A WEEK ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGAUT WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER.

Ranked World #24 to start the 2019 season, he came into the Qatar ExxonMobil Open as the 7-seed. In the Quarterfinals, he eliminated Stan Wawrinka – who’s back in Grand Slam shape after a dodgy 2018 spent acclimating to a surgically enhanced knee. In the Semifinals, down a set and a break, Roberto came-back to outplay and outlast World #1 Novak Djokovic. Then in the Championship match, he scored a deciding-set victory over 2-time Doha Finalist Tomas Berdych.

THE SPANIARD WAS AN ABSOLUTE MACHINE ALL WEEK.

During the Djokovic Semifinal, Roberto essentially lost set-1 before the first changeover. But he endured, extended rallies and refused to cave.

In set-2, Novak broke to go up 4-3, but Bautista Agut found another gear and responded with a break of his own. Knowing he was up against a relentless opponent with ridiculous conditioning, Djokovic shattered his racquet on the baseline and spent a few minutes cleaning up the pieces with a towel.

Roberto then forced a decider with an 8-6 tiebreak victory – broke the World #1 in game-1 of set-3 – and held serve the rest of the way. Down the stretch, Bautista Agut was simply the fitter opponent, both physically and mentally – something not often heard when comparing others to Djokovic.

Of his two career victories over a top-ranked Novak Djokovic (Bautista Agut also defeated World #1 Djokovic in the Semifinals of the 2016 Shanghai Masters 64 64), this Doha Semifinal was his crowning achievement.

HOW GOOD IS ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGUT DURING THE FIRST MONTH OF THE SEASON?

This was his 4th career title in January and 5th career January Final. Last year, the 2-time Auckland champ defeated Juan Martin Del Potro to capture the title. In 2017, he won Chennai, four years after reaching his first career ATP Tour Final there. Bautista Agut now owns 9-titles and is a 16-time Tour-level Finalist.

His 9th title is one he’ll never forget.

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