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...
Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic first played together at Miami in March 2017, but began their partnership with a 7-7 record. According to Marach, their lack of early success led to a discussion about splitting up three months later in Stuttgart, where they would go on to reach the final, falling short against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. “I like to forget it,” Marach joked of the match Friday. Seven months later, you’d never think splitting was ever a possibility for the Austrian-Croatian duo. After a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, the pair’s first title together at Stockholm and a match win at the Nitto ATP Finals (d. Bryan/Bryan) as alternates, Marach and Pavic were flying high. And after earning...
