Team USA captured its second United Cup; plus singles titles for Lehecka, Muller, Sabalenka and Tauson. Full report plus all the ATP beef that's fit to post BELOW
Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff produced high-pressure victories to lead the United States to its second United Cup title in three years in Sydney Sunday night, handing Poland its second consecutive runner-up finish in the process. After Gauff won an odd 6-4, 6-4 opening singles against Iga Swiatek that had Ken Rosewall Arena rocking, Fritz delivered the encore with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) win over Hubert Hurkacz in a serve-dominated match that featured 30 aces and just three break points.
Teams USA and Poland
A back complaint forced Brisbane International feel-good story Reilly Opelka to retire in the first set of the final, handing Czech cutie Jiri Lehecka the title. Opelka missed nearly two years on tour after wrist and hip injuries but, after returning last July, was on the cusp of a brilliant comeback title that included a defeat of Novak Djokovic on the way to the decider. A lingering back injury got the better of the American on Sunday though, with Opelka attempting to play through the pain before retiring down 4-1 in the first set. As great as it was to see the artsy giant playing to his full abilities, the fact that he wasn't even able to finish one tournament doesn't bode well for his future. (See also: Bianca Andreescu.)
Worth noting that Lehecka, who beat third seed Holger Rune in the first round, progressed to the final after defending champion Grigor Dimitrov retired from their semifinal on Saturday.
After digging deep all week at the Hong Kong Open, Alexandre Muller is an ATP Tour champion for the first time. The 27-year-old Frenchman on Sunday overcame Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 to lift the trophy at the hard-court event, earning himself a spot on an exclusive list in ATP Tour history.
With his comeback victory against the former World No. 4 Nishikori, Muller became just the third man in the Open Era to win a tour-level title having lost the opening set in every match he played (after Arthur Ashe at the 1975 WCT Finals and Alexander Bublik in Montpellier last year).
Tongue-worthy victory!
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka captured her second Brisbane International title to kickstart her 2025 WTA Tour season. On Sunday, Sabalenka came back to defeat 21-year-old qualifier Polina Kudermetova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final to secure her 18th career title. Kudermetova, who is the younger sister of former No.9 Veronika Kudermetova, showed signs of an impending breakthrough at the end of the 2024 season. She made the quarterfinals in Seoul as a qualifier and then finished her WTA season with a semifinal run in Merida to push her ranking right outside the Top 100.
Clara Tauson of Denmark won her third career WTA Tour title, and first since 2021, after former World No.1 Naomi Osaka of Japan retired from their ASB Classic final on Sunday due to an abdominal injury. Osaka held off a late Tauson comeback to clinch the first set 6-4, but the four-time Grand Slam champion took an immediate medical timeout after converting her second set point. After consulting with the trainer, Osaka ended play.
Was shocked to realize Osaka hasn't won a tournament since the 2021 Australian Open and hadn't reached a final since 2022. Time will tell if this injury is just a(nother) hiccup or not.
In an all-hot matchup, Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool captured their second title as a team on Sunday, in Brisbane, where they overcame singles champion Czech mates Jiri Lehecka and Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-5.
Sander Arends and Luke Johnson ended 2024 by winning the title together in Metz. They continued where they left off in the opening week of 2025, triumphing in Hong Kong on Sunday, where the Dutch-British team defeated singles stars Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 7-5, 4-6, 10-7.
Team USA
United front: Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz
Elsewhere around the net …
David O'Hare has McDaddy potential
Alvaro Guillen brings all the boys out, most notably Emilio Gomez
Recently retired John Millman definitely has a face for television
Everybody loves Gigante
Perv's-eye view
Does this mean Andrea Vavassori’s kinky, to boot?
Nicolass Moreno's backside gets a thumbs-up or two ...
See HERE
My favorite Italian Flavio Cobolli
Did you get out load of Andrea Pellegrino's softcore debut?
Did I Mensik my lust for Jakub?
Big Rob working with Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram
Matt Ebden rings in the new year from Sydney
Where do you even start? (OK, second guy from the right!)
Another tease from trainer Robert Cardenas
Ringing in the new year with Illya Marchenko
Marcus Willis, woofy in white
Adam Jones, sweater model
Thanasi Kokkinakis certainly isn't getting any less handsome
United Cup shenanigans
Luciano Darderi in Hong Kong
Arthur Bouquier and a fetching friend
Wow, Tommy Paul knows how to trick an innocent animal into being captured in its natural environment
Matt Ebden and Omar Jasika
Team Australia
I'm loath to call Billy Harris the loser here
Their hearts belong to Astana(!)
And as if that's not bad enough, he also seems to be flirting with my J.J. Wolf
Hands off this one, sweetie. This boy is mine.
👀
Tennis's Jonah of Tonga in a nutshell
Tommy's a Top(ps)
Carlos Alcaraz before his unfortunate scalping
Jan Zieliński
How do you say "legs for days" in Polish?
Jakub's too hot
Double trouble: Santiago Pedro Franchini and Santiago de la Fuente
Couldn't stand Lleyton Hewitt when he was a player. Now that he's a daddy -- that's son Cruz -- I have no comment ...
Might need to start a separate blog for Tomas Machac’s body
Ugo Humbert and Fabrice Martin show some skin. (Does The Kokk know about this?)
The way you end up in tennis jail
When you're even bigger than David Vegas Hernandez
Can't get enough of Alejandro Moro Cañas
More HERE.
He may not be ranked very high, but you certainly can't accuse him of not being fit
Jannik Sinner and Cruz Hewitt
Corentin Moutet, aka "that midget French player with the huge ass and bad attitude"
A second Challenger title was the perfect followup to Joao Fonseca's ATP Next Gen Finals win
Strike a pose
How do I get just-retired Denis Kudla to carry me around?
Jack Draper & Co. Down Under
Aryna & Co. arriving in Melbourne
Find someone who looks at you the way Jordan Thompson and Grigor Dimitrov look at each other
Christian Wedel's future looks bright to me
Henrique Rocha flaunts it Down Under
Marcos Giron can't put it away
Chile's Cristian Garin works up a sweat
(With wire services)
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