Weekly round-up: Rafael Nadal wins in Acapulco, Daniil Medvedev becomes World No. 1, Iga Swiatek triumphs in Doha
Another thrilling week of action on the ATP and WTA tours has come to an end, with some spectacular tennis being played over the last seven days. Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek triumphed in their respective tournaments, while the likes of Andrey Rublev and Sloane Stephens also stood in the winner's circle.
There were thrillers, upsets, and landmarks in the various tournaments that took place in Acapulco, Doha, Dubai, Santiago and Guadalajara.
Here's a recap of all the action that took place this past week
Nadal wins in Acapulco
Nadal continued his spectacular run of form in 2022 by triumphing at the Mexican Open in Acapulco. The Spaniard reached the semifinals of the tournament after defeating a trio of Americans in Denis Kudla, Stefan Kozlov, and Tommy Paul.
Nadal faced top seed and Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal and beat the Russian 6-3, 6-3 to seal his place in the final. Here, he beat Cameron Norrie to win his 91st singles title and third successive title of the year. Nadal thus rose to fourth in the ATP rankings.
91 and done 💪
The moment @RafaelNadal locked up his 91st career title, and fourth at Acapulco.
#AMT2022 https://t.co/xworLaTfbh
Nadal now maintains a 15-0 record in 2022 which is his best start to a season ever.
Medvedev could not win the Mexican Open but he had his moment last week by becoming the new World No.1 following Novak Djokovic's quarterfinal elimination at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The Serb was beaten by Jiri Vesely, who went on to reach the final before losing to Andrey Rublev in straight sets. The Russian lifted his 10th career singles title and moved to sixth in the ATP rankings.
Elsewhere on the ATP Tour, Pedro Martinez won the first title of his career at the Chile Open by defeating Sebastian Baez in the final. Local boy Cristian Garin was the top seed and heavy favorite to win the tournament but was eliminated in the second round by compatriot Alejandro Tabilo.
Iga Swiatek wins Qatar Open
The biggest women's tournament in February was the Qatar Open in Doha. Petra Kvitova was the reigning champion but was ousted in the second round after retiring from her match against Elise Mertens. There were a few upsets early in the competition, with Barbora Krejcikova and Paula Badosa being eliminated in the third round after losing to Jelena Ostapenko and Coco Gauff respectively.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals but was eliminated by Swiatek. The Pole was joined by Maria Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit and Ostapenko in the semifinals. Swiatek was up against Sakkari in the final four and beat her 6-4, 6-3. Kontaveit continued her good run of form of late by beating Ostapenko and reaching her second final of the year.
Swiatek eventually beat the Estonian 6-2, 6-0 to win the second WTA 1000 title of her career.
@iga_swiatek has played in two career WTA 1000 finals so far.🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek has played in two career WTA 1000 finals so far.
She has only dropped two games in them. Combined.
#QatarTennis https://t.co/b2YF4iwnZF
The Abierto Zapopan in Guadalajara had some pretty exciting encounters, with US Open champion Emma Raducanu's match against Daria Saville being the longest of this year's WTA Tour so far. However, the Brit was forced to retire due to a leg injury that will probably keep her out of action for a while. Second seed and Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys also suffered an opening-round exit after losing to Harmony Tan in three sets.
Sixth seed Sloane Stephens eventually went on to win the competition after beating Marie Bouzkova in the final.