrettini in his first grass-court tournament as a professional.

“People are going to stop talking (about my finals record).” – Adrian Mannarino, who won the Libéma Open after losing his first six ATP Tour finals.

“It is disappointing to lose in the final, but a great week nonetheless.” – Jordan Thompson, after losing to Adrian Mannarino.

“I’m just really proud of myself. I looked at the clock and it was 6-0, 1-0 at 32 minutes in, and I thought, ‘I can’t possibly be bageled in a final.’” – Alison Riske, after overcoming Kiki Bertens and winning the Libéma Open women’s singles.

“You can’t be frustrated all the time because your neighbor has a bigger house than you or a bigger TV or better garden.” – Rafael Nadal, insisting he is not obsessed with topping Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam tournament titles.

“Both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic still have years left, and Roger Federer, with the way he is taking care of himself, I give him two more years.” – Rod Laver.

“I cannot compare myself with Roger (Federer). It’s just something different. I am trying to win my first title, make the best possible career, but for me to compare myself to Gael (Monfils) and Roger is not a good thing. When Roger won his first title, it was different times. If I win one, I will deserve it.” – Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has reached three finals but has yet to win a title.

STEADY HAND

Italian Matteo Berrettini won his third ATP title, his first on grass, by capturing the Mercedes Cup over Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime. “On grass, the first tournament of the year (on this surface), beating these unbelievable guys … there were a lot of tough moments,” said Berrettini, who did not lose a set during his week in Stuttgart. His first two titles came on clay in Gstaad, Switzerland, and Budapest, Hungary. Berrettini staved off five set points in the second-set tiebreak, finally closing out the victory on his third match point. He never faced a break point against his 18-year-old opponent. Auger-Aliassime was playing in his third final but has not yet won a tournament. Berrettini hit an inside-out forehand return off a second serve, they raised his arms in triumph when Auger-Aliassime hit the ball into the net. “You’re feeling good during the week, but you never know,” Berrettini said. “I played great guys. This match was unbelievable. We had chances, a lot of set points for him, match points for me, so it was a really tough one. I’m really happy the way I fought during the week.” Berrettini became the first player this year to reach the semifinals on three different surfaces this year.

SEVENTH IS A CHARM

His seventh ATP Tour final turned into Adrian Mannarino’s first career title. “This is a big achievement for me,” Mannarino said. “I am not pretending to be Top 10 or anything.” Ranked 44^th in the world, the Frenchman finished off a victory over second-seeded Borna Coric in the rain-delayed Libéma Open before stopping Jordan Thompson in the final. He also knocked off fourth-seeded Fernando Verdasco and fifth-seeded David Goffin during the week. “During my matches with Verdasco and Goffin, I was enjoying the moment because I was feeling good on court,” Mannarino said. “I was down in the score, but I was really having a good time on court, and this is probably why I didn’t get nervous when I had to close the matches.” Before arriving in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Thompson had never reached the semifinals of an ATP Tour event. “I really took advantage of playing well on the grass,” the Australian said.

SECOND TITLE

When Alison Riske looked at the scoreboard, she was mortified. “I looked at the clock and it was 6-0, 1-0 at 32 minutes,” the American said. “I had faith that things would turn around at some point, I just wasn’t sure when. I thought maybe it was too late, even when I broke back to make it 4-3, but I stayed in there and I fought for every point.” Five times fourth-ranked Kiki Bertens r3eached match point in the Libéma Open. Five times Riske won the point, and eventually her second career WTA title. Riske also pulled off an epic comeback in her semifinal win over Veronika Kudermetova. Playing at home, Bertens was the strong favorite. But Riske was more solid on her second serve, winning 65 percent of those points compared to 47 percent by Bertens. And Bertens missed seven of her 12 break points, including the five championship points, in the latter stages of the second set.

SEASON’S FIRST

In a battle of the two top seeds, Caroline Garcia of France won her first tournament of the season by edging second-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia in three sets, the last two being tiebreakers. “The first set was tough for me, she was staring very well,” Garcia said. “But I knew there was only one way to go, and it was by fighting. I didn’t know if I was going to get the win, but I really wanted to fight hard and try to get the experience and enjoy it. And I definitely did a lot.” It was Garcia’s seventh WTA career singles titles and her second at a grass-court event. She won Mallorca in 2016. Because of rain, a majority of matches were played indoors. The final was played on grass, where Vekic converted all four of her break points while Garcia was 2-for-2 on break points. They each had seven aces, but it was the Frenchwoman who pulled out the victory because of stellar play in the tiebreaks in the last two sets. In the final-set tiebreak, Vekic double-faulted to give Garcia a 5-3 lead. A forehand return winner took Garcia to match point before Vekic ended a rally with a stunning forehand winner, pulling to 6-4. Garcia closed out the day with an ace.

SKIPPING HALLE

Citing a “state of exhaustion,” Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem has pulled out of this week’s grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany. Thiem lost the Roland Garros title match to Rafael Nadal for the second straight year.

Also withdrawing from Halle was Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who said he is still suffering from the arm injury he sustained his French Open quarterfinal loss to Nadal.

SEEKING HELP

Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka has added Dani Vallverdu to his coaching team for the grass-court season. In making the announcement, the 34-year-old Wawrinka said he will also keep working with his regular coach, Magnus Norman. Vallverdu coached Grigor Dimitrov until the two split a month ago.

SHOCKER

Dustin Brown pulled off another shocker, this one at the Mercedes Cup. The Jamaican/German beat Alexander Zverev in Stuttgart, Germany, 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-3. “I am very, very happy,” Brown said after the surprising win. “I didn’t have a good grass-court swing last year and just wanted to come and play very good tennis. Stuttgart is a little bit at altitude and I think that helped my game.” Now 34, Brown is known for upsetting top players. He upset Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon four years ago. Against Zverev, Brown saved 13 of 14 breaks. “I had to make a lot of first serves and the break in the first set helped me to gain confidence,” the winner said.

Brown lost in the next round to Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime.

STAYING HOME

Petra Kvitova won’t be defending her Birmingham Classic title. The left-hander has withdrawn from the WTA event because of an arm injury that kept her from competing at Roland Garros. “Unfortunately, Birmingham is too soon,” Kvitova said, “but I’m working really hard to get back as soon as possible.” Ranked fifth in the world, the two-time Wimbledon champion was seeking her third straight title in Birmingham. Kvitova said she is “keeping everything crossed for Wimbledon.”

Missing the Libéma Open singles draw in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, was American Amanda Anisimova. The surprising Roland Garros semifinalist paired with Australian Priscilla Hon in the doubles at the grass-court event, falling to the eventual champions Aleksandra Krunic and Shuko Aoyama 6-4 6-0. Anisimova then pulled out of the singles. “Unfortunately, I will need more rest and recovery and I will not be able to compete at my best,” she said in a statement.

SHARAPOVA RETURNS

Maria Sharapova once again wants to restart her tennis career. The former world number one accepted a wild card entry to play this week’s Mallorca Open. The 32-year-old hasn’t played since a shoulder injury forced her to withdraw from the St. Petersburg Open in January. In February, she underwent a “small procedure” to deal with the issue that had been causing her pain since last year.

SPANISH SCENE

Mario Vilella Martinez of Spain had a complete meltdown in the third set of his loss to Tomislav Brkic in an ATP Challenger Tour match in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Vilella Martinez broke Brkic to go up 5-3 in the third set. Serving for the match, the Spaniard lost his serve at love. After Brkic held to knot the score at 5-5, Vilella Martinez double-faulted three times, the badly misfired a forehand on match point. He then began smashing his racquet onto the red clay court before flinging the battered instrument to the back of the court.

STRANGE HAPPENINGS

Racquet smashing wasn’t the only unusual event at the Shymkent, Kazakhstan, Challenger tournament. In a doubles match, Americans Evan King and Hunter Reese won point that started when they hit the ball out of bounds. They were leading Malek Jaziri and Skander Mansouri of Tunisia 4-3 15-40 when King framed a first serve by Mansouri. The return popped high in the air and came down on top of the net post in front of the umpire. The ball deflected off the post and landed in the court on the Tunisians’ side of the net. A scrambling Mansouri was able to get the ball back over the net, but the Americans eventually won the point, but not before a 10-minute delay ensued due to the confusion. “Possibly the weirdest point I’ve ever been a part of,” Reese posted on Instagram. After losing the first set 6-3, Jaziri retired, citing illness.

STAYS OFF GRASS

The “King of Clay” will play no grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon. “As everybody knows, I love to play on grass,” Rafael Nadal said after winning Roland Garros for a record 12^th time. “And as everybody knows, I am not able to play so many weeks in a row like I did 10 years ago, eight years ago. So, I will not play before Wimbledon. The experience says that having the right preparation then, practicing well, and maybe a couple of matches, I don’t know, before there.” Because of injuries, Nadal missed Wimbledon in 2009 and 2016. “Honestly, the last two years that I played in Wimbledon, I felt close again,” Nadal said. “What gives me a better chance is being healthy more than playing a lot of matches before.”

SET FOR BIRMINGHAM

Former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has accepted a wild card entry into this week’s grass-court tournament in Birmingham. A five-time singles winner at Wimbledon, the 38-year-old Williams will play a lead-up event on grass for the first time since 2011. It will be her first appearance in Birmingham. “I always love playing on grass in front of British crowds and have heard wonderful things about the tournament,” Williams said.

SIGNET

Jim Courier, who won the Australian and French Opens in 1992, was recognized by the International Tennis Hall of Fame when he was presented with an official Hall of Fame ring. The ceremony, which took place at Roland Garros, commemorated Courier’s induction into the Newport, Rhode Island, USA, shrine in 2005. Since Courier’s feat 27 years ago, only Novak Djokovic has won the men’s singles title at both the Australian and French Opens in the same year.

SAYS I DO

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki took time before the grass-court season to marry David Lee in a ceremony in Tuscany. Serena Williams was one of Wozniacki’s bridesmaids, while another former world number one, Angelique Kerber, was among the 100 friends and family at the ceremony. Others present included Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, basketball players Pau Gasol and Harrison Barnes, and former television host and NFL player Jesse Palmer.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Manchester: Duan Yingying and Zhu Lin beat Robin Anderson and Laura-Ioana Paar 6-4 6-3

Nottingham (men): Santiago Gonzalez and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi beat Gong Mao-Xin and Zhang Ze 4-6 7-6 (5) 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Nottingham (women): Desirae Krawczyk and Giuliana Olmos beat Ellen Perez and Arina Rodionova 7-6 (5) 7-5

s-Hertogenbosch (men): Austin Krajicek and Dominic Inglot beat Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof 6-4 4-6 10-4 (match tiebreak)

s-Hertogenbosch (women): Shuko Aoyama and Aleksandra Krunic beat Lesley Kerkhove and Bibiane Schoofs 7-5 6-3

Stuttgart: John Peers and Bruno Soares beat Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov 7-5 6-3

SURFING

London: https://www.lta.org.uk/major-tennis-events/british-major-events/fever-tree-championships/

Halle: https://www.gerryweber-open.de/

Ilkley: https://www.lta.org.uk/major-tennis-events/trophy-series/ilkley-trophy/

Birmingham: https://www.lta.org.uk/major-tennis-events/british-major-events/nature-valley-classic/