J.C. Aragone battled two opponents in the final of the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas. The 22-year-old pro circuit rookie and University of Virginia graduate beat former NCAA singles champion and hometown hero Marcos Giron, 6-2, 6-4, to win his first professional title, a USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 Pro Futures event that concluded on Sunday at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center.

Aragone may be from Southern California, but Yorba Linda in Orange County felt a lot farther than 70 miles away, as Grion’s high school tennis coach joined in with about 150 other enthusiastic supporters and cheered his every move.

Marcos Giron admitted to looking up and running through the list of names displayed on the center court banner along the baseline of past winners of the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas, and spotting his name as a winner in 2014.

The No. 4-seeded Giron of nearby Thousand Oaks, said he didn’t see any repeat winners, and was reminded of the fact during his post-match on-court interview with tournament director Jeff Richards that on Sunday he could become the first two-time winner of the USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 Pro Futures event taking place at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center.

More than 14 years after he first became No. 1, Switzerland’s Roger Federer today returned to the top of the ATP Rankings for a historic fourth stint at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis. Federer, who began his 302nd week at No. 1 on 29 October 2012, breaks a number of ATP Rankings records by replacing his great rival, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, in top spot.

Just 13 months ago, Federer returned from a knee injury at No. 17 in the ATP Rankings and has since compiled a 64-5 match record — including nine titles from 10 finals — in that period. Today, he now holds records for the longest period between stints at No. 1, as the oldest player to attain top spot and for the longest duration between first and last days at the summit of men’s professional tennis.

Canada needed a perfect day on Sunday after losing the first two singles matches of their Fed Cup World Group II first round tie against Romania in Cluj-Napoca. But, Irina-Camelia Begu, the home team’s no. 1 player this weekend, defeated Katherine Sebov (Toronto) 6-2. 6-4 to give her country the victory.

Canadian captain Sylvain Bruneau decided make a change for the third singles matches, opting for Sebov over Carol Zhao (Richmond Hill) against Begu who ultimately defeated the Canadian in one hour, 25 minutes. The Romanian, ranked no. 37 in the world, earned her first break early in the match to set the tone. Despite a push from Sebov in the second set to 3-3, Begu was dominant throughout en route to earning her second point for her team in the tie after defeating Andreescu on Saturday. Romania advances to the World Group I play-offs in April.

Australia’s Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty sealed the win for Australia over Ukraine, defeating twins Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok (AUS) 6-3 6-4 in the fifth and deciding rubber on day two of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II First Round tie.

Playing a Fed Cup tie in Canberra for the first time since 1988, and their first home tie since 2016, Australia entered the tie as clear favourites fielding the strong team of world No.16 Barty (Qld), world No.25 Daria Gavrilova (Vic), 17-year-old young gun Destanee Aiava (Vic) and doubles specialist Casey Dellacqua (Qld).

Canada faces a 0-2 deficit after Saturday’s singles of its Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II tie against Romania in Cluj-Napoca. Carol Zhao (Richmond Hill, ON), Canada’s no. 1 singles player this weekend, fell 6-2, 6-2 to Sorana Cirstea while Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, ON) was defeated 6-3, 6-7(4) et 6-2 by Irina-Camelia Begu.

Cirstea needed 54 minutes to defeat Zhao, earning five breaks of serve in the match compared to the Canadian’s one. The Romanian, ranked no. 38 in the world, also hit 16 winners while Zhao had just five. The 22-year-old Canadian was playing in her first Fed Cup singles match.