Italian Fabio Fognini upset Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to win the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex title in Los Cabos, Mexico, Fognini’s eighth career title.

It was the 31-year-old’s first title on a surface other than clay.

“It’s something strange because, of course, at the beginning of the week if you told me that we would be talking about titles…I am really happy, happy about this …

German Alexander Zverev beat Aussie teen Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-4 to successfully defend his title on Sunday at the Citi Open in Washington for his third title of the season.

“It’s quite funny, because this final could be the final of the next 15 years, so I hope you guys all enjoyed it,” Zverev told the crowd afterwards.

“It feels great. It shows mental strength as well, and shows a …

Martin Klizan beat Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-2 in the all-qualifier final at the Generali Open on Saturday in Kitzbuhel, Austria. It was just the second all-qualifier final since the ATP World Tour was established in 1990.

It was the sixth career title for Klizan.

“I think my performance today was the best of the tournament,” said Klizan. “There was pressure for both of us…I did a great job today and I deserved …

Roger Federer and Serena Williams are sitting this week out, but otherwise a full slate of the WTA and ATP pros are in Montreal and Toronto respectively next week for the Rogers Cup.

It’s been almost 50 years since a Canadian man or woman has raised the trophy.

On the men’s side an insane number of tough opening-round matches greet the seeds.

ROGERS CUP
MONTREAL & TORONTO, Canada; Surface: hard

Women’s Seeds: Simona Halep, Caroline …

Youth will be served today in Washington. Just 21, Alexander Zverev will try to defend his D.C. title against 19-year-old Alex De Minaur in the youngest final on the ATP since 20-year-old Rafael Nadal beat 19-year-old Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells in 2007.

In the semifinals yesterday, Zverev cruised past another 19-year-old, Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-2, 6-4. With the victory, he became the first player on tour to reach the 40-win plateau.

“Winning …

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Citing personal reasons, Serena Williams has pulled out of next week’s Canadian Open in Montreal. In the draw, which was released yesterday, another mother, Tatjana Maria, will replace Serena in a match against Alize Cornet.

“All I know is that it can’t be easy for her to come back as a new mother and have to handle so many things,” said tournament head Eugène Lapierre. “I know what she had to …

The surprises kept coming Friday in San Jose. After a slew of upsets and withdrawals, the last two headliners were both eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Venus Williams was bounced by Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-6(2).

“I think I played great tennis,” the 49th-ranked Sakkari said. “My serve was not doing great, but I think my baseline game was very good. I never stopped fighting, believing I could win the match.”

Sakkari will meet American …

The rains returned again at Washington forcing one quarterfinal to be played on Saturday. But two matches were completed.

First, Andy Murray withdrew ahead of his match against Alex De Minaur. After a 3:01am finish and three straight 3-set matches, the Scot cited fatigue as the reason for his exit.

“I won’t be able to play my match tonight. I’m exhausted after playing so much over the past four days, having not …

After three grueling wins, the last ending at 3:01am Friday morning, Andy Murray withdrew from his Washington quarterfinal with Alex De Minaur and also announced he would not take the wildcard into Toronto next week.

“I’m exhausted after playing so much over the past four days, having not competed on the hard courts for 18 months,” Murray said in a statement.

“I also need to be careful and to listen to my …

After withdrawals of the top two seeds Garbine Muguruza and Madison Keys, the highest ranked player left in the tournament was the ageless Venus Williams. And so far so good for the 38-year-old.

In her San Jose opener yesterday, Venus pulled away in the end over a tough Heather Watson scoring a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 victory.

“It was a tough match and she played incredible. There were times where I had no …

Another round of afternoon rains pushed the schedule way back in an already-behind Washington event. But the main attraction, Andy Murray, made it through a third straight nailbiter. This time in a match that ended at 3:01am!

In three hours, Murray prevailed over Marius Copil 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4), and afterward the Scot broke down in tears.

“Just the emotions coming at the end of an extremely long day and a long match,” …

San Jose top seed Garbine Muguruza withdrew ahead of her match Wednesday night against Victoria Azarenka due to a right arm injury.

“I’ve been feeling some pain in my right arm for a couple of days and realized I am not ready to play the match, so hopefully I can recover for the next tournaments,” Muguruza said.

Instead of the Spaniard, Azarenka met lucky loser Anna Blinkova and rolled losing just one …

Andy Murray had to fight again to advance in Washington. This time in a tight 3-set win over countryman Kyle Edmund 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4.

Edmund served for the first set but couldn’t finish it. He brushed off the disappointment and seized hold of the second. Late in the third, Murray was teetering serving 4-all, but held and then with the help of an Edmund double fault, closed out his compatriot.

Murray …

After squandering a mini-break led in the second set breaker, Donald Young finally held his nerve in a thrilling win over Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(3).

“I fought a lot of nerves,” said Young.

“It was tough playing Stan because you know he can always hit a shot and I haven’t had a bunch of confidence this year. Closing matches is a skill you get from winning and I haven’t done that. …