Ben Shelton saves three championship points to walk away from Dallas with the trophy.

The South American Golden Swing faces an uncertain future.

And, Alex de Minaur and Francisco Cerundolo both get "third time lucky."

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🏆 Houdini Act Ben Shelton saves three championship points at 4-5 in the 3rd set, then wins 10 of the last 13 points to clip Taylor Fritz, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, in the Dallas final. It's the 23yo's fourth career ATP title and first on indoor hardcourt. Shelton fought through four deciding sets all week and is now 11-4 in 3-setters since the start of 2025.

📰 Golden Crossroads The South American Golden Swing may be playing for its future. ATP chief Andrea Gaudenzi visited the Argentine Open this weekend and heads to Rio on Monday, his first visit to the region as head of the ATP Tour. Buenos Aires tournament director Martin Jaite tells CLAY the ATP wants to maintain the swing, but a Saudi Arabia Masters 1000 is expected in February 2028, threatening all three weeks. Buenos Aires is pushing for an upgrade to ATP 500.

🏆 Lucky Third Alex de Minaur cruises past Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-3, 6-2, to win the ATP 500 in Rotterdam after losing the previous two finals to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The Aussie never faced a break point, snapping Auger-Aliassime's 39-game service hold streak, and will climb to world #6 on Monday.

🏆 No Place Like Home Francisco Cerundolo dispatches Luciano Darderi, 6-4, 6-2, to win Buenos Aires after runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2025. The 27yo now leads all players with 46 clay wins since the start of 2024. For his efforts, Darderi will climb to a career-high world #21.

🏆 Junior Graduate Alina Korneeva claims her first WTA 125 title at the Oeiras Indoors, defeating former UGA superstar Darja Vidmanova, 7-5, 6-1. The 18yo wildcard won junior slams at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2023 but saw her progress stalled by injuries. Korneeva will leap 26 spots to #131, just shy of her previous career high of #128.

🚨 Day 1 VIPs in UAE We're already done with a full day of play in Dubai. Leylah Fernandez rallies from a set down to upset #13 seed Liudmila Samsonova, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, dropping the Russian to 0-5 in three-setters this season. Barbora Krejcikova wins a rematch of the 2021 Roland-Garros final, taking down Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 6-4. And, Alexandra Eala advances when Hailey Baptiste retires trailing 6-4, 0-1. Karolina Muchova and Zheng Qinwen both withdrew just before play started on Sunday.

📰 Withdrawal Symptoms Speaking of late withdrawals, Dubai WTA 1000 tournament director Salah Tahlak is pretty pissed about it. Tahlak calls for ranking point deductions when top players bail out at the last minute after world #1 Aryna Sabalenka and world #2 Iga Swiatek both skipped this year's event.

🔥 Eight Straight Abu Dhabi champion Sara Bejlek extends her Middle East winning streak to eight with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Zeynep Sonmez in her Dubai debut. The 20yo holds from 0-40 down in a key 2nd-set service game and looks right at home in her first matches as a Top 40 player.

👀 Still Hungry Carlos Alcaraz returns to action in Doha for the first time since completing the career slam in Melbourne. The world #1 tells media he sees weaknesses in his game and knows rivals are studying him. Jannik Sinner joins as the #2 seed. Djokovic withdraws. Alcaraz opens against Arthur Rinderknech, Sinner faces Tomas Machac.

🎾 Six Pack The Rio Open features a record six Brazilians in the main draw: Joao Fonseca, Thiago Monteiro (Q), Igor Marcondes (Q), plus wildcards Gustavo Heide, Luis Miguel, and Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva. Monteiro qualifies with a comeback win over Dusan Lajovic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. The catch? He faces Fonseca in R1.

"It feels amazing. I thank God, because I needed something super natural to end up winning this tournament with all the holes that I was in." - Ben Shelton on winning Dallas ¹

"Third time lucky. Super stoked, super happy. It ended up being a great week here in Rotterdam, a place where I always feel really, really good." - Alex de Minaur on winning his first indoor title ²

"Probably the best moment of my career so far. I really wanted to win here in my hometown, in my country, with my friends and family." - Francisco Cerundolo on winning Buenos Aires ³

"I just see myself with weaknesses. A lot of players, I know that they're trying to catch me up in terms of they are studying my game. I have to be ready for that." - Carlos Alcaraz ahead of his Doha return ⁴

"Eight straight wins sounds great! I'm very happy how I'm playing on the court, and how I'm feeling." - Sara Bejlek after her Dubai debut win ⁵

"I caught myself that I was actually feeling a lot of adrenaline, a lot of excitement in the third set. That doesn't happen often." - Mirra Andreeva on her Doha loss to Victoria Mboko ⁶

"I think a fine will not do anything. I feel they should deduct points from the players. A monetary fine won't help." - Salah Tahlak, Dubai tournament director, on late withdrawals ⁷

"I don't think it's fair for players to get docked points. If anything, we should have an optional 1000 like the men do with Monte-Carlo." - Coco Gauff in response ⁸

"The ATP wants to maintain and promote the South American tour. He told us that he wants the tour to continue and that the dates should not be changed." - Martin Jaite, Buenos Aires tournament director, on Gaudenzi's visit ⁹

Dubai (WTA 1000) - 1st Round

Center Court

◆ Emma Navarro (14) vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Q)

◆ Clara Tauson (12) vs Sofia Kenin

◆ Belinda Bencic (9) vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

◆ Victoria Mboko (11) vs Jaqueline Cristian

◆ Amanda Anisimova (2) vs Barbora Krejcikova

New Court 1

◆ Iva Jovic (16) vs Kamilla Rakhimova (LL)

◆ Sorana Cirstea vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Q)

◆ Leylah Fernandez vs Janice Tjen (WC)

◆ Jelena Ostapenko vs Anna Kalinskaya

◆ Paula Badosa vs Katerina Siniakova

Court 2

◆ Varvara Gracheva (Q) vs Rebecca Sramkova (Q)

◆ Daria Kasatkina vs Laura Siegemund

◆ Moyuka Uchijima (Q) vs Anastasia Zakharova (LL)

◆ Emma Raducanu vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Q)

QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN — ATP 500

Center Court

◆ Alexei Popyrin vs Mubarak Shannan Zayid (WC)

◆ Jakub Mensik (6) vs Jan Choinski (Q)

◆ Jannik Sinner (2) vs Tomas Machac

◆ Daniil Medvedev (4) vs Juncheng Shang (PR)

Grandstand 1

◆ Valentin Royer vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (Q)

◆ Arthur Fils vs Kamil Majchrzak

RIO OPEN — ATP 500

Quadra Guga Kuerten

◆ Cristian Garin vs Thiago Tirante

◆ Alejandro Tabilo vs Emilio Nava

◆ Daniel Altmaier (7) vs Dusan Lajovic (LL)

Quadra 1

◆ Igor Marcondes (Q) vs Ignacio Buse

◆ Gustavo Heide (WC) vs Vit Kopriva

◆ Yannick Hanfmann vs Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva (WC)

DELRAY BEACH OPEN — ATP 250

Center Court

◆ Patrick Kypson (WC) vs Terence Atmane

◆ Valentin Vacherot (6) vs Alex Michelsen

◆ Marcos Giron vs Sho Shimabukuro (Q)

◆ Frances Tiafoe (8) vs Rinky Hijikata (Q)

Court 1

◆ Nuno Borges vs Coleman Wong (Q)

¹ Coombe, Jerome. "Shelton saves 3 championship points for gripping Dallas final win vs. Fritz." ATP Tour, February 15, 2026. link

² Berkok, John. "Alex de Minaur defeats Felix Auger-Aliassime to win first indoor title of career in Rotterdam." Tennis.com, February 15, 2026. link

³ West, Andy. "Hometown hero Cerundolo wins Buenos Aires title in 'best moment of career so far.'" ATP Tour, February 15, 2026. link

⁴ West, Andy. "Alcaraz taking nothing for granted on return to action: 'I see myself with weaknesses.'" ATP Tour, February 15, 2026. link

⁵ WTA Staff. "Bejlek, Eala win Dubai main-draw debuts; Fernandez upsets Samsonova." WTA, February 15, 2026. link

⁶ Bambini, Cole. "Andreeva embraces the attention, memories as Dubai defending champion." WTA, February 15, 2026. link

⁷ ⁸ Abulleil, Reem. "'Dock them ranking points': Tahlak calls for tougher sanctions as Sabalenka and Swiatek sit out Dubai." The National, February 15, 2026. link

⁹ Fest, Sebastián. "Buenos Aires wants to be like Rio: Argentina's plan to boost the South American tennis tour." CLAY, February 15, 2026. link

Additional Sources

Coombe, Jerome. "De Minaur downs Auger-Aliassime for Rotterdam title: 'Third time lucky!'" ATP Tour, February 15, 2026. link

Addicott, Adam. "Red Hot Carlos Alcaraz Has No Time For Complacency Ahead Of Doha Return." Ubitennis, February 15, 2026. link

Gómez Forcadell, Tomás. "Un futuro brillante: Alina Korneeva conquista el título en Oeiras." Canal Tenis, February 15, 2026. link

@RioOpenOficial. Rio Open Twitter/X, February 15, 2026.