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After a scintillating week of tennis in Montpellier, Sofia and Cordoba, the action on the men's tour last week shifted to two ATP 250 tournaments in Buenos Aires and New York, and to this season’s first ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam.
Kei Nishikori was the highest ranked player to feature last week, as he made his first ever appearance in Rotterdam after losing his first match of the season in the quarter-final of the Australian Open (to eventual champion Novak Djokovic).
Stefanos Tsitsipas also returned to the tour last week after his breakout performance in Melbourne, where he defeated the defending champion Roger Federer and reached the final four.
So without further delay, let’s take a look at which players made the most of last week:
ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament: Gael Monfils denies Stan Wawrinka to lift the title in Rotterdam
Gael Monfils wrapped an incredible week as he halted the impressive progress of Stan Wawrinka in the final with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win to capture the trophy in Rotterdam for his 8th career singles title.
La Monf, as many call him, was beaten by Daniil Medvedev the week before at the semi-final stage in Sofia. But he got some sweet revenge at the same stage in Rotterdam as he defeated the Russian by outmaneuvering him at his own game, in an three-set slug-fest.
Stan Wawrinka played at a very high level throughout the week as he defeated the likes of Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov and Kei Nishikori to reach his first final since Roland Garros 2017.
Second seed Karen Khachanov, after crashing out in the first round in Sofia, got beaten in the opening round here as well, this time losing to wildcard Tallon Griekspoor who, with the win, got just his second tour-level victory. Interestingly, he got his first ATP win also in Rotterdam, when he upset Wawrinka in the opening round last year.
Just like Khachanov, third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also lost in his opening match, to Damir Dzumhur, who got his first win of the season by defeating the Greek. Dzumhur got his last tour-level win also against Tsitsipas, when he defeated the youngster in the second round of the 2018 Paris Masters.
Argentina Open: Marco Cecchinato completes perfect week to lift the title in Buenos Aires
At the second stop of the Latin American swing, Marco Cecchinato rounded off a perfect week as he steamrolled home favorite Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-2 in the final to hoist the title in the Argentine capital.
The Italian didn’t lose a single set through the whole tournament, and with that, improved to a 3-0 record in career finals on the tour, all of which have come on clay. With the title, he also jumped to a career-high singles ranking of 17 on the ATP tour.
Finalist Diego Schwartzman also had a very positive week as he reached an ATP singles final for the first time on his home soil. Along with singles, the Argentine also reached the final in doubles, playing along with Dominic Thiem.
Top seed Dominic Thiem also came back to the tour last week on his beloved clay, but looked a little rusty and sluggish throughout the tournament. He crashed out to his doubles partner Diego Schwartzman in the semi-final after squandering a match point.
New York Open: Reilly Opelka stops Brayden Schnur’s dream run to win his maiden ATP singles title
American youngster Reilly Opelka crushed the hopes of Brayden Schnur as he defeated the Canadian 6-1, 6-7(7), 7-6(7) in the final to lift his first singles title on the ATP Tour and also became the first American to win the tournament in New York.
The 6 foot 11 American, who saved as many as 6 match points in his semi-final win over fellow American John Isner, powered his way to 156 aces throughout the tournament, racking up 43 aces each in the semi-final and the final. With the title run, he has now jumped 33 places in the singles rankings to attain a career-high ranking of 53 on the ATP Tour.
Finalist Brayden Schnur nearly replicated the previous week's heroics of Juan Ignacio Londero, as just like the Argentine, the Canadian also not only reached his first ATP singles final, but also got his first tour-level win in New York.
Schnur was just two points away from lifting the title. At 7-7 in the third-set tiebreaker he double faulted to hand a match point to Opelka, who obliged by hitting a trademark ace to grab the match.
This week, the action on the ATP tour will move to the season’s first ATP 500 clay court tournament in Rio, and to two ATP 250 tournaments in Marseille and Delray Beach.
Juan Martin del Potro headlines the line-up this week as he will play his first match since undergoing the knee injury in Shanghai last year.
Along with the Argentine, the likes of Borna Coric, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem and Fabio Fognini, to name a few, will also feature in various tournaments throughout the week.
