It was an eventful week of tennis with impressive wins from youngsters Musetti and Rune. Alex Mann sums up This Week in Tennis #43.

Musetti and Pegula take titles – TWIT #43

Jessica Pegula continued her impressive season as she lifted the biggest title of her career, defeating Maria Sakkari to win the Guadalajara Open. Pegula defeated four major champions, Elena Rybakina, Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens, and Victoria Azarenka, back-to-back, to reach the final.

In the final, Pegula continued her form, dropping only five games to Maria Sakkari, winning 6-2, 6-3. With this win, the American reaches a career-high of number 3 in the WTA rankings and cements her place in the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, USA.

Naples ATP

In Naples, a marvelous Musetti lifted a second ATP title of his young career as he defeated Matteo Berrettini, 7-6 (5), 6-2. In front of a packed-out home crowd, the all-Italian final didn’t disappoint.

The big-hitting Berrettini, surprisingly playing in his first hard-court tour-level final, tried to use his power to overwhelm Musetti. Musetti, on the other hand, exploited Berrettini’s backhand, using his court craft to move the former world number 6 around the court. After a tight first-set tie-break, Musetti took complete control in the second, breaking Berrettini in the first game.

This season, the 20-year-old has had most of his success on the clay. He reached the third round of Monte Carlo and the Madrid Masters on the red surface and picked up his first tour-level title in Hamburg earlier this year, defeating Carlos Alcaraz.

Not dropping a set all week will surely give Musetti confidence he can produce his best tennis on multiple surfaces. With this victory, Musetti moves up the ATP rankings, reaching a career-high of number 23.

Auger-Aliassime wins second title in row

There were also notable victories for Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Sebastian Korda in Antwerp, Belgium, to win his second successive ATP title, and Holger Rune, who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in Stockholm, Sweden.

Swiss Indoors (ATP 500)

Held on the indoor hard courts in Basel, Switzerland, the Swiss Indoors has become one of the most popular ATP 500 events on tour. Roger Federer won a record ten singles titles in Basel, his last coming at the 50th edition of the event in 2019.

The 2020 and 2021 events were canceled due to COVID-19. Due to Federer’s retirement, he will not be defending his title, so there will be a new name lifting the trophy at the end of the week.

Carlos Alcaraz is this year’s top seed. He faces the promising Brit, Jack Draper, in the first round. Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Marin Cilic have also entered and will be contenders for the title.

Prediction – Alcaraz to win

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Vienna Open (ATP 500)

The tournament was first held in 1974. Vitas Gerulaitis was the inaugural champion, defeating Andrew Pattison. Brian Gottfried holds the record for winning the most titles, having won the event four times between 1977 and 1983.

Last year’s champion, Alexander Zverev is unable to defend his title due to the ankle injury he sustained at this year’s French Open. Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz are this year’s top four seeds.

The 2019 Vienna Open champion, Dominic Thiem, enters the event off the back of a successful week, reaching the semi-final of the European Open.

Prediction – Medvedev to win

Alex Mann is back with his weekly recap of the ATP and WTA tours called This Week in Tennis. Rublev on fire and Swiatek’s 8th title.

Rublev on fire

Bouncing back from her loss to Krejcikova in last week’s Ostrava Open final, Iga Swiatek defeated Donna Vekic to win her 8th title. The world number 1 took the first set, 6-3, before Vekic fought back in the second to take 6-3 to take the match to a decider. However, it was a one-sided set as Swiatek stormed to victory, 6-0, in the third. Although Vekic’s run ended in defeat, she defeated some top WTA players, including Sakkari, Pliskova, Sabalenka, and Collins. The Croatian, who reached a career-high ranking of 19 in 2019, looks to be finding her old form as she returns from injury.

This week also saw Andrey Rublev lift his ATP fourth title of the year as he defeated Sebastian Korda in Gijon. With this win, Rublev closes in on his place at the year-end ATP finals in Turin. It wasn’t only Rublev who had a successful week on the indoor hard court in Spain.

Dominic Thiem continued his comeback from injury, reaching the tournament’s semi-finals before losing out to Rublev.

This Week in Tennis #42

Let’s look at the ongoing week in tennis with several interesting events on the ATP and WTA tours. If you want to place a bet or just look at the odds, check out our friends at BetUS or Betsson (Europe).

Guadalajara (WTA 1000)

Guadalajara, Mexico, hosts its first-ever WTA 1000 event. Although the world number 1 and 2, Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur are not competing, 15 of the top 20 players have entered. Paula Badosa is the top seed but faces an early test against Victoria Azarenka. The second seed, Aryna Sabalenka, kicks off her tournament against the in-form Ludmilla Samsonova. Look out for Coco Guaff and Barbora Krejcikova, who will be favorites to lift the trophy.

Prediction – Krejcikova to win

European Open (ATP 250)

Hubert Hurkacz leads the lineup in Antwerp, Belgium. Fresh off the back of winning his second ATP title this week, can Felix Auger-Aliassime win back-to-back titles? Diego Schwartzman and Karen Khachanov will also be the ones to look out for this week.

Prediction – Khachanov to win

Stockholm Open (ATP 250)

The first edition of the Stockholm Open was held in 1969. John McEnroe and Boris Becker share the record of winning the tournament four times. Tommy Paul defeated some top-quality opponents to lift the trophy last year and will have to do this again if he is to defend his title. In the first round, Paul faces Leo Borg, Bjorn Borg’s son. Stefanos Tsitsipas enters as the highest-ranked player, while Cameron Norrie, Frances Tiafoe, and Denis Shapovalov make up the top four seeds.

Prediction – Tsitsipas to win

Tennis Napoli Cup (ATP 250)

The tournament in Naples has been upgraded from an ATP Challenger event to an ATP 250. The increase in ranking points has seen a higher-quality field enter this year’s event. The top four seeds are Pablo Carreno Busta, Matteo Berrettini, Roberto Bautista Agut, Lorenzo Musetti.

Prediction – Carreno Busta to win

It’s time for This Week in Tennis or TWIT as well call it at Tennisnerd HQ. Alex Mann writes about more titles for Djokovic and Krejcikova.

More titles for Djokovic and Krejcikova – TWIT #41

Novak Djokovic and Barbora Krejcikova won their second consecutive tour-level titles this week, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Iga Swiatek, respectively. Krejcikova continued her impressive form after last week’s win in Tallinn, battling back from a set down to beat world number 1 Iga Swiatek, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3.

The match, which lasted over 3 hours, was packed with scintillating rallies and outstanding shotmaking. The final had everything and is definitely one of the best matches of the year.

With this win, Krejcikova will return to the top 20 of the WTA singles rankings. An elbow injury earlier this year caused Kejcikova to fall down the rankings, but she seems to have found her best form in the past few weeks and has now won back-to-back tour-level tournaments.

The Czech has been almost unplayable in the women’s doubles this season, winning three out of the four major doubles titles with partner and fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova.

Before playing in the final against Krejcikova, Swiatek had won her past 10 WTA finals, stretching back to April 2019.
Even with this loss, Swiatek still firmly holds on to the number 1 ranking, having double the number of points as the world number 2, Ons Jabeur.

Djokovic on a roll

Like Krejcikova this week, Novak Djokovic won back-to-back titles, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
It was a fairly comfortable week for the former world number 1, who dropped only one set to Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final.

With this victory in Astana, Kazakhstan, Djokovic not only won his 90 career title but also confirmed his spot in Turin, qualifying for the ATP finals for the 15th time.

This week in tennis!

This week in tennis sees players travel to San Diego, USA, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Gijon, Spain and Florence, Italy.

San Diego Open (WTA 500)

Iga Swiatek leads the lineup in the first WTA event in San Diego for the first time since 2013. Paula Badosa, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari, Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia and Daria Kasatkina make up the top eight seeds.

This year’s Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina is also in the draw, as are former world number 1’s, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza, as well as major champions Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin.

After losing to Kejcikova last week, Swiatek will be looking to bounce back and take home an eighth title of the year.

Prediction – Swiatek to win

Transylvania Open (WTA 250)

Barbora Krejcikova was this year’s top seed but after her victory in Ostrava, an injury concern led to her withdrawal.
She joins Emma Raducanu, who has also withdrawn from the competition. The defending champion, Anett Kontaveit, has decided not to participate so Anhelina Kalinina will enter as the highest-ranked player.

Anastasia Potapova, Magda Linette, Wang Xiyu, Jule Niemeier and Dayana Yastremska are also competing.

Prediction – Niemeier to win

Gijon Open (ATP 250)

Gijon, Spain, hosts the first edition of the ATP 250 hard-court tournament. Looking to qualify for the ATP finals for the third consecutive time, Andrey Rublev hopes to gain some vital ranking points this week.

Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Albert Ramos Vinolas will all pose a threat. Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem are unseeded entries and will look for a deep run this week as they continue to climb the ATP rankings.

The up-and-coming Francisco Cerundolo is competing, as is veteran Feliciano Lopez.

Prediction – Rublev to win

UniCredit Firenze Open (ATP 250)

The hard-court event in Florence, Italy, is the first edition of the tournament since 1994. Several top 50 players have entered the event. Felix Auger-Aliassime will be looking to improve on his early exit in Astana last week and push for a potential place in the ATP tour finals. He faces the likes of Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Maxime Cressy, Aslan Karatsev, Jenson Brooksby, Alexander Bublik, and Brandon Nakashima.

Prediction – Berrettini to win

Alex Mann is back with This Week in Tennis where Djokovic Returns to Winning Ways. We also look ahead of next week.

Djokovic returns to winning ways – #TWIT40

It was a triumphant return to the ATP tour for Novak Djokovic, as he claimed his third title of the year. The Serb defeated second seed Marin Cilic in a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory.

There were few signs of rust from Djokovic last week, winning the title in Tel Aviv, Israel, without dropping a set. Having now won a staggering 89 career titles, Djokovic is no stranger to being the last person standing at the end of the week.

Player to watch: Huesler

For Marc-Andrea Huesler, however, this was his first experience as he defeated the young, promising talent Holger Rune to lift his first ATP title at the Sofia Open.

Huesler, who had won two titles this year at the second-tier Challenger level, saved two match points in the quarter-final before winning 6-4, 7-6 in the final.

With his victory, Huesler climbed the ATP singles rankings, reaching a career-high of 64. The number one male Swiss player will be one to look out for in the coming months.

Krejcikova wins the first title of the year

Barbora Krejcikova defeated home favorite Anett Kontaveit to lift the Tallinn Open in Estonia, 6-2, 6-3.

The 2021 French Open champion defeated high-quality opponents such as Tomljanovic, Kostyuk, Haddad Maia, Bencic on her way to the final. Kontaveit looked in good form coming into the final but couldn’t sustain her attacking game against the effortless-looking game of Krejcikova. A first title of the year for Krejcikova should give her confidence she can climb back into the world’s top ten.

There were also titles for Yoshihito Nishioka and Mayar Sherif this past week, as they upset the higher-ranked Denis Shapovalov and Maria Sakkari in Seoul, Korea, and Parma, Italy, respectively.

This Week in Tennis 40

This week sees the ATP and WTA players take part in Astana, Tokyo, Ostrava, and Monastir.

Japan Open Tennis Championships (ATP 500)

Casper Ruud leads the lineup in Tokyo, Japan. The Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will be a threat.

Nick Kyrgios will be making his first appearance on tour since his US Open quarter-final loss to Karen Khachanov.

Prediction – Kyrgios to win

Astana Open (ATP 500)

The third edition of the tournament in the capital city of Kazakhstan became an ATP 500 event for the first time. The previous two editions won by John Millman and Kwon Soon-woo were played as an ATP 250 event. This year’s increased ranking points have undoubtedly strengthened the field.

The newly crowned world number 1, Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed, and former number 1 Daniil Medvedev is the second seed. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic, and Andrey Rublev are some of the names competing this week in Astana.

Prediction – Alcaraz to win

Ostrava Open (WTA 500)

Anett Kontaveit is the defending champion in Ostrava but faces some tough opposition. The world number 1, Iga Swiatek, has entered and will be the favorite for the title.

Paula Badosa, Maria Sakkari, Daria Kasatkina, Belinda Bencic, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Jelena Ostapenko round out the seeds.

Prediction – Swiatek to win

Jasmin Open (WTA 250)

Monastir, Tunisia, hosts the first edition of the Jasmin Open.
Ons Jabeur will look to win in front of a home crowd, entering as the top seed. Alize Cornet, Veronika Kudermetova, and Elise Mertens are some of the other names to look out for this week.

Prediction – Jabeur to win

Alex Mann is back with the segment This Week in Tennis (#39). This time the main news is that Team World Wins First Laver Cup.

Team World Wins First Laver Cup

At the weekend, Team World lifted their first Laver Cup title, defeating Team Europe 18-8. Although the biggest talking point at the 02 Arena in London was Roger Federer’s retirement, the event produced some excellent singles and doubles matches.

It was Frances Tiafoe who sealed the win for Team World, as he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-6, 7-6,10-8.

In Japan, Ludmilla Samsonova continued her impressive hard-court form, battling past the promising Zheng Qinwen, 7-5 7-5, to win her third WTA title of the season.

At the Korea Open, Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Jelena Ostapenko in the final, 7-6, 6-0.

This Week In Tennis #39

This week sees the ATP and WTA players battle it in a range of ATP 250 events in Tel Aviv, Sofia, Seoul, Parma and Tallinn.
Tel Aviv Open (ATP 250). If you want to place a bet on any of the tennis action, check out our affiliates BetUS and Betsson (Europe).

Tel Aviv Open ATP 250

Novak Djokovic returns to the ATP tour in Tel Aviv. The Serb, going for his third title of the season, faces the likes of Diego Schwartzman , Marin Cilic and Maxime Cressy. Dominic Thiem is also participating. The Austrian has been showing signs of improvement in the past few weeks so could go deep in this tournament.

Given Djokovic’s lack of match practice, and coming off a loss at the Laver Cup to Auger-Aliassime, I think the Serb will need some more matches before he reaches top gear.

Prediction – Schwartzman to win

Sofia Open (ATP 250)

Two-time defending champion, Jannik Sinner leads the field in Sofia, Bulgaria. The promising NextGen players, Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti have both won their tour-level title this year and will be ones to watch. The experienced, and in-form Pablo Carreno Busta is the second seed.

Prediction – Carreno Busta to win

Korea Open (ATP 250)

An impressive group of players have assembled in South Korea for the first ATP event in Seoul since 1996. The top seed, Casper Ruud, recently reached the US Open final and has been playing his best tennis this year. Britain’s Cameron Norrie is the second seed and has stated his aim to reach the ATP finals, so will be looking to gain some ranking points this week.
Taylor Fritz and Denis Shapovalov will also contend for the title.

Prediction – Ruud to win

Emilia-Romagna Open (WTA 250)

The second edition of the Parma Open begins this week. The defending champion, Coco Guaff will not be defending her title. The world number 7, Maria Sakkari is the top seed and will be looking to win her first title of the year. 2017 US Open champion, Sloane Stephens is participating as is Martina Trevisan and Irina-Camelia Begu.

Prediction – Sakkari to win

Tallinn Open (WTA 250)

Annet Kontaveit will be hoping to give the crowd a home win in Tallinn, Estonia. The top seed has had an inconsistent year, having not reached past the second-round of any of the majors in 2022. Can the home support help her over the finish line this week? It will be a tough task given the strength of the field. Belinda Bencic, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko, Barbora Krejcikova, Zhang Shuai and Jil Teichmann are just some of the names Kontaveit will have to watch out for.

Prediction – Bencic to win