SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER!
 
 
Facebook Social Button Twitter Social Button Follow Us on InstagramYouTube Social Button
NewsScoresRankingsLucky Letcord PodcastShopPro GearPickleballGear Sale


By Chris Oddo | Monday, March 1, 2015

 
Roger Federer, Dubai 2015

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were bringing the noise in Dubai and Buenos Aires, as were a host of other heroes and zeros. See them all here.

Photo Source: Dubai Duty Free Tennis

Another week is in the books, and a fresh batch of heroes—and zeros—to go with it. Find out who got high marks and who didn’t make the grade in Dubai, Doha, Buenos Aires and beyond right here.

The Trophy Kissers

The King is Back

Rafael Nadal stormed to the Argentina Open without the loss of a set, passing Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras on the ATP’s all-time title list as he simultaneously wooshed by a quartet of Argentines without the loss of a set.

The only Argentine that Nadal couldn’t defeat was Guillermo Vilas. Though the ATP’s statisticians had Nadal tying Vilas for most clay-court titles of all-time with 46, by late Sunday, there was new word that Vilas had in fact earned 49 titles on clay over his illustrious career. As if Nadal, already rounding nicely into form, needed any more motivation this spring!



The Swiss Maestro Makes it Lucky Seven in Dubai

How fitting and fantastic was it that tennis fans saw the two greatest players of all-time ruling the surfaces that they enjoy the most this week? Though many will argue that Roger Federer enjoys grass even more than the fast, slick hard courts of Dubai, nobody would argue that it’s hard to imagine Federer playing a more decisive match than he did on Saturday in taking down Novak Djokovic in straight-sets in the Dubai final.

The victory marked Federer's 7th Dubai title (he also has seven at Wimbledon and Halle) and improved Federer's lifetime record against Djokovic to 20-17. Only one pair of rivals (Djokovic and Nadal, 42) have met more times that Djokovic and Federer have.

Federer’s game had venom, and his tactics had purpose. He strutted and stroked and, when he found himself in trouble, he reared back and fired off some of the most clutch serves and volleys of the ATP season. It was a convincing display of quick-strike tennis, and while it does nothing to diminish Djokovic or his chances of winning majors this season, it does provide clear, unassailable proof that Federer will be very much in the mix for the big titles on the faster surfaces.



Lucie Safarova, Doha

The late-blooming Czech took Doha by storm, reaching the quarterfinals with a big upset of Ekaterina Makarova then not dropping a set in her final three matches. Safarova has always had the talent. Now that she’s mixing in the belief, it’s not all that difficult to imagine her having a breakthrough at a major this year. She'll rise to a career-high ranking of 11 for her efforts on Monday.


David Ferrer, Acapulco

The little beast with the big heart was in punishing form in Acapulco, and those who tried to match wits and wills with him quickly found themselves questioning the wisdom of doing so. Ferrer was just too indefatigable, and too focused, to be stopped. He powered past Kei Nishikori in the final, and never wilted when Nishikori tried to mount comebacks. The fans took notice and poured forth their support, as did smitten Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, who apparently took a shine to Ferru. Who could blame her?


Timea Bacsinszky, Acapulco

The Swiss got her first title since 2009 in her second final of the year by crushing Caroline Garcia in the final. And she wore the sombrero like a champ!


Achievements and Inspirations:

Borna, Again:


The 18-year-old Croatian notched his second top five win when he stunned Andy Murray in Dubai to reach the semifinal. Clearly, this young man is for real. The baby fat is all gone:


Vika Back in Form


Victoria Azarenka reached the Doha final in her first event with Wim Fissette as her coach. Is it a sign of things to come? Stand up and take a bow, Vika, you played well!


The Zero: Caroline Wozniacki


You have to be pretty darn opportunistic and conniving to be able to righteously argue that you deserve a first serve after you’ve clearly hit a double-fault and the only reason said double-fault hasn’t been called is because the linesman, the umpire AND HAWK-EYE have all fallen asleep at the wheel. Well, that’s what Caroline Wozniacki tried to do in the Doha semifinals against Victoria Azarenka, at a crucial juncture of the match. She failed to get the first serve, and went on to drop the game, the set and the match.

In our opinion, justice was served…



Ryan Harrison, Acapulco


Once labelled the next American star, Ryan Harrison was just happy to be inching back up the rankings in Acapulco last week. He did so, and then some, qualifying for the main draw and then snapping his 0-22 record against the ATP top ten with a win over Grigor Dimitrov. He would follow up with an upset of Ivo Karlovic before being knocked off by a ferocious Ferrer in the semis.

Harrison received a well deserved 60-spot rankings bump (to 109) for his efforts, and all the confidence that goes with making shots like these:




Top Tweets


1.
Simply smashing, Grigor!

2.
Rafa played the point of the tournament against Federico Delbonis in the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires, but since his celebration was even better, we’ll just show you that.
3.
Pico the contortionist.

Beast of the Week


 

David #Ferrer's stellar 2015 continues as he wins his fourth @abiertomextenis title! #AMT2015 #tennis #atp

A photo posted by atpworldtour (@atpworldtour) on



Hot Shot of the Week


Best back-to-back backhands of the week



Strange, Trance-Inducing Vine of the Week



Studs and Duds

The fans at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires were great. They packed the house, cheered for everybody, and didn’t get out of line when the singles final was delayed for more than a few hours due to rain and court conditions… Tomas Berdych won his 500th ATP match in Dubai, becoming the 8th active player to reach the milestone… Roger Federer cracked his 9,000th ace in the Dubai semifinals against Borna Coric to become just the fourth player in history to have hit that many… Jarkko Nieminen and Andre Sa rallied from a set down in all four of their matches en route to their first title as a team in Buenos Aires… Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears took out the top two seeded teams in Doha en route to their 11th career title…

Note: A previous version of this article stated that Rafael Nadal had passed Boris Becker and Pete Sampras with his 65th title. Nadal actually passed Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. Boris Becker remains tied with Novak Djokovic at 49 career titles for the moment.

 

Latest News