Three terrifying cases challenge a lifelong sceptic
A professor famous for debunking hoaxes investigates three unsolvable cases.
A professor famous for debunking hoaxes investigates three unsolvable cases.
Alejandro Tabilo claimed a thrilling win at the IEB+ Argentina Open Wednesday, beating the defending champion Joao Fonseca 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the second round and extending the Brazilian’s challenging start to the 2026 season.
Despite letting slip a break lead at 3-1 in the third set, Tabilo ultimately capitalised on Fonseca’s 33 unforced errors to seal the victory on his third match point in a two-hour, 24-minute battle.
“I was very connected with the team. They helped me through it all,” Tabilo said. “A lot of nerves at the end, but I feel like we played a very good game, very smart tactics and just outlasted him. I knew he was going to come out swinging and I just had to be very solid.”
Tabilo won 77 per cent (40/52) of his first-serve points and saved 57 per cent (4/7) of the break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats. With the triumph over No. 33 in the PIF ATP Rankings Fonseca, Tabilo earned his first Top-50 win on clay since upsetting No. 5 Novak Djokovic in the second round at the ATP 1000 event Monte-Carlo last April. He will face seventh seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the quarter-finals.
Fonseca, who withdrew from Brisbane and Adelaide due to a lower back injury and lost in the opening round at the Australian Open, was unable to hold out against the Chilean’s ball-striking. He claimed his first tour-level title a year ago in Buenos Aires. The 19-year-old former Next Gen ATP Finals champion will hope to regain form when he competes next week at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, his hometown.
[ATP APP]Etcheverry booked his quarter-final spot by rallying past fellow Argentine Roman Andres Burruchaga 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4. The Argentine saved a set point in the opening set. With the win, the 26-year-old recorded his 50th tour-level clay-court victory.
In other action, Vit Kopriva halted eighth seed Matteo Berrettini’s run in the second round by defeating the Italian 6-4, 6-3. Berrettini was competing in his first tournament of the season after withdrawing from the Australian Open due to an abdominal injury. By defeating Berrettini, Kopriva became the first Czech quarter-finalist in the tournament’s history and will face top seed Francisco Cerundolo or Hugo Dellien in the last eight.
Mariano Navone defeated Emilio Nava 6-2, 6-1 to book his second-round spot.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]The ATP Tour’s biggest stars, including Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, flooded Lindsey Vonn’s Instagram with positive wishes on Wednesday after the American alpine ski racer posted she had undergone a successful third surgery on the broken leg she sustained in a crash at the Winter Olympics.
“Heal well, legend,❤️🩹 ” Novak Djokovic wrote in his Instagram Story.
“🙏🏽🥹”, wrote No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Alcaraz. Sinner added, “🙏”, while Nadal commented, “💪🏼😘”. Karen Khachanov, Frances Tiafoe and Fabio Fognini were also among those who showed their support.
Vonn has long been a big tennis fan and always supported many of the ATP Tour players, including Roger Federer and Sinner. She was also in attendance at the 2025 US Open final between Alcaraz and Sinner.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Former Nexo Dallas Open champion Tommy Paul was pushed to the brink in his opener on Wednesday, but he found a way past the 2022 finalist Jenson Brooksby to reach the second round at the ATP 500.
In a two-hour, 25-minute battle, Paul overcame American countryman Brooksby 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4). The fifth seed struck 18 winners off his forehand and was impressive behind his first serve in the third set, winning 21 of 23 points.
“I feel like he can put the ball all over the court and can make you move around so much,” Paul said. “I like to feel that I move well, so I make it tough for him to end points. I was holding a lot easier than I normally do against Jenson and the first set and a half was way quicker than normal, so it was a little bit different. I was happy to get through it.”
Paul, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open last month, lifted the trophy at the tournament in 2024 when it was still an ATP 250, before he enjoyed a semi-final run last season. The 28-year-old leads Brooksby 3-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and will next meet Miomir Kecmanovic.
American Ethan Quinn defeated wild card Trevor Svajda 7-6(3), 7-5 to reach the second round in Dallas. Quinn advanced to the third round at the Australian Open last month and earned a dramatic win in the first round of the Davis Cup Qualifiers on clay on Saturday against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan. Paul also recorded a victory in the same tie for the United States in Hungary.
Playing with confidence, the No. 74 player in the PIF ATP Rankings rallied from a break down in the first set and won 87 per cent (41/47) of his first-serve points against Svajda, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to triumph after one hour and 47 minutes. Quinn will play Marin Cilic in the second round. The Croatian claimed his 600th tour-level victory on Tuesday.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]The Rio Open presented by Claro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which this year runs from 16-22 February, has announced a prize money total of $2,469,450 for the 2026 edition.
The singles champion will earn $461,835. The winning doubles team will split $151,690.
View the full prize-money breakdown and the PIF ATP Rankings points at stake below.
[ATP APP]2026 Rio de Janeiro Singles Prize Money
| Rounds | Points | Prize Money |
| Winner | 500 | $461,835 |
| Finalist | 330 | $248,480 |
| Semi-finalist | 200 | $132,425 |
| Quarter-finalist | 100 | $67,655 |
| Round of 16 | 50 | $36,115 |
| Round of 32 | 0 | $19,260 |
2026 Rio de Janeiro Doubles Prize Money (per team)
| Rounds | Points | Prize Money |
| Winner | 500 | $151,690 |
| Finalist | 300 | $80,900 |
| Semi-finalist | 180 | $40,930 |
| Quarter-finalist | 90 | $20,470 |
| Round of 16 | 0 | &$10,590 |
The Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar, which this year runs from 16-21 February, has announced a prize money total of $2,833,335 for the 2026 edition.
The singles champion will earn $529,945. The winning doubles team will split $174,050.
View the full prize-money breakdown and the PIF ATP Rankings points at stake below.
[ATP APP]2026 Doha Singles Prize Money
| Rounds | Points | Prize Money |
| Winner | 500 | $529,945 |
| Finalist | 330 | $285,095 |
| Semi-finalist | 200 | $151,935 |
| Quarter-finalist | 100 | $77,625 |
| Round of 16 | 50 | $41,435 |
| Round of 32 | 0 | $22,095 |
2026 Doha Doubles Prize Money (per team)
| Rounds | Points | Prize Money |
| Winner | 500 | $174,050 |
| Finalist | 300 | $92,820 |
| Semi-finalist | 180 | $46,960 |
| Quarter-finalist | 90 | $23,490 |
| Round of 16 | 0 | &$12,150 |
Stan Wawrinka marked another memorable moment in his farewell season on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam, where he defeated 17-year-old Dutch lucky loser Thijs Boogaard in the first round.
The 40-year-old Swiss star, who captured the ATP 500 title in 2015, downed Boogaard 6-4, 6-3 in a clash spanning more than two decades in age difference. The 23 years and three months separating Wawrinka and Boogaard now ranks as the second-largest age gap in ATP Tour and Grand Slam history, trailing only Dominic Thiem’s 2011 win over Thomas Muster by two years and eight months.
Biggest age gaps on the ATP Tour (since 1990)
| Age Gap | Match | Tournament |
| 25y 11m | Dominic Thiem (18) d. Thomas Muster (44) | 2011 Vienna |
| 23y 3m | Stan Wawrinka (40) d. Thijs Boogaard (17) | 2026 Rotterdam |
| 21y 8m | Dick Norman (38) d. Daniel Berta (16) | 2009 ‘s-Hertogenbosch |
| 21y 7m | Carlos Alcaraz (17) d. Feliciano Lopez (39) | 2021 Marbella |
| 21y 5m | Ivo Karlovic (29) d. Felix Auger-Aliassime (18) | 2019 Pune |
*Not including Davis Cup
Next up, Wawrinka will face top seed and two-time defending finalist Alex de Minaur, promising another high-stakes encounter as the former No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings continues his swan song on Tour.
“He’s a tough player,” Wawrinka said of de Minaur, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 1-0. “Especially in these conditions, it’s going to be difficult to generate something. But I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’ve been playing some good matches against top players, so I’m always trying to push myself.”
Wawrinka made headlines at the Australian Open last month by becoming the oldest man to reach the third round of the hard-court major since Ken Rosewall.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the upcoming Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha due to strong fatigue, the tournament announced Wednesday.
The 38-year-old Serbian reached his 11th Australian Open final lost month, when he fell to World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are the top two seeds at the hard-court ATP 500 event in Doha, which begins Monday.
[NO 1 CLUB]Alcaraz fell to Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals of his Doha debut last year, and Sinner is making his first appearance at the event. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alexander Bublik, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are among the other Top 20 players in the PIF ATP Rankings who feature in this year’s field.
Djokovic, who won back-to-back titles in Doha in 2016-17, owns a 15-3 tournament record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He is next scheduled to compete at the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, where he ties Roger Federer (5) for the most titles.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Great Britain’s Jack Pinnington Jones claims the biggest win of his career as he stuns world number 20 Flavio Cobolli at the Dallas Open.
In a Nexo Dallas Open rubber match, Taylor Fritz used a late surge to defeat fellow American Marcos Giron in the opening round at the ATP 500. After the pair split two previous meetings at the event, Fritz prevailed Tuesday night, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(1), in his first action since the Australian Open.
The top seed in Dallas for the fourth time in five years, Fritz made his statistical superiority count by storming to a 6/0 lead in the deciding tie-break. He did not face a break point in the final set, while Giron saved all four against him in the decider, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
“I know it sounds crazy, because I didn’t break serve, but I think that whole third set is the best set of tennis I’ve returned,” Fritz said post-match. “From a returning serve standpoint, that’s the best returning set I’ve played in years, I think.”
Fritz’s victory continued his dominance in the opening round of hard-court events after posting a 13-0 mark on such occasions last season. The American also improved to 17-1 against players outside the Top 50 of the PIF ATP Rankings since June and 6-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Giron.
Long before the third-set tie-break, there were two flash points in the opening set, including a shot-of-the-year contender. Fritz came up with the gem when he went behind the back for a winner after a net cord appeared to leave him stranded. Fritz also required early treatment for a tweak in his leg, but he quickly recovered and said the issue was not related to his lingering knee tendinitis.
“The shot I hit is cool, but it’s honestly not that hard to hit,” Fritz said modestly. “It was good. It was one of those where it was actually the only option I had, because I was moving, my momentum, I was fully lunging to the down-the-line pass and then, off balance, it was kind of all I had. But yeah, it was a fun one.”
[ATP APP]Ben Shelton also earned a Tuesday win, with the second seed notching a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Gabriel Diallo. The American saved all three break points against him and improved to 10-1 in opening rounds since Wimbledon.
Marin Cilic earned his 600th tour-level win with a 7-5, 7-6(4) upset of sixth seed Learner Tien, joining Novak Djokovic as the only active players to reach that wins milestone. The victory also moved him past fellow Croatian Goran Ivanisevic, who ended his career on 599 tour-level wins.
Great Britain’s Jack Pinnington Jones also sprung an upset, beating fourth seed Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-2, while Alex Michelsen knocked off Grigor Dimitrov 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]