ATP: Chile, Dubai & Acapulco; WTA: Austin & San Diego, USA

 

This week is full once again with five tournaments - two ATP 500s in Santiago and  Acapulco, along with a 250 in Dubai. The WTA hosts a 250 in Austin, Texas and a 500 in San Diego. A lot of activity right before 12 days in Indian Wells next week. 

I'd say the biggest surprise was the WTA 1000 in Dubai where the top seeds fell, leaving the Final a battle between qualifier Kalinskaya (who dispatched three Top 10 seeds to reach the Final) and the unseeded victor Paolini (who defeated Haddad-Maia and Sakkari on her way, but likely benefited from a W/O by Rybakina in the SF,). Interesting that Paolini lost to Kalinskaya in the 4R of the AO and lost in the 1R of both Linz and Doha before lifting her 2nd title here) However, both ladies made a dramatic rise in the rankings as a result -  #14 for Paolini and #24 for Kalinskaya (who I'm hoping to see much more of)!  

On the men's side perhaps we should all take notice of the surprising performance of the Czech teen Jacub Mensik who defeated the #1 seed Rublev to face the #2 seed and victor Khachanov. IMO, results and surprises like these in Dubai and Doha make tennis much more interesting (and more difficult for some MCM prognosticators).

Congratulations to this past week's Champions:

WTA 1000 Dubai 

Singles: Jasmine Paolini d. Anna Kalinskaya

Doubles: Hunter/Siniakova d. Melichar-Martinez/Perez

ATP 500 Doha

Singles: Karen Khachanov d. Jakub Mensik

Doubles: Murray/Venus d. Musetti/Sonego

ATP 250 Los Cabos

Singles: Jordan Thompson d. Casper Ruud

Doubles:Purcell/Thompson d. Nedovyesov/Escobar 

ATP 250 Rio

Singles: Sebastian Baez d. Mariano Navone

Doubles: Barrientos/Matos d, Erler/Miedler

A lot of tennis coming up for you👇

ATP 500 Rio de Janeiro, ATP 250 Qatar and Mexico, WTA 1000 Dubai

One of the Miracle Gardens of Dubai, UAE

ATP Rotterdam 500, Argentina 250, Delray Beach 250 and WTA Qatar 1000

 

Sunshine Skyway Bridge, St. Petersburg, Florida

Theme for the thread - Bridges. Bridges serve to join and connect different people or things - just like  sports...  

With four tourneys this week we are humming along in 2024. Grigor Dimitrov is I think determined to create and sustain his revival.  Am keeping fingers crossed for him while hoping that Frances Tiafoe and FAA can really make their mark this year, without injuries.  Can Emma Radacanu have her own revival?  I hope so.  So far I don't see major story lines emerging in 2024 so will be patient.  

Congratulations to this past week's winners:

Abu Dahbi, UAE:

Singles - Elena Rybakina
Doubles - B. Mattek-Sands/S. Kenin

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Singles  - K. Pliskova
Doubles  - A. Muhammad/C. McNally

Cordoba, Argentina

Singles  - L. Daderi

Doubles  - A. Molteni/M. Gonzalez

Dallas, Texas

Singles  - T. Paul

Doubles  - M. Purcell/J. Thompson

Marseille, France

Singles  - U. Humbert

Doubles  - T. Machac/Z. Zhang

Who is playing and where?...

WTA in UAE & Romania - ATP in Dallas, Argentina & Marseille

 

Get ready for a very busy week with 5 tournaments on 4 continents - WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi and a 250 in Cluj-Napoca and ATP 250s in Dallas, Cordoba and Marseille. 

Congratulations to this past week's winners:

WTA 500 Linz, Austria

Singles: J. Ostapenko d. E. Alexandrova

Doubles: Errani/Paolini d. Melichar-Martinez/Perez

WTA 250 Hua Hin

Singles: D. Shnaider d. Zhu L.

Doubles: Kato/Sutjiadi d. Guo/Jiang

ATP 250 Montpellier

Singles: A. Bublik d. B. Cornic

Doubles: Doumbia/Reboul d. Olivetti/Weissborn

Play ball!👇