Tennis already has its first champions of 2024 with a couple of important surprises

The professional circuit of tennis Not only did it come first in 2024, but it started with news that was as bad as it was strong, such as the new injury of Rafael Nadal which left him out of the Australian Open. But there were also smiles. This Sunday the first champions of the season were consecrated There were logical results and a couple of surprises. Better to go in parts.

The first surprise was the consecration Grigor Dimitrov at the ATP 500 in Brisbane. The thing is The Bulgarian won his first tournament after winning the 2017 ATP Finals and he did it after beating the Dane in the final Rune Holgerfirst seed and called to be a great protagonist this year, 7-6 and 6-4 in two hours and 19 minutes of play.

Dimitrov, who had started the match as the second seed, took advantage of the only break point that occurred in the match, in the seventh game of the second set. The other eleven, three in favor of Rune and eight in favor of the Bulgarian, ended up being shunned by the minions.

So, in the first set, none of them gave up when it came to putting the ball into play. This led to a tie break which went in favor of Dimitrov who started at 0-3 with two breaks. Despite this, he needed up to three set points to reach it.

In the second part of the match, the third game was a beautiful battle in which Rune resolved after saving three break points against him. He couldn’t do it in the seventh, when he finally gave his serve to a rival who ended up making a good profit.

In this way, Dimitrov won his first title after winning the 2017 ATP Finals, another big surprise. Since then he had played in three finals, one in 2018 and two in 2023, all of which ended in defeat.

There were no surprises at the ATP 250 in Hong Kong, which saw the Russian win Andrei Rublev. The world No. 5 and No. 1 seed beat the Finn in Sunday’s final Emil Ruusuvuori (No. 69) for a 6-4 double.

Quarterfinals at the Australian Open 2023, Rublev won his fifteenth career title one week from the 2024 edition of the first Grand Slam of the season, which will be held in Melbourne.

It is also Rublev’s tenth trophy on hard courts. Ruusuvuori, 24, is still looking for his first title on the circuit. The Hong Kong final was their second final, following the ATP 250 tournament in Pune, India in 2022. The Hong Kong tournament returned to the ATP calendar after more than twenty years of absence.

Rybakina and Gauff too

The other surprise also came in Brisbane, but in the women’s tournament. Kazakh Elena Rybakinafourth seed, was proclaimed WTA 500 champion after beating the Belarusian in the final Aryna Sabalenkasecond favorite, 6-0 and 6-3, in an hour and ten minutes.

That is, the re-edition of the 2023 Australian Open and Indian Wells finals, two of the most important tournaments of the yearRybakina gave her rival few options. Thus, in the first round, he broke his rival’s serve three times and won two of his points finishing in just 25 minutes.

The streak of consecutive games extends to the first two of the second set. That’s when Sabalenka broke her opponent’s serve for the first time, although it was a brief reaction as Rybakina responded with a counterbreak to make it 1-3. From there the result was enough for him to hold serve to win.

“Despite the result, it’s difficult to play against you. We always fight on the pitch and I think that’s good. This way we both improve and I hope this continues,” Rybakina said after lifting the trophy, the sixth of her career and third on a hard surface.

Finally, in another logical outcome, the American Coco Gauff he became champion of the Auckland tournament by defeating the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina by 6-7 (4), 6-3 and 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes of play.

Gauff, 19 and world No. 3, retained the title he won in 2023, which bodes well for his performance at the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 14.

Source: agencies