Young Nicolas Jarry stole the show and Schwartzman wins the Rio Open 2018 Singles Title

Diego Schwartzman of Argentina ended a two-year winning drought and bagged his second ATP Tour title at Rio de Janeiro in style. The Argentine bagged his first ever ATP 500 title - Rio Open after he demolished Fernando Verdasco in straight sets by 6-2, 6-3.

“I was very patient, solid, intense, I knew he was very tired as he had played both singles and doubles,” Schwartzman said on Verdasco who won the Doubles title along with fellow countryman David Marrero on Saturday.

Nicolás Jarry reached the semi-finals for the first time

Nicolás Jarry put in his all and displayed some of his best tennis to reach the semi-final at the Rio Open, 2018. He lost to the eventual champion, Diego Schwartzman. The 22-year old’s performance reached new heights since making it to the pre-quarterfinals of Tata Open Maharashtra having reached the quarter-final and semi-final in back to back ATP tour events. He lost in the quarters of Ecuador Open (2018) to another eventual winner and fellow Tata Maharashtra Open player, Roberto Carballés Baena.

Poor start to the clay-court season for Cilic

Rio Open 2018 saw a major upset when top-seeded Marin Cilic got-off to a bad start and suffered a second-round defeat to Gael Monfils in a rain-curtailed match by 6-3, 7-6. It was Cilic's second ATP World Tour of the year post Tata Open Maharashtra, Australian Open and Davis Cup.

Rankings

It was another great week on tour for the Tata Open Maharashtra players in terms of their improvement in rankings. Kevin Anderson who pulled out of Delray Beach Open climbed to number 8. Tennys Sandgren who reached the pre-quarterfinals of Rio Open also moved two spots up to 58. But the biggest jump in rankings was by Nicolás Jarry, en-route to his first ever semi-final appearance on the ATP circuit as he outclassed many higher ranked players including Guillermo García-López, Pablo Cuevas, and Albert Ramos Viñolas which saw him jump 21 spots to a career-high ranking of 73.

Leading to the second Grand Slam of the year, French Open, the clay-court season is in full swing. Young guns in Nicolás Jarry, Nicolas Kicker, Radu Albot and Roberto Carballés Baena can be seen as great contenders to create possible upsets in the upcoming events. With Marin Cilic, still trying to settle into the slow-paced clay surface, we wish all our Tata Open Maharashtra players a good luck for the upcoming tours.