Hey, Tennis Pro! Have a great week kickoff.

Weekend rundown. Last week's tournaments are done until next time and Djokovic secures his second consecutive trophy in two weeks in Kazakhstan, while Tay Tay Fritz obtains his 3rd title of the year in Tokyo, signing the perfect ATP trifecta with an ATP 250, an ATP 500 and a Masters 1000 win in 2022. Fritz, what a year!

Tokyo mental note. I was watching the last stages face-offs in the Tokyo Open over the weekend (the time difference was less aggressive than the Astana schedule) and it astonished me how Japanese culture is constantly reflected throughout the tournament. The court looks clean, the aesthetics are embodied in the tone, the choice of colors, the sponsors, and even the fans transmit a more respectful style with discreet applause between points. Tokyo marks down its own personal touch upon its tournament and takes the visual beauty of the game to another level.

We all know that Novak is one of the most effective players on tour (and in history), but I wanted to know how much his performance changes as he progresses through the different stages of a tournament. I see three main insights in the stats.

a) Djokovic's game is quite similar in the round of 16 and the quarter-finals. The numbers of hits and misses are remarkably parallel in this pair of stages.

b) The semi-final playbook for Novak is to play it safe. He minimizes his number of unforced errors, and this is also reflected in a lower winner count. Novak is not taking any risks in the penultimate stage.

c) Finals are the full unleashed Novak show. Just look at that number of winners in championship games! It shows of Djokovic allowing his arm to blow up and affording his level of play to be displayed at its maximum.

Bottom line: it works. Nole knooows how to play a tournament from beginning to end.

Tsitsipas is the biggest ATP 500 loser

Well, not the BIGGEST loser... but the 6th place in most ATP 500 finals lost in the Open Era. Now that the confetti has settled from Djokovic's celebrations who confirmed his excellent form in Astana, we are left with the uncomfortable fact that Stefanos simply cannot win finals. He continues to fuel the negative record of 10-14 in the last match at all levels and his inability to win an ATP 500 is striking, with a history of 0 trophies in 9 attempts at this level of competition.

From my personal point of view, Tsitsipas is a top level player when he is in low pressure situations or the match allows him to take the lead and gain momentum. He looks confident, takes risks and takes the initiative, on many occasions showing a level worthy of a Grand Slam winner. However, it is characteristic of the Greek his great difficulty for overcoming game casualties in a tight match, and ends up dragging this demon for the rest of the meeting. He allows himself to be consumed by the low moment and begins to despair, even showing signs of annoyance and apathy that prevent him from showing his best level.

I am convinced that this issue is 100% mental in the case of Stefanos and as we see him mature as a player his results will surely go up, capitalizing more and more on the great championship opportunities in which he constantly positions himself.

Yesterday’s Spotlight

ATP 500 Astana Open

🇬🇷 Tsitsipas S. / 🇷🇸 Djokovic N. [3/6, 4/6] 🏆

ATP 500 Rakuten Japan Open

🇺🇸 Tiafoe F. / 🇺🇸 Fritz T. [6/7, 6/7] 🏆

What’s cooking today…

🔝 ATP 250 Firenze Open

🇷🇺 A. Karatsev / 🇳🇱 T. Griekspoor

🇨🇴 D. Galán / 🇪🇸 R. Carballés Baena

🔝 ATP 250 Gijón Open

🇦🇷 S. Baez / 🇫🇷 C. Lestienne

🇦🇹 D. Thiem / 🇵🇹 J. Sousa

🇪🇸 M. Landaluce / 🇺🇸 T. Paul