Homecooking was in the air for Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, 2022 Indian Wells winner Taylor Fritz and four-time Major titlist Iga Swiatek as the trio all prevailed in their respective tournaments on Sunday, while Australia’s Alexei Popyrin was rewarded for his persistence – securing a second ATP tour-level title at Stan Wawrinka’s expense after a three-set battle in Umag.
Fritz notches second hard court title of 2023
Fritz [1] bt. Vukic 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4
- 25-year-old American improves to a 37-16 singles record on the season, having avenged defeat by China’s Yibing Wu and beating a returning Kei Nishikori in eventful week back Stateside en route to second title of 2023
- Vukic – who played collegiate tennis at Illnois – reaches new career-high world no. 62, is now Australia’s no. 3 ranked player as Wimbledon 2022 runner-up Nick Kyrgios drops more than 50 spots after injury inactivity
- Fritz is top seed in Washington (ATP500) this week, Vukic will play Brandon Nakashima and winner faces Andy Murray [15] in round two
Taylor Fritz won his sixth career title yesterday, surviving a scare deep into the second set before outlasting Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic in three sets at the Atlanta Open.
It wasn’t perfect, though he showed the sort of steely resolve as adversity lingered that has seen him establish himself as a top-10 player over the past twelve months.
Having won the Delray Beach title in February, it’s the 25-year-old’s second title and he’ll hope not his last either after enduring an inconsistent spell on clay and grass over the past four months – early exits at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon included.
He reached the finale without dropping a set and had two match point opportunities to finish a memorable week with a flourish at 6-5*, though Vukic saved both on his serve and won the subsequent tiebreaker to force a deciding set.
The Australian did so to score comeback wins over Yoshihito Nishioka [4] and Ugo Humbert [7], but couldn’t do it a third time in four matches – having beaten Wimbledon quarterfinalist Christopher Eubanks in straight-sets Saturday.
Swiatek succeeds in Warsaw
Swiatek [1] bt. Siegemund 6-0, 6-1
20 days after losing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals to a resurgent Elina Svitolina, world no. 1 Iga Swiatek added another title to her ever-growing collection – a first at WTA 250 level – on home soil no less in the city of Warsaw, where she grew up.
“It’s not easy to play in Warsaw, but I’m so happy we could manage and do everything we could today, after a pretty tiring day yesterday – I wanted to put it all in and go for it, pretty happy I did,” Swiatek said after her fourth title of 2023.
Unpredictable weather conditions throughout the weekend meant play was suspended and led to a backlog of unfinished matches – Siegemund won a pair of three-set matches against Lucrezia Stefanini and Tatjana Maria on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Swiatek completed three matches (6-1, 6-4 vs. Linda Noskova, 6-1, 7-6 vs. Yanina Wickmayer) in little over a 24-hour span including the final. Although her opponents were all relatively lower-ranked opposition, consistency is no easy feat.
Zverev and Popyrin triumph in Hamburg, Umag respectively
Zverev [4] bt. Djere 7-5, 6-3
- Olympic champion clinches his 20th ATP title and first since recovering from ankle surgery last summer in welcome morale boost
- 26-year-old won five consecutive matches in straight-sets, after winning just five games against Andrey Rublev in Bastad quarters the week prior
- Djere featuring in bottom half of Kitzbuhel draw this week, with 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem among those in action
“I was born here, grew up on these courts, first picked up a tennis racket in Hamburg, so to win here is bigger than a regular ATP event,” Zverev told his fans post-match after extending his H2H record to 3-0 against the Serbian.
Seeded fourth at this tournament, the 26-year-old’s progress had been overshadowed somewhat by assault allegations earlier in the week after the Berlin public prosecutor’s office applied for a penalty order to be made against him.
He again stressed the matter was being handled by his lawyers, as was the case last year and dating back to 2020. After eight matches in 12 days, he’ll take this week off to rest and recover before returning for next week’s Masters 1000 event in Toronto.
Popyrin bt. Wawrinka [6] 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4
- Popyrin recovered from a set down to win a second straight match, having done so the hard way against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the semifinals
- Overcame muscle cramping to douse Wawrinka’s hopes of a first title in six years and called it an unbelievable honour to play the decorated Swiss
- “All tournament I’ve been fighting battles that I don’t know how I won – this one tops it all. To play and beat him in a final… words can’t describe how happy I am, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” 23-year-old Australian said
Almost two-and-a-half years after recovering from a set down to beat Alexander Bublik for his first ATP title on the hard courts of Singapore, Australia’s Alexei Popyrin has scored his second tournament triumph and similarly did it the hard way again.
It’s undoubtedly been made even sweeter that it was a recovery result against a player he grew up watching as the Sydney-born talent was rewarded for his stubbornness even while his body threatened to wilt under him.
Wawrinka, 15 years his senior, hasn’t enjoyed a productive last half-decade results-wise – plagued by injuries and a lack of solid form, even with flashes of the brilliance which saw him reach world no. 3 and earn three Major titles in his prime.
It’s probably a large reason why he was tearful and truthfully, he won’t know if he can reach another final as retirement lingers.
Popyrin rises to a new career-high world no. 57 ranking (rising this week…) while Stan’s back into the top 50 after inconsistency previously saw him drop drastically.
Elsewhere on the women’s side…
Cocciaretto [2] bt. Burel 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
Rus [7] bt. Noha Akugue [WC] 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)
Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto won her fourth three-set match of the week to pip agemate Clara Burel to the Lausanne title on Swiss clay, while 32-year-old Arantxa Rus became the oldest first-time champion in 40 years Saturday in Hamburg.
This marked the Dutchwoman’s 126th tour-level main draw appearance – ending a fairytale run for wildcard and tour-level debutant Noma Noha Akugue from Germany.
One to watch: The 19-year-old, born in Hamburg to Nigerian parents, reached the Amstelveen semifinals the week prior while beating Martina Trevisan and Diana Shnaider among others on her run to the finals in her hometown this past week.
Picture source: Getty Images
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