Nadal Makes History with 10th Title at the Monte Carlo Masters

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a perfect and historic 10 for Rafael Nadal…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star easily defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3 in an all-Spanish final at the Monte Carlo Masters to become the first men’s tennis player in the Open era to win the same title 10 times.

Nadal, who showed Sunday he’s likely the best ever on clay, won his 50th career title on his favored surface, moving him one clear of Argentine Guillermo Vilas.

The next big challenge for Nadal will be winning a 10th French Open title. The last of his 14 Grand Slams was three years ago in Roland Garros.

“I want,” Nadal said after Sunday’s game, a smile breaking across his face. “I really want it, too.”

It was Nadal’s 70th career title but his first of the season, having lost his previous three finals — two of those to Roger Federer.

The only final Nadal has lost at Monte Carlo was to Novak Djokovic in 2013.

“Winning 10 times in such an important event like Monte Carlo is something difficult to describe,” Nadal said. “My serve worked great. I have been hitting very well on backhand during the whole week. The forehand is better and better every day.”

Ramos-Vinolas wasn’t a threat to the defending champion.

Appearing in his first Masters final, the 15th-seeded Ramos-Vinolas saved three break points in his first service game and was 0-40 down in his next. Nadal served out the set in 30 minutes with an ace.

“He was a little bit better in everything. When he’s a little bit better in everything, the difference is what we saw,” Ramos-Vinolas said. “Last time I played against him, I felt that on [his serve] it was my chance to put some pressure. But today I felt that he was serving so good.”

Nadal’s 29th Masters title moves him one behind Djokovic’s record. He will also have his sights set on a 10th title in Barcelona next week — Nadal’s previous career title was there, almost one year ago.

Since then, Federer has beaten him in finals at the Australian Open and the Miami Masters, on either side of Nadal’s loss to big-serving American Sam Querrey in the final at Acapulco, Mexico. Federer also beat Nadal in the fourth round at Indian Wells.

“[This title] arrives in just the right moment, I believe,” Nadal said. “Winning here is an important step forward for me.”

Nadal’s 70 titles are three better than Djokovic, who is a year younger. Nadal is fifth on the all-time list, but seven behind John McEnroe. Further ahead, the 35-year-old Federer has 91; Ivan Lendl 94 and Jimmy Connors is a long way away with 109.

Ramos-Viñolas Defeats Lucas Pouille to Reach Monte Carlo Masters Final

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Albert Ramos-Viñolas continues his Cinderella run in Monte Carlo…

The 29-year-old Spanish tennis player beat Lucas Pouille 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters final.

With the sun shining and warm temperatures, the conditions were perfect for clay-court tennis on the idyllic center court perched above the glittering Mediterranean Sea.

Ramos- Viñolas took the first set when he broke the 11th-seeded Frenchman to love, concluding with a smash at the net.

Pouille missed a chance to break in the ninth game of the second set, meaning he was serving to stay in the match. After holding easily with a neat volley at the net, Pouille got the crowd going and then played his best tennis of the match.

He broke Ramos- Viñolas in the next game when the Spaniard hit a forehand long, and Pouille leveled the match on his own serve.

But he seemed to be struggling physically in the deciding set.

At 3-0 down, Pouille needed treatment to his lower back and hips for about four minutes during the changeover.

His power went after that and the inevitable conclusion happened when Pouille dropped his serve again in the seventh game.

It’s Ramos- Viñolas’ first time reaching a Masters 1000 final and has only one career title to his name.

Ramos- Viñolas, the 15th-seed, will play either defending champion Rafael Nadal or 10th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium in the final.

Nadal Two Wins Away from Ending Drought at Miami Open

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is two wins away from a career first…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star, a four-time runner-up at the Miami Open, defeated American Jack Sock to advance to the men’s semifinals on Wednesday.

Nadal and Sock have the two most fearful forehands in the game, but at Key Biscayne, it was the Spaniard who showed Sock that other parts of the game matter, as well.

Nadal’s opponent Friday will be Fabio Fognini, who became the first unseeded player in 10 years to reach the men’s semis at Key Biscayne when he beat 2016 runner-up Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-2.

Nadal is playing Key Biscayne for the 13th time, making it his longest title drought at any tournament. He committed only 12 unforced errors against the No. 13-seeded Sock, rallied from a break down in the second set and improved his lifetime record against Americans to 60-9.

Fognini matched his best showing in an ATP Masters 1000 event. By beating the No. 2-seeded Nishikori, Fognini improved to 9-44 against top-10 players, and he became the first Italian man to reach a semifinal at Key Biscayne.

“He’s playing well,” Nadal said. “It will be a good test for me. I’m happ to be in the semifinals. I’ll have to play my best and play aggressive like I did today.”

Nadal Celebrates 1,000th ATP Tour Level Match with a Win at the Miami Open

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal has joined an elite team of tennis stars…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star celebrated his 1,000th tour level match by beating German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber in a topsy-turvy, come-from-behind victory at the Miami Open.

Nadal is safely through to the fourth round, despite failing to win a game in a stunning first set. Luckily, he recovered to prevail 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Kohlschreiber was unstoppable in the early stages and romped through the opening set in just 21 minutes.

It was the first time Nadal had failed to win a game in the first set of an ATP Tour encounter since 2008.

But the fifth seed was undaunted and fought back in determined fashion to claim the 822nd win of his illustrious career and a last-16 tmatch against France’s Nicolas Mahut, who beat Guido Pella 6-4 6-3.

Nadal joins an 11-strong group headed by Jimmy Connors (1,535) to have played at least 1,000 matches on tour.

“One thousand matches is a lot of matches,” said Nadal afterwards. “Obviously that’s good news, because that says I am having a long career.

“During a lot of years, I heard that I’m going to have a short career, so it’s something important for me.

“I remember the first match very well because it was at home in Mallorca. It was my first victory on the ATP and was a great feeling.”

Cuevas Makes History by Claiming Third Straight Brasil Open Title

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a three-peat for Pablo Cuevas.

The 31-year-old Argentine-born Uruguayan tennis player beat Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4, in a rain-affected final to make history by claiming his third straight Brasil Open title.

The match was postponed on Sunday night when heavy rain forced players off the court with Ramos-Vinolas leading Cuevas 7-6 (3), 3-3.

Play finally resumed on Monday night after almost 24 hours of constant rain at the outdoor clay court venue here.

Cuevas took control immediately after the restart before wrapping up the match.

It was Cuevas’ sixth ATP singles title, all of which have been on clay.

Dutra Silva Claims First-Ever ATP World Tour Doubles Title

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special first for Rogerio Dutra Silva…

The 33-year-old Brazilian tennis player has claimed his first ATP World Tour doubles title.

Dutra Silva and his partner and compatriot Andre Sa defeated fourth-seeded Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner in the Men’s Doubles final to claim the Brasil Open championship title by a final score of 7-6 (5), 5-7, 10-7.

Dutra Silva and Sa failed to convert any of their five break opportunities in the match, but did save six out of seven of their opponents’ break point chances. It took just over two hours for the clash to be concluded; two hours and two minutes.

Prior to the Sao Paulo event, Sa and Dutra Silva had never played together, making all the way to the finals in first-ever tournament as a team.

Doubles specialist Sa now has 11 ATP doubles titles to his name, while Dutra Silva has captured his first-ever ATP doubles title.

In the semifinals, Dutra Silva and Sa, unseeded in the tournament, beat Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and eight minutes.

Cuevas Gunning for Record Third Consecutive Brasil Open Title

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Cuevas is gunning for a three-peat …

The 31-year-old Argentine-born Uruguayan tennis player will go for a record third consecutive Brasil Open title on Sunday.

Cuevas dismissed top seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 7-6(2) on Saturday in Sao Paulo to give himself a chance for the three-peat.

The third-seed won 82 percent of his first-serve points and feasted on Carreno Busta’s second serves, taking 70 percent of those points.

Since the first edition of the Brasil Open, in 2001, no player has won back-to-back-to-back titles at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Spaniard Nicolas Almagro won back-to-back crowns in 2011-2012 but fell in the quarter-finals to David Nalbandian in 2013.

Cuevas has avoided such slip-ups this week.

He’ll try to win his sixth career ATP World Tour title – all on clay – against second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Cuevas leads their head-to-head series 3-1. The Spaniard erased a match point on Saturday against Portuguese Joao Sousa to win his semifinal 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2 on the red clay.

Sousa had the match on his racquet, serving at 5-4 in the second set. The fourth seed fell behind 0/40 but crawled back into the game and led at ad-in. But Ramos-Vinolas erased the match point with a sharp forehand up the line that Sousa netted.

The Spaniard would earn the break and take the final nine of 11 games to claim the three-hour and three-minute semi-final.

Ramos-Vinolas last played in an ATP World Tour title match in October at the Chengdu Open in China (l. to Khachanov). He’ll be going for his second ATP World Tour crown after taking his maiden title last July on clay at the Swedish Open in Bastad (d. Fernando Verdasco).

Estrella Burgos Wins Third Straight Title at the Ecuador Open

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Make that three in a row for Victor Estrella Burgos…

The 36-year-old Dominican tennis player won his third straight title at the Ecuador Open, beating Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi in a hard-fought three sets.

Estrella Burgos lost the first set in a tiebreak, but bounced back to take the match 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (6).

Sunday’s title was the third in ATP singles for the unseeded Dominican. They’ve all come on clay in Quito.

The third-seeded Lorenzi was gunning for his second ATP singles title after winning last year on clay in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Estrella Burgos advanced with victories over top-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, Federico Gaio of Italy and No. 4 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil.

Nadal Enlists the Coaching Help of Former World No. 1 Carlos Moya

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is getting help from a fellow former No. 1 player…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star has added his compatriot Carlos Moya to his coaching team ahead of the 2017 season.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion said in a statement Saturday that Moya will work together with Toni Nadal and Francis Roig.

“To have someone like Carlos, who is not only a friend but also a very important person in my career, is something special,” Nadal said. “He will be next to me on my practice and competition.”

Moya, who won the 1998 French Open as a player and reached No. 1 in the world in March 1999, parted ways earlier this month with Milos Raonic after leading the Canadian to his most successful year on the tour. Raonic reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and moved up to a career-high ranking of No. 3. Moya had joined Raonic’s team in January.

“To be able to help Rafa is something special for me and I am sure that together with Toni, Francis and the rest of the team we have a great common project,” Moya said. “Rafa is a special player and above all a great person and friend on which I have a lot of trust and confidence that will be able to continue winning important titles.”

Toni Nadal, the player’s uncle and main coach, said Moya will also join projects involving the Rafa Nadal Academy.

“When I knew Carlos had stopped with Raonic I called him since we think he can join all our projects,” Toni Nadal said. “Carlos has always been a special person for us … We understand it is the right moment to have him join our team.”

del Potro Defeats Jack Sock at the Stockholm Open to End Long ATP Title Drought

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

It’s the end of a long drought for Juan Martin del Potro…

The 28-year-old Argentine tennis player won the Stockholm Open on Sunday to end a 33-month title drought, beating sixth-seeded Jack Sock 7-5, 6-1.

del Potro, who has struggled with wrist problems in recent years, won his 19th ATP tour title — and his first since winning in Sydney in 2014.

The Argentine, who did not drop a set during the tournament, broke his American opponent’s serve four times in the final and never faced a break point.

“I’ve been trying to fix my problems for the past two years and I didn’t expect to win a title at this moment in my career,” the 28-year-old del Potro said. “I am so happy to get the trophy here. It’s motivation for looking forward to the future.”

Both players held serve until 5-5 of the opening set, when del Potro raised his game to emerge with a one-set lead.

Sock seemed tired in the second set, holding serve only once and winning just two points when returning serve.

“His serve is massive and very tough to read, which put more pressure on my serve,” Sock said. “I’ve had a long week here and it might have caught up with me a bit.”

Midway through the match Sock requested medical treatement for pain in his arm.

del Potro, beaten by Andy Murray for the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Games, reached his second final of the year after beating 2013 champion Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals.

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