Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem were the winners of the tennis week. The Swiss was prophet in his homeland rising the title in the Geneva ATP 250 defeating in the final to Croatian Marin Cilic, 6-4 7-6 (11). For his part, Thiem won the Nice tournament winning the duel of promises against the German Alexander Zverev, 6-4 3-6 6-0.

Wawrinka achieved his third title of the year, after Chennai and Dubai, and takes out the bad taste in his mouth accumulated in the three Masters 1000 on clay, where he only got three victories. However, in the case of finals, Swiss is intractable and has won the last 10 finals he has played. Stan had in the past a reputation as finals loser – won only 4 of the 13 first he played-, but he has recovered more than enough with this impressive streak in which there are two Grand Slam included. Wawrinka finals

Although he lost a set against Lukas Rosol and had to save 6 break points during the final with Cilic, the game of the number 4 in the world was convincing. He just suffered a couple of “breaks” in the tournament and beat with clarity to specialists such as Ramos and Carreno.  Certainly, if he want to defend his title in Paris he will need to be ready for a much stronger opposition that he has had in Geneva, but there is no doubt that this triumph will have reinforce his confidence. Geneva 2016 stats

The Croatian Cilic reappeared in the circuit after the knee problems which have kept him away from competition since the Miami Masters. In Geneva he got three valuable victories – Gulbis, Delbonis and Ferrer – and he only lost against Wawrinka after a tough fight in a second set in which he had seriously options to get it. It is the second final of the year for the Croatian, after which he lost with Nick Kyrgios in Marseille.

About John Isner is likely to a voodoo curse. For the fourth time in the year he has been eliminated without losing a single service game. Dusan Lajovic in Buenos Aires, Guido Pella in Rio de Janeiro, Kei Nishikori at Indian Wells and Lukas Rosol in Vienna defeat him without having to break a service game. Lajovic, Nishikori and Rosol did not have even the chance of breaking his service and Pella just had one break point. Jack Sock defeated him in Houston taking advantage of the only break point he disposed.

Isner service stats this season are incredible. He is the leading force in aces – 447, 126 more than his nearest rival Nick Kyrgios-, aces per match (24,83), percentage of service points won (74.88%) and he only has received 11 “breaks” in 18 matches. In 275 service games he only has faced 18 break points, one every six games. Federer, who follows him in this classification, faces one every three games. 2016 stats

But all these numbers have not been enough to achieve a great result. The problem of the American is the retriever, where is the second to last this season, just ahead of Ivo Karlovic, with a 30,14% of efficiency. In addition, it is not the year of Isner in the tiebreaks. His balance this season is 12-12, but in the decisive sets his balance is 0-5, a catastrophic score. 2016 stats (II)

In Nice, the Austrian Thiem defended the title achieved last year, clinching his third this year, following those achieved in Buenos Aires and Acapulco. The season of the promising young is becoming impressive. Sixth in the Race, second in number of victories, with 36, and also in number of tournaments won and fourth in percentage of wins, with 78,26% behind Raonic, Murray and Djokovic. 2016 wins % stands

In Nice Thiem made a show and demonstrated he has to be borne in mind for Paris. He swept away Mayer, Seppi and Mannarino and completed a great tournament in the final against Zverev, the only player who got him in troubles, with an overwhelming 6-0. His stats in Nice were equally convincing: first in return and service points won and won half of the returning games he played. The Austrian only needs to confirm himself as top in a big tournament and sure he has placed his hopes in Paris. Nice 2016 stats

A tournament in where Roger Federer will not be. The great Swiss champion renounced to his participation in Roland Garros interrupting a streak of 65 consecutive entries in Grand Slam tournaments. Federer did not miss a single major since Australian Open 2000, 16 years playing each and every one of the majors. Of the many records Federer holds, this is probably the most incredible and the longer it stays in the history. Grand Slam entries streak

The bracket of Paris was drawn last Friday. The first consequence of Federer´s loss, to which must be added the loss of Gael Monfils, has been the climb to Rafael Nadal up to number 4 in the world. However, such circumstance do not has brought much luck to the Spanish. Rafa, who will make his debut against the Australian Sam Groth, has a tough path where already in third round appears on the horizon Fognini. In fourth it gets even more complicated with the threat of Thiem, with Zverev as an alternative. If he goes through these rounds, quarterfinals look a bit better for him, with Tsonga as theoretical clash and Goffin and Kohlschreiber as other likely quarter finalists. At semifinals could be the big showdown with number one Novak Djokovic.

The Serb has a theoretically easier path to semifinals. After making his debut against Yen-Hsun Lu are not perceived major threats for him to his likely showdown with Nadal. The Serb faces a draw which is favourable in principle with players far from their best form – Ferrer – and others players who are not specialists on clay as Tomic, Lopez and Berdych.

Murray and Wawrinka lead the bottom half of the bracket. The Scottish will make his debut playing with the veteran Stepanek and he probably find Kei Nishikori at quarterfinals. On the other hand Wawrinka, who starts against Rosol, he already beat him this week in Geneva, has a difficult path, with many specialists on the road and a tough nut to crack as Simon in a theoretical eighth finals. At quarterfinals, the theoretical rival is Raonic, a player who is having a great time.

The 86th edition of the Parisian tournament raises the curtain today with Novak Djokovic aspiring to get into the select club composed of payers as Budge, Perry, Laver, Emerson, Agassi, Nadal and Federer, the winners of the Grand Slam. We’ll see if Nadal, Murray and company can stop him. Roland Garros book of records

French Open champion Stan Wawrinka warmed up for the defence of his title at Roland Garros with a 6-4 7-6(11) victory over Marin Cilic to win the Geneva Open title on Saturday.

It was Wawrinka’s first title on home soil in Switzerland and his first on clay this season in his final match before facing 68th-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol in the first round in Paris next week.

Wawrinka, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the final to win the claycourt major last year, eased through the opening set against world number 11 Cilic without facing a break point.

Cilic fought back, however, breaking in the fourth game of the second before Wawrinka broke at 3-5 and forced a tiebreak.Cilic spurned five set points before slapping a backhand long to hand the Swiss the title.

“Big congratulations to Stan,” Cilic said. “He played really amazing this week.”Cilic faces the 167th-ranked Marco Trungelliti in the French Open’s first round.

Andy Murray celebrated his 29th birthday in style. A stunning backhand, executed almost from the stands, closed the Masters 1000 tournament final in Rome, defeating world number one, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, by the score of 6-3 6-3. It is the first title of the year for the Scot and his 12th in Masters 1000 with what he overcomes Pete Sampras in number of victories in tournaments of this category. The Scottish has played the final of all Masters 1000 tournament in the current ATP calendar with the sole exception of Monte Carlo. Only Federer, Nadal and Djokovic surpass him in this section. Most titles Masters1000 Most single finals Masters1000

Murray had a smoothly tournament where only David Goffin get him in trouble in the second set of his quarter-final match. The Scot did not miss a single set and he won the tournament losing only 25 games, matching the record for victory in the tournament with fewer games lost which Marcelo Ríos held since 1998. Italian Open records

He showed again -as we mentioned last week- the remarkable improvement on his service. He led the classification of aces in the tournament with 27 and he won a 70,12% of total service points. In addition, he led the table of return points won with an impressive 49.14%. Figures that confirm the great moment of the Scottish. Italian Open 2016 stats

In contrast, Djokovic had to battle it out to the maximum in every match. Already in the second round the French Stephane Robert put him in trouble, beating the Serb by a tight 7-5 7-5. Then, Thomaz Bellucci surprised to local and visitors scoring a 6-0 to number one in the first set of the round of 16, the tenth bagel that receives Djokovic in his entire career, last one against Federer at the final of Cincinnati 2012. Curiously, the Serbian ended up winning six of the ten matches in which he received a 6-0.

In quarters and semifinals, Djokovic fought two great battles, against Nadal and Nishikori respectively, which have probably been two of the best matches of the season. As a result, the Serbian arrived to the final with 8 hours and 29 minutes on court, by the 5 hours and 14 minutes that required the Scottish. Murray took the circumstance perfectly to dominate the final with absolute superiority.

The most spectacular Djokovic streak was cut short. He sets at 10 the number of consecutive finals won and his series of victories against top-10 stays finally at 17, surpassing the two best of Bjorn Borg, and staying as second mark in ATP history, 7 victories away from the 24 achieved by Federer since 2003 Masters until Marat Safin defeated him at semifinals of the Australia Open 2005. Although, to keep in practice, he reached a new record matching the 42 finals in Masters 1000 tournaments held by Federer and Nadal. Wins streak vs. top-10 Most finals Masters1000

Face to Roland Garros, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray have reasons to be optimistic. The world number one ends the clay tour with the title of Madrid and a balance of 9 wins and two losses. Along the way he has defeated Raonic, Nishikori twice, and Nadal, and he has a balance of 1-1 with Murray. The Scot ends with the title of Rome, Madrid final and the semifinal in Monte Carlo; he has won 12 matches and has lost two, tied to one with Nadal and Djokovic. As for Rafa Nadal, he goes into the Roland Garros with the titles of Monte Carlo and Barcelona, 15 wins and two losses and the impression that against Murray and Djokovic he had chances of winning. The three are indisputable candidates for the Paris´s throne.

Stan Wawrinka closed an unfortunate clay tour with an unexpected defeat by the hands of Juan Monaco. The Swiss only has been able to win three matches in the three Masters 1000 and he does not seem to be at his best to face the defence of his title in Paris.

On the other hand, Kei Nishikori showed again his excellent form and confirms his position of “fourth man” capable of giving an annoyance to anyone. The Japanese closes his tour with 10 wins and three losses, two against Djokovic and one with Nadal, and although he could not defeat any of the big players, in his semifinal of last Saturday with the number one showed he is not so far. The Japanese saved 25 of 30 break points in the tournament – 12 of 14 against Djokovic – and he is each time a tough nut to crack. Let us hope that this time the injuries do not frustrate the good moment which the No. 6 in the world is going through. Italian Open 2016 stats (II)

Lucas Pouille lost his qualy match against Mikhail Kukushkin, but the Jo-Wilfred Tsonga´s withdrawal got him again in the tournament as “lucky loser”. The French took the opportunity that presented him: he beat Gulbis, Ferrer – for second time this season – and he went onto semifinals without playing against Monaco. That is how he got his best result of his career. Only Thomas Johansson in Toronto 2004, had previously reached to semifinals in a M1000 as “lucky loser”. The young French is performing a great season in which looks like everything´s coming up him. He started the season as world number 78 and he will appear as number 31 on the list of May 16th. Toronto 2004 draw

David Ferrer will leave on that same list the top-10 in which he has remained since October 11th, 2010. 292 consecutive weeks makes him the 14th player with more consecutive weeks at this privilege position. These are bad times for the Spanish who still struggles to find his game. His balance of 16-9 speaks for itself. Most consecutive weeks top-10

David Goffin scored a surprising 6-0 6-0 to Tomas Berdych that, surely, will not easily forget that day. The Czech had never received a trouncing so overwhelming. In the entire ATP history, only 10 times a seeded had conceding this score. Most famous of them was the double “bagel” which Ivan Lendl scored to Jimmy Connors at semifinals of Forest Hills 1984. Connors-Lendl h2h

Roger Federer fails to overcome his physical problems and lost his match against the promising Dominic Thiem. The statements of the former number one, where questioned his participation at Roland Garros, are not a cause for optimism with a view to the immediate future. It seems that the Swiss will focus his season in Wimbledon and the Olympics Games.

This week are tournaments in Geneva and Nice with Thiem, Simon, Wawrinka and Ferrer rushing his preparation for Paris. The Musketeers Cup is waiting new owner.

Andy Murray enjoyed the perfect 29th birthday present on Sunday, puncturing Novak Djokovic’s air of dominance by beating the out-of-sorts Serb in straight sets in the final of the Italian Open in Rome.

Just a week after Djokovic had beaten him in the final of the Madrid Open, the Scot gained his revenge over the world number one in another claycourt final with a superb 6-3 6-3 win in one hour and 35 minutes.

Djokovic was not at his best and in a grumpy mood, complaining on several occasions to the umpire about the slippery court surface on a damp day at the Foro Italico. Yet the defeat, just his third of the entire season, could not be totally put down to hints of weariness from Djokovic after a tough week’s work as he told Murray afterwards: “Well done Andy, you were just too good.”

It was an emphatic triumph, after finishing runner-up in Madrid and making the semi-finals in Monte Carlo, to convince Murray that he now must have his best shot yet at winning the French Open, which begins next weekend.

In the week that Murray announced an amicable split from coach Amelie Mauresmo, this was only the second time in their last 14 meetings that he had beaten Djokovic and it was his first victory in their six duels on clay.

The light rain in the Italian capital really seemed to dampen Djokovic’s spirit as he complained to the umpire that it was “too dangerous” to continue but his appeals were brushed aside by the official, Damian Steiner.

Murray was aggressive from the start, taking command in the light drizzle, and even when Djokovic appeared to be fighting back in the second set, Murray saved break points in successive games to begin imposing himself again.

At the end, Djokovic capitulated with surprising swiftness, hitting a couple of errant forehands and a double fault at 3-5 down before Murray conjured up one inspirational backhand winner from way beyond the tramlines to lift the title.

No British man had won the Italian title since Patrick Hughes in 1931 and the triumph will put Murray into the world number two spot on Monday ahead of Roger Federer before the second of the season’s slams starts in Paris.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will face off in a second claycourt final within eight days at the Italian Open after the two in-form players proved on Saturday that they will be the ones to beat at the season’s second grand slam in Roland Garros.

Murray made it through to his first Rome final with a clinical 6-2 6-1 win over unseeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille while world number one Djokovic showed his staying power in a 2-6 6-4 7-6(5) victory over Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori.

“Any time you get the chance to play the best players, especially right before a slam, is great preparation,” Murray, who has won just one of his past 13 matches against Djokovic, told reporters.

Andy Murray raced into his second major claycourt final in a week with a comprehensive 6-2 6-1 win over outclassed Frenchman Luca Pouille at the Italian Open semi-finals on Saturday.

The Scot, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Madrid final last weekend, continued his fine form by keeping his concentration through two rain delays and taking a minute under one hour to dispose of qualifier Pouille.

The 22-year-old Frenchman has an exciting future but, at number 52 in the world, the 49-place gap with twice Grand Slam champion Murray was painfully evident in a one-sided contest.

The number two seed has yet to drop a set this week and is poised for a second straight final meeting with world number one Djokovic, who faces Kei Nishikori in his semi later on Saturday.

World number one Novak Djokovic fended off a resurgent Rafael Nadal 7-5 7-6 (4) in a pulsating battle on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open.

Nadal led Djokovic 4-2 in the first set and had five set points on serve at 5-4 in the second but his opponent held firm for a bruising clay-court victory which took two hours 24 minutes.

It was his seventh straight win over the Spaniard and 11th in 12 meetings. However, it took all of the Serb’s incredible defensive skills to withstand a much-improved performance from the nine-times French Open champion.

“I held my nerve at the clutch moments,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview.”Even though I had nervy beginnings to both sets, with some good games and good play in the crucial moments, I managed to win. It’s a straight-sets win but it feels like we played five sets.”

Coping better with a blustery wind that swirled around the Foro Italico, Nadal broke to lead 3-2 but Djokovic recovered to level at 4-4 and then won the first set on his fourth set point.

In the second set Nadal broke in the opening game and despite calling the physio because of pain in his left foot, he held his advantage to 5-4.Serving for the set he held five set points but Djokovic saved the lot and broke back, eventually sealing the match on a tiebreak. Djokovic next meets Kei Nishikori of Japan or Dominic Thiem of Austria.

Andy Murray held off a strong fightback from David Goffin to beat the Belgian 6-1 7-5 and reach the semi-finals of the Rome Masters on Friday.

In a repeat of their clash in last year’s Davis Cup final, Britain’s world number three lost just 10 points as he dominated the first set against the 12th seed.

After recovering from 3-1 down in the second set, the Briton served for the match at 5-4 only to be broken but made no mistake second time around as he clinched victory.

Having reached the semi-finals in Monte Carlo last month and the final in Madrid last week, Murray said he was enjoying himself on clay.”I always said it was the surface I enjoyed playing on the most because it is very challenging,” he added

Second seed Murray, who will regain the world number two ranking on Monday, next faces French lucky loser Lucas Pouille.

Roger Federer said ‘time was ticking’ in his battle to recover form and fitness for the French Open after losing to rising Austrian Dominic Thiem 7-6 (2) 6-4 in the third round of the Italian Open on Thursday.

The former world number one still looks way short of his best after knee and back injuries and struggled to get to grips with the 22-year-old Thiem at the Foro Italico, a week after withdrawing from the Madrid Open.

Thiem, ranked 15th, recovered from an early break and streaked into a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak before taking the opening set with a backhand winner.

He broke 34-year-old Federer’s serve again midway through the second set as he claimed the 32nd victory of a breakthrough season that saw him rise to a career-high 13th.

Seventeen-times major champion Federer, who has missed 10 weeks of the season through knee surgery, shrugged off the defeat, saying his immediate priority was the French Open that begins on May 22.

“This is like, ‘who cares about the results here?’. It matters what comes now in the next couple of months,” Federer told a news conference.”Now obviously time starts ticking more towards Paris. Clearly the way I’m playing right now is never going to be enough for a good run in Paris…I’m still confident I will be fine somehow.”

Federer, a four-times finalist in Rome, missed last week’s Madrid Open with a back problem but said there had been some encouraging signs this week.”For the first time maybe I could play a match really playing freely, trying out a few things,” he added.

Women’s top seed Serena Williams enjoyed a 7-6 (7) 6-1 victory over fellow American Christina McHale while third seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain also reached the quarter-finals by beating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.

Later on Thursday Rafael Nadal continues his build-up to the French Open when he takes on Australian Nick Kyrgios.World number one Novak Djokovic, bidding for a third consecutive Rome title, is up against Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci.

“It is known that the famous injury of Rafael Nadal, when he was retired of competition for seven months, was due to a positive control “. This phrase is part of the first sentence of the French former Minister Roselyne Bachelot.

The second was the reaffirmation of her previous comments, and her opinion was widely spread in the world of tennis and in the press. The French would have knowledge, I say, of the two famous Spanish sayings, since it is seemed she knows everything about us:  “slander as much as you like, there will always be something left” and “there is no smoke without fire”.

The only thing that surprises me a little bit is that it is a former Sports Minister who has expressed such accusations. If it wasn’t for the disservice that she does to herself and who designated her, would not be another example of what happens daily in France, United Kingdom, Spain and in a host of super modern first-world countries: the sensationalism, the shouting, the cheap show in which everyone takes part and almost all promote.

I try to be always correct and, therefore, just for that, I include myself in the previous statement and reflection that follows:

For some years already, and in a rising that not cease, have been multiplied the television shows in which the shouts, the offense and the accusations to anyone, and sometimes in the worst of the tones, enjoy the best audiences. Anyone can say whatever he wants without showing it, without proof and getting away unpunished in most cases. The television channels that promote such TV shows are actually doing their own business.

I do not blame more to them than to the whole society that enjoys such theatrical functions daily. It would be highly desirable and very progressive, that now it is a fashion word, understand that freedom of expression has nothing to do with slander and insult.

A society that wants to be really from the first world should hear good arguments. And these, are always based on some good knowledge, good reasoning and a calm disposition. All signs of a good intelligence.

I wish all the Bachelots we hear daily would be displaced by a society that relies more on Shakespeare than in the popular sayings and remind them that yours is just “much ado about nothing”.