Week 6 was another eventful tennis tour week, but what will happen during This Week in Tennis 7 of 2024? Keen to hear your predictions.
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Last week in tennis on the ATP Tour
There were several storylines running through the week on the tour. The loudest one was perhaps 21-year-old Italian Luciano Darderi’s maiden title, which will bring him to a personal best, inside the top 100 (#76). He is definitely a player to watch for the future.
Another storyline on the ATP tour was that Ugo Humbert never loses an ATP Final. He is 5-0 in finals after beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the Open 13 Marseille final.
This will bring him up 3 spots to 18 in the rankings, while Dimitrov gains 120 points and remains at 13 in the world.
In Dallas, we saw an inspired Tommy Paul not only beat Ben Shelton in the semi-final but also best Marcos Giron in the final 7-6 5-7 6-3. This helps Paul move up one spot to 14 in the world in the ATP rankings.
It was a good week for Yonex on the ATP tour, with Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Marcos Giron, and Luciano Darderi all using their racquets.
We also have to mention Indian player Sumit Nagal, who won the Challenger in Chennai, India (beat Luca Nardi 6-1 6-4 in the final) and has now climbed within the top 100. He has risen the rankings fast! Last year, he was outside the top 500. What is next for the Indian tennis star?
Last week in tennis on the WTA Tour
The biggest event on the WTA Tour happened at the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi, where Elena Rybakina won her second title of the year, defeating Kasatkina in the finals 6-1 6-4. She is now 11-2 for the season, with the main disappointment being her early exit in the Australian Open.
Congrats to Karolina Pliskova who won her first WTA tour title in four years at the Transylvania Open in Gluj Napoca when she defeated home player Ana Bogdan in the final 6-4 6-3.
Movers in the rankings
Daria Kasatkina is having a great season so far and is up one spot in the rankings to 13. The biggest movers of the week in the top 100 was Ana Bogdan, who moved up 11 spots to 54 in the world and Karolina Pliskova who went up 19 spots to 59 in the world.
This week in tennis 7, 2024
This week on the ATP tour we go to Rotterdam for the ATP 500, Delray Beach for an ATP 250 and Buenos Aires for another Argentinian 250 event.
On the WTA tour, we have a WTA 1000 tournament in Qatar.
Rotterdam ATP 500
In Rotterdam, we have Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner back in play again. He is the top seed. He will have a tough first round match against Botic van de Zandschulp. It will be fascinating to see whether he has any hangover from winning his first major.
Another player I am excited to watch in Rotterdam is breakout star from Melbourne, Dino Prizmic, who got a wild card into the event and faces qualifier David Goffin.
We have a stellar first-round match-up in Roman Safiullin vs Holger Rune. Rune has been in the news mainly for coaching team updates, but might find his form in this event.
Auger-Aliassime has a tough first round in big server Maxime Cressy, who has had a rough year or so, but managed to qualify.
Another exciting question is if in-form players like Humbert, Dimitrov and Bublik can keep it up.
Find more betting odds for the Rotterdam ATP500.
Prediction: I think Sinner is mentally tired after winning in Melbourne. I am torn between Aliassime or Rublev winning this title but I will go with Rublev in the end.
Delray Beach ATP 250
American superstars Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe will likely fight for the Delray beach title. But Marcos Giron proved himself worthy of bigger things in Dallas last week. Can he keep going?
We have some interesting wild cards to follow in Delray Beach like Emilio Nava and Patrick Kypson.
Mannarino fans should be excited to hear that he is also in Florida this week.
Prediction: Tommy Paul to keep his form going and win another title.
Argentina Open ATP 250
At the Argentina Open we have Carlos Alcaraz back in action as the top seed. He is also the defending champion. He will play the winner of Varillas and Carabelli in his first match.
We also have Marin Cilic back in action with a wild card.
Stan the Man fans will also be happy to see him in the draw. He got a pretty tough first round in Pedro Cachin.
I am curious to see how Arthur Fils will perform here. He got Lajovic in the first round, which is a tricky draw.
How much does Luciano Darderi have in the tank after winning in Cordoba? We will see, the draw against qualifier Navone is relatively kind.
Prediction: Carlos Alcaraz should be on a level higher than the rest of the field and after a so-so six months, he should be motivated enough to take home the title.
Qatar Open WTA 1000
The tournament is underway and started with the other Andreeva sister, Erika Andreeva, beating Diana Shnaider. Sorana Cirstea also started with a solid win over Sloane Stephens, which will lead her straight to a pairing against seed number one Swiatek.
If Emma Raducanu beats Kalinina in the first round, she will get Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 32. Naomi Osaka is playing and got another tough pairing against Caroline Garcia (reprise from the Australian Open), can she flip the script this time around?
How will Rybakina continue her form from winning in Abu Dhabi? Will Ons Jabeur show her true skills here after the disappointment down under? There are lots of exciting storylines to follow in Qatar.
Prediction: We think it is time for Iga Swiatek to get back into winning title ways, but it is not going to be easy.
Are you excited about this week in tennis 7, 2024?
