Fabio Fognini finished off his best career week capturing his biggest title in Monte Carlo today, overwhelming Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4.

Fognini’s road to the final saw him author two incredible comeback wins over Andrey Rublev and Borna Coric, then he handed clay king Rafael Nadal one his worst career losses on the surface. And today, stayed strong against the Serb who was also playing in his first Masters final …

Just like we all thought, Fabio Fognini will take on Dusan Lajovic in the first clay Masters final of the year in Monte Carlo tomorrow. No, April Fools’ was a few weeks ago, this is for reals. Fognini v Lajovic in arguably the most bracket-busting Masters clay final ever.

So how did we get here?

Well, first Lajovic took advantage of a fatigued Daniil Medvedev who had beaten his countryman Novak Djokovic …

Novak Djokovic suffered his third straight pre-semifinal loss in a Masters on Friday after being stunned by 14th-ranked Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the Monte Carlo quarterfinals.

On a breezy day, the top seed struggled on serve getting broken twice in the opening set and three times in the deciding, and in several cases he was leading big in those games.

“He’s got a very solid backhand. He doesn’t make many …

Tournament favorites Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic continued their march toward a Sunday showdown in Monte Carlo.

Nadal won his 17th straight match at the event he has taken 11 times, dropping just one game after reaching 4-all in the first in a 6-4, 6-1 victory over the Bulgarian.

“I felt good. I think that the first set was a high-quality set of tennis,” said Nadal who improves to 12-1 against Dimitrov. …

The King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, sent a clear message that he’s still the man to beat today in Monte Carlo. Making his European clay debut, Nadal destroyed countryman Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-1.

The 11-time Monte Carlo champion improves to 69-4 at the event. This was his first match since withdrawing from Indian Wells with a knee issue, and today the knee was fine.

“This is just the first match. …

Philipp Kohlschreiber nearly beat Novak Djokovic twice in as many months. The German, who stunned the World No. 1 at Indian Wells, again caused problems for Djokovic today at Monte Carlo. But in his first match on the clay, the Serb came through 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Kohlschreiber broke Djokovic four straight times in the second set, but Djokovic grabbed an opening break to start the third and held on.

“I had …

In his first clay Masters as a champion at this level, Dominic Thiem is hopeful of another great clay season starting this week in Monte Carlo.

“I expect a lot, of course, like in every clay-court season,” Thiem said over the weekend. “The draw is a joke. It is so strong.

“In general, the level of men’s tennis is pretty high at the moment. I think everybody has to be ‘full power …

Following a very disappointing March which saw him lose early at both Indian Wells and Miami, Novak Djokovic hopes to get back on track in his home event in Monte Carlo this week.

“Certainly I was disappointed because I thought I was playing better and better and I thought I could go far. But at the same time it is what it is and as I said I’ll try to look …

Polona Hercog held off Iga Swiatek 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to win her third career title in Lugano.

The victory is Hercog’s first since consecutive Bastad titles in 2011 and 2012.

The 17-year-old Swiatek was playing in just her third WTA tour event, it was her first final. The 115th-ranked Pole will still break the Top 100 for a first time on Monday.

Swiatek led 2-0 in the third before the Slovenian took the …

Amanda Anisimova continued her breakout 2019 run Sunday collecting her first career title in Bogota coming from a set down to deny Aussie Astra Sharma 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

“It’s a huge deal,” Anismova said. “I think this was a pretty big goal because I overcame so many challenges this week. I’m really happy and proud of myself for how I got through them, and winning my first WTA title means so …

Mercurial Benoit Paire took home his first ATP title in four years Sunday beating Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-3 to win Marrakech.

It was his first ATP title since 2015 Bastad and he avenged a loss to Andujar from a few weeks ago at a Challenger in Spain.

“This is the second title of my career so I’m extremely happy tonight,” said Paire. “The first round and the semi-final against Jo were very …

Add Christian Garin to the growing list of young stars. Just 22, Garin became the first Chilean in 10 years to capture an ATP title after beating Casper Ruud 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 to win the clay title in Houston on Sunday.

“It was a really intense match today. I think what I did well was to keep playing my game throughout the match,” said Garin who is the first Chilean to …

The clay court season begins in earnest next week in Monte Carlo with the return of Rafael Nadal and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

While Rafa is again the big story of the clay season, the second biggest is Roger Federer who will be back on the dirt in a few weeks in Madrid after skipping Monte Carlo. Roger’s never won Monte (0-4 in finals) and after a busy March, …

After watching him hobble in the Miami final, John Isner did withdraw from Houston earlier in the week due to his foot. He was slated to be the top seed at the event, but his friend and countryman Steve Johnson will assume the top spot in America’s only ATP-level clay tournament.

Johnson has won Houston the last two years taking his last nine matches in Texas. In an American-heavy draw, he’s …

World No. 3 Alexander Zverev will try to turn around a tough start to 2019 season in Marrakech where he will open his clay season after a taking a wildcard into the event.

The German, who turns 22 in a few weeks, is joined by seeds Fabio Fognini, Kyle Edmund and former champion Gilles Simon.

Zverev will meet Denis Istomin in his first round, then Pierre-Hugues Herber in the quarters and Edmund …