Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans, today is Monday, February 24, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by Home of Tennis.

This morning, Beijing time, the ATP500 Rio station came to a wonderful end. In the singles finale, fifth seed Argentine Áez Báez defended his title with a 6-2 6-3 sweep over France's Muller. It was the seventh tour title of his career and the first time he has defended his title at a single event.

At the ceremony, he was presented with the trophy by his compatriot and Argentine brother Del Potro. The two took a group photo cordially, and the senior brother also encouraged Báez to make persistent efforts and achieve better results. Some fans noticed that Báez and Del Potro have a huge height difference, the elder brother is 1.98 meters tall, while Báez is only 1.70 meters, which can't help but remind people of the "strongest 170 on the surface" who just retired not long ago, Argentine bantam tiger Schwartzman.

Báez is the same height as Schwartzman and has a standout record on clay, but due to the lack of outstanding performances in major tournaments, he has been shrouded in the aura of compatriot Schwartzman and is not well-known. In fact, Báez already has seven singles titles on tour, and among the post-00 players, he is tied with Canadian star Aliassime for third place in the number of championships, behind Alcaraz with 17 titles and Sinner with 19 titles. Now that Schwartzman has retired, Báez will be looking to defend Argentina's glory as a shorter player and become the best 170 on the surface of the new generation.

We'll keep an eye out for other news. Yesterday, Beijing time, the Organizing Committee of the ATP1000 Indian Wells Masters announced that Serbian champion Djokovic confirmed that he will participate in this year's event. Previously, Djokovic had played a total of 15 IW tournaments and won five titles. This year will be his 16th appearance in the tournament and his 100th career title.

In addition, British brother Draper, who finished second at ATP 500 Doha, announced through his personal social media that he has decided to withdraw from this week's ATP 500 Dubai tournament, "I have decided to withdraw from the Dubai Open, and after a wonderful week in Doha, I have followed the advice and prioritized my recovery in order to prepare for the continuous competition throughout the year." It's a shame I can't play in the Dubai Open, but I'm looking forward to playing in the Sunshine Doubles in North America. ”

American brother Fritz also announced his retirement last night, he was originally scheduled to play in the ATP 500 Acapulco, "I had to withdraw from the Acapulco Open this year, which is really sad. I've been plagued by abdominal injuries since the week before the Dallas game. I've been playing with injuries and it's not getting any better and I'm frustrated when I know I can't play 100 per cent and I dodge certain shots or hit them differently to avoid pain. The Acapulco Open has always been one of my favorite tournaments, and I'm sorry to disappoint the tournament organizers. I hope to recover to 100% soon with this week's rest and recovery. ”

Finally, let's guess and recognize. The picture below is of a player on vacation in the Middle East. Can you recognize who she is without prompting?

In the last guess, the golfer gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the picture is the Italian steel cannon Bolini.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)