Philipp Kohlschreiber won his 7th career ATP title after beating Dominic Thiem in one of the best matches played this year.

Can Diego Schwartzman and Pablo Carreno Busta win their first ATP career titles on Sunday?

No Top 20 players, but Istanbul you do have Bernie “The Tank Engine” Tomic! For at least a round…

Rafael Nadal upped his win streak to 8 today in Barcelona.

Nishikori is the two-time defending champion, last year beating Andujar in the final…”I am happy to be back in Barcelona. I feel good and hope to win my third consecutive title here,” Nishikori said…Nadal won the title in eight of nine years prior to that…

Pulling from the tournament were Roger Federer (knee surgery) and Janko Tipsarevic…The absent Federer is the two-time defending champ, beating Djokovic in last year’s final…Federer and Djokovic have won the last seven titles between them…Djokovic (2013,’11-09) is the lone former champ in the field.

Rafael Nadal continued to show that he’s on the way back up.

Notes: Strong seeding but not a lot of field depth…(4) Tomic will start against the Querrey-Baghdatis winner…Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Wildcards went to Berdych, Swede Mike Ymer and Finn Jarkko Nieminen…Last year Berdych came from a set down to beat Dimitrov in the final…Berdych trying to become the first Stockholm back-to-back winner since James Blake (2005-06)…Former champs in the field are Berdych (2014,’12), Dimitrov (2013), and Baghdatis (2009).

Contrary to what commentator Chris Evert says, Serena Williams is the GOAT. She, the Martinas, everyone else is out. But having said that, the odds are against Serena that she is going to win the US Open and complete the calendar year Grand Slam. The pressure build up is too great.

John Isner has won six straight matches.

All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, but some potential interesting second-rounders with (12) Pospisil vs. (WC) Haas, (4) Gasquet vs. the hot-handed Muller, break-up boy (6) Dimitrov vs. the resurgent Baghdatis, and (7) Lopez vs. (WC) Hewitt on his retirement tour…

Tough starts for (1) Venus in the 2nd rd. vs. the Bastad runner-up Barthel, (4) Cornet vs. Wickmayer, (5) Giorgi vs. Cibulkova, and (2) Svitolina vs. Rybarikova…Veterans Daniela Hantuchova and Francesca Schiavone also floating around…Wildcards went to Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay and Ipek Soylu, and the No. 4 seed Cornet…Pulling from the event were Belinda Bencic, Alexandra Dulgheru, Kristina Mladenovic, Monica Niculescu and Flavia Pennetta…Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat No. 2 Roberta Vinci in last year’s final…Pavlyuchenkova (2010) is the lone returning former champ in the field.

Novak Djokovic says he’s ready for Wimbledon, but hasn’t forgotten about the French.

Roger Federer nearly slipped in Halle. Well, he did slip!

Notes: The tournament makes the switch to grass as part of the tour’s extended grasscourt season…Tough starts for (1) Nadal against the Baghdatis-Rosol winner, and (8) Troicki vs. Coric…Wildcards went to Germans Tommy Haas, Maximilian Marterer and Alexander Zverev…Pulling from the event were Julien Benneteau and Jiri Vesely…The Bryan brothers are the top seeds in doubles…Nadal (2007,’05) is the lone returning former champ in the field.