Game Week 9 Roundup

 

Two events in Game Week 9.    For the men we had the first of the  three Masters Events that grace the clay court swing - Monte Carlo and with a lot of the women on Billie Jean King Cup duty, there was only one 500 event taking place on indoor clay courts in Linz Austria.

Monte Carlo delivered a dream semi final line up!

Jannik Sinner fresh from winning the two Masters Event which make up the Sunshine Double was on a mission to win his first claycourt Masters title.  There was a minor blip when he appeared to be under the weather in his match against Tomáš Macháč resulting in the loss of the 2nd set but he found a way through and was in better shape in his Quarter Final against Auger Aliassime which he won in straights.

His opponent in the semi final Alexander Zverev also had a scare in his opening match.  The Chilean actually led 5-2 in the deciding set but couldn't see the match out and Zverev managed to survive. Zverev has often struggled in Monte Carlo despite his clay skills, the conditions there aren't ideal for his game. Nevertheless he came through more comfortably against Bergs and prevailed in an entertaining battle with rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca to make the semi finals.

No 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz was looking at home on the clay and comfortably saw off Baez in his opening match.  Another Argentinian followed in the 3rd round in the shape of Tomas Martin Etcheverry who has won more matches on clay than anybody this year.  It was little surprise then that he tested Alcaraz by taking the second set in their encounter but Carlos came through and then demolished Bublik in the Quarter Finals for the loss of just 3 games.

So with the top three seeds in the semi finals, the perfect quartet was to be made by the local hero Valentin Vacherot.  The Monagesque Maestro had shocked the tennis world with his remarkable events at the end of 2025 and now he was ready to do it at his home tournament backed by the enthusiastic fans. He had a few battles along the way coming back from a set down to beat the younger Cerundolo brother in Round 1.  In Round 2 he scored an impressive win over Lorenzo Musetti who is perhaps still finding his feet after the injury lay off.  Thrilling three set battles with Hurkacz and De Minaur followed which was to secure a semi final spot for Vacherot against Alcaraz.  

The semi finals didn't really deliver too much drama.  Sinner really seems to have Zverev's number these days and the big German never really looked as if he believed he could change that pattern. Sinner cruised to an easy 6-1, 6-4 win.    In the other semi final Vacherot had his moments and certainly gave a spirited performance against Alcaraz but ultimately also went down in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. 

And so there it was - the first Sincaraz showdown of the year was upon us.  Stattos churned out remarkable stats about their head to head record in advance of the showdown.  The no 1 spot in the rankings was on the line.  Carlos, given his clay court prowess was a marginal favourite although Sinner had shown in last years French Open final that he's more than a match for the Spaniard on the clay. THe stage was set.

It wasn't a classic if truth be told. Both players struggled to produce their best tennis in windy conditions and there were plenty of unforced errors that seemed out of keeping in a showdown between these two.  Sinner won a tight 1st set on the tie break and then always seemed control of the 2nd set and Alcaraz struggled to mount any kind of resistance. This was definitely a setback on Carlos. He lost the no 1 ranking and as he pointed out to his good friend at the net - Sinner is now beating him on hardcourt, grass and clay - a worrying situation which the Alcaraz will be trying to find a solution to over then next few months.

And so to Linz.  Mirra Andreeva who has had her ups and downs this season decided to take a late wild card for this event and immediately had FTL Managers revising their trading plans for the week. It seemed to the biggest threat to her at this event would come from Sorana Cirstea who is playing some great tennis in her final year on the tour.

Unfortunately for both they were scheduled to meet in the Quarter Final and not surprisingly it was a tight affair with Andreeva battling to a 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 victory. Andreeva was to face another Romanian in the semi final in the shape of Gabriela Ruse who was having a great week scoring wins over Boulter, Yastremska and Ostapenko.  Perhaps hampered by physical issues, she battled bravely but Ruse was no match for Andreeva.

There was an all Austrian battle in the Quarter Finals.  Anastasia Potapova has been living in Austria for a few years now and has recently taken in Austrian citizenship and she was to take on the talented youngster Lilli Tagger.  After a tight first set, Potapova delivered a bagel in set 2 to secure the match and she followed that up with a comfortable win over Donna Vekic in the semi final.

And so it was too former compatriots that were to meet in the final - Potapova and Andreeva.  But Potapova was now the home girl and she certainly seemed to have saved her best tennis till last as she stormed to a 6-1 first set.  Andreeva's temperament has been questionable sometimes this year but she stayed calm and kept herself interested in this match waiting for Potapova's level to drop and it did - just enough for Andreeva to wrestle control of the match and taking the second and third sets.

A useful weeks work for Andreeva which delivered a trophy and some confidence boosting wins to set her up nicely for the clay season ahead.

FTL results

Here are the Global Standings for Game Week 9

With most of the top ranked players delivering, it was always going to be a high scoring game week and eventual Game Week Winners - Keys to Victory actually managed to break the 600 mark. 

Congratulations to Faris Muhammed who's total of 615 points was enough to win the game week by a comfortable margin. Taylor Andrew (Stripes) was the best of the rest on 591 point with Swift Team, State of the Serve and Heated Rivals making up the top 5. 

Here is the head to head between the top two. 

Two very similar teams if truth be told.  Both had Sincaraz but crucially Faris played Sinner as Captain which in itself maybe wasn't the deciding factor in winning the game week but it feels like his win was even more deserved because of that bold choice.  Both also had Zverev, Casper Ruud and popular dark horse pick Fonseca as well as having Linz winner Andreeva.  Game Week champ Faris also had Lehecka and FAA chipping in with reasonable totals.

Game Week 8 Roundup

 

Winners from left to right (win

ATP Houston  Tommy Paul,   

WTA Bogota    Marie Bouzkova

ATP Marrakech  Rafael Jodar

WTA Charleston  Jess Pegula

ATP Bucharest   Mariano Navone  

Game Week 8 gave us plenty of entertainment and storylines, its difficult to know where to begin. 

WTA Charleston

Lets start with the WTA 500 event in Charleston where Jess Pegula was defending the title she won in 2025.  Jess has been on terrific form this season having won the WTA 1000 event in Dubai and she got to the Quarter Finals of both the Sunshine Doubles event so she went into Charleston as a popular pick and favourite to win the event. 

In 2026, Jess decided to take the scenic route to the final.  Right from her opening match she found herself on the backfoot against the tricky Putintseva but she came back from losing the 1st set and significant deficits in set 2 and set 3 to prevail.  It was the same story in her next match against Cocciaretto.  She lost the first set 6-1 but bounced back by the same margin in set 2 before again trailing in set 3 before finally getting over the line in a tie break.  Again in her 4th Round match, she lost the 1st set to Diana Shnaider but bounced back to contine the defence of her title. In the semi final against talented youngster Iva Jovic, Jess changed the script a little and won the 1st set but once again her opponent came after her, taking the 2nd set and going a break up in the 3rd set before Jess took control.  And so miraculously Jess found herself in the final but she had used up a few lives in the process.  

Her opponent in the final would be Yulia Starodubtseva, a Ukranian player who has had to fight her way through the lower rankings of WTA tennis for some time but 2026 seems to be a real breakout year for her. Yulia had already been two Americans (Kessler and Keys) en route to the final but she was no match for Pegula in the final as Jessica saved her best performance of the week till last scoring a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory.  

ATP Houston

Another American leading a charmed life this week was Tommy Paul in Houston.  Tommy came from a set down in hs opening match against Vallejo and he had the rub of the green in his semi final against Frances Tiafoe where a couple of fortunate bounces made all the difference in a tight final set tie break.

His opponent in the final was to be Ramon Burruchaga (who's father Jorge scored the winning goal for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup Final).  Burruchaga has already taken out three Americans (Damm, Nakashima and Tien) before crushing his compatriot Tirante in the semi final.

Burruchaga would have gone into the final as the underdog and the writing seemed on the wall after Paul raced to the first set 6-1.  But Burrachaga bounced back taking the 2nd set and found himself serving for the match at 5-3 in the decider.  Three match points came and went before Paul broke back and from there he would go on to turn the set in his favour taking it 7-5.  The Argentinian was understandably distraught.

ATP Bucharest

It was better news for another Argentinian Mariano Navone as he won his first ATP title at the third attempt.  He was actually runner up at the Tiriac Open in 2024 so his victory over the qualifer Daniel Merida would have felt sweet. Navone had come from a set down to bear Molcan in the quarters and Van de Zandschulp in the semis and he needed three sets again in the final running out a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 winner.

ATP Marrakech

At the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech is was a tale of young and old.  

Marco Trungelliti (another Argentian) had a sensational week for a player who at the age of 36 had never even been in the top 100. He set that right in Marrakech and not only that, he went one step further with a remarkable win over the top seed Luciano Darderi in the semi final to make his first ATP final setting all sorts of records in the process.

On the other side of the draw it was a youngster that was making waves. Rafael Jodar may be familiar to some of you after his impressive appearance at the next gen finals last year and he has been playing pretty well on the main tour this season.  This was a breakout tournament for him. He stood out in this event due to his fearless aggressive brand of tennis which shocked opponents more used to grinding in long rallies on the clay.

Jodar was just too much for poor old Trungelliti in the final, cruising to a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win. Jodar was also a popular pick this week in FTL

WTA Bogota

The WTA event in Colombia has developed a cult like status and has been dubbed the Bogota slam. FTLers are well aware of the history of the event and the dominance held there by home favourite Camila Osorio (3 titles) and veteran German Tatjana Maria (2 titles)

So, many FTL Managers will automatically lock in Osorio for this game week with some even captaining her. Some went with Maria due to her credentials and some others also picked the other Colombian favourite Arango.

Easy points right?  Not this year - Osorio (possibly hampered by injury) managed to struggle through her first match but was shockingly bounced out in a fairly feeble display against the Argentinian qualifier Jazmin Ortenzi.  Tatjana went out at the same stage to the dangerous Pole Katerzyna Kawa. 

Easy to say in retrospect but for many of us it was pure folly to overlook the no 1 seed - Marie Bouzkova who lived up to her ranking by cruising to the final where she would meet the Hungarian Panna Udvardy. Udvardy surprised her by taking the first set but Bouzkova came back and would eventually prevail 6-7, 6-2, 6-2.  Those that were wise enough to select Marie were rewarded handsomely. 

Here are the Global League Standings for the Game Week

Massive congrats to Swift Team (Melissa) who were top of the pile this week with 499 points with Smashing Pumpkins (Igor Masa) the best of the rest.  Here is the head to head between the two. 

Both teams had 3 of the winners in an incredible week.  Melissa captained Pegula and also had Bouzkova and Jodar.   Igor (who remarkably achieved his total while only being able to field 6 players) had Bouzkova as Captain and Navone and Jodar with decent back up from semi finalists Jovic and Darderi. 

Congrats to the level 2 prize winner Hail to the Victors (Greg) who just pipped the OG Stanimals (Preston) to the game week prize.  

Greg had three winners backing Pegula as Captain and also had Tommy Paul and Rafa Jodar.   Preston also had three winners with Bouzkova, Paul and the inspired pick of Starodubtseva.