Weekly Tennis Roundup

 

Titles for Alcaraz and Fils (and his huge physio)  -- plus all the ATP beef that's fit to post BELOW.

Carlos Alcaraz battled past Jannik Sinner, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3), to capture the title in Beijing, his fourth trophy of the year after previous triumphs at Indian Wells, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. (Damian has been lamenting the Spaniard's "uneven" year as I roll my eyes that the guy won TWO majors in one season, a first for him!) 

Alcaraz, whose sleeveless Nike number was really working for him (and me), is now 3-0 against World No. 1 Sinner in Sinner's best year on tour. 

I'm not ready to call this a Nadal-Federer or Sampras-Agassi "rivalry." (Alcaraz only leads 6-4 overall and 2-1 in majors.) But three straight losses to your top rival when you're supposedly at your best -- and losing seven straight points in a championship tiebreak, when you're up two minibreaks at 3-0 -- has me thinking Sinner had better figure this out soon before he finds himself in Asterisk No. 1 Land. 

Meanwhile, Arthur Fils was the last man standing at the Japan Open -- until he didn't need to be. The 20-year-old earned his victorious respite on the court after a thrilling, all-French final in Tokyo that saw him save a championship point. (Crazy to think Ugo Humbert had won his first SIX finals before finally losing to his compatriot.) 

“I was feeling, honestly, to be dead on the court,” said Fils after his 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-3 triumph. “He’s such a great champion -- was very tough.” Indeed.

Italian stallions Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori made the perfect start to their all-important Asian swing with a dazzling run to the China Open title in Beijing. 

The third seeds defeated Wimbledon champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 in a thrilling final on Wednesday to capture their third ATP Tour title of 2024. 

And at the Japan Open, Julian Cash and pretty boy Lloyd Glasspool -- Heliovaara's ex-partner -- dug deep to clinch a maiden ATP Tour title early in their fledgling partnership Tuesday in Tokyo. The two Britons overcame Ariel Behar and Robert Galloway 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 to lift the trophy in just their second event together. 

Cash and Glasspool were on the brink of defeat when championship point down at 9/10 in the match tiebreak, but they reeled off three points in a row from there to seal a 78-minute triumph.

Carlos and his new hardware 

Question:

Just how big is Fils physio Fabien Cosmao???

I don't know about you, but I'd save however many championship points necessary to please this man

(And how strong do you have to be to pull off this feat????)

Basking 

If this is how Gen Z celebrates, I'm on board! 

Watch HERE.

Watch Daniil Medvedev at ballboy camp HERE.

Shanghai surprise: Wasn't expecting to see Novak -- seen here with Holder -- in Asia this year 

Full story HERE.

Oh, dear 

Daddy tease Lorenzo Musetti 

Matias Descotte definitely deserves a trophy

Juan Manuel Cerundolo, aka The Other Cerundolo

Luciano Darderi has what you want

You're definitely in the ballpark, Marton 

Fabien Reboul has arrived 

My takeaway: All six men are f**kable 

I don't care what my mom says -- I'd totally get in a van with this man

His lap looks perfectly safe

What length shorts do we want you to wear, Tomas? 

Stretch 

5 inches, for your pleasure 

I'm starting to think Tallon Griekspoor is just too thicc to play. (God bless him.) 

Handsome Boy Modeling School grad Alexis Galarneau

My heart belongs to Pedro 

Watch HERE. 

(And can we get a sex tape with him and Pablo Andujar?)

And also Fede ...

Hello, Big Man! 

Asia Major: Grigor Dimitrov 

J.J. Wolf, right, and his hot family members

Tomás Etcheverry with a Peeping Tom statue 

Retirement agrees with Diego Schwartzman 

Leg man Otto Virtanen

Theo Arribage and Romain Arneodo were winners at the Challenger in Lisbon 

Hot for Nicolas Heintz 

Are these two lovebirds still at it? 

Nole's got wood

Watch the handshakes of tennis HERE.

If Billy Harris is interested in hanging out with old men, why didn't he give me a ring? 

Tennis Facebook cannot believe this is Bjorn Borg -- in his post-retirement exhibition era -- but I'd know that ass anywhere! 

Don't tell Damian I'm a little hot for a Brazilian 

Tell me Ivar Aramburu doesn't know what he's doing (to me) 

Now I see why Andrey Rublev wants so desperately to please his box 

Big Rob mourns Dame Maggie 

Nice to see Cam Norrie grooming a new generation 

Almost forgot about THIS ONE

Adam Jones is obsessed with America 

Matteo had to retire in Tokyo -- will his heart be in Shanghai? 

Robert Farah wants us to know he's still painfully handsome 

And last but not least: This new Jelena Dokic documentary -- set to release Nov. 7 in Australia and internationally sometime in 2025 on streaming -- looks absolutely chilling. 

(With wire services)