The tennis tournaments of the past week brought forth some surprises. Many people have said that the excitement is down as Roger Federer is injured and there aren’t too many rivalries. However, this was an unexpected week in most parts of professional tennis. The one relatively normal event occurred on clay, but hardcourt tournaments took some sharp turns. What happened on the weekends, as four different champions were crowned across the globe? Here’s a look at our tennis recap of all of the happenings from this past weekend.
2016 ATP Brasil Open
In the Brasil Open, which was played on clay, Pablo Cuevas defended the title he won last year. The third seed beat Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets to retain the crown in Sao Paulo. Cuevas didn’t just defend what he won in 2015; he won a second clay title on Brazilian soil in two weeks. He had won in Rio the week before after topping Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Cuevas is on a hot streak, and since clay is his best surface, that’s not too much of a surprise.
ATP & WTA Abierto Mexicano Telcel Open
The weekend went off script and created some very happy champions in Mexico. Sloane Stephens, who won her first title in Washington, D.C. last year, won another title, this time in Acapulco. Stephens disappointed at the Australian Open, so this result will balance out her winter and, just as importantly, give her the confidence she needs to become a more consistent player who can take no prisoners. Stephens won a tight final match against Doninika Cibulkova, the kind of match which might not have gone her way in earlier years.
In Acapulco on the men’s side, Dominic Thiem beat Bernard Tomic for a 500-point hardcourt championship. It’s Thiem’s first ATP 500 title. This was a big deal not just for the points, but because it was part of a transition from clay to hardcourt. Thiem effortlessly handled that switch, and as a result he finished the month of February with a 13-1 record in match play. That’s not just good, but excellent. A lot of people felt Thiem would cool down one week after going deep into the clay tournament in Rio. That Thiem could step back onto the court and then win a 500-point tournament will make a lot of other ATP players nervous.
WTA Qatar Total Open
In Doha, Carla Suarez-Navarro, who always seems to peak in the first half of a year but then loses steam during and after Wimbledon, once again did something special in the month of February. Suarez-Navarro ousted Jelena Ostapenko in the final to win the Doha event, capping off a fantastic week. Suarez-Navarro came in as the No. 8 seed and No. 11 player in the world but she didn’t have to break much of a sweat. Prior to the final, she won all of her matches in straight sets starting with Donna Vekic, No. 11 Timea Bacsinszky, Elena Vesnina and No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals. Ostapenko also had a very strong tournament and pushed Suarez-Navarro in the final but it wasn’t enough. Ostapenko won the first set 6-1 but then dropped the next two sets 6-4 and 6-4. There’s a lot to like in Ostapenko’s game. It will be fascinating to see how she does in the near future.
ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Finally, but certainly not least, Stan Wawrinka won the Dubai championship, beating Marcos Baghdatis in a very unanticipated final. Wawrinka was in a good position to make the final, with Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray all out. However, Wawrinka doesn’t often get there. He lost to Benoit Paire midway through the Open 13 tournament in Marseilles, France. Wawrinka really had to focus all week in Dubai, and after working his way through the semifinals, the Swiss had a right to be satisfied about all he had done. However, no one could have known that Baghdatis, a journeyman, would be the opponent for Wawrinka in the final. It was a gift, and Wawrinka took advantage of it. He’ll go to Indian Wells with a title in his hand.
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