An entertaining first week of the 2024 tennis season culminated with Germany winning the United Cup on Sunday night in Sydney, Australia. As for the two ATP tournaments in Brisbane and Hong Kong, those respective titles were won by Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev.
United Cup
Germany’s run to the United Cup championship was dramatic from start to finish. Alexander Zverev and company just barely got out of group play as a wild-card quarterfinal entry after losing to France. In the semis, Angelique Kerber saved two match points before outlasting Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and then Zverev and Laura Siegemund fought off two elimination points to prevail in the decisive mixed doubles rubber against Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter. In the final against Poland, Zverev saved two championship points on the way to beating Hubert Hurkacz–after which Zverev and Siegemund triumphed over Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek in a super-tiebreaker.
“I have absolutely no idea [how I won],” the world No. 7 said after defeating Hurkacz 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 6-4. “Also I saved a match point hitting a passing shot this much on the line, so this is how tennis goes sometimes. You win and lose by millimeters and today I was lucky enough in a way.”
Brisbane International
Grigor Dimitrov ended last year in stellar form and he picked up right where left off by capturing the Brisbane title on Sunday afternoon. Dimitrov got the best of No. 1 seed Holger Rune 7-6(5), 6-4 after two hours and 15 minutes. It marks the 32-year-old Bulgarian’s first title since the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals.
“It’s been a while since I held one of these,” Dimitrov commented. “It’s a bit emotional. My love affair started here many years ago in Brisbane and it continues. I’m very thankful to lift the trophy again.”
Bank of China Open
Unlike the man with whom he shares a well-documented bromance (Dimitrov), Rublev has been winning ATP titles left and right in recent years. The fifth-ranked Russian added another one to his haul on Sunday, beating Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-4 in the Hong Kong final. Rublev saved the only break point he faced, so one break in each set was enough for him to prevail in just one hour and 17 minutes.
“It is a great feeling,” said the top seed, who now owns 15 career titles. “I enjoyed my week a lot here. It is a great feeling to start the season with the title. I liked the city, the tournament and I played good tennis. I played a good level of tennis the whole tournament. I think I played a high level in the final. It will give me more confidence for Australian Open.”
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