World No.13 Daniil Medvedev announced himself as a genuine Australian Open contender with a grinding 6-2 7-6(1) victory over Brandon Nakashima to clinch the Brisbane International title.<\/p>\n
The Russian joined women\u2019s champion Aryna Sabalenka in saluting as the tournament top seed on Sunday night, capping a brilliant week in Brisbane that saw him drop just one set en-route to a 22nd career ATP title.<\/p>\n
Incredibly it was also the 22nd unique title in Medvedev\u2019s trophy cabinet \u2013 he has never repeated a winning performance at the same event throughout his hugely successful career, a stat he was well aware of when asked after the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what, (people) always ask me about goals for next year and I never normally put myself goals but I will try to put myself a goal \u2013 try to win a second title where I won it somewhere (previously),\u201d he grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fun story: 22 titles in 22 different cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it continues in Melbourne great \u2013 I have never won in Melbourne so that would be 23.\u201d<\/p>\n
A finalist in Brisbane seven years earlier where he lost to Kei Nishikori in three sets, Medvedev made amends in his do-over after surviving a late Nakashima fight back to begin the Australian summer swing in perfect fashion.<\/p>\n
Last year he endured a horror run at grand slams, losing a five-set epic against unheralded American Learner Tien in the second round at Melbourne Park while being bundled out in the first round at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n
But his Brisbane body of work underlined renewed grand slam ambitions for the three-time Australian Open finalist, who said he would be surprised if his poor run of form at majors continued next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that when I am playing good there are not that many players that can beat me easily or at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I manage to play good in Australia I am happy with my chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes a player can make a match of the year against you (and lose) or you can get Carlos (Alcaraz) or Jannik (Sinner) or Sascha (Zverev) or someone else and they can beat you.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I am happy with the way I am playing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fiery Russian has been a popular figure at Melbourne Park over the years with a combination of combative tennis, deep runs to the pointy end of the tournament and the occasional emotional outburst making tickets to his matches a hot commodity.<\/p>\n
Medvedev said he had made a point to be \u201cless fussed\u201d on the court in Brisbane this week, which he said helped him clinch the title.<\/p>\n
But promised to \u201calways stay true to myself\u201d on the tennis court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I get angry, when I do bad things well, sometimes I have to apologise but it\u2019s the way I am, it\u2019s my emotions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also know that these emotions can be fun, they can be a bit too much \u2026 many times they can cost me a bit of energy and a bit of concentration during the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always said it is better to stay calm, it is easier. But that is something I couldn\u2019t do, so here I am happy I was able to kind of find a flow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabalenka: \u2018I can get better\u2019<\/p>\n
– by Emma Greenwood<\/p>\n
Aryna Sabalenka has capped off the perfect preparation for a run at a fourth consecutive Australian Open final by defending her Brisbane International title with a straight sets win over Marta Kostyuk.<\/p>\n
But she\u2019s already sent a warning to rivals that her best is yet to come in Australia.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka, who kissed both biceps after converting match point – in a nod to her display of power – notched her second Brisbane title in a dominant display.<\/p>\n
And she\u2019s hoping the silverware could come with some more bling, calling out boyfriend Georgios Frangulis \u2013 \u201chopefully soon I\u2019ll call you something else right\u201d \u2013 in front of an adoring Pat Rafter Arena crowd.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka, who kissed both biceps after converting match point \u2013 in a possible pointed response to Kostyuk\u2019s comments about the \u201chigher level of testosterone\u201d of rivals including the Belrusian \u2013 notched her second Brisbane title in a dominant display.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian had been the tournament\u2019s giant-killer, beating three top-10 rivals in succession, including a semi-final rout of world no.6 Jessica Pegula in under an hour.<\/p>\n
But she faced a different challenge against world no.1 Sabalenka, who has dominated the Australian summer for the past four years.<\/p>\n
In her seventh consecutive final in Australia \u2013 a run that had included titles in Adelaide, Brisbane and a pair of Australian Open trophies \u2013 Sabalenka dominated play to win 6-4 6-3 despite losing her serve in a tight first set that looked as though it would go to a breaker.<\/p>\n
But she believes she can be better by the time the Open starts in a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many things I can improve at and that\u2019s the beauty of sport,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is always that little per cent for little room for improvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely feel really great about my game, about my tennis but I\u2019m also know that there is a lot of things to improve and to work on, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to focus on next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no post-match handshake between the pair but nor was there the controversy that dogged Kostyuk when she brushed Sabalenka, who had lingered at the net knowing there would be no acknowledgement given the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
In fact, Sabalenka started her on-court speech acknowledging Kostyuk and her efforts in Brisbane this week, hoping the pair would meet in more finals this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish you all the best in this season. It seems like it\u2019s going to be great tennis, and I hope that we\u2019re going to meet each other many more times in the finals to show great tennis,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n
Kostyuk did not name Sabalenka, thanking instead \u201call of the opponents I\u2019ve played this week\u201d.<\/p>\n
The war was on the mind of Kostyuk though, who paused to \u201csay a few words\u201d about her homeland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI play every day with with a pain in my heart, and there is thousands of people who are without light and warm water right now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s minus 20 degrees outside, so it\u2019s very, very painful to live this reality every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very hot here in Brisbane, so it\u2019s difficult to imagine this but my sister is sleeping under three blankets because of how cold it is at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I was incredibly moved and happy to see so many Ukrainian fans and flags this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both women raced through their semi-finals on Saturday, winning in dominant fashion and it looked as though that could be the case again when Sabalenka charged to a 3-0 lead after breaking Kostyuk\u2019s opening service game.<\/p>\n
But the Ukrainian wasn\u2019t about to take a backward step to the world no.1, breaking back and getting on level terms at 3-3.<\/p>\n
But where Kostyuk troubled her rival with several outstanding shots, her winners were outnumbered almost three-to-one by unforced errors in the opening set, and coupled with a first serve percentage in the 50s, was eventually worn down by the relentless Sabalenka, who was able to leverage her scoreboard pressure at 5-4 and broke the Ukrainian again to take the first set.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka was also troubled by a poor serve percentage in the opening set but she won every first serve that landed and continued to dominate in the second.<\/p>\n
She broke Kostyuk to take a 3-0 again, this time consolidating the break and serving out the match at 5-3.<\/p>\n
Initially both women looked determined to blow each other off the court with their power game but Sabalenka mixed things up well in the second term, changing pace and placement and lifting her first serve percentage to 69, troubling her rival despite an excellent overall standard of play.<\/p>\n
While Sabalenka is an overwhelming favourite for a third Australian Open title, Kostyuk, who will move to 20th in the rankings after making the Brisbane final, has to be a chance given her outstanding form and confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I keep beating top 10 players, for sure, I will be a top 10 player because I will (go) really far in the tournament,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the goal for sure. And this this week showed that I\u2019m not that far (off that) and I just have to keep working.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World No.13 Daniil Medvedev announced himself as a genuine Australian Open contender with a grinding 6-2 7-6(1) victory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[3486,64,63,689,29997,215522,651,215529,215526,215524,215521,9272,11301,2057,2105,100456,677,215528,3590,215523,215525,215527,701,215520,74460,85,76104,747,5525],"class_list":["post-406685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-albert-perez","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-summer","tag-breaking-back","tag-brisbane","tag-changing-pace","tag-consecutive-australian","tag-consecutive-final","tag-converting-match-point","tag-dominant-fashion","tag-eastern-europe","tag-europe","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-marta-kostyuk","tag-oceania","tag-opening-service-game","tag-opening-set","tag-outstanding-form","tag-outstanding-shots","tag-overwhelming-favourite","tag-queensland","tag-semi-final-rout","tag-serve-percentage","tag-sports","tag-straight-sets","tag-tennis","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}