Fourth seeds Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos won their fourth ATP World Tour team doubles title on Sunday, holding off the first-time pairing of Dustin Brown and Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 to take the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.

Peralta of Chile and Zeballos of Argentina saved 10 of 12 break points in the one-hour and 37-minute final. The champions won the final four points of the Match Tie-break to claim their first championship trophy of the season.

The South American pairing also played in the Quito final earlier this year (l. to Cerretani/Oswald). Peralta/Zeballos won all three of their other team crowns last season – Sao Paulo, Gstaad and Metz. The team will receive 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $29,010 in prize money.

The wild-card pairing of Brown/Tiafoe reached the final during their first week as a team, a stretch highlighted by their opening-round victory against No. 2 seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. Brown was going for his third ATP World Tour doubles title; Tiafoe, his first overall crown.

The #NextGenATP 19 year old was playing in his first ATP World Tour final. The German/American pairing will receive 150 Emirates ATP Rankings Points and split $15,250 in prize money.

The doubles field at this week’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters is not only stacked with all the top doubles players on the ATP World Tour, but also many of the world’s best singles players.

Stan Wawrinka prevailed in his first-round match with Fabio Fognini on Sunday by ousting the veteran team of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 6-4, 7-6(2). Their path won’t get any easier as second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut await in the next round.

Two-time Monte-Carlo singles champion Novak Djokovic teams up with fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki and will open against Gilles Muller and Gilles Simon. Djokovic/Troicki ousted Herbert/Mahut en route to a quarter-final finish last month at the BNP Paribas Open. Should they win their first match in Monte-Carlo, they’ll have another high-profile battle on their hands against top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers.

In a battle of doubles teams that pair youth and experience, brothers Mischa Zverev and Alexander Zverev will take on Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem. The winner of that match will move on to play fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. 

Other attractive first-round doubles matches include Marin Cilic and Philipp Petzschner squaring off against Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, wild cards Grigor Dimitrov and Nenad Zimonjic facing French duo Benoit Paire and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, and Tommy Haas and Treat Huey taking on another French duo in Julien Benneteau and Lucas Pouille.

Borna Coric claimed his maiden ATP World Tour title in stunning fashion at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Sunday. Coric overcame third seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5 for the Marrakech crown, storming back from a break down in both the second and third sets and saving five championship points.

Coric is the third player from the current #NextGenATP contingent to lift an ATP World Tour trophy, joining Alexander Zverev (St. Petersburg 2016 & Montpellier 2017) and Karen Khachanov (Chengdu 2016). He is the third first-time winner this year, joining Gilles Muller (Sydney) and Ryan Harrison (Memphis).

ATPWorldTour.com spoke to Coric after his victory:

How does it feel to win your first ATP World Tour title?
It’s an awesome feeling. I didn’t know what to expect when I came here and I wasn’t in the best shape. But I’ve been working very hard the past three or four months and now it’s paying off.

Was it something you were dreaming of as a child?
Absolutely. It’s a dream if you’re a tennis player. Now I can say I have won a title, so it’s very important for me.

What was your approach preparing for this match, compared to last year’s Marrakech final?
I was just trying to make it very simple and to not go too big with my game. I was trying to be consistent and play my game.

You beat three seeds on the way to the title. What parts of your game clicked this week?
I was focused in all the matches and didn’t lose my calm. I just played very well and served very well and that made it much easier for me.

What are your goals for the end of the year, now that you’ve won your first title?
Top 20 is my goal [in the Emirates ATP Rankings]. I said that at the beginning of the year and that’s still my goal. 

Who are the people that have guided you to this point?
My family definitely. They made all this possible since I was four or five years old. They’ve been supporting me for the past 15 years and it’s very special.

You are close to the top of the Emirates ATP Race To Milan standings. Is that a goal of yours to reach the Next Gen ATP Finals?
For sure it is. I’m not sure if it will happen or not, but that’s a goal for sure. I need to continue to work hard.

Is there a player that you admired while growing up?
Goran Ivanisevic and Mario Ancic. They are top Croatian players. I always watched them when they were playing. Those were the players I looked up to most.

Talking about the Ancic family, how has your coach Ivica Ancic helped you?
We have been working hard the past few months. Like I said, I need to continue to put in the hard work and improve. 

First moment I realised I loved tennis
I don’t have a specific memory of when I was younger, but I’ve obviously played it my whole my life and have really enjoyed it almost every time I’ve stepped out on the court. It’s a privilege and a passion for me, so I just feel gratitude to be able to play this sport as much as I can.

First tournament I played
It was at Ridgeline Country Club in Orange, Calif. I was about five or six years old. I couldn’t tell you how I did, but I’m sure my parents could and that there’s some funny footage of it floating around their house.

First professional tennis match I ever watched
In person, I definitely went to the ATP World Tour event in Los Angeles. And then on TV, I remember watching the Pete Sampras-Andre Agassi US Open final [in 1995].

First pinch-me moment on the ATP World Tour
Probably seeing Roger Federer those first couple of times in the locker room. I got to practice with him right after getting out of college, just having say him hi to me a few times. He’s one of the nicest guys ever and just great to have as the face of our sport.

First time I flew business class
Not until after college and during this crazy life on the ATP World Tour. It’s one of the benefits of flying hundreds of thousands of miles every year. [Smiles].

First concert
I haven’t gone to too many concerts, but the first one was Jack Johnson.

Tenth seed David Goffin left no room for sentiment on Sunday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters when he overcame fellow Belgian Steve Darcis 6-2, 6-1 in 72 minutes. Goffin, who also beat his compatriot at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open in February, lost just three of his second service points (18/21) for his 20th match win of the season.

“I played well from the start,” said Goffin, who will next play Nicolas Almagro or a qualifier. “We had long rallies [and] I was solid. I made him run a lot. I was playing very well tactically. I was playing the right way. I was able to protect my serve with my second serve. I was very solid. I’m very happy with that. It’s never easy to play against a friend. Lately I’ve been playing those matches pretty well. They are special matches.”

Former World No. 6 Gilles Simon, who advanced to the 2012 semi-finals (l. to Nadal), broke a two-match losing streak in beating Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-2 in 81 minutes. He will now challenge second seed Novak Djokovic, the 2013 and 2015 champion in the second round. Djokovic leads Simon 10-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Elsewhere, Joao Sousa hit six aces past Florian Mayer in a 6-3, 6-2 win and now awaits the result of No. 16 seed Pablo Cuevas or Viktor Troicki.

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Adrian Mannarino, Jan-Lennard Struff, Martin Klizan, Carlos Berlocq, Andrey Kuznetsov, Renzo Olivo and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez all qualified on Sunday for the main draw of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament.

World No. 1 Andy Murray paid a visit to Le Louis XV, the world-famous restaurant at l’Hôtel de Paris in Monte-Carlo on Saturday night. Murray was joined at the three Michelin star restaurant by his coach Jamie Delgado, fitness trainer Matt Little and physio Mark Bender.

“It’s supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the world,” said Murray. “We’re playing in one of the most beautiful cities on the tour and I’ve had a few good runs here over the years, but it’s the one [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000 final that I haven’t reached. So I’d love to do that this year.”

Murray has reached the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in 2009, 2011 and 2016 (l. to Rafael Nadal each time).

When asked about his skills in the kitchen, Murray revealed, “I’m not good at all. Scrambled eggs is my best dish. I really enjoy my food, but I’m a horrible cook unfortunately.”

The third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the year gets underway on Sunday, with Rafael Nadal vying to capture a 10th trophy (2005-12, 2016) and two other former champions: Djokovic (2013, 2015) and Stan Wawrinka (2014).

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Who said Americans can’t or won’t play on clay? With 12 Americans in the singles main draw this week at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, more Americans than ever are playing a loaded clay-court schedule.

And not only are U.S. players showing up on the dirt, but they’re winning. Steve Johnson is through to the Houston final after defeating fellow American Jack Sock, while #NextGenATP American Ernesto Escobedo reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final. In doubles, another #NextGenATP player in Frances Tiafoe reached his first ATP World Tour final with German Dustin Brown.

“I feel like Americans can play on clay. There’s a stereoype that we can’t, but I think it can be our best surface,” said Escobedo. “I grew up in Los Angeles, so there’s maybe only one or two clay courts in the whole city, but I always loved sliding around on it. It teaches you how to be patient, work the point a little bit more. It’s a different game.”

The 2016 season saw Sock finish runner-up in Houston and John Isner record a fourth-round showing at Roland Garros. At the ATP Challenger Tour level last year, Bjorn Fratangelo prevailed in Savannah and was a finalist in Bordeaux, while Jared Donaldson and Tiafoe finished runner-up in Savannah and Tallahassee, respectively. And in doubles, Americans won ATP World Tour doubles titles in Houston, Barcelona, Rome (all Bryan/Bryan), Estoril (Butorac/Lipsky) and Geneva (Johnson/Querrey).

“There were plenty of clay courts growing up in Florida, so I played a ton on it. It was actually my main surface to hit on,” said #NextGenATP American Reilly Opelka. “Some clay courts are a little bit faster as well, so it’s a perfect surface for the Americans.”

However, other Americans said they had far more limited experience on the surface until turning pro. Until recently, the U.S. only held one major junior tournament per year on green clay, a much faster surface compared to red clay. Many had never played on red dirt until they began to compete internationally, but quickly realised it was a surface they would need to excel on.

“I didn’t really know what to do [on red clay] at first. But when I started playing doubles with Simon Stadler, he solely wanted to play on clay, so I had to start getting used to it,” said 35-year-old Nicholas Monroe. “Eventually I stopped overthinking the movement on the surface, started focusing more on our game plan out there and ended up having fun on it.”

Learning how to become versatile, all-surface players is a large part of why many Americans are now at or near career-high Emirates ATP Rankings, including Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Sock, Donaldson, Tiafoe and Escobedo. As the ATP World Tour moves to Europe next week for a long stretch of clay-court tournaments, beginning on Sunday with the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, it’s a part of the season they not only embrace, but believe can benefit them for the rest of the year.

“We have to do well on clay to get our ranking where we want it. It’s a long, important part of the season,” said Young. “You have a Grand Slam, three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, some 500-level events. If you can do well on it, it can set your whole year up and not put so much pressure on the American summer events. And it helps you with all aspects of your game, different spins, movement. It’s a great building block for the rest of the season.”