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After an incredible fortnight at the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne that saw Novak Djokovic reign supreme on the men’s side for an unprecedented seventh time, and a weekend full of tennis in the form of the newly reformed Davis Cup that saw 12 nations join the likes of Croatia, France, Spain, Argentina, USA and Great Britain in the Davis Cup Finals, that will be held in Madrid in late November, the action resumed on the regular ATP Tour in the form of ATP 250 tournaments in Montpellier, Sofia and Cordoba.
Even though most of the top names in tennis didn't feature in any of these tournaments, the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Gael Monfils and Stefanos Tsitsipas, to name a few, grabbed the attention of all with some exhilarating tennis over the week.
So, without further delay, let’s take a look at who all lifted the silverware on the men’s side last week:
Open Sud de France: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lifts the title in Montpellier to continue impressive comeback season
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, who was marred by surgery and multiple injuries for the most of last season, continued his rise back to the top of the game as he defeated fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the final of Montpellier, 6-4, 6-2 to lift his first singles title since October 2017.
Tsonga has had an extremely positive start to the 2019 season. He had a very good week in Brisbane, where he reached the semi-final and then unluckily ran into Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open as early as the second round.
Finalist Pierre-Hugues Herbert also had a brilliant week as he defeated the likes of Denis Shapovalov and Tomas Berdych before losing to Tsonga in the final, and will rise to a career-high singles ranking of 36.
Herbert has also had an incredible start to the season in doubles as before winning the Men’s Doubles title at the Australian Open with Nicolas Mahut to complete the career Grand Slam, he had also won the Men’s Doubles title in Doha in the first week of the season with David Goffin.
Tomas Berdych, who just like Tsonga, is on the comeback trail, also continued his good start to the season by reaching the semi-final here. Before this tournament, he reached the final in Doha before going out in the Round of 16 stage of the Australian Open at the hands of Rafael Nadal.
Sofia Open: Daniil Medvedev carries on his rich vein of form with title in Sofia
Daniil Medvedev, who has been one of the most consistent performers over the last year on the ATP Tour, capped off another magnificent week as he defeated Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in the final in routine 6-4, 6-2 sets to capture the title in Sofia.
With the victory, the Russian has now won four ATP singles titles, all of which have come in just over 12 months’ time.
Medvedev has carried forward his brilliant form of last season into this season as well, as before the title run here, he had reached the final in Brisbane and was the only man who troubled Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
3-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who also featured in Sofia, is still struggling to find consistency since his knee surgery as he lost his opening round match to Marius Copil.
The Swiss has now lost 5 of his last 8 matches and has fallen to No. 68 in the ATP rankings. There is still no respite for him as he has got another tricky opener against Benoit Paire in Rotterdam in the upcoming week.
Next Gen star Karen Khachanov has also struggled to continue the form that saw him finish the 2018 season with an incredible first Masters 1000 title in Paris.
Since the start of the year, the Russian has lost to Stan Wawrinka and Roberto Bautista Agut before losing to Matteo Berrettini in Sofia. He also found it very tough at the Davis Cup weekend in his win over World No. 143 Henri Laaksonen.
Cordoba Open: Juan Ignacio Londero caps off dream week to win maiden ATP title
Cordoba Open made its debut on the ATP Tour last week, replacing the Ecuador Open in Quito, kicking off the Latin American swing of the 2019 season.
And the tournament's debut also saw a first-time champion as Wild Card Juan Ignacio Londero rounded off a dream week to defeat fellow Argentine Guido Pella in the final from a set and a break down, 3-6, 7-5,6-1, to capture the title in his home country.
The 25-year-old not only grabbed his first ATP title but astonishingly also got his first tour-level main draw win in the event and didn't lose a single set before the final.
He will now jump 43 places in the ATP singles rankings and will rise to a career-high ranking of 69, entering the World's top 100 for the very first time.
Guido Pella, who defeated the likes of Ramos-Vinolas, Pablo Cuevas and Diego Schwartzman on his way to the final, failed to snap his finals losing streak, and is now 0-4 in ATP Tour-level finals, all of which have come on clay.
Top seed Fabio Fognini suffered a rare early round loss in a clay event as he was ousted by Aljaz Bedene in his opening match while second seed and 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato also crashed out in his opener, losing to Spanish Next Gen star Jaume Munar.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who had a brilliant clay swing in 2017, where he reached the final of the Monte Carlo Masters and achieved a career-high singles ranking of 17, has continued to fall off the grid since his disappointing 2018 season, as he also lost his opening main draw match in Cordoba, to Guido Pella, falling outside the World’s top 90 in the process.
Next week, the action on the ATP Tour will shift to ATP 250 tournaments in New York and Buenos Aires, and to the first ATP 500 tournament of the season in Rotterdam.
The various events will feature the likes of Kei Nishikori, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Karen Khachanov, Dominic Thiem and Frances Tiafoe, to name a few.
