Hey, Tennis Pro! It is Wednesday!

Stan the Man. For those of us who had the opportunity to sit down and watch some tennis on Monday, the matchup between Stan Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet was a rare and nostalgic one to witness. The Antwerp public had the right judgment to recognize the magnitude of the clash and it felt quite a special vibe even for a first round match of an ATP 250. An excellent game of single-handed backhands that turned favorable to the Frenchman who at times saw the match tilt in favor of the Swiss. Stan has had an irregular year, mostly with early exits in the first rounds and with an overall negative record of 6-11.

Nonetheless, it's still amazing to see him walk out on the court. Keep it up Stan!

Now that I have been delving into the world of tennis statistics, I'm struck by the huge presence that John McEnroe has in the history of most of the tournaments on tour. This man is always listed as one of the biggest winners and with better performance than any other. You could say, "Well, obviously, he's one of the best in history!" And I completely agree with you on that. I'm just surprised to see him at the top of the list no matter what tournament I analyze. Phew... Massive respect, John!

In this graph, we only see two active players: Denis Shapovalov and Juan Martín del Potro (if Juan Martín could be considered active). It pains me to see the Tower of Tandil so present and so absent at the same time on the tour. I have always believed that the Argentine's knee injury did more damage to tennis world than we can see.

Frente arriba, Juan Martin!

Mikael Ymer fever @Stockholm

ATP tournaments are known for featuring rising local stars and Sweden is no exception. On this occasion, Mikael Ymer is the one who has the Nordics excited in this new edition of Stockholm's ATP 250. Just today the 24-year-old Swede beat Frenchman Halys in three sets after coming from behind in the first third of the match.

As far as it goes, Ymer is certainly a reason to get excited for the Swedes. Although he has not obtained a championship since entering the tour eight years ago, 2022 has been an optimistic year for the current best player from Swedish lands. So far this year, he has reached three semi-finals, the most recent just last week in Firenze, where he ran into American JJ Wolf who ended up losing the final against Felix Auger Aliassime.

Ymer had a good start in his local tournament and has the support of the locals. Now he will face an eight seed Tommy Paul to show what he's really made of and continue with the illusion of taking home the trophy that has not been obtained since 2004 by his compatriot Thomas Johansson.

Yesterday’s Spotlight

🔝 ATP 250 Stockholm Open

🇸🇪 L. Borg / 🇺🇸 T. Paul [7/5, 4/6, 1/6]

🇫🇷 Q. Halys / 🇸🇪 M. Ymer [7/5, 4/6, 3/6]

🇨🇿 J. Lehecka / 🇧🇬 G. Dimitrov [6/4, 1/6, 7/6]

🔝 ATP 250 Antwerp Open

🇧🇪 G. Bailly / 🇧🇪 D. Goffin [6/7, 7/5, 4/6]

🇨🇭 M. Huesler / 🇦🇷 F. Cerúndolo [7/5, 6/7, 3/6]

🇳🇱 B. van de Zandschulp / 🇨🇭 D. Stricker [2/6, 4/6]

What’s cooking today…

🔝 ATP 250 Stockholm Open

🇷🇺 A. Karatsev / 🇬🇧 C. Norrie

🇨🇭 A. Bellier / 🇨🇦 D. Shapovalov

🇬🇷 S. Tsitsipas / 🇺🇸 M. Cressy

🔝 ATP 250 Antwerp Open

🇪🇸 J. Munar / 🇯🇵 Y. Nishioka

🇧🇪 M. Geerts / 🇦🇹 D. Thiem

🇵🇱 H. Hurkacz / 🇬🇧 J. Draper