The ATP 500 event in Barcelona and the ATP 250 event in Bucharest have offered some notable headlines already this week.

Early Match of the Week: Marin Cilic d. Tommy Robredo 7-5 6-7(3) 7-6(5) (Barcelona third round)

Marin Cilic bounced back from a poor showing in Monte Carlo last week to reach the quarterfinals in Barcelona as he squeaked past Tommy Robredo in a close third-set tiebreak. Cilic had a match point in the second set that he could not convert, and Robredo led 5-3 in the third-set tiebreak. But Cilic reeled off four points in a row from there to take the match. Both players held serve for the entire second and third sets. Cilic controlled the first and second sets, while Robredo looked more comfortable in the third set. Still, this match was a true toss-up from start to finish.

Upset of the Week:  Teymuraz Gabashvili d. David Ferrer 6-4 6-2 (Barcelona second round)

It was yet another entirely unexpected loss for Ferrer, the tournament’s No. 2 seed and a semifinalist in Monte Carlo the week before. He wasted seven break points and was broken four times by Gabashvili. The Russian is enjoying a career year and should crack the top 50 for the first time when next week’s rankings come out. Gabashvili made few errors and pounced on Ferrer’s second-serve struggles to take firm control in the match. He reached his second ATP quarterfinal this year.

Since last year, Ferrer has lost not just to Gabashvili but also to the likes of Alex Bogomolov, Florian Mayer, Yen-Hsun Lu and Daniel Brands. These are all creditable ATP competitors but unequivocally below Ferrer’s level of talent and accomplishment. He remains a top player because he has bounced back from bad early losses like those and post good results like Monte Carlo semifinals. But at some point, the decline will come for the stamina-burning Spaniard. At 32, Ferrer no longer seems capable of posting such stellar results with a grueling schedule.

Dominic Thiem and Paul-Henri Mathieu continue qualifying success

The rising Thiem and the veteran Mathieu have both been very strong in ATP tournament qualifying this season and deserve some recognition for it. Thiem has qualified in six of the seven ATP qualifying tournaments that he has entered, and he reached the third round in Barcelona as a qualifier with a quality win over Marcel Granollers. It is the second time this season that he’s reached the third round of the main draw in an ATP tournament. The young Austrian is temptingly close to a major breakthrough.

Mathieu will be back in the top 100 when the new rankings come out, and he has qualified in five of the seven ATP qualifying tournaments that he has entered. He has now posted his best result of the season in Bucharest, where he is in the quarterfinals against Gael Monfils. The 32-year-old Mathieu, who was formerly a top-15 player, is trying to pull off a late-career resurgence similar to what Tommy Haas and Dmitry Tursunov have done.

Jurgen Melzer and Inigo Cervantes win first matches of the season in Barcelona, reach third round

Melzer won his first two matches of the season in his second tournament back in Barcelona, as the crafty Austrian lefty defeated Mikhail Kukushkin in three sets and Jerzy Janowicz in two sets. Ultimately, he fell in the third round to Philip Kohlschreiber.  Cervantes, a wildcard who at the age of 24 has never been ranked higher than No. 130, upset Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Dmitry Tursunov in three sets before falling to Gabashvili. These were not the toughest draws for either man, but with so little match practice they still deserve credit.

Fabio Fognini and Benoit Paire display poor sportsmanship in Barcelona retirements

Fognini has been criticized for tanking matches in the past, including at times this year. The Italian went down 0-6 0-4 to Santiago Giraldo and then retired instead of allowing Giraldo to finish out the match. Meanwhile, Paire retired down 4-6 1-5 to Andrey Golubev, depriving his opponent of the dignity of serving out the match.