Orlando Luz & Rafael Mato Pull Off Rare Feat with Cincinnati Open Men’s Doubles Championship

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Tom Castaneda

Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos are making more history…

Following this month’s historic win at the National Bank Open, the 28-year-old Brazilian professional tennis player and the 30-year-old Brazilian professional tennis player claimed the men’s double title at the Lindner Family Tennis Center for another historic feat.

With their victory, Luz and Matos made became only the fifth tandem in the Open Era to sweep the Canada and Cincinnati men’s doubles titles in the same season.

In defeating the German-Dutch duo of Constantin Frantzen and Robin Haase, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7, they joined Bruce Manson/Brian Teacher (1980), twins Bob and Mike Bryan (2010), Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo (2016), and Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut (2017).

“All the time, we were taking energy from each other. We’re good friends. We practice a lot, put in a lot of work,” said Luz. “It’s the only way to get through tough moments. Everybody feels nervous, but that was the key — getting the energy from each other.”

Having first joined forces back in 2019, the potent pairing has now captured five tour-level doubles titles, four of them alone coming in 2026.

Earlier this month, they became the first all-Brazilian team to win an ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal. Now they’ve pulled off a rare back-to-back.

“We’re pretty grateful and proud of the work we put in, and after the match point, I just couldn’t stand up anymore,” he said. “Before last week, I had never been beyond the second round of a Masters tournament, so it’s a huge compliment to be back-to-back champions. Being the first 100 percent Brazilian pair to make it, it’s even more special. We just put in more and more work, and now this is the payment for it. We’re just very happy and very proud of not giving up.”

Orlando Luz & Rafael Matos Become First Brazilian Duo to Win ATP Masters 1000 Title

Posted on August 13, 2026 by Tom Castaneda

Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos have entered the annals of tennis history…

The 28-year-old Brazilian professional tennis player and the 30-year-old Brazilian professional tennis player claimed their first ATP Masters 1000 title at the National Bank Open on Thursday, August 13, after rallying to upset the third seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in the championship match.

Luz and Matos dropped the first set, but ultimately came back from behind to win 5-7, 6-4, 10-6 and become the first Brazilian duo to win an ATP Masters 1000 title.

It’s the third title of the season for Luz and Matos, who also triumphed in Buenos Aires and Santiago earlier in 2026.

With their one-hour, 32-min win, Luz and Matos surged three spots to No. 8 in the ATP Doubles Race To Turin.

“This one means a lot for both of us, it’s a big title,” Luz said after the match. “Since we started this duo, our main goal was [to qualify for] the Turin finals. Still there is a long way to go, but we are inside the Top 8 so now we can keep grinding, keep working and make this dream come true.”

Arevalo and Pavic are currently No. 3 in the Race to Turin as they aim to continue a strong season that has included runner-up finishes at Wimbledon and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Alex de Minaur Advances to Semifinals at ATP Finals

Posted on November 13, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Alex de Minaur is moving on…

The 26-year-old Uruguayan-Spanish Australian tennis player beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 6-3 at the ATP Finals for his first victory in six matches at the tournament, following his debut last year.

The victory sends de Minaur through to the semifinals after he earlier claimed his first ATP Finals victory.

“I finally won here in Torino,” said De Minaur, who needed a straight-set win to stay in contention for a semifinal spot.

De Minaur never looked back after dominating the tiebreaker and had a chance to seal victory on Fritz’s serve when he moved to match point, but the American held.

De Minaur kept his nerve on serve to triumph.

The seventh seed will face Jannik Sinner in the final four.

Carlos Alcaraz Clinches Year-End No. 1 Ranking with ATP Finals Win Over Lorenzo Musetti

Posted on November 13, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is ended the year on top…

The 22-year-old Spanish tennis star needed less than 90 minutes to secure the year-ending No. 1 ranking in men’s tennis during his latest match at the ATP Finals..

Alcaraz needed one more win to beat Jannik Sinner to the No. 1 spot, and he eased to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday to sweep his group at the season-ending event for the top eight players.

“It means the world to me, to be honest,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “The year No. 1 is always a goal. To be honest, at the beginning of the year, I saw that the No. 1 [was] really, really far away, with Jannik there, winning almost every tournament he plays.

“From the middle of the season till now, I put the goal for the No. 1 because I thought it was there … and finally, I got it. For me, it means everything, the work that we put every day during the whole season, up and downs … so I’m really proud about my team and myself.”

It’s the second time in his career that Alcaraz has ended the year at the top of the rankings.

Alcaraz became the youngest player to finish a year at No. 1 in 2022, when he achieved the feat as a 19-year-old.

Alcaraz had to win three of his matches at the ATP Finals to finish No. 1, while Sinner had to go undefeated to defend his title to have a chance.

Alcaraz – who admitted he was feeling nervous at the beginning of the match –

didn’t give Sinner that chance as he swept aside Musetti despite a partisan home crowd, sealing the result on his third match point.

That was his third win in the Jimmy Connors group, and Alcaraz will face the winner of Friday’s match between Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime in Saturday’s semifinal.

Alex de Minaur Defeats Nuno Borges at Shanghai Masters for his 50th ATP Tour-Level Victory This Season

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Alex de Minaur is celebrating a milestone victory…

The 26-year-old Spanish-Uruguayan Australian professional tennis player became the third player this season to win 50 ATP Tour-level games by defeating Nuno Borges 7-5, 6-2 at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.

de Minaur, the tournament’s seventh seed, hit 19 winners on the way to reach his seventh Masters 1000 quarterfinal in one hour and 47 minutes.

Only top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz with 67 wins and Taylor Fritz with 50 have already reached the 50-win mark in 2025.

In his previous best season, de Minaur had 47 wins in 2024, and two titles.

He will next face 16th-seeded Daniil Medvedev who defeated Learner Tien 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 6-4.

Alex de Minaur Survives Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to Claim DC Open Title

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a title-clinching come from behind victory for Alex de Minaur.

The 26-year-old Uruguayan & Spanish Australian tennis professional rallied from a set down and saved three championship points en route to a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (3) victory over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the DC Open on Sunday.

de Minaur, who was seeded seventh for the tournament, earned his 10th ATP Tour title and eighth on hard courts.

He was the runner-up to Alexander Zverev in Washington in 2018, and will enter the top 10 in the world rankings ahead of next month’s US Open.

Davidovich Fokina, the No. 12 seed, dropped to 0-4 for his career in finals despite leading 5-2 in the third set Sunday and repeatedly standing just a single point from victory. This was his second time frittering away multiple match points in a tournament final this year.

The 26-year-old Spaniard entered the week at No. 26 and will make his debut in the top 20 on Monday; he remains the highest-ranked man without a title.

“Alejandro, you’re way too good not to have one of these, it’s coming for sure,” de Minaur said during the on-court ceremony, gesturing to the trophy. “You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you.”

Following their match, de Minaur walked over and sat next to Davidovich Fokina, consoling him after the hard-fought loss.

“I want to say congrats to Alex. He deserved the win. He was fighting every f—ing ball,” Davidovich Fokina said. “He was always pushing through my limits.”

Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the U.S. capital last year, and was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career-high No. 19 ranking.

“We had a job to do before we started the yeard to be at the middle of the year in the top 20,” he said. “This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder.”

Alex de Minaur Defeats Corentin Moutet to Reach DC Open Final

Posted on July 26, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Alex de Minaur is back in the finals in the U.S. capital…

The 26-year-old Spanish-Uruguayan Australian tennis player, the No. 7 seed, advanced to his second DC Open final by beating Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3.

de Minaur will now face No. 12 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated No. 4 Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-5 in the other semifinal.

The semifinal win was de Minaur’s 20th victory on a hard court in 2025, the most on the ATP Tour.

No 13 in the world rankings, de Minaur moved into his 19th career final; he’s 9-9 so far.

One of the runner-up finishes came against Alexander Zverev at Washington in 2018.

Roberto Bautista Agut Defeats Holger Rune to Advance to Queen’s Club Semifinals

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Bautista Agut has pulled off an major upset…

The 37-year-old Spanish professional tennis player claimed a two-sets-to-one victory (7-6 [5], 6-7 [4], 6-2) over Denmark’s Holger Rune, the No. 4 seed, on Friday evening to reach the semifinals of the Queen’s Club tournament in London.

It marks his first appearance in an ATP semifinal since October 2024, when he won the title in Antwerp, and his first on grass since the Halle tournament in 2023.

Grass has historically been a successful surface for Bautista Agut: he won his first career title on it in 2014 at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and achieved his best Grand Slam result on it — a semifinal at Wimbledon in 2019.

This Friday against Rune, he once again showed why he’s such an effective player on grass. Bautista Agut took advantage of his opponent’s numerous unforced errors — 63 in total — to clinch the win. After controlling the first set well, he had the chance to close it out in straight sets, but a double fault at 4-5 in the second-set tiebreak forced him into a deciding third set.

After breaking Rune at the very start of the final set, he maintained his lead all the way through, even managing a second break to seal the match early in the evening on the British grass.

“I think I had control of the match today, especially from the baseline. I managed to stay calm on court, and I’m really happy about that. I felt good out there, and I’ll need to play the same kind of match against Carlos tomorrow,” said Bautista Agut after his victory.

Bautista Agut, currently ranked No. 51 in the ATP rankings, will face fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, in the semifinals at the West Kensington tournament.

It will be their third meeting on the ATP Tour, with Alcaraz leading 2–0 and yet to drop a set against his compatriot.

In the previous rounds of the Queen’s tournament, Bautista Agut edged out Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4) and No 8 seed Jakub Mensik (3-6, 6-3, 7-5).

Alcaraz beat Arthur Rinderknech (LL): 7-5, 6-4

Francisco Cerundolo Upsets Madrid Open No. 1 Seed Alexander Zverev to Reach Quarterfinals

Posted on April 29, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Francisco Cerundolo is celebrating an upset victory…

The 26-year-old Argentine professional tennis player defeated World No. 2 Alexander Zverev at the Madrid Open on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Cerundolo added a second season win over the German (Buenos Aires), improving to 3-0 in the pair’s head-to-head series with a 7-5, 6-3 victory inside Manolo Santana Stadium.

Cerundolo upped his 2025 record to 23-9, adding to his 1000-level quarterfinal showings at Indian Wells and Miami.

By knocking out Zverev, Cerundolo has already matched his Top 10-win total from 2024 with four. Of significance, his first Top 10 scalp last year came against Zverev in this very round of Madrid.

“I was saying it in Spanish before, I’m seeing that the draw is wide open, I think, not this one, but every one,” Cerundolo shared in his press conference.

“The draws are super tough also, every match is a war, and you have to play good tennis to beat anyone.”

Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik awaits Cerundolo in the last eight. The Czech earlier became the fifth male teenager to make the last eight in Madrid when he eased past Alexander Bublik, 6-3, 6-2.

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Karen Khachanov to Reach China Open Semifinals for Second Straight Year

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is one step closer to the China Open title…

The 21-year-old Spanish tennis star, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, advanced to the China Open semifinals for the second straight year after an impressive 7-5, 6-2 victory against Karen Khachanov on Monday.

Alcaraz was characteristically relentless from the baseline and ground down the No. 27-ranked Khachanov’s service games and converted four of 12 service break opportunities to win in 96 minutes.

“I always try to put some pressure when they’re serving just to in a certain way tell them that I’m going to be there,” Alcaraz said. “If they want to win the service game or to beat me, they have to accept the battle and playing a really good tennis. For me, it’s what I’m trying to show them all the time.”

It was Alcaraz’s 46th win of the season and the victory allowed the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion to climb back above the absent Alexander Zverev into second place in the ATP live rankings.

Alcaraz will face Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, after the fifth-ranked Russian beat Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 6-4.

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