A LOOK BACK
Play In Challenger Lille (Lille, France): It has been home cooking for Gregoire Barrere in the two editions of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Lille. The Frenchman once again took advantage of the home support at the Tennis Club Lillois Lille Metropole, successfully defending his title on Sunday.

Barrere overcame Yannick Maden to secure the trophy, prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes. Last year, the 25-year-old took the title in the tournament’s inaugural edition. And on Sunday he secured his third Challenger crown, completing an impressive week on home soil. At No. 120 in the ATP Rankings, he continues his push towards a Top 100 debut.

In 2018, only two players retained Challenger crowns. We have already arrived at that total this year, with Barrere joining Newport Beach champion Taylor Fritz with successful title defenses.

Maden, meanwhile, remains in search of his maiden title. On the cusp of a Top 100 breakthrough of his own, the 108th-ranked Stuttgart native is also closing in on his first trophy. He was appearing in his sixth final.

Zhangjiagang International Challenger (Zhangjiagang, China): Marc Polmans entered the three-week Chinese swing on a 4-11 run, having failed to string together multiple wins since October. But the Aussie has flipped the script in a flash, following a quarter-final run in Shenzhen with a title in Zhangjiagang.

Polmans fended off Lorenzo Giustino 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) in three hours and 12 minutes to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title. It is the longest final thus far in 2019. After dropping the second set, the 21-year-old saved three break points midway through the decider and rallied from a 2/4 deficit in the ensuing tie-break. He would reel off the final five points, including a sublime backhand winner and a perfect volley on match point.

Polmans notched his second Challenger title and first since February 2018, when he triumphed on home soil in Launceston.

Your champion in Zhangjiagang… @marcpolmans!!

What a way to finish… Back-to-back winners clinches a second #ATPChallenger title for the ?? pic.twitter.com/Puv9m5iSlV

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 24, 2019

A LOOK AHEAD
Two European tournaments highlight the final week of March, with an indoor hard court event in Saint-Brieuc, France, and a clay-court stop in Marbella, Spain. It is the first of seven straight weeks with clay-court Challengers in Europe, leading to Roland Garros qualifying.

Top seed Ricardas Berankis is the reigning champion in Saint-Brieuc and is joined by Lille finalists Maden and Barrere as the second and third seeds. It will be the 16th edition of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the second edition of the Casino Admiral Trophy is held in scenic Marbella, on the southern coast of Spain. Benoit Paire heads the field, with Pablo Andujar and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez leading the Spanish charge. #NextGenATP stars Rudolf Molleker and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina are seeded.

Nick Kyrgios pulled out all the tricks in his bag on Sunday at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Aussie was entertaining and efficient in securing a 6-3, 6-1 win over Dusan Lajovic under the lights on Stadium court.

Kyrgios gave the Miami faithful their money’s worth, producing underarm serves, no-look volleys, scorching forehands and a rolling, spirited conversation with a fan, who was ultimately ejected for his part in the first-set exchange. He ousted Lajovic in just 57 minutes, firing 25 winners, including seven off his forehand wing. 

Exactly one year after the Aussie and the Serbian first met on the ATP Tour, Kyrgios replicated his straight-set victory from the 2018 first round. He now leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 2-0.

“I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring on the tennis court, but I’m going out there and having fun,” said Kyrgios. “I served well and returned well and I’m really happy. Today it was a pretty good all-around performance.”

Kyrgios looked to be on the ropes as proceedings got underway on Sunday night, with Lajovic earning three break points in the first game. But the Canberra native was clutch in the big moments, denying all three with aces. 

Three games later, Kyrgios had a break of his own, taking an early lead and consolidating for 4-1 with an underarm serve – an ace and his first of two successful underarm serves in the match. The magic would continue in the next game, as he punched a no-look volley into the open court.

Kyrgios would streak to 6-3 and refused to look back, breaking twice in the second set before securing the victory on his first match point. He dominated points under five shots throughout the affair, to the tune of 48-23.

Miami has become a happy hunting ground for the World No. 33, who advances to the fourth round for a fourth straight year. A semi-finalist in both 2016 and 2017, he also reached the Round of 16 last year, before falling to Alexander Zverev.

The recent champion at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco, Kyrgios is in the midst of a 7-1 run and will be pushing for a Top 30 return in the ATP Rankings. Coming up next is a blockbuster Tuesday date with Borna Coric. 

“Borna is an unbelievable competitor and one of the best players in the world,” Kyrgios added. “He knows how to win matches and is an unbelievable athlete. He moves incredibly well and I know he won’t give me a single point. I’m not going to think about it right now though. I have a day off tomorrow.”

Coric completed the last match of the day on Sunday, rallying past Jeremy Chardy 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and 36 minutes. 

Wesley Koolhof and Stefanos Tsitsipas produced the upset of the doubles tournament at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Dutch-Greek tandem stunned second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 on Sunday afternoon on Court 6.

Competing in their second tournament together, they had dropped a tight opener to top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in Indian Wells. But Koolhof and Tsitsipas found their chemistry in a flash in Miami, following a straight-set win over Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev with the dismissal of the second seeds.

Koolhof and Tsitsipas will next face John Isner and Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals, after the Americans rallied past Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 5-7, 7-6(2), 10-7. The duo has reached three ATP Masters 1000 finals together and clinched the title in Rome in 2011.

Elsewhere, Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos stunned 2014 finalists Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 to reach the quarter-finals. Zeballos has been a force on the doubles court this month, having lifted the BNP Paribas Open trophy with Nikola Mektic a week ago. He and countryman Gonzalez recently took the title in Buenos Aires after finishing runner-up in Cordoba.

In other action, Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin set a meeting with Matwe Middelkoop and Diego Schwartzman, after the Croatian-French team defeated Marc Lopez and Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3. Middelkoop and Schwartzman also progressed on Sunday, needing 65 minutes to dismiss sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-3.

Arguably the most efficient victory of the day was provided by Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov, who routed Marcel Granollers and Nikola Mektic 6-1, 6-2 in just 52 minutes. They could potentially face the five-time champions and third seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the quarter-finals.