Roger Federer is just one win away from a mind-blowing 100th career title. After difficult victories over Kohlschreiber, Verdasco and Fucsovics, he dispatched Borna Coric 6-2 6-2 to reach his 152nd final, his 10th in Dubai .

His next opponent, Stefanos Tsitsipas had a much harder time to qualify for the final: the recent Australian open semi-finalist outlast Gael Monfils, who had beaten him in the quarterfinals of the Sofia Open a few weeks ago, 4-6 7-6 7-6 to reach his second final of 2019.

Federer and Tsitsipas met once, at the Australian Open earlier this year, with the latter upsetting the 20-time Grand Slam champion. So what do you think, who will win? Will it be title number 100 for the Swiss or number 3 for the Greek?

Photo credit: Marianne Bevis, Andrew Robertson

In-form, in-love, focused, spectacular, former world number 6 Gael Monfils defeated Stan Wawrinka in an entertaining final 6-3 1-6 6-2. It was the first Rotterdam final between two unseeded players since 2008, when Michael Llodra defeated Robin Soderling.
Semi-finalist in Sofia last week, Monfils registered some solid wins over David Goffin and Daniil Medvedev in Rotterdam, and confirms his good start of the season with his 8th career title, his second ATP 500 after Washington in 2016.

It was also a good week for Wawrinka, playing in his first final since Roland Garros 2017. The Swiss, who received a wild card, defeated Paire, Raonic, Shapovalov and Nishikori en route to the final.

The defending champion was Roger Federer, but he chose not to participate this year. The number two seed, Karen Khachanov has been ousted in the first round by young Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor.

In doubles, Jérémy Chardy and Henri Kontinen teamed up to lift the trophy, beating Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 7-6 7-6.

Photo credit: ABN AMRO WTT Instagram

Read more:
– Rotterdam 2019: Stan Wawrinka advances to the final
– Rotterdam 2019: Tsitsipas ousted by Dzumhur
– Rotterdam 2018: the title and the number one ranking for Federer

3-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka is back in top form: he defeated number one seed Kei Nishikori in a thrilling 3-set match to advance to the Rotterdam final. Nishikori was bidding to reach his second final of the season, following his victory in Brisbane last month.

The Swiss had beaten his friend Benoît Paire and then Canadians Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov to reach the last 4. It will be his second Rotterdam final – he claimed the title here in 2015 defeating Tomas Berdych – his first final since his loss to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros 2017.

In the other semifinal Gael Monfils took his revenge over Daniil Medvedev, who had took the better of him in the semifinals of the Sofia Open last week. Like Wawrinka, Monfils will play his second Rotterdam final – he lost to Martin Klizan in 2016, and his 29th overall. The Frenchman has a terrible record, having only won 7 out of 28 finals (16 out of 28 for the Swiss).

Photo credit: Marianne Bevis

A few weeks ago he defeated Roger Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open, and later advanced to the semifinals where he was ousted by Rafael Nadal:

But today Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to world number 56 Damir Dzumhur – who had not won a match this year – in the first round of the Rotterdam tournament. Dzumhur will meet Mikhail Kukushkin for a place in the quarter-finals against Gael Monfils. The Frenchman booked his place in the last eight with a 3-set win over Andreas Seppi.

In the other matches today, recent Sofia Open champion Daniil Medvedev, who turned 23 on Monday, defeated Jérémy Chardy, while Stan Wawrinka secured his place in the quarterfinals with a straight set win over Milos Raonic.

Photo credit: Andrew Robertson, Marianne Bevis

Read more:
– Rotterdam 2018: the title and the number one ranking for Roger Federer
– Rotterdam 2017: lucky 13 for Tsonga

“I want to win. Every tournament I play I want to win. I’m happy with my performance and happy with my game right now.”

Runner-up in Brisbane, winner in Sofia, Daniil Medvedev is one of the player to follow. He defeated Robin Haase, Martin Klizan, Gael Monfils and Marton Fucsovics en route to the Sofia title, his fourth overall, all won on hard courts. For sure, he’s not the best-known NextGen player, but he’s in constant progress and about to break into the Top 10.

Marton Fucsovics advanced to his second ATP Tour final by beating Andreas Seppi, Yannick Maden, and Matteo Berrettini – he benefited from Bautista Agut’s forfeit in the quarter-finals. Fucsovics triumphed in Geneva last year to become the first male Hungarian player to win an ATP title since Balazs Taroczy in 1982.

Mirza Basic was the defending champion,  but lost to Martin Klizan in the first round. Number one seed Karen Khachanov lost to Matteo Berrettini in the second round. Number two seed and recent Australian Open semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten in straight sets in the quarter-finals by a resurgent Gael Monfils.

Nikola Mektic and Jurgen Melzer defeated Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Christopher Rungkat to win their first team title. It was only their third tournament as a duo.

Thanks to Yulian Todorov for the pictures.