Pro Tennis Around the Globe: Monterrey Open & Winston-Salem Open 25'

What happened this past week at the several pre-US Open warm up tournaments? While the top players already migrated to the city to begin slam preparation, there was still plenty of exciting action on the ATP and WTA tours as players packed in some last-minute matches prior to first ball in Flushing Meadows. 

Shnaider Wins in Monterrey 

In Northwest Mexico, nestled between city streets and looming mountains, sits the Monterrey Open which is home to a short six-day affair for players hoping to get in some extra court time before the flight up to New York. The beautiful venue and its enthusiastic fans witnessed a whole lot of unpredicted mountain weather which caused some unfortunate scheduling shenanigans during the week, but no rain could top the exceptional displays of tennis which were on show from the first match to championship point. Perhaps the most exceptional performance of all came from the champion, Diana Shnaider. The 21-year-old Russian earned her fifth tour-level event on Saturday, but the journey to hoisting the trophy wasn't purely linear. 

Photo credit: Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Seeded 3rd at the tournament, Shnaider opened on Wednesday against Kamilla Rakhimova who despite taking the eventual champion to a first set tiebreak, had nothing left in the tank for an physical second set. Shnaider won that encounter comfortably, 7-6, 6-1. Next on the checklist was 5th seed Elise Mertens, and this match could have sent Shnaider packing if it weren't for a few critical points that she was able to raise her game on. After losing a disappointing first set 3-6 to the Belgian, Shnaider fought back to just slip by into the semis, 7-6, 7-6 in the subsequent sets. Crisis avoided. Despite the fact that her next opponent, American Alycia Parks, was unseeded at the tournament, she wasn't someone you'd want on the other side of the net this week as just a couple matches prior she knocked out the top seed and countrywoman Emma Navarro. Parks's quarterfinal challenge was the polar opposite of Shnaider's---it was an easy 2-set win for the Atlanta-native. Despite their difference in rank, Parks was a subtle favorite going into it. But Shnaider ignored the odds and played at the exact level she needed to in order to walk away from this one without any bad scrapes. The 3rd seed claimed her final berth with a 6-3, 7-6 victory. 

For the first time all week long, Shnaider had to conquer an opponent ranked higher than her, but it came at the perfect moment. The championship match. Pitted against 2nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, Shnaider had a tough task ahead if she wanted to go into the US Open with an extra boost of confidence. But she was ready for the moment. And she came out firing, winning the first set 6-3. The experienced Alexandrova wasn't done yet, and played off a few loose points and some unfortunate errors on the 21-year-old's part to win the second 6-4. And the third set was a battle as well, but Shnaider was able to just slide by letting her opponent win just four games. With this win, Shnaider climbed back into the top 20 and and will be someone to watch as the action kicks off in the Big Apple. 

Unseeded Fucsovics Competes Against Stacked Draw for Unexpected Victory in Winston-Salem

Marton Fucsovics came into the 2025 Winston-Salem Open ranked 94th. With players ranked inside the top 30 competing in the draw, it's safe to say that no expert predicted the 33-year-old to walk away with the Winston Salem crown. But anyone who bet against him surely didn't have the best week as the Hungarian enjoyed playing his best tennis yet this year en route to his first title since April of 2024. The tournament, classified only as an ATP 250, features a large 48-player draw with 16 seeds meaning that winning it is a little trickier than most tournaments of its kind. Fucsovics would have had to play six matches each day of the week if it weren't for an unfortunate retirement in the semi-final which gave him a bonus day off. Despite this demanding schedule, the tour veteran navigated it perfectly and felt no intimidation as he stepped onto the court with higher-ranked opponents across the net. 

Photo credit: Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Frenchman Hugo Gaston was the first man to fall to the eventual champion, putting up no fight against the physically-renowned Hungarian. Fucsovics came through 6-3, 6-3. His next match was a pure contrast to the first, as the tournament's second seed Tallon Griekspoor awaited him and hoped to slide through a comfortable second round encounter. It wasn't in any way comfortable for the Dutchman, as Fucsovics took him to a third set and ended up winning the match pulling of an incredible upset. Two Spaniards followed, Roberto Bautista-Agut and Jaume Munar, seeded 14th and 12th respectively, and Fucsovics dismissed them handily to sail into the semis. There was a lot of energy surrounding the next challenge for the Hungarian as his new opponent was Sebastian Korda, the 11th seeded American who could rely on crowd support to avoid the upset bug. But Fucsovics was able to earn a lucky day off as Korda retired due to illness. 

Armed with an extra day of rest heading into the final, Fucsovics was ready for 73rd ranked Botic van de Zandschulp who also enjoyed a fun week on the hard courts of Winston-Salem, taking out several seeded players including dangerous Italian Matteo Arnaldi and big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Unlike Fucsovics, van de Zandschulp had to play a full semi-final, so Fucsovics knew he could rely on his physical talent to make this match as tiring as possible. Going for big on his first serve, he was able to counter van de Zandschulp's slap power and maintain an aggressive stance which helped him win in a confident manner, 6-3, 7-6.  With this title under his belt, it's not unreasonable to say that the Hungarian could cause a stir in Flushing Meadows next week. 

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Written by William Turvey. Top photo credit: Renith R via Unsplash.