The much improved Maxime Cressy almost won Montpellier. In the final, he could not grab the break, and the better player Jannik Sinner edged him 7-6(3) 6-3. The Italian had no problem when he served into the corners for a very tough service holds. They did had some fine rallies. But the American could not slam past him, so in the next few months, he has to return better.
Sinner is close to reach into the top 5 this year. Still, he can become damn angry on court. He is still young. Perhaps he will be more sound and thoughtful. He has beaten many top players in the ATP 250s, but if he is playing in the 1000s or a Grand Slam, he might be very good, but he is not yet to be nearly perfect. The 22-year-old is currently ranked No. 14. If he wants to chop down the excellent players, then he has to improve a lot.
Cressy has become more stable, mixing it up and pushing himself. He comes into the net a lot, and his first serve can be huge. In the semis, he upset Holger Rune 7-5 6-7(3) 7-6(4). That was a fantastic day.
Cressey, an American/Frenchman, has reached the top 40. Apparently, if he wants to reach into the top 32 at the Slams for the first time, then he has to be much more stable and consistent each week.
In Dallas, it was almost out of nowhere Yibing Wu beat John Isner 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-6(14-12) to win his first ATP title. Talk about the drama. The veteran Isner now has played more than 500 tiebreakers, which is remarkable. Sadly, he has never won a Grand Slam, and he probably won’t. But, at least the 37-year-old won in Miami, and he did reach in an ATP 1000s final four more times. Those were some crazy, terrific matches. But his return has never been good enough.
The Chinese Wu came up big and moving into the spotlight. His forehand and his backhand are now so rising and he is pretty quick. He was decent over the past few years, but now, the 23-year-old thinks that when he is on the line, he aims to bash the ball. He played so good in the semis when he edged Taylor Fritz. Wu will be there for a long time.
Seriously, Belinda Bencic looked mind blowing. At other times, she can blow her match. But last week, she won the title, in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open and she beat Liudmila Samsonova 1-6, 7-6, 6-4. That was a long, long match, fighting off three match points. She is a warrior. When she is so intense, then she can continue to blend it up with many different styles. She has yet to win Slam, but she still does have a legitimate chance to win one, as long as she can serve better and improve her net play.
There are so many Russians who continue to play on the court, and some of them are very good. You could look at dozens of people over the past 20 years, and they just keep coming on.
In Linz, Anastasia Potapova crushed Petra Martic 6-3 6-1 in the final. The 21-year-old could eventually win a Slam, like the Russians did, such as Svetlana Kuznetsova or Anastasia Myskina. But Potapova will have to climbing into the mountain, and stay there.
