Brisbane International presented by Evie—Australia
Sabalenka Wins Brisbane Title; Tauson Captures Auckland Crown; Muller Triumphs in Hong Kong
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka captured her 18th career title on Sunday in Brisbane, Australia, defeating Polina Kudermetova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
After losing the first set, Sabalenka stormed back to win the next two sets in easy fashion. Hitting five aces, Sabalenka won 75 percent of her first serve points and broke serve on six occasions.
The Belorussian will now head to Melbourne to prepare for a possible three-peat Down Under. The 26-year-old currently owns three Majors and is the odds on favourite to win her fourth crown.
Kudermetova, who was aiming to win her first-career title, defeated No. 3 seed Daria Kasatkina earlier in the event.
On the men’s side, Jiri Lehecka captured his second career title after just 13 minutes when his opponent Reilly Opelka was forced to retire down 4-1 in the first set with a back injury.
Lehecka, who is the defending champion of next week’s Adelaide event, dismissed No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitrov and Nicolas Jarry earlier in the week.
Opelka had dispatched top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Opelka will be ranked No. 171 on Monday, while Lehecka will move up to No. 24 on the computer.
ASB Classic—Auckland, New Zealand
Crowd favourite Naomi Osaka was forced to retire from the finals of the ASB Classic on Sunday, stopping her match against No. 5 seed Clara Tauson after winning the first set 6-4 with an abdominal injury.
Osaka was aiming to win her eighth career title. The 27-year-old will move up to No. 49 in the world on Monday.
Tauson, who was the No. 5 seed in the event, won her third career title. She will move up to No. 41 when the latest rankings are released. The Dane defeated top seed Madison Keys earlier in the event.
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Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open—Hong Kong
Frenchman Alexandre Muller captured his first-career title on Sunday in Hong Kong, China, defeating Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Overcoming the loss of the first set in all of his matches this week, Muller hit two aces, won 73 percent of his first serve points and broke serve on four occasions.
Defeating No. 4 seed Arthur Fils earlier in the event, Muller will be ranked No. 56 in the world when Monday’s rankings are released.
Nishikori, who was playing in his first final since Brisbane, Australia in 2019, will move up to No. 74 in the latest rankings.
The Japanese star defeated No. 3 seed Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Cameron Norrie and Juncheng Shang en-route to the finals.
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