Missed out on last week’s tennis action? Then you’re in the right place. Below I recap all the big results, including how each of the four ATP and WTA Tour events were won. There was plenty of drama off the court as well, which I break down too.
Last week’s tennis results
There were three ATP events last week (one 250 and two 500s), as well as a WTA 1000. Here’s who walked away with the silverware in each:
- Doha Open (ATP 500) – Carlos Alcaraz beat Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-1
- Rio Open (ATP 500) – Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Alejandro Tabilo 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4
- Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – Sebastian Korda beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3
- Dubai Tennis Championships (WTA 1000) – Jessica Pegula beat Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4
Of the four champions last week, the two ATP 500 winners couldn’t have had more polar paths.
Alcaraz made the record books for his 50-minute dismantling of Fils – his fastest-ever victory in a final and one of the quickest in history. The win puts Alcaraz on a 12-match unbeaten streak to start 2026, and pushes him an incredible 3,000 points ahead of second-ranked Jannik Sinner in the ATP rankings.
Then there was Etcheverry, who had to play both his semi-final and final on Sunday, spending more than six hours on court. While Alcaraz claimed his 26th title, the Rio Open was Etcheverry’s maiden trophy on tour, having fallen short three times previously in finals. The Argentinian came back from a set down on three occasions in Rio, maintaining a perfect 5-0 record in tiebreaks across the tournament.
In the week’s other events, two Americans prevailed, with Korda continuing his brilliant streak of February form while Pegula showed she’s not slowing down anytime soon. Korda’s win comes off the back of a Challenger final and a deep run in Dallas last week, putting the 25-year-old in good stead to have a strong push this season.
For Pegula, she has now made the semi-finals or better in all three events she’s played in 2026.
Fonseca vows to win Rio Open
Joao Fonseca’s year hasn’t been going the way many would have hoped so far, with the Brazilian teen failing to defend his Buenos Aires title then exiting the Rio Open early.
However, he made amends to an extent by combining with 42-year-old compatriot Marcelo Melo to win the doubles title in Rio on Sunday. During his victory speech, Fonseca emotionally declared that one day he’d return and lift the singles trophy.
Withdrawals and retirements galore
With a series of newsworthy finals over the weekend, it’s easy to forget that the dominant storyline for most of this week was the incredible number of withdrawals and retirements across both tours.
Big names like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek pulled out of Dubai ahead of the event, leading many to question how genuine their injuries were. Is this the players way of responding to the perpetually packed schedules?
The men’s side of the game wasn’t hit quite so bad, but Francisco Cerundolo’s retirement in Rio meant that since the Golden Swing’s inception, no player has been able to capture the Buenos Aires x Rio double.
Rune drawing near to comeback
In positive news from last week, Holger Rune was spotted hitting on court in Doha. The Dane snapped his Achilles tendon in late 2025, but has been making a strong recovery and looks set to return in mid to late 2026.
Tiafoe sponsor drama
One of the more bizarre occurrences you’ll see on a tennis court took place last week when a chair umpire in Delray Beach was forced to black out one of Frances Tiafoe’s sponsors. Apparently there’s a limit to how much space sponsors can take up on a top, and Tiafoe had crossed that.
The next day he was seen wearing a top with sleeves, which apparently improves the material ratio and allows for more sponsors.
Ruud steps into vlogging sphere
Tennis media is shifting, with more and more players providing direct access to fans via personal blogs. Casper Ruud is the latest player to make the move into this space, with the recent father releasing one of his first vlogs last week. There’s already been some devious footage emerge from his content, with Taylor Fritz catching strays!
First ambidextrous player to win an ATP point
As the future of the one-handed backhand is on the rocks, junior Teodor Davidov made history by becoming the first player to win an ATP point… Without a backhand.
Davidov is fully ambidextrous, switching hands to hit forehands on both sides. At age 15, he won his first ATP point and will appear on the ATP rankings backhandless.
Sincaraz, Medvedev & Rublev go fishing
Enough tennis – I’ll leave you with this footage of Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev on a fishing date together.
Coming up this week
This is the final week for players to gain a bit of momentum before the Sunshine Double begins the following week. Here are the events taking place:
- Dubai Open (ATP 500)
- Mexican Open (ATP 500)
- Chile Open (ATP 250)
- Merida Open (WTA 500)
- ATX Open (WTA 250)
It’s a jam-packed week with five events in the calendar. Most of the big names will be taking the week off to prepare for Indian Wells, with Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur the biggest draws on the men’s side, and Jasmine Paolini for the women.
However, all eyes will be on Mexico, where the recent death of a cartel boss has the ATP and WTA events in serious doubt. I’ve just written a value bets piece for Acapulco – assuming it goes ahead, I expect we’ll see quite a few withdrawals and some openings for unseeded players.
