WTA RESULTS: Simona Halep picked up her seventh career WTA singles title in Doha over the weekend with a straight-sets win over Angelique Kerber. Both immediately head to Dubai for the Duty Free Tennis Championships. I spent last week as the on-court emcee in Doha, so for complete coverage of the Qatar Total Open 2014, follow this link…
ATP WORLD TOUR RESULTS: There were three events on three different continents with the ATP World Tour over the weekend. Two indoors on hard and one outside on clay…
Rotterdam
- Singles: Tomas Berdych def Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2
- Doubles: Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut def Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-2, 7-6(4)
Tomas Berdych climbed to #6 in the world with his straight-sets win in the Rotterdam Final over the weekend. After a tough loss to Ivo Karlovic in Doha during the first week of the season, the Czech has been on a roll. As a last-second entry in the Kooyong exhibition, he made the final; then went on to reach his fourth career Grand Slam Semifinal at the Australian Open. He won both of his singles and the doubles rubber versus the Netherlands in Davis Cup play, then hoisted the Rotterdam trophy. He’s 12-2 after week-7; 5-0 in doubles play (Despite the singles loss, he won the doubles title in Doha back in January).
How about that Marin Cilic? Two weeks, two Finals! With Zagreb and Rotterdam under his belt, he heads to Delray Beach this week to try and make it three in-a-row.
In doubles, Nicolas Mahut reached his second consecutive final and hoisted the trophy with partner Michael Llodra. After winning the doubles title last week in Zagreb, opponents Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau were also in their second consecutive final…but were beaten in second-set tie-break by the Frenchmen.
Memphis
- Singles: Kei Nishikori def Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6(0)
- Doubles: Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen def Bob and Mike Bryan 6-4, 6-4
Kei Nishikori’s having a hell of a year. He’s now 11-2 on the season after defending his title over Ivo Karlovic in the Memphis Final. This year, Kei’s reached the Brisbane Semifinals, the Round-of-16 in Melbourne, won both of his Davis Cup singles rubbers and the doubles rubber, then captured the title in Memphis. With the win, he climbs one spot to #15 on the ATP World Tour.
It’s been fun watching Ivo Karlovic climb the rankings laddar since the start of the year. With his Finals appearance in Memphis, he jumps 24 spots to #56 in the world. Karlovic and Nishikori both head to Delray Beach this week…
In doubles, the team of American Eric Butorac and South African Raven Klaasen has become the arch nemesis of the Bryan Brothers. Back in January, Eric and Raven defeated Bob and Mike in the 3rd round of the Australian Open, then went on to reach their first Grand Slam final together. Over the weekend, Butorac and Klaasen beat the brothers convincingly again in the Memphis final.
Buenos Aires
- Singles: David Ferrer def Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-3
- Doubles: Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez def Pablo Cuevas and Haracio Zeballos 7-5, 6-4
By his standards, David Ferrer hasn’t exactly had the best hard-court start to 2014. With a second-round loss to Daniel Brands in Doha, he went on to reach the Auckland Semifinals, the Australian Open Quarterfinals, then transitioned to clay to earn his 21st career ATP World Tour Singles Title, and his 4th consecutive title in Buenos Aires.
In the final, David faced the fellow who dominated Vina del Mar last week – Fabio Fognini. That’s two finals in-a-row for the Italian. With the Vina del Mar title, he’s 13-3 on the season and brings a ton of time on clay to this week’s tournament in Rio de Janiero…featuring Rafael Nadal’s return after the blister and back injury during the Australian Open.
Last week, Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez fell in the Vina del Mar Semifinals to eventual champs Oliver Marach and Florin Mergea. This week, Marach and Mergea fell in the first round. The #1-seeds, Granollers and Lopez rolled through the field and earned their fourth career ATP World Tour Doubles title together, with a straight-sets win over Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos.
