The Weekly Recap: Pro Tennis Around The Globe

What happened in pro tennis around the globe in the past week? Plenty. We can't cover it all here but a few key highlights follow below in order to catch you up on all the action... 

Coco Wins The Season-Closer

It's the final event of the season, an event that many players consider to be one of the most important of the year. That is the WTA Finals, an elite competition that brings together the eight best singles players and eight best doubles teams of the year. And there can only be one winner. And this year---the tournament was won by not only a remarkable player in Delray Beach native Coco Gauff, but it was won in a remarkable fashion. Thrust into a group with Jessica Pegula, Iga Swiatek, and Barbora Krejcikova, the American had to play her very best to reach the semi-finals, and that she did. She won 2/3 of her round robin matches, including a stunning victory over the top seeded Swiatek, 6-3, 6-4.

Above: The WTA recently announced Aryna Sabalenka's Year-End No.1 Ranking. Photo: WTA.

Next up, Gauff had an even harder challenge against a very in-form Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka has had a wonderful summer and fall, winning the US Open and several tournaments these past two months, and even though she was seeded 2nd at the event, she was the favorite to win it. But that didn't faze the home hope who won 7-6, 6-3, in a relatively comfortable match. Sabalenka couldn't keep up with Coco's fast-paced, baseline-dominated attack that took the Belarusian by surprise. But it wasn't until the final where Gauff faced her true challenge, and boy did she rise to the occasion. After losing the first set and going a break down in the second, Gauff was able to claw herself back, winning 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, a stunning victory to cap a stunning year of tennis. 

The ATP Finals Begin

Right as the WTA Finals wrap up, the ATP finals are just getting underway. And already, we've got some---interesting---results. Let's start with American Taylor Fritz, who played well in his first match securing a surprisingly easy win against Daniil Medvedev, 6-4, 6-3. This routine match turned out very odd, and it ended with a booing crowd and the commentators cracking up. This of course was in response to Medvedev's behavior. The Russian threw his racket up in the air multiple times, attempting to catch it multiple times, but letting it fall on the court. He also tried to return Fritz's serve backward, using the grip of his racket to the ball while holding the head. It's hard to see what was going through his head, but it sure was rather silly and confusing to watch.

Above: Jannik Sinner from Italy with Carlos Alcaraz from Spain during media day at the Nitto ATP Finals 2024. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil / ATP Tour.

A similar but much more toned-down match also happened that day between Alex de Minuar and Jannik Sinner, which the Italian won 6-3, 6-4. Alexander Zverev defeated Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4, backing up his recent win in Paris which was unbelievably his 7th Masters 1000 title. In terms of experience, this puts Zverev well ahead of the majority of the field, as some of his competitors barely have seven titles in all. And the most enticing result so far has to be Casper Ruud's win over Carlos Alcaraz, which was somewhat of a surprise. Alcaraz hasn't been in the best form recently, just last week in Paris he lost to eventual finalist Ugo Humbert in an early round. But Ruud not only defeated the Spaniard, he did it in a very comfortable two sets: 6-1, 7-5. More information to come as the tournament progresses. 

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Written by William Turvey.