‘Game, set, match, Thiem.’

They were the words Dominic Thiem had been waiting 14 months to hear. When they came, following his first-round victory over Emil Ruusuvuori last week in Bastad, the 28-year-old could finally exhale.

For the Austrian, it was a special moment and a landmark point in his return from a right wrist injury that forced him to miss the second half of last season, a layoff that was followed by a struggle for form in the opening months of 2022.

“The win felt very good and it was much needed,” Thiem told ATPTour.com. “The ATP Challenger [Tour] event in Salzburg the week before was also a step in the right direction, with a win there and with a tight loss in the next round. I felt there was a big improvement compared to Roland Garros and the other tournaments.

“Crucially, I was able to back it up in Bastad with two very good wins against two Top 50 opponents, so that was very good and amazing for my confidence. It is way more fun to win some matches and build some momentum and confidence, and that is exactly what I am going to take forward.”

Thiem, who also defeated Roberto Bautista Agut en route to the quarter-finals last week, was No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last June when he was forced to retire against Adrian Mannarino in Mallorca due to injury.

After being sidelined for nine months, the 28-year-old sat at No. 50 when he returned to competitive action at a Challenger event in Marbella in March.

Despite being a 17-time tour-level champion, Thiem struggled to make an impact in matches during the European clay swing, holding a 0-6 tour-level record on the year before he finally tasted victory in Bastad. It was a testing time for the 2020 US Open champion.

“In the spring it was not easy to stay positive as I lost one match after another,” Thiem admitted. “Also, the way I played, I felt it was not enough for the level of those guys. I went into those matches with the knowledge that I am not even able to win, so that was very difficult.

“Mentally it was not easy. After Roland Garros, I sat down with my team and said I needed another training block to get back to the basics and get somewhere close to my old level. Now it is getting nicer again. It was not that nice in the spring. It is very tough if you lose and go to the practice court for five days and then the next match you lose again. It is very tough.”

_{^{Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour}}
With the nature of sport, injuries occur and challenges will arise. For Thiem, the difficulties he has faced over the past year have changed his outlook on playing on the Tour.

“I feel now a bit like I did at the beginning of my career, where every win was something very special. I reached the quarter-finals in Bastad at an ATP 250 and it feels huge to me,” Thiem said. “It was similar at the start of my career. When you are used to going deep, a match win is not as special anymore. But that is not the way it should be. The level is so high, all the players are playing so well, so every match win should be special and that is how I am feeling again now.”

Since making his ATP Tour debut in 2011, fans have become accustomed to seeing Thiem time the ball immaculately and demonstrate precise footwork. The Austrian felt that his lack of match action for nine months meant these areas of his game suffered, impacting his level.

“The problem was I just didn’t hit enough because I didn’t have enough time. That was the biggest problem along with the fact that I was missing those match situations,” Thiem said.

“I am a player who always needs a little time after such a long time off. Even after the off-season, I need some matches to get my anticipation back, and footwork, and then I was out for one year, so all of that suffered a lot. I also didn’t have more than one match a week, so it was impossible to improve. It was a bad time, but I’m pleased I am out of it.”

Last summer, Thiem spent the first four weeks of his recovery travelling as he looked to make the most of a rare bit of time out, enjoying a trip to Berlin while he attended sporting events around Europe.

Although a frustrating period of rehabilitation followed, the Austrian admitted he continued to keep a close eye on the Tour.

“I started to watch again from the US Open onwards. It is a little bit different if you watch from some distance. For 10 years I was almost at every tournament, so watching on TV is different,” Thiem said. “But now you see way more stuff and I also thought ‘How good are they playing!’ It is unbelievable I was there just one year ago, so you appreciate the level much more.”

_{^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}}
While Thiem was impressed with what he saw, two players stuck out.

“I played against Jannik Sinner at an exhibition and hit with him at many tournaments, so I knew he was coming to the top and he was good [to watch],” Thiem added. “He has been there for a while and he will probably be even higher soon.

“I knew Carlos Alcaraz, but he made the big breakthrough when I was not there. But I saw him quite a lot because he won Umag and then he played in Kitzbuehel and he lost to an Austrian guy [Alexander Erler] and I saw that whole match. You could see it was not going to take long for him to break through. You could see he was going to be in the Top 10.

“Hopefully I will play them soon as it is always exciting to face new players as I have faced most of the guys already and know them quite well. I can imagine it is not that fun to play against Alcaraz. It must be really hard!”

With his game on an upward trajectory, Thiem may meet Alcaraz and Sinner in the coming months as he bids to gather momentum and climb the Pepperstone ATP Rankings again, starting at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad this week. The Austrian’s aims moving forward are clear.

“The main goal is to regain my best level by the end of the season. To play the way I was before when I step on court. To think I am able to win against any opponent,” Thiem said. “That is not going to happen now or probably by the US Open, but by the end of the year, that is the goal.

There were breaks of serve aplenty in the opening match of the 2022 Hamburg European Open on Monday, but it was Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who prevailed in a topsy-turvy first-round clash against fifth seed Botic van de Zandschulp.

Despite his own serve being broken twice in each set, Davidovich Fokina’s return game carried him to victory in northern Germany. The World No. 35 broke van de Zandschulp’s serve six times on the way to a 6-4, 6-4 win that improved his record against higher-ranked players this year to 8-12.

The most notable of those wins came at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April, when Davidovich Fokina upset then-World No. 1 Novak Djokovic en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 final.

Foki gets the W ✅@alexdavidovich1 comes through a tricky match vs Van de Zandschulp 6-4 6-4 at the #HamburgOpen pic.twitter.com/wuDJnmN0Hj

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 18, 2022

The Spaniard also reached the quarter-finals on the grass at The Queen’s Club in June, when his run was ended by van de Zandschulp in straight-sets. Monday’s victory in Hamburg restored Davidovich Fokina’s lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head meeting, with the Spaniard moving into a 2-1 lead.

The victory was Davidovich Fokina’s first in Hamburg, after he fell in the first round on his only previous appearance at the event in 2019. His second-round opponent will be Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik or 18-year-old German wild card Max Hans Rehberg.

Also on Monday, Alex Molcan defeated 18-year-old home qualifier Marko Topo 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round in Hamburg for a second consecutive year.

Molcan, who has reached tour-level finals on clay in Marrakech and Lyon this year, broke Topo’s serve three times and dropped just 11 points behind his own delivery in a 92-minute encounter. The Slovakian will next face fourth seed and defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta or #NextGenATP Italian Luca Nardi in Germany.

The ATP has today unveiled ‘Game Changing’, an integrated campaign celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the ATP’s formation in 1972.

Founded as a players’ association at the 1972 US Open, ATP has since undergone a journey of evolution over the course of its rich 50-year history. Today boasting hundreds of millions of fans, a global Tour across more than 30 countries each season and iconic superstar athletes, the ATP Tour has grown into one of the world’s pre-eminent sports entertainment platforms.

To mark this major milestone, ATP has today launched ‘Game Changing’ – an integrated campaign celebrating 50 years of iconic moments, influential figures and changing styles that shaped the game known and loved by fans around the world.

From the ATP’s humble beginnings under a set of stairs in New York, to the creation of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and the famous ‘Parking Lot Press Conference’ that led to the formation of the ATP Tour in 1990, the campaign looks back over the fundamental building blocks of modern tennis. Charting a course through landmark moments, influential figures, new rules and Tour destinations, to OneVision, ATP’s transformational strategic plan that repositions tennis for the next era of growth, ‘Game Changing’ tells the colourful story of a sport that continues to embrace the future and positive change.

‘Game Changing’ kicks off this week with a 12-part series of original editorial and social content, presented under a standout new visual identity. Each week the series will explore a key theme, spanning Matches, Rivalries, Comebacks, Fashion, Innovation, Venues, and many others. Further original programming will be introduced over the course of the campaign.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman: “The game has a rich heritage and has never stood still. This campaign is a celebration of that incredible story, the people that made it happen and the diversity of our global game. Importantly, it also gives a nod to the future. It’s a privilege to mark this major milestone, as we look ahead to building on ATP’s incredible 50-year journey.”

Andy Murray, former ATP World No. 1: “I think the game has changed a lot. Where we are now, the game is in a pretty good place. The guys that have been at the top of the game now for 15-20 years have played a big role in that. We get the opportunity to travel and play all across the world. The Tour is well supported by sponsors and fans. Even compared with the beginning of my career, you can see the improvements that tournaments have made in terms of facilities. There has been a lot of progress across the Tour and hopefully it continues to go that way.”

Stan Smith, ATP Legend and Founding Father: “It’s been amazing to see the ATP grow. We started off with just a hundred or so players who wanted to have an opportunity to play whenever they wanted to play, wherever they wanted, no matter what type of person they were. The ATP has come a long way. It’s exciting to see what’s happened.”

Join us in celebrating 50 Years of ATP at ATPTour.com and ATP’s social channels.

Following his victory at the Nordea Open in Bastad, Francisco Cerundolo has cracked the Top 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time, while Maxime Cressy jumps to a career-high No. 33 after winning his maiden tour-level title at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week, as of Monday, 18 July.

No. 30 Francisco Cerundolo, +9 (Career High)
The Argentine has climbed to a career-high No. 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after he captured his first tour-level trophy in Bastad. The 23-year-old earned his first Top 10 win when he upset Casper Ruud in the second round, before he dispatched countryman Sebastian Baez in the final on the clay in Sweden. Read Bastad Final Report & Watch Highlights.

View Latest Pepperstone ATP Rankings

No. 33 Maxime Cressy, +8 (Career High)
The 25-year-old has soared 8 spots to a career-high No. 33 after he lifted his won tour-level crown on the grass in Newport. The American, who was outside the world’s Top 150 last year, overcame Alexander Bublik in his third championship match of the season, having also enjoyed runs to the final in Melbourne and Eastbourne. Read Newport Final Report & Watch Highlights.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 32 Sebastian Baez, +2 (Career High)
No. 39 Alexander Bublik, +3
No. 54 Marcos Giron, +7
No. 56 Daniel Altmaier, +6
No. 62 Lorenzo Musetti, +5
No. 65 Jiri Lehecka, +5 (Career High)
No. 66 James Duckworth, +8
No. 85 Steve Johnson, +10
No. 99 Marc-Andrea Huesler, +9 (Career High)

When it came to choosing his tennis idol as a kid, there wasn’t much deliberating to be done for Dominic Stricker.

“Of course, if you live in Switzerland…My one big idol [had to be] Roger Federer,” the #NextGenATP Swiss recently told ATPTour.com. “Roger is Swiss and has a pretty similar game to how I would like to play.”

Now one of the hottest prospects on the ATP Tour and sitting at No. 187 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the 19-year-old Stricker no longer has to simply regard Federer as someone to be admired from afar. Stricker’s coach, Sven Swinnen, spent two years as the 103-time tour-titlist’s classmate and daily practice partner at the Swiss national federation when the pair were in their teens. His illustrious ex-classmate has been more than happy to offer advice to Swinnen’s young charge.

“It is lucky,” said Swinnen. “Roger invited Dominic to Dubai twice already to do some practice, some pre-season stuff, so that was really helpful. Roger knows us now pretty well and we got some really good tips from him.”

Their shared nationality may have made it hard for him not to idolise Federer as a youngster but, as a clean-hitting left-hander, Stricker’s development has also been influenced by some top-class ATP Tour lefties. “[I love] Rafa [Nadal] as well, and some players that haven’t played since I started,” said Stricker. “There was [Michael] Llodra and [Marcelo] Rios. I watched them a lot.”

Stricker is not so sure how much those role models have influenced his own playing style, however.

“I would say [my game] is actually not a typical lefty game,” he said. “Lefties tend to maybe be more grinders, but I like to go into the court, also approach the net sometimes, mix it up with some serve and volley. I would say I’m an aggressive player with a good serve and a good forehand, and I try to take the game in my own hands.”

That front-foot approach made a strong first impression when it appeared on the ATP Tour in May and June last year. The then-18-year-old Stricker took out former World No. 3 Marin Cilic on his tour-level debut en route to the quarter-finals as a wild card in Geneva. He backed that up on the grass in Stuttgart three weeks later, defeating Hubert Hurkacz to earn his maiden Top 20 win and make it back-to-back ATP Tour quarter-finals.

In 2022, Stricker sits 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan as he attempts to qualify for November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the first time. The 19-year-old started the year in impressive fashion, reaching the final at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Columbus in January, before going one better a week later to lift his second Challenger title in Cleveland.

View Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan Standings

Those successes lifted the Swiss into the Top 200 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time, with Stricker reaching his career-high of No. 155 in March. Despite struggling to immediately back those results up, Stricker earned some impressive wins on the grass, most notably a straight-sets win against serve-and-volley specialist Maxime Cressy in Stuttgart in June.

“I think it has been pretty good,” said Stricker. “Everything started with the first Slam in Australia this year. I was pretty happy [just] to be there. A pretty successful two weeks in America, with one final and winning one. Some weeks I was injured and had some other problems but now I’m back.”

Swinnen agrees and believes Stricker’s positive mentality and willingness to put in the hard yards away from tournaments stands him in good stead. “I think we had a good off season, in December he was practising hard,” said Swinnen. “In Australia he had a tough second round in the qualies, but he was still confident in his game. It didn’t really affect him too much that he lost there.

“It was a good decision to go straight to the U.S. That was a long road trip, but at the end it paid off. After the U.S., he was struggling a little bit, some small issues, but I’m glad he’s picked it up again.”

Get To Know Dominic
Describe Yourself Off Court: That’s a tough question! I would say a funny guy, always up for a joke. Pretty relaxed and calm, likes to play games with my coach or other players.

Biggest Passion Outside Tennis: I would say it is golf. I really like to spend some time on the golf course. When I’m back home and I have a day off I’m always trying to find someone to come and play with me.

I played once on Tour, when I played the juniors in Australia, with my former coach. I lost.

Perfect Day Without Tennis: I think it would be sleeping pretty long, maybe until like 9 a.m. Then get up, have some good breakfast and do something with my family. Go for a little walk or play some card games, and then eat some lunch. Then I would go for a round of golf with my friends, and then get back home for a barbeque.

Favourite Music: Maybe just some Swiss songs, when I’m in the mood, or some rap. The music comes with your mood, I would say.

Favourite Food From Home: Actually a good story. I don’t like cheese. It’s tough to say as a Swiss guy. I wouldn’t say anything specific. I really like a lot of food when it’s well cooked. All food is good, and I’m not allergic to anything so that’s good.

The third time was the charm for Maxime Cressy. In his third ATP Tour final, the American lifted his first trophy on Sunday.

After losing nine of the first 11 games of the Infosys Hall of Fame Open championship clash, the American produced a stunning rally to defeat Alexander Bublik 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) for his maiden tour-level triumph.

Twelve months ago Cressy was outside the world’s Top 150 but with today’s win he will climb to a career-high No. 33 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday.

“It’s an incredible feeling to win my first title, I never thought I would win it this way,” he said. “I played my first ATP tournament here, and it’s always an incredible atmosphere. There were a lot of ups and downs today but I’m very proud of myself for fighting through it.”

^{Photo Credit: Ben Solomon/International Tennis Hall of Fame}
It looked for the first hour of the match that Cressy would move to 0-3 in finals this season. But instead of panicking against the third seed, the former UCLA Bruin maintained his resolve and battled back to triumph after two hours and 23 minutes.

Cressy’s aggressive, free-flowing game faltered early. He entered the match having lost just one service game in the tournament, but dropped his first service game of the match by missing a high, awkward backhand volley. 

Bublik took full advantage, serving big and playing quickly to seize the momentum. With a 6-2, 3-0 lead, the Kazakhstani was on the verge of earning his second tour-level title after triumphing in Montpellier earlier this season.

But Cressy, who throughout his breakthrough season has touted the importance of his mental game, proved his strength in that area in front of the Newport crowd. His serve became more effective and his net game more solid. At the same time, two-time Newport finalist Bublik’s level slightly dropped and Cressy took full advantage.

The American won six consecutive games to flip the momentum and storm into the final set. A finalist earlier this year at ATP 250 events in Melbourne and Eastbourne, Cressy earned a big opportunity on Bublik’s serve at 3-2, when he earned three break points. On one of those opportunities, the former college standout had an easy backhand volley with most of the court open, but missed into the net.

Bublik urged himself on and was able to stabilise his level. That did not deter the home favourite, though.

Cressy played from ahead for most of the tie-break, with one key backhand volley on the full stretch proving critical. The Rhode Island fans cheered “Let’s go Cressy! Let’s go Cressy!” as the players switched sides with the American leading 4/2.

The fourth seed finished the job and the crowd roared enthusiastically in support of the American.

Did You Know?
In a duel between the third (Cressy) and fourth-placed (Bublik) players on the 2022 aces list, Cressy hit 14 aces and Bublik struck 10 aces.

William Blumberg and Steve Johnson capped a dream debut tournament as a team on Sunday at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport, where the home favourites upset Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo to lift the trophy at the ATP 250 event.

Blumberg and Johnson triumphed 6-4, 7-5 in the championship match against the top-seeded South African-Brazilian duo on the grass in Rhode Island.

“It’s a great event to win. It’s fun to win here at the Hall of Fame, and I’ve got one of each here,” said 2018 singles champion Johnson. “I’m pretty happy about it.

“I’ve wanted to play with Will [before], and it just hasn’t worked out in the past. This year it worked out. It’s a good run, 4-0, and we’ll try and keep it going.”

A solitary break deep in each set was enough for the American pair to complete an 82-minute victory. Blumberg and Johnson were a constant threat in return games, carving out 17 break point opportunities overall while facing just four against their own delivery.

“I’ve said it all week, he’s an amazing guy, and out there he helps me a lot,” said Blumberg. “He calms me down. He knew in the last game I would be a little nervous, and he just slows me down. It’s given me the confidence in those big moments. He said ‘If it’s open just hit it.’ He’s an amazing player and I really could not have done it without him.”

After edging Jason Kubler and Jordan Thompson in a first-round Match Tie-break thriller on Tuesday, fourth seeds Blumberg and Johnson did not drop a set en route to the title in Newport.

It is a second ATP Tour doubles title for both players. Blumberg was defending his 2021 title, won alongside Jack Sock, this week in Newport. Johnson was appearing in his eighth tour-level doubles final on Sunday, but his 2016 win in Geneva alongside Sam Querrey was his only previous doubles crown.

The clay-court action takes centre stage on the ATP Tour this week, with Carlos Alcaraz leading the field at the Hamburg European Open and Casper Ruud the top seed at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.

Former champions Andrey Rublev and Pablo Carreno Busta are also in action at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg, Germany. In Gstaad, Matteo Berrettini is competing on clay for just the second time this year at the ATP 250 tournament in Switzerland.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch at each event.

View Draws: Hamburg | Gstaad

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FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN HAMBURG
1) Alcaraz Leads Field: #NextGenATP Spaniard Alcaraz will make his debut in Hamburg, leading the field as the top seed at the ATP 500 event. The 19-year-old has enjoyed a standout 2022 season, capturing a joint Tour-leading four titles, including ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Miami and Madrid. The World No. 6, who holds a 19-2 record on clay in 2022, will face home wild card Nicola Kuhn in his opening match in Germany.

2) Can Rublev Continue Strong Year? Rublev has clinched three tour-level crowns in 2022 and arrives in Hamburg holding fond memories from the city. The 24-year-old triumphed there on his last appearance in 2020, edging Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. The World No. 8, who also reached the championship match at the tournament in 2019, will play Alexander Bublik first up as he looks to add to his trophy collection this week.

3) Reigning Champion Carreno Busta: Carreno Busta soared to his maiden ATP 500 trophy in Hamburg 12 months ago, not dropping a set en route to the title. The Spaniard will look to reign supreme in Germany once again and enters off the back of a run to the semi-finals in Bastad. The 31-year-old will take on #NextGenATP Italian Luca Nardi in the first round.

4) Baez & Rune Looking For Further Clay Success: Argentine Sebastian Baez and #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune lifted their maiden tour-level trophies on clay this season, with Baez triumphing in Estoril in the same week that Rune won in Munich in April. The 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals competitors both sit inside the Top 35 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and will be aiming to climb further with deep runs in Hamburg. The 21-year-old Baez opens against Filip Krajinovic, while Rune plays Tallon Griekspoor.

5) Puetz/Venus Defending Champs: New Zealander Michael Venus is chasing a third consecutive crown in Hamburg, and a second in a row playing alongside home favourite Tim Puetz. The pair is seeded third in a strong field in Germany, where top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are chasing their fifth title together on clay.

Seeded second in Hamburg are Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, the current leaders in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN GSTAAD
1) Can Ruud Bounce Back? Ruud is back in action in Gstaad this week following a disappointing second-round exit against eventual champion Francisco Cerundolo in Bastad. Thankfully for the top seed, he has positive memories in Gstaad, having lifted the trophy at the clay-court event on tournament debut in 2021. The Norwegian will begin his title defence against Jiri Lehecka or Tomas Martin Etcheverry as he aims to win his third tour-level title of the season.

2) Berrettini Returns: After undergoing right hand surgery in March, Berrettini quickly clicked into gear on his return to the Tour in June, lifting back-to-back grass-court titles in Stuttgart and at The Queen’s Club. However, the Italian was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon due to Covid-19, meaning the 26-year-old will be taking to court for the first time in a month when he makes his Gstaad debut this week. Berrettini begins against Richard Gasquet or Roberto Carballes Baena.

3) Thiem Gathering Momentum: Dominic Thiem found some form last week in Bastad, where he earned his first tour-level wins since May 2021 against Emil Ruusuvuori and Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the quarter-finals. The Austrian, who was 0-6 on the season before last week, is a former champion in Gstaad, having triumphed on his last appearance in 2015. The 28-year-old will face seventh seed Hugo Gaston in the first round as he looks to build on the momentum gained in Sweden.

4) #NextGenATP Stars In Action: Jiri Lehecka and Dominic Stricker will both look to boost their Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals with strong runs in Gstaad. The 20-year-old Czech Lehecka currently sits sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan, with his best result this season a run to the semi-finals in Rotterdam.

The 19-year-old Swiss Dominic Stricker, who is 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan, will make his second appearance on home soil at the ATP 250 event after accepting a wild card. Lehecka opens against Etcheverry, while Stricker plays countryman Marc-Andrea Huesler.

5) Matos/Vega Hernandez To Continue Success?: Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez made it three ATP Tour titles in just four months playing together with victory in Bastad on Sunday. They are the top seeds this week in Gstaad, where Ariel Behar and Andrey Golubev and Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen are seeded second and third, respectively.

Francisco Cerundolo capped an impressive week at the Nordea Open in Bastad with a high-quality straight-sets victory against countryman Sebastian Baez on Sunday to lift his maiden ATP Tour title.

Both players had showcased plenty of clean baseline hitting en route to the final this week in Sweden, but it was Cerundolo who raised his level at key moments to secure a 7-6(4), 6-2 championship match triumph at the ATP 250 event.

Cerundolo’s meeting with Baez was his second ATP Tour final, after he won just three games against another Argentine, Diego Schwartzman, in his hometown of Buenos Aires in 2021. Cerundolo banished those memories in style on Sunday in Sweden, as he recovered from dropping serve in the opening game of the match to seal his fourth straight-sets victory in five matches this week.

“It feels amazing,” said Cerundolo at the trophy ceremony. “First of all, I want to congratulate Sebastian, not just for this week. You’ve been playing amazing since last year.

“[Winning the title] means a lot. Since you are a child you imagine yourself playing in these events and finals. When I lost in Buenos Aires I was sad, because I was at home and I lost badly, but I learned a lot from that. I used it today, and I think I played a great match, a great week.”

The victory represents another milestone in a breakthrough season for Cerundolo. The 23-year-old cracked the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in February after runs to the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires and the semi-finals in Rio de Janeiro, before reaching a maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Miami in March.

His victory against Baez is set to lift Cerundolo into the Top 30 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday. The Argentine upset Casper Ruud in three sets for his first Top 10 win in the second round in Bastad, while he also defeated Pedro Sousa, Aslan Karatsev, and Pablo Carreno Busta to set a final showdown with Baez.

After an early exchange of breaks in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting, a marathon 11th game proved decisive to the outcome of the opening set in Bastad. The 21-year-old Baez’s aggressive approach earned him six break points but Cerundolo held firm to hold. He then opened up a 4/0 lead in the first-set tie-break, going on to clinch an intriguing 74-minute set after a Baez double fault.

The momentum was with Cerundolo and he continued to dictate play with his huge forehand as Baez struggled to regain a foothold in the match. Cerundolo broke twice in the second set, staying solid behind serve before falling to the ground in ecstasy after wrapping up victory in one hour, 49 minutes.

Cerundolo’s ability to keep cool under pressure on serve proved vital to his win. The 23-year-old saved nine of 10 break points he faced, while converting three from 11 break point opportunities of his own.

“I think Francisco was better than me today, so congrats to him and his team too,” said Baez, who lifted his own maiden tour-level trophy in Estoril in May. “Tennis is one part of life, and I think we have to enjoy it when we lose and when we win. The little things, we have to enjoy every time, so I enjoyed this week and I hope that next week will be better.”

Despite only teaming for the first time in March, Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez’s fledgling partnership continues to impress.

The Brazilian-Spanish duo picked up its third ATP Tour title in the space of just four months with a dramatic 6-4, 3-6, 13-11 championship match victory against Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini at the Nordea Open in Bastad on Sunday.

“[We are] super happy, because we started so well this week,” said Vega Hernandez after the match. “Then we won the quarter-final, the semi-final and the final in Match Tie-breaks. I’m very, very happy to finish with the title.”

“We have played the last four months together, but we had never played before,” said Matos. “I think it’s working. We are really good friends, on the court and off the court, so I think that helps. [It makes] a difference for our team. I am just happy, and we [hope] to keep going like this because we want more. We are going to try to play [at the Nitto ATP Finals] in Turin.”

Matos and Vega Hernandez won the title in their first tour-level tournament together in Marrakech in April, while the pair also lifted a trophy on the grass in Mallorca in June. Having also reached the final in Munich and the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, the duo’s tour-level record this season now stands at 18-4. The triumph in Bastad could lift the pair as high as No. 15 in Monday’s update of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

Yet things were not straightforward on Sunday in Sweden. Matos and Vega Hernandez had already let slip two championship points of their own in the Match Tie-break when Bolelli and Fognini had the opportunity to clinch a fifth tour-level crown together at 10/9. Fourth seeds Matos and Vega Hernandez held their nerve under pressure to see off the danger, however, going onto convert their fourth championship point to seal a one-hour, 35-minute triumph.

“We started better in the first set, and then in the second we [were broken] in a game that was not our best in the match,” said Matos. “The Match Tie-break was very exciting, 13/11, match point for both sides. We just played good in the right moments, and it worked.”

As a result of their strong 2022 season, both No. 38 Matos and No. 39 Vega Hernandez had arrived in Bastad occupying career-high spots in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings.