Joao Sousa ended a 29-year dry spell in Portugal on Sunday, beating American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-4 to win his home country’s Estoril Open.

He became the first Portuguese-born player to celebrate an ATP title on home soil.

Sousa broke Tiafoe four times during the match to win his third career ATP title and first in three year. His scampering proved the difference during the match, chasing down big forehands from Tiafoe …

Alexander Zverev won the all-German BMW Open by FWU title on Sunday, his second consecutive in Munich, defeating three-time Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3.

“I am obviously very happy with how I played,” said Zverev. “Very happy to get back-to-back titles here. It is a very special event for me so I am very happy that I could defend my title.”

It was the first all-German final since Zverev lost to …

When Belgian Elise Mertens reached the semifinals at this year’s Australian Open, fans of the 22-year-old wondered if it was a fluke or breakthrough performance.

Mertens has answered since, on Saturday winning her third title of the year, defeating Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 7-6(4) for the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem crown in Rabat, Morocco.

“You get confidence from winning this many matches, but you have to take things match …

Petra Kvitova won the J&T Banka Prague Open on Saturday, beating Mihaela Buzarnescu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 for her third title of the year.

The No. 2 seed and two-time Wimbledon champion, who was at this time last year was on the sidelines with a wrist injury suffered in a home invasion, was making her debut at the event.

Buzarnescu celebrated her 30th birthday with her semifinal victory, and also reached the doubles …

Simona Halep goes for three in a row this week in Madrid, but is looking for a first title since the first week in January.

Fourteen of the Top 15 on the WTA rankings join Halep, in addition to floaters such as former No. 1s Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.

MUTUA MADRID OPEN 2018
MADRID, Spain; surface: clay

Seeds: Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Garbine Muguruza, Elina Svitolina, Jelena Ostapenko, Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Garcia, Venus …

Novak Djokovic will try to end a 2-match losing streak in his opener at the Madrid Masters against former finalist Kei Nishikori, the draw revealed today.

Djokovic, a 2-time Madrid champion in 2011 and 2016, has won just two of his last five matches including three opening round losses at Indian Wells, Miami and Barcelona. He has beaten Nishikori 9 of 11 times. But the Japanese did withdraw from Barcelona due …

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After a first round loss last year to the retiring Tommy Haas, Roger Federer will give Stuttgart another shot, opening his grass season there in June.

“The atmosphere at TC Weissenhof is amazing. You immediately feel that this club is full of life,” Federer said. “The fans get really going during the matches. On grass, my expectations are naturally high, so, I’m looking forward to once again playing in Stuttgart.”

The 36-year-old …

Stan Wawrinka officially withdrew from Madrid yesterday due to his knee, the tournament announced. But perhaps bigger news from last week, the Swiss posted a picture on social media with him and former coach Magnus Norman.

Could they be reunited?

👀👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/66d9eJIR2n

— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) April 27, 2018

Wawrinka remains scheduled for Rome and then his home event in Geneva before the French Open. …

Serena Williams clay debut will have to wait. The former No. 1 was scheduled to play in Madrid next week but the tournament has announced the 2-time champion has withdrawn to allow for more training for the French.

“We regret the absence of Serena and we wish her a speedy recovery,” tournament director Manolo Santana said. “She is one of the great champions of our sport, she has always offered a …

With his major opponents vacationing, sidelined by injury or coming back from injury, Rafael Nadal is making the claycourt season his stage and his alone.

On the heels of an 11th Monte Carlo title, Nadal on Sunday won an 11th Barcelona title, steamrolling Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Nadal has now won 19 straight matches on clay and 46 sets in a row.

“I’m very …

Unseeded Pauline Parmentier of France won her third WTA career singles title, and first in almost 11 years on Sunday, defeating unseeded Polona Hercog 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup trophy in Turkey.

The two hadn’t faced each other since their lone meeting in 2011, won by Hercog in Bogota.

The No. 122-ranked Parmentier’s other two titles came in Tashkent in 2007 and Bad Gastein in 2008. She …

Italian Marco Cecchinato, a lucky loser who lost in the final round of qualifying but then made the main draw when another player pulled out, won the Gazprom Hungarian Open on Sunday, in the final defeating Australian John Millman 7-5, 6-4 for his first ATP title.

The week was also the first tour-level semifinal he reached.

“I lost Sunday [in qualifying] and now I won the tournament. It’s amazing for me,” Cecchinato …

While American CoCo Vandeweghe dismissed her success all week on her least-favorite surface at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, her desire for a first claycourt title was evident in her courtside tears after she fell 7-6(2), 6-4 to former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the Stuttgart final on Sunday.

It was the first title of the year for Pliskova, who at 0-2 down in the first set tiebreak reeled off seven …

Top-seeded Kevin Anderson will be tested by defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta and returning runner-up Gilles Muller among the participants at this year’s Millennium Estoril Open in Portugal.

Barcelona runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and young Americans Tennys Sandgren and Frances Tiafoe will attempt to disrupt the seeds in some early-round match-ups.

MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN
ESTORIL, Portugal; surface: clay

Seeds: Kevin Anderson, Pablo Carreno Busta, Kyle Edmund, Gilles Muller, Albert Ramos Vinolas, Robin Haase, Leonardo Mayer, …