World No. 355 Pablo Andujar became the lowest-ranked ATP winner in 20 years on Sunday when he beat first-time finalist Kyle Edmund 6-2, 6-2 for the Grand Prix Hassan II title. He became the first player to win the title three times after wins in 2011-12. Andujar has won three of his four ATP titles in Morocco, with the fourth coming in Gstaad four years ago. The 32-year-old cruised through the first set after running out to a 5-1 lead, then in the second set he broke on his first three break point opportunities. In February Andujar was ranked No. 1,824 after elbow surgery. He is now on a 10-match winning streak, previously winning a Challenger-level title.

Source: Tennis-X

American John Isner won his first ever Masters 1,000 title with a 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4 victory over German Alexander Zverev in the Miami Open final. In a nervous opening, the first set went with serve before world number five Zverev edged the tie-break. But 32-year-old Isner twice broke Zverev in the following sets and held his serve throughout the match. Zverev, 20, saved five break points in the decider but crowd favourite Isner served his 18th ace to seal the title. The world number 17 will now move back into the top 10 next week after the biggest win of his career. “I couldn’t have scripted this. I came into this tournament, I had won one ATP [World Tour] match all year and was playing very poorly,” Isner said. “I won my first match in three sets and that’s how tennis goes – you start to gain a little confidence and next thing you know things start to roll your way.”

Source: BBC

Juan Martin del Potro saved three match points in a thrilling final at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday before handing world number one Roger Federer his first loss of the year and claiming his maiden Masters 1000 title. The Argentine stunned a raucous Indian Wells crowd that had been loudly backing Federer to continue his winning streak and secure the biggest win in the nine years since his U.S. Open title triumph with a 6-4 6-7(8) 7-6(2) victory. Federer, the defending champion, had chalked up 17 consecutive wins in 2018, a run which included his 20th grand slam title at the Australian Open, but was unable to outlast his determined 29-year-old opponent. Del Potro was considered a genuine threat to Federer’s dominance of the game when he won at Flushing Meadows in 2009 but has been dogged since by a series of wrist problems which almost ended his career.

Source: Reuters

Kevin Anderson was playing some of the best tennis of his life. In only his fourth tournament of the year, the South African had already reached his third final of the season at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco. But none of that mattered to Juan Martin del Potro in Mexico on Saturday night. The 6’6” Argentine outplayed Anderson for the seventh time in a row in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (7-0), beating Anderson 6-4, 6-4 to win the ATP World Tour 500 title, his biggest trophy since 2013 Swiss Indoors Basel (d. Federer). It’s Del Potro’s first title of 2018, and he had to fight through a wicked draw, including three Top 10 players, for the crown. The Argentine beat serve-and-volley throwback Mischa Zverev, four-time Acapulco champion David Ferrer, No. 6 Dominic Thiem and No. 5 Alexander Zverev before toppling No. 8 Anderson in the final. The Argentine now has 21 tour-level titles and, what might be especially encouraging for Del Potro, this title on 3 March is the earliest in a season he’s hoisted a trophy since 2014, when he won the Sydney International (d. Tomic) on 11 January.

Source: ATP

Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain earned his second ATP title of the year when he beat Lucas Pouille of France 6-3, 6-4 in the Dubai Championships final on Saturday. The third-seeded Bautista Agut denied the second-seeded Pouille his own second title this year and a chance to break into the top-10 rankings for the first time. Pouille, the winner in Montpellier and runner-up last week in Marseille, looked out of steam in the final. Also, his last three matches were all three-setters. Bautista Agut came to Dubai on a three-match losing streak after winning in Auckland in January. He was stoic in the final, converting three of his nine break chances, and dropping serve only once.

Source: Tennis.com

Italy’s Fabio Fognini beat Chilean Nicolas Jarry 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Brasil Open for the first time. Fognini won the sixth title of his career. Jarry was trying to win his first trophy on the tour. The final of the clay tournament in Sao Paulo was the first matchup between the two. The 30-year-old Fognini said after the match his experience counted a lot in the win against the 22-year-old Chilean. “It is never easy to win a tournament. I managed to wait for Jarry’s serve to be less effective, that was the secret,” Fognini said. In his path to the final, the Italian also beat Portugal’s Joao Rodrigues, Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Cuevas, who won the three previous editions of the tournament.

Source: Washington Post

Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman ended a two-year wait for his second ATP tour title as he overpowered an exhausted Fernando Verdasco to win the Rio Open 6-2 6-3 on Sunday. The world number 23 was in commanding form against an opponent who appeared to run out of puff after reaching both the singles and doubles finals in Rio. “I was very patient, solid, intense, I knew he was very tired as he had played both singles and doubles,” Schwartzman said of his opponent who won the doubles final on Saturday. “It’s been two years since I’ve won a tournament so I am very happy. It was a perfect week for me.” Schwartzman broke serve three times in the first set as Verdasco produced a string of unforced errors. Once the Spaniard squandered four break points at 2-2 in the second set, he appeared to wilt under pressure and Schwartzman ran away with the match.

Source: Reuters

Frances Tiafoe won the Delray Beach Open, with father Frances Sr. watching, on Sunday for his first ATP Tour title. The 91st-ranked Tiafoe, the first wild-card recipient to win the title in its 26-year history, had consecutive aces on the final two points for a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Peter Gojowczyk of Germany. At 20, Tiafoe is the youngest American to win a title since Andy Roddick at 19 in 2002 in Houston.

Source: Washington Post

Russian Karen Khachanov surprised French third seed Lucas Pouille 7-5 3-6 7-5 in Marseille to win his second ATP title. The 21-year-old ninth seed, who won his maiden title at Chengdu in 2016, took victory in just under two hours. The world number 47 broke at the end of the first set to lead, before world number 16 Pouille saved two break points in the second set to level. But Khachanov served nine aces in the final set to edge out Pouille.

Source: BBC Sport

Roger Federer came to the ABN AMRO World Tournament aiming to secure a return to the top of the world rankings. He achieved that goal Friday. On Sunday, he put an exclamation point on a remarkable week by winning the tournament for good measure. Federer overpowered an ailing Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour to win his 97th career title. “What a week it’s been. Absolutely amazing,” Federer said. “The goal was to make the semis and I won the tournament so of course I’m incredibly excited and so, so happy.” The 36-year-old Swiss extended his domination over the player once dubbed “Baby Fed” for the similarities in their playing style, registering his seventh victory in as many meetings.

Source: Tennis.com