A flamboyant champion in the U.S. capital, and a first title on home soil for a rising star. This is the Up The Line Tennis tournament recap for last week on the ATP Tour.
Washington- ATP 500
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) can be described as many things, however, talented will always be correct. His talent was put on full display this week, as he captured his second title of his 2019, both at the 500 level, as he defeated Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 7-6(6), 7-6(4) on Sunday. Kyrgios admittedly did not battle the toughest of opponents through the first few rounds, including a quarterfinal win over lucky loser Norbert Gombos, who had taken the place of fourth seeded Kevin Anderson, who withdrew from another tournament with a continuing elbow issue. However, a stern challenge awaited with top seed and one time doubles partner Stefanos Tsitsipas, which ended up with a 9-7 third set tiebreak win for the Aussie, in what most would call the match of the week. The final was a more straightforward affair in the scoreline, but Kyrgios would not compete without drama, as the Russian took a 5-2 lead in the first set tiebreak, and had a set point at 6-5, and both times Kyrgios upped his level with some commanding groundstrokes to flip the momentum on its head. The second set was more straightforward, with Kyrgios capturing a mini break early on in the tiebreak to take control. The Aussie rises back inside the top 30 for the first time in almost a year, and seems to be finding his form at the right time on his favorite surface.
Kitzbuhel- ATP 250
Dominic Thiem (AUT) had never won a title at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, only reaching the final in 2014, at the tender of age of 20. He had to wait five years since that day, but finally won on his home soil, defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP), champion at Gstaad last week, 7-6(0), 6-1. The first set was a marathon, including 5 break chances on the Thiem serve and a rain delay midway through. However, Thiem’s level skyrocketed during the tiebreak as he skunked the Spaniard, and broke twice quickly in the second to grab the match by the throat. Continued heavy groundstrokes sealed up the match, and the third title of his 2019, one at each ATP level (Indian Wells 1000, Barcelona 500, Kitzbuhel 250).
Los Cabos- ATP 250
Diego Schwartzman (ARG) seems to post good results on all surfaces, including R4 appearances at both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon in the past year, and a semifinal in Rome on clay. However, the Argentine posted the biggest hardcourt result of his career with a title in Los Cabos, Mexico on Saturday, defeating rising star Taylor Fritz (USA) 7-6(6), 6-3. Schwartzman saved three set points at 0-40, 5-6 in the first set, before setting up three of his own at 6-3 in the tiebreak. However, neither of those sets of three were converted, as Fritz stormed back to 6-6, before a crucial nervous patch caused him to throw in a double fault, allowing Schwartzman to serve it out on set point #4. The second set slowly tipped the way of Schwartzman, as he captured the break to go up 3-1, and from there took the match. An impressive week from both players, as Fritz gets to a career high of 25 with the final, while Schwartzman is slightly higher at 23.
Up The Line Tennis 