Tamara Zidansek won the first WTA title of her career in Lausanne. Photograph: RvS.Media/Basile Barbey/Getty Images
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Kevin Anderson has risen 39 places in the ATP rankings after winning his first title in two and a half years at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island. Anderson, the former US Open and Wimbledon finalist, is up to 74th in the world courtesy of a 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 victory over surprise finalist Jenson Brooksby, a Californian counter-puncher contesting his first grass court final (and only his fourth ATP Tour event). “It’s been a pretty tough run with injuries,” said Anderson, 34, who is still easing back into competition after undergoing knee surgery twice in the months before the pandemic struck. “It’s been quite some time since I was in that regular routine of competing and playing in tournaments. I’m trying to take care of my body as much as I can. Hopefully I can take this six months that I haven’t been playing and add that to the end of my career.”
Also on the rise is Pablo Carreno Busta, who climbed two spots to world No 11 after winning the biggest title of his career to date at the Hamburg European Open. Carreno Busta, the second seed, defeated Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-4 in the final. “It’s an incredible feeling,” said Carreno Busta after collecting his second clay-court title of the year. “I think that I worked very, very hard to finally win this title. It’s my first ATP 500 title.” Krajinovic, who upset top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, has now lost all four of the ATP Tour finals he has contested. The Serbian can take some consolation from a 10-place rise in the rankings to 34th, eight spots below his career best.
With less than a week to go until the Olympics, the weekend results threw up an unusual 1-2-3 on the WTA Tour. Tamara Zidansek, a semi-finalist at the French Open, won the first title of her career, recovering from a set and a break down to defeat Clara Burel of France 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 in Lausanne. Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, the world No 35, won the second title of her career, defeating Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-0 at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. And Barbora Krejcikova, the French Open champion, won the third title of her career with a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of fellow Czech Tereza Martincova. The win elevates Krejcikova, who has now won three of the last four tournaments she has contested, to 11th in the world rankings, just two points behind Simona Halep.
While Putintseva and Krejcikova will now head for Tokyo (Zidansek, concerned about the Covid situation, has elected not to compete), Coco Gauff has withdrawn from the Games after testing positive for Covid-19. “It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future,” said Gauff, 17, who last month made her first major quarter-final at Roland Garros. Since the deadline for registering new entrants expired on Friday, it will fall to Jennifer Brady, Jessica Pegula and Alison Riske to represent the US in the women’s singles.
Also out of contention is Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, the world No 8, who was forced to withdraw with the thigh injury he sustained during his run to the Wimbledon final. “I am extremely sorry to announce my withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics,” wrote Berrettini on Instagram. “Yesterday I underwent an MRI to check the injury to my left leg that I got during Wimbledon and the outcome was obviously not positive. I will not be able to compete for a few weeks and will have to rest. Representing Italy is an immense honour and I am devastated by the idea of not being able to play the Olympics. I wish all the Italian athletes a big good luck, I will support you from afar but with all my heart.” It will now be left to Lorenzo Sonego, Fabio Fognini and Lorenzo Musetti to fly the flag for Italy.
This one is truly special 🏆 Winning my 7th title at the @halloffameopen means so much, being with my family and in such a historic place for tennis, it’s just an incredible feeling. Thank you @TennisHalloFame for having me and everyone in Newport and beyond for your support. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/TlFNF5N6li
