In just about every ATP 250 event in the United States, you can count on three staples in the draw: 1) Americans, 2) Aussies, and 3) Adrian Mannarino. Many of the matchups feel like an American vs. Australia Davis Cup tie with a sprinkled dose of Mannarino as the unofficial disruptor.
In its third year, the Dallas Open delivered yet again as one of the premier ATP 250 events on tour (not for long though). With sellout crowds at many of the weekend and evening sessions and a top tier of Americans headlining the field including Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton, Dallas has catapulted itself as an American tennis mecca since the inaugural event in 2022.
So much so that next year, to the delight of Dallas fans and tournament organizers, the Dallas Open will be upgraded to an ATP 500 event. In a recent interview on the Doubles Only Podcast, Tournament Director Peter Lebedevs spoke about the significance of the upgrade.
Related Podcast
Peter Lebedevs Interview: Dallas Open Tournament Director previews the 2024 event and talks about the significance of the ATP 500 upgrade beginning in 2025.
Beginning in 2025, the ATP awarded the Dallas Open as one of only three tournaments upgraded from a 250 to 500 event. There were 17 different bids submitted to the ATP from various tournaments/management groups around the world and we were lucky to be one of only three selected. The new venue will have capacity for 6,000 fans and a player hotel directly connected to the tournament venue. This will make us only the 2nd ATP 500 event in the U.S., so it will be an incredible opportunity to host an event of this caliber next year given the amount of top American ATP players we have right now.
Peter Lebedevs
Doubles Recap: Aussies Capture 2nd Title in Texas
The doubles final featured a battle of Aussies and Americans, a familiar sighting at ATP 250 events in the United States. Aussies Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson outlasted fellow Aussie Rinky Hijikata and American Will Blumberg 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 to grab their second ATP title together, both of which they have won in Texas. Purcell and Thompson also claimed the Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston last year.
“Thomo and I have played a lot throughout the States – Dallas, Atlanta, and Houston – and always get really good turnout for doubles,” said Max Purcell. “I enjoy playing with Thom, especially in the states where we get great support here. Anywhere we can, we look to play doubles together because it’s such an easy friendship and partnership.”
Purcell, a 2022 Wimbledon doubles champion who many players this week described as one of the best doubles players in the world, has now won five career titles with three different Australian partners. Thompson won his third career doubles title in Dallas, two of which have come with Purcell.
“Personally, I think Max is a top 5 doubles player on tour right now,” said Will Blumberg, Dallas Open doubles finalist. “He’s focused on singles obviously, but in my opinion, he’s hands down one of the best in the world.”
Singles Recap: Tommy Paul Wins 2nd Title in All-American Final
Occasionally we need talk about singles, right?
In its last year as an ATP 250 event at the SMU Tennis Complex, the Dallas Open went out in marathon fashion as both finals matches went the distance in three sets. The singles final featured an all-American final between No. 2 seed Tommy Paul and surprise finalist, No. 52 Marcos Giron.
Paul prevailed 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 in two hours and 32 minutes in front of a packed arena of American tennis fans. This win marked Paul’s 2nd ATP title and first on home soil.
“To win here in the states felt really great. I felt so relaxed here but at the same time every match I played had an electric atmosphere. It was a really fun week and I’m pumped to get the win in Dallas.”
Credit to Giron for an incredible run in Dallas. Along the way, he knocked out three higher-ranked opponents in consecutive straight sets: No. 48 Max Purcell, No. 14 Frances Tiafoe, and No. 18 Adrian Mannarino.
“Marcos played lights out this week,” added Paul. “We’ve played each other in so many different levels of tennis over the years. I know what he’s capable of, and I’m glad we all saw what he’s capable of this week. I’m pumped for him and his team and am sure he will have an awesome year.”
Tales from the Tape: Press Conference Takeaways
As a tennis journalist covering a niche sport and an even more niche topic within the sport (doubles), covering 250 events is a great opportunity to get more player access than you normally do at larger events. The 16-team doubles draw makes it easy to follow closely and typically features players of varying rankings, experience, starpower and caliber.
Throughout the week, Will and I spoke with six different players in post-match interviews and podcasts whose rankings ranged from #8 in the world, Neal Skupski, to #110 ranked Will Blumberg who is now up to 93. Check out our doubles diary below with takeaways and excerpts from these conversations.
Tommy Paul, 2024 Dallas Open Singles Champion
Typically, the player who you end up speaking with the most during a tournament is often the one who is winning. And that was Tommy Paul for me this week, who I had the pleasure of interviewing three different times in his post-match press conferences.
A few things I learned from speaking with Tommy:
- He hopes to play doubles with Steve Johnson this year at Indian Wells if they receive a wildcard together.
- He is optimistic about the future of American men’s tennis and believes they should be contending for Olympic medals and the Davis Cup for the next 5-7 years.
- He wanted revenge on Ben Shelton this week after losing to him last year at the U.S. Open and acknowledged that he revels in the fact that they have a budding rivalry.
I think rivalry in any sport is good. It’s the matchups you see in the semis and finals of tournaments that people love to come watch. Hopefully Ben and I can continue competing against each other at the highest level. It’s not a ton of fun playing him on the other side of the net, but it’s the matchup that people wanted to see this week.
Tommy Paul
Max Purcell, 2024 Dallas Open Doubles Champion
I enjoyed speaking with Max Purcell on multiple occasions after each of his doubles wins. He was gracious with his time and answered questions thoughtfully.
A few things I learned from Max this year at the Dallas Open:
- Singles is still his top priority, and while he is a natural at doubles and believes he is one of the best doubles players in the world, he views it mostly as a fun, stress-free side hustle to singles. He enjoys watching doubles more than singles, however.
- He wanted to play doubles at Indian Wells and Miami but had trouble finding a partner because many of the top players are already committed.
- Competing in the Olympics, and ideally winning a medal in doubles with Matt Ebden, and winning Davis Cup for Australia are two big priorities for him in 2024.
Neal Skupski, 2023 Wimbledon Champion and ATP Top 10 player
Former world No. 1 Neal Skupski played at the Dallas Open for the first time in 2024 alongside new partner, Santiago Gonzalez. In only their 4th event together as a pairing, the No. 1 seeds advanced to the semi-finals before falling to eventual champions, Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, in two tightly contested sets.
Neal sat down with Will Boucek for a great conversation on the Doubles Only Podcast, where they covered a number of topics including:
- What a typical doubles practice looks like for him with specific drills and advice
- How he harnesses analytics provided by the LTA to strengthen his match preparation and strategy
- What it’s like playing mixed doubles and winning grand slams with American Desirae Krawczyk
- Dynamics of having his older brother, Ken Skupski, also serve as his new coach
Ken retired at Wimbledon in 2022 and started coaching me, but he’s basically been my coach my whole life, so it’s been a pretty easy transition to him playing doubles with me for 6-7 years ago and now becoming my full-time coach. We get along very well on and off the court and have never really fought. We are working hard to get back to the very top of the rankings and it has been going well so far.
Neal Skupski
Related Podcast
Neal Skupski Interview: The 2023 Wimbledon champion talks takes a deep dive into doubles strategy, analytics, practice drills and more.
Will Blumberg, 2024 Dallas Open Doubles Finalist
I had never watched Will Blumberg play in person before this tournament and I was very impressed at the level of his game. Now ranked just inside the top 100, Blumberg was a 10-time NCAA-All American (yes, you heard that right) in singles and doubles during his tenure at UNC Chapel Hill.
He possesses an incredible net game, massive serve, and forehand weapon that gets him out of trouble during clutch points.
Here’s what we learned from speaking with Will:
- He played with nine different doubles partners in 2023, and while he’d like to find a steady partner to play with this year, it’s harder to do at his current ranking, which is now up to No. 91 after his finals run in Dallas.
- He seemed grateful to have played and won titles with so many great partners over the last few years, including players who he looked up to when he was coming up like Jack Sock and Steve Johnson.
- He was inspired by partner Rinky Hijikata’s run to the Australian Open doubles title and thinks he’s within an arm’s reach of a big moment like that too.
We’re all just grinding. There are times when it’s glamorous and times when it’s not, but the love for competing keeps us going. Rinky won a slam last year and it changed his life. We’re all chasing moments like that and think we’re just within an arm’s reach.
Will Blumberg
Rinky Hijikata, 2024 Dallas Open Doubles Finalist
Rinky Hijikata, a 22-year-old Australian talent who is also a former UNC Tar Heel standout alongside Blumberg, was a delight to speak with in press and wowed the crowds in Dallas with his massive forehand returns and quick movement around the court.
The 2023 Australian Open doubles champion reflected on his fairytale doubles run last year with Jason Kubler and made it clear that, despite his surprise doubles success, singles is still 100% his top priority.
Here were a few takeaways from speaking with Rinky:
- Outside of match play and practice during the week, he was able to enjoy time off the court exploring Dallas. Hijikata and his coach played a round of golf on one off day and he also went to watch a Dallas Mavericks game.
- He mentioned how his dream run to the 2023 Australian Open completely came out of nowhere. Before that title, he had a losing record in doubles at the ATP Challenger and ITF level and didn’t enjoy doubles particularly too much. He had also never played with Kubler (“Kubes”) before that tournament and the two went on to win six consecutive matches as wildcard entrants.
- Doubles is a nice brain break for him away from singles and he hopes to keep both rankings up, but if his singles ranking keeps climbing and his doubles ranking falls, that will be a good problem to have from his perspective.
Doubles is a bit of fun, and it’d be great to keep my ranking up, but not a priority. I return fairly well in doubles and can serve well, which are two of the biggest aspects of doubles. I’ve also been able to play with some really good partners. It makes life easy when your partner is doing all the right things.
Rinky Hijikata
Dallas Open 2025: ATP 500 Upgrade
We hope to see you in Dallas in 2025 for the debut year of the ATP 500 event in partnership with the Dallas Cowboys. We’re excited to cover doubles again next year and for American tennis fans to get the chance to enjoy an even bigger and better tournament experience with top-tier singles and doubles players.
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