The ATP tournaments in Buenos Aires, Dallas, and Rotterdam make history and break a 44-year drought

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The week of February 9-15, 2026, will be remembered in the tennis world. In this month of February, post Australian Open and prior to Indian Wells and Miami, different tournaments on different surfaces appear across the globe. From the indoor hard court of ATP Rotterdam to the clay courts of ATP Buenos Aires, and through the cement of ATP Dallas.

These tournaments have always provided surprises from mid-table players or unexpected actors, even with the presence of the best players in some of them. However, this season has witnessed an event that had not occurred on the men's circuit since 1981.

For the first time since 1981 and for the third time in the Open Era, the top two seeds will play the final of these three ATP tournaments. In Rotterdam, we will see Félix Auger-Aliassime (1) against Alex de Miñaur (2); in Buenos Aires, Fran Cerúndolo (1) against Luciano Darderi (2), and in Dallas, Taylor Fritz (1) against Ben Shelton (2).

You have to go back to October 1980 and 1981 to see something like this in the ATP circuit

An event that hadn't happened since October 1981, when Ivan Lendl (1) faced Brian Gottfried (2) in Vienna, Eliot Teltscher (1) played against Balazs Taroczy (2) in Tokyo, and Peter McNamara (1) against Vitas Gerulaitis (2) in Melbourne.

The first time it happened was a year earlier, also in October 1980. That season, John McEnroe (1) faced Phil Dent (2) in Brisbane, Guillermo Vilas (1) played against Ivan Lendl (2) in Barcelona, and Harold Solomon (1) against Shlomo Glickstein (2) in Tel Aviv.

While more than forty years have passed for this to happen, the number one seed facing the number two seed is becoming more common in the ATP circuit, mainly due to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the Masters 1000. In the last Australian Open, the top four seeds reached the semifinals, along with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic in the last four Grand Slam tournaments.

It remains to be seen if another 44 years will pass before this milestone occurs again. In such a competitive and unpredictable ATP circuit, except for the three aforementioned usual players, it seems difficult, at the very least, for the 1980 and 1980 sequence to repeat itself. 

Especially considering today's faster, more intense tennis, where the lack of tactics and an overly tight schedule, detrimental to physical condition, often hinder the appearance of the top two ranked players in each tournament. We can only enjoy these three finals in Rotterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dallas, which will already be historic.
 

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Los ATP de Buenos Aires, Dallas y Rotterdam hacen historia y rompen una sequía de 44 años