While all three ATP events of the past week were small 250 tournaments, they still produced some interesting storylines.

Hewitt and Bautista Agut win second ATP titles of 2014

The veteran Lleyton Hewitt kept his career chugging along, as he won in Newport for the first time in his career after two straight runner-up finishes. Hewitt dealt with shoulder problems early in the week, but he got past Ryan Harrison in three sets, Ante Pavic and Steve Johnson in straights, and then Jack Sock in the semifinals. On Sunday, he solved fellow veteran Ivo Karlovic in a final that pitted two of the oldest top-100 players on the ATP World Tour. It wasn’t an easy win for the Aussie, but he cleaned up the hardware this week with trophies in singles and doubles. After Wimbledon, where he lost early, retirement talk came up again for Hewitt, but the result in Newport shows he can bounce back. He has a title in Brisbane on hard court to go with his Newport title, and overall it’s the 30th career ATP crown for the former world No. 1.

Roberto Bautista Agut won his second title on two months with a hard fought three-set victory over Lukas Rosol on clay in Stuttgart. Bautista Agut has produced a tremendous season and should be in the top 20 soon. Like Hewitt, he is a multi-surface champion, for he won the title at Den Bosch on grass last month. This week he scored victories over Louk Sorenson in three sets and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, also in three sets. Then, Bautista Agut defeated defending champion Fabio Fognini in straights to reach the final. His victory over Garcia-Lopez was the match of the week, since he came back from a set down and won in a third-set tiebreak.

Cuevas wins maiden ATP title in Bastad

Playing with a protected ranking, Uruguayan No. 1 Pablo Cuevas won his first career ATP title in Bastad on clay. Cuevas will return to the top 60 with his resounding victory in the final over Portugal’s No. 1 Joao Sousa. He pulled off some upsets this week to take the title, defeating Jeremy Chardy and also Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. Sandwiched between those notable victories were wins over the Swede Christian Lindell and another over Renzo Olivo. Cuevas has struggled to be consistent, but he has proven to be a skilled player on clay when healthy.

Qualifiers Davydenko and Saville record first career ATP Tour main draw wins

The 21-year-old Philipp Davydenko, the nephew of accomplished but fading ATP player Nikolay Davydenko, recorded his first career ATP main-draw win in Stuttgart over top-100 player Blaz Rola. Davydenko qualified to make the main draw. Since he came into the tournament with a ranking outside the top 650 and finishes it ranked inside the top 500, he primarily spends his time on the Futures circuit and occasionally the Challenger circuit. Considered perhaps a rising player, given his family background, the younger Davydenko has struggled with his consistency. This week has been the best of his career so far, although it is uncertain if we will see more of him at the ATP level in the future.

Former junior Grand Slam winner Luke Saville, who is now at a career-high ranking in the top 175, is much more likely to have continued success. He recorded his first career ATP main-draw victory over Peter Polansky in Newport. Saville lost to Nicolas Mahut in the next round, but he qualified to make the main draw and has a game suited for grass and fast surfaces in general. With young Aussies Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis having successful transitions to the professional game, Saville looks to join in the spotlight. This trio of young players could anchor the Aussie Davis Cup team for years to come, once Hewitt decides to hang up his racquet.

Groth and Sock are unheralded semifinalists in Newport

Sam Groth is another Aussie who had a good week. The big server reached his first career ATP semifinal in Newport and with that achievement cracked the top 100, giving him direct entry in the US Open. Groth beat Donald Young, Malek Jaziri and defending champion Mahut before falling to Karlovic. His serve helps him win a lot of free points, but Groth will need to improve his groundstrokes and volleys considerably in order to become an ATP regular, as the likes of John Isner, Milos Raonic, and Karlovic have been able to do.

Jack Sock rode the momentum of the Wimbledon men’s doubles title to the semifinals in Newport, and now the young American with a gifted forehand will look to post more strong results in the upcoming US Open Series tournaments. Sock overcame Americans Alex Kuznetsov and Rajeev Ram before shocking former champion and American No. 1 John Isner to reach the semifinals, where he was drubbed by Hewitt.

Struggles continue for Spaniards Ferrer and Robredo

David Ferrer has losses to the following players this season:  Daniel Brands, Yen-Hsun Lu, Teimuraz Gabashvili, Andrey Kuznetsov, and now Carlos Berlocq. The Argentine, whom Ferrer had previously crushed in Madrid on clay, got his revenge and knocked Ferrer out in Bastad, a tournament where he usually does well. Ferrer has slipped outside the top six, and the slide seems likely to continue.

Tommy Robredo, another veteran Spaniard, is also experiencing continued disappointment this season. He was shocked by qualifier Renzo Olivo, also in Bastad, and again on clay, which is considered to be his best surface. Robredo did reach the second week at Wimbledon, but his ATP results have been largely poor in 2014.  He hasn’t reached a quarterfinal at any tournament since Rio in February. Given his age, a noticeable decline also appears to be happening with him.