Our regular tennis feature, The Base Line, is back for the 2026 season, as we look to keep you up to date with the relentless and fast-paced nature of the ATP and WTA Tours. Who were crowned champions, who struggled to make an impact, and what moments stood out?<\/p>\n
Listen to the audio version of this article on Spotify!<\/a><\/p>\n Title winners<\/p>\n Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek<\/a> had a week to remember, clinching the first WTA title of her young career with a stunning run in Abu Dhabi. The 20-year-old soared through the draw, eventually downing second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova<\/a>\u00a07-6(5), 6-1<\/a> in the final.<\/p>\n Coming through qualifiers, Bejlek won seven matches on the bounce while only dropping a single set, beating Sonay Kartal<\/a>, last year’s finalist Ashlyn Krueger<\/a>, Jelena Ostapenko<\/a>, Clara Tauson<\/a> and Alexandrova.<\/p>\n She had never beaten a top-20 player before her wins over Tauson and Alexandrova, and after starting the week ranked 101st in the world, she has soared to 38th.\u00a0<\/p>\n Truly announcing herself to the world in style.<\/p>\n It wasn’t all bad for Alexandrova, however, as she went on to win the doubles title<\/a> alongside 19-year-old Maya Joint<\/a>!<\/p>\n Sorana Cirstea<\/a> enjoyed a dominant week on home turf in Romania, winning the Transylvania Open after a one-sided\u00a06-0, 6-2<\/a> victory over Emma Raducanu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Raducanu, who was back in a WTA final for the first time since she won the US Open in 2021, was thoroughly outplayed by Cirstea. However, it represents an improved week for the Brit, who parted ways with coach Francis Roig last week.<\/p>\n Cirstea has said this is her last season on tour, so victory in Romania without dropping a set was certainly a fitting moment for the 35-year-old.<\/p>\n “Someone please pinch me, because this is a dream come true,” Cirstea said in her trophy presentation.\u00a0“I still can’t believe that I’m holding the trophy as champion here in Cluj. I am so, so happy.”<\/p>\n While one Brit lost in a final, it was delight for another, as Katie Boulter<\/a> triumphed in Ostrava to pick up her fourth WTA title, clinching a comeback 5-7, 6-2, 6-1<\/a> victory over Tamara Korpatsch<\/a> in the final.<\/p>\n Boulter, who at one point reached a career-high ranking of 23, dropped to 120 in the world after a really difficult run of form.<\/p>\n However, following the appointment of Maria Sharapova\u2019s former coach, Michael Joyce, at the start of the year, she has returned to the winner’s circle and will move up to 84th in the world.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, over on the ATP Tour, Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a> defended his title in Montpellier, defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino<\/a> 6-3, 7-6(4)<\/a> in the final for the ninth crown of his career. Remarkably, it is his eighth indoor title, demonstrating what a specialist he is in those conditions, thanks to his huge serve and forehand.<\/p>\n It has been a stop-start start to 2026 for the Canadian, who suffered from an illness at the United Cup and cramping at the Australian Open. However, his season is well and truly up and running, and after his terrific end to 2025, where he won in Brussels, reached the Paris Masters final and the semi-finals at the US Open and ATP Finals, he will be hoping to kick on and have a big year.<\/p>\n As a result of the win, he rises to world number six, while also moving ahead of Milos Raonic<\/a> as Canada’s most successful male player in the Open era in terms of titles.<\/p>\n Biggest strugglers<\/p>\n It remains a very difficult period for Daria Kasatkina<\/a> and Emma Navarro<\/a>.<\/p>\n The duo were defeated in their opening matches in Abu Dhabi, meaning they have both now lost three matches in a row. Kasatkina has just one victory in her last eight, while Navarro has two wins in the same number of matches.<\/p>\n From a career-high of eight in the world, Kasatkina now sits at 61st in the rankings.<\/p>\n On the men’s side, Flavio Cobolli<\/a> has also had a far-from-ideal 2026 so far. After a first-round defeat at the Australian Open, the second seed fell at the first hurdle in Montpellier, losing\u00a06-2, 6-3<\/a> to countryman Luca Nardi<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Italian, like Kasatkina and Navarro, has lost three matches on the spin, and only has one victory this year at the United Cup.<\/p>\n Standout moment<\/p>\n It was a week of comeback stories on the ATP Tour, with two bright young talents, Jack Draper<\/a> and Arthur Fils<\/a>, making their returns to tennis after lengthy injury layoffs.<\/p>\n Draper was in action at the Davis Cup for Great Britain, helping his nation through to the next round of qualifiers after an emphatic 6-2, 6-2<\/a> win over Viktor Durasovic<\/a>. The former world number four looked in great touch, although bigger tests will naturally come.<\/p>\n Fils was playing in Montpellier in front of his home crowd, winning a pair of matches against fellow Frenchmen Valentin Royer<\/a> and Ugo Blanchet<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, he eventually fell to Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals<\/a>, and did look rusty against top opposition. Yet all in all, it was a successful return to the tour for Fils.<\/p>\n Hopefully, we can see both of them get back to their best and be real forces at the top of the world rankings again.<\/p>\n Best rallies<\/p>\n Montpellier champion Auger-Aliassime provided a moment of pure magic against Stanislas Wawrinka<\/a>, producing an unbelievable one-handed passing shot to delight the crowd.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie<\/a> displayed his athleticism and speed, hunting down a ball at the net to leave Nicolas Budkov Kjaer<\/a> in awe.<\/p>\n Upcoming events<\/p>\n The first 1000 event of the 2026 season is ongoing on the WTA Tour after a Sunday start, with the world’s best players in Doha for this prestigious event.<\/p>\n Defending champion Amanda Anisimova<\/a> headlines a draw with top seed Iga Swiatek<\/a>, Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina<\/a>, Coco Gauff<\/a>, Mirra Andreeva<\/a> and Jasmine Paolini<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, world number one Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> and world number six Jessica Pegula<\/a> have withdrawn to give themselves more time off following the first Grand Slam of the year.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Rotterdam hosts one of the best ATP 500 tournaments, featuring a star-studded lineup. Alex De Minaur<\/a>, Auger-Aliassime, Alexander Bublik<\/a> and Daniil Medvedev<\/a> are the top seeds in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n Over in Dallas, home favourites Taylor Fritz<\/a> and Ben Shelton<\/a> headline proceedings, while Francisco Cerundolo<\/a> and Luciano Darderi<\/a> are the top seeds in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n Follow Doha<\/a>, Rotterdam<\/a>, Dallas<\/a> and Buenos Aires<\/a> with Flashscore!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our regular tennis feature, The Base Line, is back for the 2026 season, as we look to keep…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-417522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}