Take Five: Austin Krajicek wins Monte Carlo doubles crown, rises to world No. 3
Welcome to Take Five, a weekly series on USTA.com recapping five of the biggest stories from American tennis over the last week on the professional tennis circuit. While the United States Billie Jean King Cup team won a Qualifier on home soil, Taylor Fritz made the semi-finals in Monte Carlo, Austin Krajicek won the doubles title at the same event, and David Wagner won a third title in as many weeks South Korea.
Krajicek is doubles king in Monte Carlo
Austin Krajicek won the ninth and biggest title of his career on Sunday at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, teaming with Croatia's Ivan Dodig. Regular partners since last April, the duo has won five ATP trophies together—but none more dramatic than this one in Monaco.
In a thrilling final, Krajicek and Dodig saved two match points against wild cards Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn to score a 6-0, 4-6, [14-12] win.
“We played great,” Krajicek said after the victory, as quoted on ATPTour.com. “I mean, obviously being in a beautiful place like this, it’s hard not to feel good. I thought we played good tennis all week. Served well and played well on the big moments.
"Today, those guys came up with some good stuff in the second set and when there’s a tiebreaker it’s always a little bit of a coin flip. So you just never know and it came down to a few points there at the end. Luckily, we were able to get it to go our way today.”
Ivan Dodig (left) and Austin Krajicek . Photo by Clive Brinskill/Getty Images
With the victory, Krajicek moved up six places in the ATP rankings to a new career high of world No. 3.
Wagner completes Korean treble
David Wagner capped a dominant three-week run in South Korea by winning his third straight ITF quad title in the Asian nation. Following trophy triumphs in Busan and Daegu to start the month, the 49-year-old American stretched his win streak to 10 by claiming another title in Seoul.
After opening his campaign with two straight double-bagels, Wagner came from behind to beat Aussie Heath Davidson, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 in the semis. In the final, he beat Dutchman Sam Schroder 7-5, 6-4, coming back from 4-0 down in the opening set to down the world No. 2.
Team USA advances to Billie Jean King Cup Finals
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula led the United States Billie Jean King Cup team to a 4-0 sweep in a Qualifier against Austria. With victory in Delray Beach, the South Florida city Gauff calls home, the U.S. advanced to Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals.
"I wanted to protect the house," Gauff said after beating Julia Grabher to open the tie on Friday. "I had a very warm welcome, which I knew that was going to happen. It was a very special moment out there for me today playing for my country, my home city."
Pegula clinched the tie with two singles wins of her own between Friday and Saturday, the top-ranked American beating Sinja Kraus on Friday and Grabher on Saturday.
With victory assured, Gauff and Caty McNally teamed up for a doubles win to complete the shutout. The U.S. won all eight sets played in the tie.
Fritz makes history with Monte Carlo SF run
One year after reaching the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo, Taylor Fritz progressed to the semifinals at the Monaco event to earn his best career result on a clay court. The American upset two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4 in a dominant quarterfinal victory—his first Top 10 win on clay—before falling to eventual champ Andrey Rublev in three sets.
By reaching the last four, Fritz became the first American man in 20 years to advance to that stage in Monte Carlo. The result also helped him maintain his position inside the ATP's Top 10.
Dolehide, Kwiatkowski win USTA Pro Circuit titles
Caroline Dolehide won the ITF World Tennis Tour W25 event in Boca Raton, Fla., last week, capping her run with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Hailey Baptiste in an all-American final on Sunday. The fifth seed knocked out top seed Emma Navarro in a three-set quarterfinal and did not lose a set in any other match.
American Sachia Vickery also reached the semis in Boca Raton, losing to Baptiste. In the doubles event, second seeds Jamie Loeb and Makenna Jones beat Sofia Sewing and Hungarian Fanni Stollar 5-7, 6-3, [10-8] to win the title.
At the ITF M15 event in Sunrise, Fla., Thai-Son Kwiatkowski claimed the trophy without dropping a set. He beat Jaycer Lyeons, 7-6(8), 6-1, in an all-American semi-final and downed Tristan McCormick, 6-4, 7-6(5), in an all-U.S. final. In doubles, Sekou Bengoura teamed with Great Britain's Blu Baker to beat Americans Jared Thompkins and Leonardo Vega in the final, 6-1, 6-3.
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