Henri Kontinen and John Peers certainly finished 2017 on a high note, retaining their trophy at the Nitto ATP Finals. And if the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp is a sign of things to come, the Finnish-Australian pair has no intentions of slowing down, as they rallied to defeat Leonardo Mayer and Horacio Zeballos 3-6, 6-3, 10/2 to claim their 11th team title and second in Brisbane. “We snuck out of my first service game in the second set. And then we just got momentum going our way. And then actually played a really, really good tie-break at the end,” Peers said. “A lot of fun to finish off the tournament that way." It was the 19th ATP World Tour...
There has never been any doubt about Nick Kyrgios' talent — the 22-year-old is one of just two players (former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt) to defeat Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. But one thing the shotmaker had never done was win an ATP World Tour title at home. Kyrgios changed that on Sunday with an impressive performance in the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp championship match, defeating Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2 to claim his fourth ATP World Tour trophy in 73 minutes. "I felt good all week. I felt right at home," Kyrgios told the crowd. "Every time I stepped out here you gave me such great support. I love...
Gilles Simon entered the Tata Open Maharashtra doubles final looking to complete the tournament sweep after winning his first ATP World Tour singles title since 2015 earlier Saturday. A victory with Pierre-Hugues Herbert would have made Simon the first player to win both events at India’s ATP World Tour 250 tournament since Xavier Malisse in 2007. But Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop spoiled the French party, winning their first title as a team in a back-and-forth thriller, 7-6(5), 7-6(5). “To play the final there with three unbelievable athletes, it’s an honour to play there,” Middelkoop said. “I will never forget this for the rest of my life. This is my fifth title and I will come back here next year...
If 2017 was a struggle, Gael Monfils is back in business in the new year. The Frenchman rode a dominant serving display and dogged defence in claiming the title at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Saturday. Monfils raced to his seventh ATP World Tour crown, downing #NextGenATP Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 in 61 minutes. Appearing in his fourth final in Doha, Monfils finally broke through for his first tournament title. Runner-up in 2006 (l. t Federer), 2012 (l. to Tsonga) and 2014 (l. to Nadal), it was fourth time lucky for the Frenchman. He fired a total of 29 winners while striking only 10 unforced errors. One year after making his debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, Monfils saw...
By all measures, 2017 was a struggle for Gilles Simon. The veteran Frenchman managed just a 16-25 record and finished outside the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since 2005. But if Simon’s performance in the opening week of the new ATP World Tour campaign is a sign of things to come, the World No. 89 is back in form. The 33-year-old defeated second seed Kevin Anderson 7-6(4), 6-2 on Sunday in Pune to earn his first title since the Open 13 Marseille in 2015 (d. Monfils) and his 13th trophy overall (13-6 in finals). "It was a great match, I think a great performance. I never beat Kevin before so to be able to beat...
