2019 ATP Tour mid-season review: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic create history

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Wimbledon Champions Dinner

With the end of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, the first half of the tennis season also drew to a close.

29 different players won the 39 tournaments played in the first half of the season which consisted of 3 Grand Slams, 5 ATP Masters 1000s, 7 ATP 500s and 24 ATP 250s.

Here's a lowdown on the various winners and other interesting facts related to the tournaments.

Most Titles

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have both won a tour-leading 3 titles.

Dominic Thiem, Cristian Garin, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Benoit Paire, Rafael Nadal, and Matteo Berrettini have triumphed 2 times.

21 other players have hoisted the champion's trophy once.

Following a record 19 different winners to start the season, Federer, with his 4th Miami title, became the first player this season to win multiple titles. The Swiss is also the only player to have contested a tour-leading five tournament finals.

First-time Winners

A record 11 players won their first career title during the first half of the 2019 season. They are listed below:

1. Tennys Sandgren (Auckland)
2. Alex De Minaur (Sydney)
3. Juan Ignacio Londero (Cordoba)
4. Reilly Opelka (New York)
5. Laslo Djere (Rio de Janeiro)
6. Radu Albot (Delray Beach)
7. Guido Pella (Sao Paulo)
8. Cristian Garin (Houston)
9. Adrian Mannarino (s-Hertogenbosch)
10. Taylor Fritz (Eastbourne)
11. Lorenzo Sonego (Antalya)

With the exception of Djere, who won his maiden title at an ATP 500 event, all the other players won their respective titles in ATP 250 tournaments.

Grand Slams

Novak Djokovic (2) and Rafael Nadal won the three Grand Slam events held thus far.

1) Australian Open

Djokovic brushed aside Nadal in straight sets to win a record 7th Australian Open.

Djokovic overcomes Nadal in straight sets to win record 7th Australian Open

2) French Open

In the second Grand Slam of the year, held in Paris, Nadal unleashed 'beast mode' to triumph for a staggering 12th time at the French Open, defeating Dominic Thiem yet again.

Nadal bested Thiem in a second consecutive French Open final

3) Wimbledon

Djokovic survived a scare from eight-time champion Federer, saving two Championship points, to lift his 5th Wimbledon title in what is considered one of the greatest matches of all time.

This was the first time in 71 years that a player had saved multiple championship points and then gone on to win the title.

Djokovic saved two Championship points to deny Federer a ninth Wimbledon title

ATP Masters 1000s

1) Indian Wells: Federer came up short in a second consecutive Indian Wells final as Thiem battled past the Swiss in three sets to win his first Masters 1000 title.

2) Miami: Federer became the first player to win multiple titles in 2019 by beating defending champion John Isner to lift a fourth Miami crown.

3) Monte Carlo: Fabio Fognini lifted his first Masters 1000 trophy as he bested first-time finalist Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.

4) Madrid: Djokovic won his first Masters 1000 title of the season and 33rd overall (second only to Nadal's 34) by beating Thiem in the final.

5) Rome: Following three successive semifinal reverses on his favorite red dirt, Nadal overcame familiar foe Djokovic in the final to lift a record 9th Rome title.

ATP Masters 500s

1) Rotterdam: Gael Monfils emerged victorious for only the 8th time in his career, defeating Stan Wawrinka in the final.

2) Rio de Janeiro: Serbia's Laslo Djere beat fellow first-time finalist Felix Auger Aliassime to win his first career title.

3) Dubai: Federer claimed title No. 100, only the second player in the Open Era to achieve the feat, by trumping his Australian Open 4th-round conqueror Stefanos Tsitsipas to lift his 8th title in the desert.

Federer tamed young gun Tsitsipas to win his 100th career singles title

4) Acapulco: The mercurial Nick Kyrgios beat Nadal, Wawrinka, Isner and Alexander Zverev in successive matches to win his first title in over two years.

5) Barcelona: Following his victory over Nadal in the semifinals, Thiem won his second title of the year by conceding only four games to young Russian Daniil Medvedev in the title match.

6) Halle: Federer went one better than the previous year, defeating David Goffin in the final to win a record 10th title at the event and a record 19th title on grass.

7) London: Hours after Federer had lifted a tenth title in Halle, wildcard and 2017 champion Feliciano Lopez rolled back the years to overcome Gilles Simon in a deciding-set tiebreak and emerge triumphant on the grass at Queen's for a second time. Lopez combined with Andy Murray in the men's doubles to complete the first 'double' at Queen's in over 20 years.

37-year-old wildcard Feliciano Lopez poses with his trophy haul: 2nd Queen's singles title and first doubles title won with Andy Murray

Other Tidbits

Oldest Title winner: Roger Federer (37 years 10 months) in Halle.

Oldest Finalist: Ivo Karlovic (39 years 11 months) lost to Anderson in the Pune final after squandering match points.

Oldest Match Winner: Ivo Karlovic (40 years 4 months). Beat Andrea Arnaboldi in the Wimbledon first round.

Youngest Title winner: Alex de Minaur (19 years 11 months) in Sydney.

Youngest Finalist: Felix Auger Aliassime (18 years 6 months) in Rio de Janeiro.

Youngest Match Winner: Jannik Sinner (17 years 9 months) beat Steve Johnson in Rome first round.

Most wins in the season: Roger Federer (38).

Longest Winning Streak: Rafael Nadal (17).

Worst Losing Streak: Tennys Sandgren (9).

Milestone Win: Federer won the 1200th match of his career by defeating Kevin Anderson in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters.

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