Weekly Recap: Pro Tennis Around The Globe

What happened in pro tennis around the globe in the past week? Plenty. We can't cover it all here but a few key highlights follow below in order to catch you up on all the action...

Ruud Avenges Loss to Tsitsipas With Barcelona Title

Just a week ago, Casper Ruud found himself walking up to the net, shaking his head in defeat after losing in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Both took flights to Barcelona, and one week later found themselves in the same position! But this time, it was the Norwegian who got the triumphant moment. This week, he swept through the draw with wins against Jordan Thompson and Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and Tsitsipas faced similar ease as the week tore on. But Ruud had his game face on in the final, defeating the Greek 7-5. 6-3. Ruud broke his opponent three times, won nearly double of the receiving points than Tsitsipas, and margined his serve stats in the late 70 and 80 percents. 

Sloane is Back! American wins in France

We haven't heard much about Sloane Stephens recently, but the grand slam champion has returned to the winners circle! Seeded 6th in Rouen, France, the Plantation native won the first edition of the newly upgraded tournament, which changed from a 125 level to a 250 this year. All week Stephens faced fierce opponents, but trampled right through them with wins over Peyton Stearns, Karolina Pliskova, Yue Yuan, Caroline Garcia, and finally, Magda Linette. Her win didn't come easy, though. After a convincing 6-1 wrap on the first set, her Polish opponent stormed right back, winning the second 6-2. But it was too much for Linette in the end, with Stephens tapping in on her experience and winning the last set 6-2. Stats were solid for Sloane, with her first serve % coming in at 84, and 62% win on first and 45% win on second, while Linette had a harder time.  

Photo courtesy of Credit One Charleston Open.

Fucsovics Fights to Bucharest Title

While the Tiriac Open held in Bucharest, Romania didn't feature the most star studded list this week, the man holding the trophy certainly is a star. With three players ranked in the 20s, Marton Fucsovics wasn't going to have an easy time laying his hands on the silverware. His first match was a similarly leveled opponent in Valentin Vacherot, and his quarter finals and semi finals weren't too difficult either, but he did have to burn through the second seed and the seventh seed to win the week. He convincingly sent home Tallon Griekspoor in two comfortable sets, and handled Mariano Navone in a similar fashion, defeating the seventh seed 6-4, 7-5 in the final. 

Struff Wins First Title On Home Soil

Jan-Lennard Stuff landed in Munich with the number 4 next to his name, and a very difficult draw. He started off against Botic van de Zandschulp, who, despite being unseeded, is a very difficult person to play against. Next he took on Felix Auger-Aliassime who also posed a threat, but just like his first opponent, he made his way comfortably to the semi-finals. Next up was second seed Holger Rune, who walked on court the defending champion and very heavy favorite. It's fair to let out a laugh at that. Stuff demolished the Dane 6-2, 6-0, with Rune playing very poorly and barely even getting a racket on the big serves and forehands that Struff dug out of his pocket. And finally was Taylor Fritz, who played very solid all week, and Struff took the title with a 7-5, 6-3 dub. Despite relatively poor stats, Struff did a lot better than Fritz, who could only scrape up several oppertunities and squandered all of them, giving the German the win. 

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Written by William Turvey.  Top photo: ATP Tour.