Barcelona (ATP 500)

Champion: Casper Ruud [3] (11th career title)

Runner-Up: Stefanos Tsitsipas [5]

Final Summary:

• Ruud def. Tsitsipas 7-5 6-3 in the final. The match lasted 1 hour and 29 minutes. Tsitsipas broke Ruud's serve early in the first set, but it was relatively smooth sailing for Ruud for the rest of the match.

• This was a re-match of last week’s final at the ATP 1000 even in Monte Carlo, where Tsitsipas earned a straight set victory.

• This is Ruud's first title above the ATP 250 level, which is surprising given he has been ranked as high as #2 in the world.

• Tsitsipas and Ruud are both continuing to build confidence through the clay court season, and are earning real consideration as dark horses to compete for the French Open title next month.

Other Tournament Notes:

• Carlos Alcaraz, who would have been seeded 1st in the tournament, was a late withdrawal due to an arm injury for the second tournament in a row. He is currently scheduled to play at the ATP 1000 event this upcoming week in Madrid, but if he doesn’t compete there, expect more chatter concerning his preparedness for the upcoming French Open.

• Rafael Nadal made his return to the tour and won his first round match against Flavio Cobolli 6-2 6-3. Nadal lost in the second round against Alex de Minaur [4] 7-5 6-1, and was visibly overmatched. Still, it is a positive to see him back competing on tour in what is likely his final season, regardless of the results.

• Andrey Rublev [2] continued to struggle on the clay this season, being upset in his first match by Brandon Nakashima 6-4 7-6(6). This follows last week’s early exit in Monte Carlo against Alexei Popyrin.

Bucharest (ATP 250)

Champion: Marton Fucsovics (2nd career title)

Runner-Up: Mariano Navone [5]

Final Summary:

• Fucsovics def. Navone 6-4 7-5 in a final in which which lasted 2 hours and 6 minutes.

• It was a strong week of tennis for Fucsovics, who had a season tour-level record of only 6-7 coming into the tournament, where he won five consecutive matches to earn the title.

• Although he fell short in the final, Navone continued his run of good form, now having won 11 out of his last 14 tour-level matches. The result sees him rise in the rankings to a new career-high of #41.

Other Tournament Notes:

• Arguably the most exciting match of the tournament was Alejandro Tabilo [4] defeating Joao Fonseca [WC] in the quarter-final round 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4. The match features two players both currently in the best form of their careers:

  • Tabilo’s semi-final showing here in Bucharest was his third of the year, following a title in the ATP 250 event in Auckland and a finals appearance in the ATP 250 event in Santiago. He currently sits at a career-high ranking of #38.

  • Fonseca’s quarter-final run was his 2nd of the year at the tour-level, following his quarter-final result in the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro. The 17-year old has mostly been playing on the Challenger tour, but is quickly rising the rankings, currently at a career-high of #242.

Munich (ATP 250)

Champion: Jan-Lennard Struff [4] (1st career title)

Runner-Up: Taylor Fritz [3]

Final Summary:

• Struff def. Fritz 7-5 6-3 in a final which which lasted 1 hour and 19 minutes.

• Struff moved through the draw relatively easily, winning all four of his matches in straight sets.

• Struff is proving to be a late bloomer in his career; this was his first career title at age 33. Last year, in his age 32 season, he reached his career-high ranking of #21.

• Although Fritz fell short in the final, this is a nice bounce back result for him after starting his clay season with a first round loss to Lorenzo Musetti last week in Monte Carlo.

Other Tournament Notes:

• Alexander Zverev [1] was upset in the Round of 16 by Cristian Garin 6-4 6-4. Zverev has been in strong form for much of the 2024 season, but this is a rough loss given that Garin was ranked outside of the Top 100.

• Holger Rune [2] was bidding to win the title in Munich for a 3rd consecutive year, and his run was going smoothly until he was dismantled by Struff 6-2 6-0 in the semi-final round. The match lasted only 45 minutes, and Rune won just 50% (13/26) points on his first serve.