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The first week back on the ATP World Tour after the Australian Open and Davis Cup has seen Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and Victor Estrella Burgos claim titles.
Zverev, seeded fourth in Montpellier, an indoor hard court event, knocked out home favourite Richard Gasquet in the final 7-6 6-3 after winning his previous three matches in three sets. Zverev used his powerful groundstrokes, particularly on the forehand wing, to overpower Gasquet, claiming his second career title.
Zverev has made a strong start to the season, beating Roger Federer at the Hopman Cup in Perth, and losing to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open third round in five sets.
Zverev also won the doubles title in Montpellier with his brother, Mischa, in three sets.
Dimitrov, playing in his home country Bulgaria, also on indoor hard courts, defeated world number 11 David Goffin 7-5 6-4, a repeat of the Australian Open quarter final, which Dimitrov also won in straight sets.
Dimitrov survived a first round scare, losing the first set to Jerzy Janowicz, and eventually winning 7-5 in the third set. He served ten aces to Goffin’s two in the final, and converted on five of his seven break points.
He did require five match points to clinch his second title of 2017, however, but was understandably elated post-match.
“This title means a lot to me. Today, after the last point, I felt again like a kid playing in front of a home crowd.”
The match was not without controversy, however, as Goffin complained to the chair umpire about the hostile crowd at the end of the first set.
Dimitrov, who’s ranking fell to as low as 40 last year, after being as high as eight, improves to 14 wins and one loss on the season, and will rise to number 12 in the world.
On the clay courts of Quito, Ecuador, 36-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos claimed his third career title, all at the same event, 6-7 7-5 7-6 over 35-year-old and world number 46 Paolo Lorenzi.
Estrella Burgos won his first two matches of the tournament in three sets also, most notably against big serving Ivo Karlovic., where he saved three match points en route to victory.
He is now the only player in ATP World Tour history to win three titles at the same event, and none anywhere else, and is the lowest ranked singles player to win a title since June 2016.
“It’s a great achievement for me to win three titles here,” said Estrella Burgos. “The recipe for my success here will be revealed when I retire [laughing], but for sure I’ll come back here next year. I’ll play in Quito every year until I retire.”
This week, the first ATP 500 event of the season will be held in Rotterdam, headlined by Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem.
Also, tournaments will be held in Buenos Aires and Memphis, where Australians Jordan Thompson, Bernard Tomic and Matthew Ebden will be competing.
For the women, Australia’s Sam Stosur will be playing in Doha, along with world number two Angelique Kerber and U.S Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova.
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