Monday, July 23, 2018

Weekend Tennis Roundup


That week after Wimbledon is always kooky, with the grass-court "season" continuing for one more tournament -- in the U.S.! -- while the clay-court "season" sort of begins ... again. Although we didn't make it to Newport this year -- congrats Michael and Helena! -- I certainly would have enjoyed seeing Stevie Johnson capture his fourth ATP title, this time beating first-time finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. 


For a second there it looked like the 23-year-old from Chennai might pull it out -- between Johnson's taking a dive and injuring his right shoulder and the fact that the tournament has been dominated by Indians in the past!




But in the end, Ramanathan was no match for Mr. Saturday 'Stache.


Fabio Fognini won the Swedish Open title on red clay in Bastad, defeating France’s Richard Gasquet 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. 


The draw was littered with hot Italians -- Simone Bolelli, Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego were all in action -- but by Sunday Mr. Flavia Pennetta was the last man standing.


And speaking of hot Italians, third-seeded Marco Cecchinato further elevated his breakthrough year by winning the Croatia Open final on Sunday, beating Guido Pella of Argentina 6-2, 7-6 (4) in their first meeting. Tennis reports that Cecchinato recovered from 4-2 down in the second set on outdoor red clay. The the 25-year-old won his first ATP title in April in Budapest, as a lucky loser, then knocked out Novak Djokovic en route to the French Open semifinals. He was the first Italian male Grand Slam semifinalist in 40 years.


Two years after being thrashed by Simona Halep in the Bucharest Open final, Tennis reports that top-seeded Anastasija Sevastova returned to win the title in straight sets on Sunday. Sevastova prevailed 7-6 (4), 6-2 on clay over fourth-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia, who was playing in her second career WTA final, six years after losing her first.


And last but not entirely least, top-seeded Alize Cornet won her sixth career title by beating Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the Ladies’ Championship Gstaad final on Sunday. Minella, playing in her first final on tour at age 32, was seeking to become the third mother to win a WTA singles title in the past year, but came up short against the 28-year-old Frenchwoman.


The men's rankings still look very odd -- Rafael Nadal now has a HUGE lead over Roger Federer, plus Alexander Zverev still has a hold on the No. 3 spot(!) -- but at least Novak Djokovic is finally getting back in the mix. 


Speaking of which, it looks like Zverev has turned to Ivan Lendl for some guidance ...




And it appears Karolina Pliskova got married to her HOT PIECE.


Shouldn't Dominic Thiem be practicing on hard courts? 

1 comment:

Rian G. said...

Cecchinato slays me with that dark, curly hair.