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Grigor Dimitrov and Roger Federer both showed their class this week on the ATP Tour, winning in Acapulco and Dubai respectively.
Both champions were extremely impressive during the week, marking the rise of a potential star and the return of a legend.
Dimitrov passed through a tough draw in Mexico, playing Marcos Baghdatis, Ernests Gulbis and the reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray as he reached the final.
In his way was big-serving South African Kevin Anderson, who again fell short in Acapulco, though the final was a very entertaining match from two quality players.
Dimitrov won tiebreaks in both the first and deciding set to win the closely fought match 7-6, 3-6, 7-6. Dimitrov was superb when it mattered during the opening breaker, before briefly losing concentration at the beginning of the second set when Anderson took the crucial break.
The deciding set, however, was tense and long. Extraordinarily the match finished at 1:13 am, when the young Bulgarian pulled through the tiebreaker in classy fashion.
Dimitrov now has his second title and is playing some ominous tennis. His defeat of Murray in this tournament was clearly a major highlight, although in the final he did withstand 46 winners and 13 aces from Anderson.
For the South African, maybe a lack of patience is to blame after his tight loss. Anderson racked up 52 unforced errors, far too many across three sets.
Roger Federer has been fighting on through the ATP circuit as a consistent veteran since his title at Wimbledon in 2012, but now the Swiss maestro may be back.
Federer pulled off a very big tournament victory in Dubai, coming back from a set down against both Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych in the semi-final and final respectively.
Federer looked back to his very best after poor starts against quality opposition, playing with freedom and comfort across his whole range on shots.
Through the early rounds Federer looked comfortable as always, although he struggled against the Czech veteran Radek Stepanek. With a great victory over Djokovic in the semi-finals, however, he was set for a big match against the current highest ranked Czech in Berdych.
Berdych had the jump on Federer early, with an exchange of breaks in the first set eventually leading to first blood going the way of the Czech.
Federer took control of a slight momentum shift in the second set, exposing the physical movement of Berdych throughout the remaining two sets. Federer again looked calm under pressure, an asset that has made him so hard to beat throughout his career, eventually triumphing 3-6 6-4 6-3.
It may be a big statement to say that Federer is back, but with a sixth Dubai title under his belt he looks in prime shape to be a contender in Indian Wells – the first major 1000 points tournament.
Indian Wells is then followed closely by Miami, as hard court is the predominant surface across the tour in the coming weeks.
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