Brisbane International finals results: Grigor Dimitrov, Elena Rybakina victorious
With a bellowing roar Grigor Dimitrov ended an agonising six-year ATP title drought, while Elena Rybakina finally broke the grip of a mystery illness.
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World No.13 Grigor Dimitrov believes he is in career-best form a week out from the Australian Open and ready for “what else might be coming my way” following a drought-breaking Brisbane International triumph.
An emotional Dimitrov, 32, ended a six-year trophy drought with his 7-6 (5) 6-4 victory over world No.8 Holger Rune on Sunday night, marking his second Brisbane title.
The Bulgarian was brilliant in his 2024 debut, dropping just one set – in the opening match against Andy Murray – enroute to a ninth career ATP tour title and first since his ATP Finals victory in 2017.
Dimitrov had lost three consecutive finals – two in 2023 – before his Brisbane breakthrough.
“Winning a title, it means a lot to me,” he said.
“It’s been a while. I think having that moment is in a way what I’m after.
“I feel like I’ve been playing good tennis, and I also feel there’s a little bit more that I can get better at on a few more things. Who knows, if those things go right, what else might be coming my way.”
It’s been a long road back for the former world No.3, who reached his career-high ranking in 2017.
That year he won four titles – including his first in Brisbane - and made the semis in Melbourne.
He started 2023 ranked No.28 but rose to No.14 by year’s end, in large part to a purple patch of form post-US Open that included a stunning run to the Paris Masters final where he took down Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Hubert Hurkacz before falling to Novak Djokovic.
With his win in Brisbane he will enter the Australian Open as the No.13 seed and a dark horse for the first Grand Slam of the year.
“After the US Open I had a little bit of a break – I had to reassess a few things in my life,” Dimitrov said.
“I felt like I was in a good position physically to really push through a lot of tournaments and matches. All I wanted to do was play as many matches as possible. This is what happened.
“I think that itself gave me quite a bit of confidence.
“I want to say I am a better player now than I was back then (in 2017). I think because of the style of everybody else, also had to alter mine a little bit, had to find a way to get through those powerful guys differently.
“I think everyone has seen it now, that I’m playing a little bit different than I used to before.
“As a player, if you think you know it all, that’s simply not going to cut it. On many occasions I had to sit down and think a little bit how I wanted to push my game forward, the things I wanted to believe, the game plan I wanted to have.”
DIMITROV LAUNCHES OPEN ASSAULT WITH EMOTIONAL BRISBANE WIN
With a bellowing roar Grigor Dimitrov ended an agonising six-year ATP title drought, secured his second Brisbane International championship and simultaneously cast doubts over Holger Rune’s claims to Australian Open contention.
Dimitrov, 32, proved too poised and powerful for his 20-year-old Danish rival, who earlier this week declared he was ready to win a Grand Slam but showed a chink in the armour when put under the spotlight on Sunday night.
Dimitrov’s 7-6 (5) 6-4 victory in two and a half hours was the perfect juxtaposition of a composed veteran against a fiery up-and-comer.
The brilliant Bulgarian, on his home court away from home, presented his own compelling case for Australian Open contention by outworking and outmuscling the uber-athletic Rune at his own game.
World No.8 Rune boasts 10 top 10 scalps – including two wins over Novak Djokovic – but has let his emotions get the best of him at times during his young career.
And so it came to be again in Brisbane, as the young Dane unleashed a torrent of frustration while the experienced Dimitrov remained cool and composed on the opposite side of the net.
It first came to a head in the opening set tiebreak, when Rune rocketed a forehand into the net and turned to yell an expletive into the crowd.
His frustrations boiled over into the second, where he let loose at both his box and the chair umpire.
The explosive Dane looked to have locked back in after holding serve in a ridiculous 17-minute game early in the second set.
But when Dimitrov broke for the first time in the seventh game it signaled the beginning of the end.
The Bulgarian fittingly finished the job with a deft backhand lob before collapsing to the court in an outpouring of emotion.
His dominant run in Brisbane, which started with a dropped set to Andy Murray before going flawless after that, ended with Pat Rafter presenting him his second Roy Emerson Trophy.
It marked the end of a six-year title drought, dating back to his 2017 ATP Finals victory.
That year also marked the last time he lifted the trophy in Brisbane.
Dimitrov will rise to No.13 in the world at the end of this week and head to Melbourne, where he was a semi-finalist in 2017, in arguably the best form of his career.
Rybakina finally breaks grip of mystery illness
Elena Rybakina has finally broken the grip of the mystery illness that cruelled the second half of her 2023 campaign and will head to Melbourne as one of the major Australian Open favourites after a demolition job on its reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday.
Rybakina, 24, clinched the Brisbane International title in emphatic 6-0 6-3 fashion, needing just 72 minutes to send an ominous warning to her rivals ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Even the Kazakh was surprised by her level of tennis this week, given her recent recovery from illness and poor Brisbane weather which meant she barely trained in the lead-up to her opening match of the tournament on Wednesday.
The 2023 Australian Open finalist was forced to withdraw from last year’s French Open due to illness and said she had again been sick prior to arriving in Brisbane for the first tournament of 2024.
But Rybakina, who will rise to No.3 in the world when the rankings are updated at the end of this week, said she was finally fit and ready to fire – and it showed on Sunday.
The moment Elena Rybakina became Brisbane champion ðŸ†#BrisbaneTennispic.twitter.com/O6x1Sa1ev4
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) January 7, 2024
“I (am) just pleased with the way I started the tournament because I was not feeling the greatest physically still after illness and everything,” she said.
“Just the decisions on the court and everything we talked (about) with the coach, I managed to bring it on the court.”
The 2022 Wimbledon champion was faultless in the final, producing 19 winners and just 12 unforced errors as Sabalenka imploded on the other side of the net.
In scenes eerily similar to the serving capitulation that cruelled Sabalenka in Adelaide two years ago, the world No.2 looked a shell of the player that entered the Brisbane decider on a 15-match winning streak Down Under.
The Belarusian hit 12 unforced errors and won just 11 total points in a diabolic first set that was run and done in just 24 minutes.
The Crowning Moment ðŸ†#BrisbaneTennispic.twitter.com/A5212u1LhM
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) January 7, 2024
When she wasn’t blazing forehands halfway up the net, Sabalenka was sending them two metres behind the baseline.
Rybakina, meanwhile, was never challenged on-serve. Having not conceded a service game all tournament, she did not face a single break point in the final.
It completed a ridiculous run in Brisbane that saw her wrap up a sixth tour title in a total court time of just 4h52m.
Asked if she would still play in Adelaide this week – where she is the No.1 seed – given her victory in Brisbane, Rybakina said she wanted more time on court before the Australian Open.
“Yeah, the plan is to go to Adelaide because I think this week I played really well, I feel physically also good (but) I didn’t have enough, I would say, hours, which we wanted to do the week before coming here, because I got sick again.
“This week … was a bit unexpected with the result. I was still getting back (into) shape, to recover from the illness. I’m playing really good. I don’t see the reason to stop and not play in Adelaide.”
Originally published as Brisbane International finals results: Grigor Dimitrov, Elena Rybakina victorious
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