Federer, Sharapova, Big Names Among Week 1 Winners

I've decided to get back to weekly writing when I have the time, and have changed to this kind of digest or list format.  I've also added 2015 champions and quarterfinalist pages.  This week, one of the busiest of the year with 6 tournaments, saw 4 top seeds win and 5 reach the final.  The winners are all top players.  We also saw 11 3rd set tiebreaks, which is a big number.

Tournament Finals
Brisbane (ATP): 1) Roger Federer (SUI) def. 3) Milos Raonic (CAN) 6-4 6-7 6-4
Chennai (ATP): 1) Stan Wawrinka (SUI) def. Q) Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-3 6-4
Doha (ATP): 4) David Ferrer (ESP) def. 3) Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-4 7-5
Auckland (WTA): 3) Venus Williams (USA) def. 1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 2-6 6-3 6-3
Brisbane (WTA): 1) Maria Sharapova (RUS) def. 2) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 6-7 6-3 6-3
Shenzhen (WTA): 1) Simona Halep (ROU) def. 8) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 6-2 6-2

Federer: 83rd career title, last '14 Basel
Wawrinka: 8th career title, 3rd win in Chennai ('11,'13), last '14 Monte Carlo
Ferrer: 22nd career title, last '14 Buenos Aires
Venus: 46th career title, last '14 Dubai
Sharapova: 34th career title, last '14 Beijing
Halep: 9th career title, last '14 Bucharest

Defending Champions
Brisbane (ATP): Lleyton Hewitt (AUS), R1 l. to Groth
Chennai: Stan Wawrinka (SUI), defended title
Doha: Rafael Nadal (ESP), R1 l. to Berrer
Auckland: Ana Ivanovic (SRB), F l. to Sharapova (Brisbane)
Brisbane (WTA): Serena Williams (USA), played Hopman Cup
Shenzhen: Na Li (CHN), retired

First ATP Final
-Q) Aljaz Bedene (SLO), 25-yr-old ranked #156 (Chennai), made the semis in '13 Chennai

First ATP QF
-James Duckworth (AUS), 22-yr-old ranked #125 (Brisbane)

First ATP win
-Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO), 22-yr-old ranked #171, def. Youzhny (Doha)

First WTA SF
-Lauren Davis (USA), 20-yr-old ranked #54 (Auckland)

First WTA QF
-Tereza Smitkova (CZE), 20-yr-old ranked #69, reached R4 at '14 Wimbledon (Shenzhen)

First WTA win
-Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS), 17-yr-old ranked #588, def. Friedsam (Shenzhen)

Americans Results (men 1-4, women 17-11)
-3) Venus def. 1) Wozniacki, Auckland F; def. Davis, SF; def. Vesnina, QF; def. Nara, R2; def. Cepelova (1 & 0), R1
-Davis l. to 3) Venus, Auckland SF; def. U.Radwanska, QF; def. 6) Stephens, R2; def. Rogers, R1
-7) Vandeweghe l. to 4) Zahlavova Strycova, Auckland QF; def. Flipkens, R2; def. Vinci, R1
-6) Stephens l. to Davis, Auckland R2; def. Soler Espinosa, R1
-Townsend l. to 1) Wozniacki, Auckland R2; def. (former champion) Wickmayer, R1
-Rogers l. to Davis, Auckland R1
-Lepchenko l. to 2) Ivanovic, Brisbane SF; def. Kudryavtseva, QF; def. Keys, R2; def. Stosur, R1
-Keys l. to Lepchenko, Brisbane R2; def. 4) Cibulkova, R1
-Q) Brengle l. to Kanepi, Brisbane R2; def. Tsurenko, Brisbane R1
-McHale l. to Lucic-Baroni, Brisbane R1
-Riske l. to Gavrilova, Brisbane R1
-Mattek-Sands l. to Kudryavtseva, Brisbane R1
-Johnson l. to 3) Nishikori, Brisbane R2; def. Matosevic, R1
-Querrey l. to Tomic, Brisbane R1
-Q) R.Williams l. to Millman, Brisbane R1
-Q) Kudla l. to Nieminen, Brisbane R1

Notable results
-Roger Federer (SUI) posted 1,000th match win in the Brisbane final
-Elias Ymer (SWE), 18-yr-old, wins 1st Rd in Chennai
-Borna Coric (CRO), wins 1st Rd in Chennai
-Vera Zvonareva (RUS), reached QF in Shenzhen (def. 3) Peng), but then she retired :-(
-Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS), reached 1st QF since '11 in Brisbane
-James Duckworth and Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) win 1st Rd in Brisbane
-Qualifiers Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) and Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) win 1st Rd in Shenzhen, Krunic goes on to reach the QF.
-Qualifier Michael Berrer (GER) def. Nadal in 1st Rd in Doha
-All 8 R2 matches in Doha were straight sets

3rd set Tiebreaks
8) Gilles Muller (LUX) def. Eduoard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 7-3, Chennai R1
Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) def. 5) Klara Koukalova (CZE) 7-5, Shenzhen R1
Andreas Seppi (ITA) def. 8) Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 7-4, Doha R1
4) Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) def. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 10-8, Brisbane R2
Martin Klizan (SVK) def. 7) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 9-7, Brisbane R2
Sam Groth (AUS) def. Q) Lukasz Kubot (POL) 7-3, Brisbane R2
4) David Goffin (BEL) def. Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 7-1, Chennai R2
3) Milos Raonic (CAN) def. Sam Groth (AUS) 7-2, Brisbane QF
4) David Ferrer (ESP) def. 7) Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 7-4, Doha SF (3 tiebreaks)
3) Milos Raonic (CAN) def. 2) Kei Nishikori (JPN) 7-4, Brisbane SF (3 tiebreaks)
Q) Aljaz Bedene (SLO) def. 3) Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 10-8, Chennai SF

Longest Tiebreak
Roger-Vasselin def. Muller 13-11, Chennai R1