(Brisbane) Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, 14th player in the world, won his first title since 2017 on Sunday by dominating Dane Holger Rune (8th) in the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Dimitrov, 32 years old and seeded N.2, beat the 20-year-old Dane (N.1) in a very close match. After a very good end to the 2023 season, the Bulgarian begins 2024 with the 9th title of his career.
After winning four trophies in 2017, including the year-end Masters, the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and, already, the Brisbane tournament, Dimitrov was no longer crowned.
In 2018, he only reached the final in Rotterdam, then nothing until the end of last season. He was then a semi-finalist at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai and then a finalist at the Masters 1000 in Paris – defeated by Novak Djokovic.
In a close match between two players of similar skill level, Dimitrov seized the few chances that came his way to win a hard-fought tiebreaker and then break Rune at 3-3 in the second set.
He held on to win a high-quality final, winning the match with a backhand volley. A good omen one week before the Australian Open, where he was a semi-finalist during his big year in 2017.
Kazakh Elena Rybakina, 4th player in the world, beat Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, 2nd in the world, in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 in the final of the WTA 500 tournament in Brisbane on Sunday.
In a final in the form of a repeat of that of the 2023 Australian Open, won by Sabalenka 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, Rybakina took her revenge to win the 6th title of her career and build confidence one week before the start of the 2024 edition of the first round of the Grand Slam.
“Despite the score, it’s still difficult to play against you, we push each other to improve and it’s great,” said Rybakina, 24, who won Wimbledon in 2022.
“Thank you for giving me three games,” smiled Sabalenka, 25, before congratulating the winner. “It was a great week though, of course I would have liked to finish it differently, I hope it will be even better at the Australian Open.”
This victory in 1h13 ends Sabalenka’s streak of 15 consecutive victories on Australian soil, a streak which began last year with her victories in Adelaide and then at the Australian Open.
Irresistible this week, especially on serve, the Kazakh won her third title on hard court and her first since her victory against the same Sabalenka at Indian Wells in spring 2023. Last year, she also won the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome on clay beaten.
This is also his second title in Australia, after that in Hobart in 2020.
