IT was a case of the best players winning, and two Top 10 talents in Andrey Rublev and Diego Schwartzman have triumphed at respective tournaments in Rotterdam and Buenos Aires. For Rublev, it extended his winning streak at ATP 500 events out to a whopping 20 games, moving into outright third of all time now winning his fourth straight title at 500 tournaments. For Schwartzman, it marked his first ever title in his home nation of Argentina.

The Russian world number eight defeated Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics in a titanic battle, 7-6 6-4, making it seven straight ATP Tour Championship matches. He saved all four break point chances in the one-hour and 50-minute match in Rotterdam, whilst breaking his opponent once from six opportunities. Rublev won 75 and 63 per cent of his first and second serve points off a 74 per cent efficiency, while Fucsovics struggled off his second serve, winning just 47 per cent of his points.

“I feel happy. It has been a really great week,” Rublev said post-match. “It has been a great past year and a half. “We will see if I can keep going, if I can keep this level of competing [and] being a Top 10 [player].”

The Russian is a big-game player, having won all of his ATP Tour Finals since his triumph in Moscow, 2019. It has meant seven titles in the space of 18 months, only dropping one set in those matches. For Fucsovics, while the loss is disappointing, he was happy with how her performed throughout the tournament.

“It was a very positive week for me. I played unbelievable,” Fucsovics said during the trophy ceremony. “I came from qualifying. I played a lot of matches… I improved my game, so that is most important for me.”

WORLD TENNIS TOURNAMENT FINAL RESULT:

[4] Andrey Rublev (RUS) defeated [Q] Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 7-6 6-4

Meanwhile down in Buenos Aires, Schwartzman finally cracked through for his first title in Argentina. The top seed and Top 10 player easily accounted for compatriot and qualifier, Francisco Cerundolo in the final. Cerundolo was hoping to follow in his younger brother Juan Manuel‘s footsteps, following his sibling’s maiden title win last month in Cordoba. It was not to be however, with Schwartzman needing just 81 minutes to dismiss the older Cerundolo, 6-1 6-2.

“I’m very, very happy, it’s been an amazing week for me,” Schwartzman said post-match. “It’s the first time that [I have won at] home. Two years ago, I reached the final here and lost… I was very unhappy, but two years later I have my revenge against Francisco, who is a great player.”

Schwartzman broke six times to one, with Cerundolo only holding serve twice during the match. The top seed won 65 and 57 per cent of his first and second serve points off a rocky 53 per cent, while Cerundolo’s serving efficiency was higher at 70 per cent, but only capitalised 50 and 28 per cent of the time off his serves. Schwartzman said while the result would have been disappointing for the family, they were in some great form.

“[Cerundolo] had a spectacular week, I’ve been following him since he qualified and we’ve had great conversations and talked about his matches,” Schwartzman said. “I also know his whole family, they were there at the same club where I started playing tennis before [Francisco] was born… This was his week, last week was [Juan Manuel’s] week.”

ARGENTINA OPEN FINAL RESULT:

[1] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) defeated [Q] Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) 6-1 6-2

Picture credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images