Mondays with Bob Greene
STARS
Diego Schwartzman beat Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-3 to win the Rio Open presented by Claro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Karen Khachanov beat Lucas Pouille 7-5 3-6 7-5 to win the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, France
Elina Svitolina beat Daria Kasatkina 6-4 6-0 to win the Dubai Duty Free Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Frances Tiafoe beat Peter Gojowczyk 6-1 6-4 to win the Delray Beach Open in Delray Beach, Florida, USA
Alison Van Uytvanck beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 3-6 7-5 to win the Hungarian Ladies Open in Budapest, Hungary
SAYING
“I got a lot of love this week. I am really happy I got over that line.” – Frances Tiafoe, after winning his first ATP World Tour title.
“I was pleased with how I played here this week. I expected the unexpected.” – Elina Svitolina, who became just the third player to successfully defend her Dubai title.
“Elina was the toughest opponent for this final. She was playing really good all week. In the final, she showed her best tennis.” – Daria Kasatkina, after falling to Elina Svitolina in the Dubai final.
“It’s been two years since I’ve won a tournament, so I am very happy. It was a perfect week for me.” – Diego Schwartzman, following his victory in Rio de Janeiro.
“I just need to keep working and keep going. I think both of us played a good match, really solid, and just a few points made the difference.” – Karen Khachanov, who won in Marseille, France.
“Without the serve I wouldn’t win this match, for sure. So that was a big bonus to my game today.” – Alison van Uytvanck, after winning the tournament in Budapest.
“The jury found the USTA negligent and liable for the accident. After the verdict, the USTA and I came to a settlement agreement.” – Eugenie Bouchard, who sued the United States Tennis Association after she slipped and fell in the women’s locker room during the 2015 US Open.
STUNNING WEEK
Young Frances Tiafoe capped the best week of his career by capturing the Delray Beach Open title with a comparatively easy straight-set victory over Germany’s Peter Golowczyk. At 20, Tiafoe becomes the youngest American to win an ATP World Tour title since Andy Roddick won in Houston in 2002 at the age of 19. “If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I was going to win a title at 20 years old, I probably would have laughed,” Tiafoe said. “It’s unbelievable.” Believe it. The final was Tiafoe’s easiest victory of the week. En route to the final he beat 10th-ranked Juan Martin del Potro, Australian Open semifinalist Hyeon Chung and young Canadian star Denis Shapovalov. And while he may have been an easy opponent for Tiafoe, Gojowczyk reached the title match by beating three Americans: John Isner, Reilly Opelika and Steve Johnson. “He beat all the Americans, so I am happy I stopped that,” Tiafoe said. In the final, Tiafoe raced out to a 5-0 lead before Golowczyk had his left hamstring wrapped. Twenty-five minutes into the match, Tiafoe was up a set. He wrapped up the victory with a second-serve ace. “I just can’t believe it,” the American said. “A lot’s going through my mind.”
SVITOLINA WINS AGAIN
Elina Svitolina joined a very small, select group when she won the Dubai Duty Free Championships. By crushing Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in straight sets, Svitolina copied Justine Henin and Venus Williams as the only three players to win consecutive Dubai titles. It was Svitolina’s 11th career title. “When they announced our names, they were saying that Justine and Venus are the only ones who defended their titles,” said the Ukrainian, who is ranked fourth in the world. “I was like, ‘OK, c’mon, you have to do this.’ It really motivated me.” The 20-year-old Kasatkina put up a battle in the opening set, almost matching Svitolina winner for winner before the eventual champion broke serve in the fifth game. The second set was a mere formality. “It feels great,” Svitolina said. “When I had to play well, I played well. I was serving good, returning well, getting lots of balls back. It was a solid performance – maybe not amazing tennis, but I was pretty solid. It was enough.”
SCHWARTZMAN SUPREME
After a two-year wait, Diego Schwartzman has captured the champion’s trophy. The Argentine overpowered Fernando Verdasco to win the Rio Open. “I was very patient, solid, intense,” said Schwartzman, who realized his opponent was exhausted after a tough week. “I knew he was very tired as he had played both singles and doubles,” the champion said. Verdasco teamed with David Marrero to win the doubles title the day before he took on Schwartzman, who was in commanding form throughout after losing serve to begin the match. Schwartzman broke Verdasco’s serve three times in the first set. After the Spaniard was unable to convert four break points in the fifth game of the second set, he appeared to wilt under pressure and Schwartzman easily closed out the victory. The title is only the second on the ATP World Tour for Schwartzman, following his maiden crown two years ago in Istanbul.
SECOND TITLE
Russia’s Karen Khachanov also won his second career title, beating Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the final at Marseille. The 21-year-old Khachanov won his maiden title at Chengdu in 2016. Against Pouille, Khachanov slammed 16 aces in the close battle. “It’s the second title in my career, so I am extremely happy,” Khachanov said. On his way to the Marseille title Khachanov upset 17th-ranked Tomas Berdych in the semifinals and 16th-ranked Pouille. The winner hit 16 aces in the one-hour, 49-minute clash. Pouille was trying to win his second title in three weeks, having captured the crown in nearby Montpellier, France, just two weeks ago.
SUCCESSFUL SUIT
Eugenie Bouchard settled her lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association after a jury found the USTA was 75 percent responsible for the Canadian player’s fall at the US Open in 2015. Bouchard said the USTA was at fault for unsafe conditions in a training room in the locker room area at the US Open in 2015. Bouchard suffered a concussion and withdrew from the tournament, as well as competitions in China and Japan later that year. “After 2.5 years my lawsuit against the USTA is finally over,” Bouchard said in a statement posted on Twitter. She later said she and the USTA had agreed on a settlement. Once ranked fifth in the world, Bouchard currently is ranked 116th. Her lawyer, Benedict Morelli, had told jurors that the accident sent Bouchard in to “a downward spiral that she has not been able to recover from.”
SEIZES BUDAPEST TITLE
This week was second title week. Like Diego Schwartzman and Karen Khachanov, Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium won her second career singles title, overcoming top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in three sets at the Hungarian Ladies Open. “I think we played a high level throughout the whole match,” van Uytvanck said. “In the beginning maybe I was a little bit better, but in the second set she was better. To turn it around in the third set, I was just hanging in there, trying to play every point as good as I could.” The eventual winner got the first break of the match to go up 2-1, then held on to take the opening set. Cibulkova, however began dominating play and sent the match into a decisive third set. Both held serve until the 10th game when van Uytvanck was able to break Cibulkova. The Belgian fought off one more break point before holding for her second career title. “I had two tough service games in the third, and I was able to manage to get through that, and it was getting better and better,” van Uytvanck said. “I was getting a little bit more confident and I just kept fighting. I’m so happy with the win.”
STRIKES A DEAL
Simona Halep is now on the Nike roster. When the Romanian reached the Australian Open final in January, she was playing without a sponsor. No longer. According to Romanian media, Halep’s deal with Nike is worth USD $2 million a year. She previously had a contract with adidas.
SUFFERS ANOTHER SETBACK
After returning to the ATP World Tour following a six-month injury layoff, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka suffered another setback. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner was forced to quit his second-round match in Marseille. Wawrinka had a problem in the seventh game of the first set against Ilya Ivashka of Belarus. He finally retired while trailing the qualifier 6-4 1-1. The 32-year-old Wawrinka missed the last six months of the 2017 season after undergoing knee surgery.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Budapest: Georgina Garcia Perez and Fanny Stollar beat Kirsten Flipkens and Johanna Larsson 4-6 6-4 10-3 (match tiebreak)
Delray Beach: Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow beat Nicholas Monroe and John-Patrick Smith 4-6 6-4 10-8 (match tiebreak)
Dubai: Chan Hao-Ching and Yang Zhaoxuan beat Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai 4-6 6-2 10-6 (match tiebreak)
Marseille: Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus beat Marcus Daniell and Dominic Inglot 6-7 (2) 6-3 10-4 (match tiebreak)
Rio de Janeiro: Fernando Verdasco and David Marrero beat Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya 5-7 7-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)
SURFING
Dubai: www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/
Acapulco: http://abiertomexicanodetenis.com/en/
Sao Paulo: www.brasilopen.com.br/
Indian Wells (Challenger): www.oraclechallengerseries, com
Indian Wells (BNP Paribas): https://bnpparibasopen.com/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
MEN
$2,858,530 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, hard
$1,633,640 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, Acapulco, Mexico, hard
$520,285 Basil Open, Sao Paulo, brazil, clay
$150,000 Oracle Challenger Series, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard
WOMEN
$250,000 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, Acapulco, Mexico, hard
$140,000 Oracle Challenger Series, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN
$7,913,405 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (first wee)
WOMEN
$7,107,445 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (first week)
