 "Tennis roundup: Elena Rybakina wins Abu Dhabi title, Tommy Paul clinches Dallas trophy")
Top-seeded Elena Rybakina secured her second title of the season with a smooth 6-1, 6-4 victory over Daria Kasatkina at the Abu Dhabi Open on Sunday. The world number five, who started the year with a title in Brisbane, added a seventh trophy to her resume and is now joint-second on the match-wins leaderboard with 11 victories to her name in 2024. Light rain provided some late drama as it briefly interrupted the final game of the contest, with players instructed to wait on their benches with Rybakina leading 6-1, 5-4, 30/30. It was only a short delay though as the 2022 Wimbledon champion closed out the win with two good serves on the 68-minute mark. “First I want to congratulate Daria of course with a great week, congrats to you and the team,” Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina said in her victory speech. “Tough week, especially last matches, and tomorrow is already a match in Doha, so hopefully we both recover and we do well there and maybe play the final there.” Rybakina struck first but double-faulted to hand Kasatkina the break back. Kasatkina returned the favour immediately, double-faulting to drop serve once again and the Russian failed to win another game in that set as Rybakina secured the set 6-1 in 24 minutes. Kasatkina hit just two winners in that set, against a whopping 16 unforced errors, and her double-fault count was mounting as she struggled with the windy conditions. The second set was a more competitive affair but Rybakina’s power game ultimately made the difference with Kasatkina clearly feeling the after effects of the taxing three-hour semi-final she played against Beatriz Haddad Maia the previous evening. ‘Disappointing moments’ Kasatkina has now lost her last four consecutive finals — including two this year in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi — and remains in search of a first title triumph since 2022. “I’m playing a lot of matches, I’m winning most of them, which is very important,” said Kasatkina, who is 10-3 win-loss so far this campaign. “I think it’s the best start of the year for me ever. I can be just happy with that. “Of course there are moments that are disappointing –- to lose the final is not a nice thing but as Daniil Medvedev said after the Australian Open, it’s better to play three finals than to lose three first rounds. So I will take that.” The Russian world number 14 has a quick turnaround and will catch a late flight Sunday from Abu Dhabi to Doha, where she is due to face her compatriot and good friend Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round of the Qatar Open on Monday. “Right now I’m a bit disappointed of course. But sometimes being upset can help you maybe more than being super happy,” said Kasatkina. “That’s what happened two years ago when I lost in the semi-finals from match point to Ons (Jabeur) in Rome. I really believe that match made me play semi-final at Roland Garros. “So I will think this way, thinking that these losses in the finals they will just make me better and will push me to grow.” Seeded number three in Doha, Rybakina has a first-round bye and kicks off her draw there against Varvara Gracheva or Zhu Lin in round two. Karolina Pliskova tastes victory again with Transylvania title
Karolina Pliskova after beating Ana Bogdan in Cluj-Napoca Final:
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 11, 2024
“Hello everybody. I’ll try to make it quick. I’m not really good at speeches. Ana, you had a really good week. Also to your team. I’m sure you’re gonna beat me one day.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/Gok8QYhNYV
Former world number one Karolina Pliskova lifted her first WTA trophy in four years at the Transylvania Open on Sunday, beating home hope Ana Bogdan in straight sets. Czech Pliskova, who had dropped to 78th in the world, won 6-4, 6-3 against the eighth-seeded Romanian. The 31-year-old two-time Grand Slam finalist won the 17th trophy of her career and first since Brisbane in 2020. Pliskova, who spent eight weeks ranked world number one in 2017, was still inside the top 20 at this time last year, despite not reaching a final since August 2021. She was unseeded in Cluj but swept into the final without dropping a set. Bogdan, ranked 65, got an early break before dropping serve twice with Pliskova dominating the second set to seal victory and extend her unbeaten run against the Romanian to four matches. Tommy Paul outlasts Marcos Giron to capture ATP Dallas Open title
26yo Tommy Paul beats Marcos Giron 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3 to win in Dallas his 2nd career title.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 11, 2024
Up to #14 tomorrow and back to being US #2 behind Taylor Fritz.
Very good week. pic.twitter.com/L79JRkEUyW
Tommy Paul captured his second career ATP Tour title on Sunday, defeating fellow American Marcos Giron 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-3 in the final of the Dallas Open. World number 15 Paul won his only prior ATP crown in 2021 at Stockholm but had lost in last year’s finals at Acapulco and Eastbourne in his only other ATP championship matches. Paul, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at last year’s Australian Open, broke Giron for a 2-0 lead in the final set and held from there to take the victory on a service winner after two hours and 32 minutes. Paul dominated the first-set tie-breaker but lost a battle for the second. In a marathon ninth game that lasted more than 12 minutes, Paul held serve when Giron netted a forehand. But Giron then held, broke for a 6-5 second-set edge when Paul sent a forehand long, then held again to force a third set. Paul improved to 2-1 against Giron in ATP encounters, losing their inaugural meeting in a 2021 Miami Open first-round match but taking a round-of-16 affair last year in Canada. Giron, ranked 67th, ousted US top seed Frances Tiafoe and French fourth seed Adrian Mannarino to reach his second ATP final, having fallen in the 2022 San Diego championship match. Ugo Humbert downs Grigor Dimitrov to seal fifth ATP title in Marseille
The moment Ugo Humbert made it 5 finals, 5 titles! 💪
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 11, 2024
2020 Auckland 🏆
2020 Antwerp 🏆
2021 Halle🏆
2023 Metz 🏆
2024 Marseille 🏆@HumbertUgo #open13provence pic.twitter.com/dwYSQ6CEp7
France’s Ugo Humbert outclassed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to claim his fifth ATP title in as many finals at home in Marseille on Sunday. Humbert saw off second seed Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3 with a solid serve and an impressive baseline game in the southern port city. “I’m very strong mentally in finals,” said the fourth-seeded Humbert, who has now won all five finals he has played on the circuit. “Everything is there. I am pretty solid from the baseline, I serve very well and I am strong mentally,” said Humbert, who also won in his home city of Metz last November. Dimitrov, a former world number three now ranked 13, showed signs of fatigue after Saturday’s three-hour semi-final battle with Russian Karen Khachanov. Humbert broke in the 10th game to snatch the opening set. He saved break points early in the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead and keeping Dimitrov at bay with 87 per cent of points won behind first serves. The 25-year-old had lost to Dimitrov in both previous meetings. On Monday, he rises to a new career-high of No. 18 in the ATP rankings to become the new French number one. “It’s a good feeling to win Marseille. It was here where everything began, where I reached my first semi-final on Tour,” he added.
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