Written with the help of artificial-intelligence tools and checked by automated controls.
Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Barbora Krejcikova livened up the courts this Sunday, July 19, each winning a final with very different scenarios. Three tournaments, three surfaces, three winners with opposite trajectories: the Russian confirms his ranking, the Czech shatters a home dream and the Greek rediscovers a feeling he had not experienced since February 2025.
Rublev imposes his law in Bastad
16, the Russian delivered efficient, no-frills tennis to dismiss the Italian defending champion 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and twenty minutes.
On the Swedish clay, Andrey Rublev gave no chance to Luciano Darderi. Top seed and world No. 16, the Russian delivered efficient, no-frills tennis to dismiss the Italian defending champion 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and twenty minutes.
The match turned on Rublev's ability to shorten the rallies. Rather than getting bogged down in the long exchanges Darderi favors, the Muscovite systematically sought quick advancement into the court, taking the ball early to dictate the pace. Result: an early break in each set, never relinquished.
This 18th career title — his first in nearly a year — comes at the right time for a player going through a period of doubt. Ranked 16th in the world, far from his best ranking achieved in 2021, Rublev rediscovers confidence on a surface he loves: he had already triumphed in Bastad in 2023. Enough to approach the American swing with renewed certainty.
Tsitsipas, relief at the end of the Swiss night
In Gstaad, Stefanos Tsitsipas experienced a suspenseful final. Against Belgian Raphael Collignon, world No. 37, the Greek won 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 after a battle lasting two hours and thirty-eight minutes. A scenario mirroring his week: all four of his victories in the tournament went to three sets.
The turning point came in the decisive set. After letting the second set slip in the tie-break, the 27-year-old broke early and never relinquished his advantage. "It's an incredible feeling," he told the ATP microphone. "I've been through difficult months and lifting a trophy again is why I fight every day."
This 16th title on the main tour ends a drought of nearly seventeen months for the former world No. 3. Now ranked 51st, Tsitsipas proves he still has the resources to return to the elite. The clay of the Swiss Alps gave him the spark he was looking for.
Krejcikova spoils the Greek party
In Athens, the return of the WTA tour after thirty-five years promised a local apotheosis. Maria Sakkari, carried by a crowd entirely on her side, dreamed of succeeding her mother Angeliki Kanellopoulou, finalist of the last tournament held in the Greek capital in 1990. But Barbora Krejcikova decided otherwise.
The Czech, third seed, controlled the final 7-6(5), 6-3 on the hard courts of the Olympic complex. In a high-tension first set, Sakkari saved several break points before succumbing in the tie-break. The second act turned when Krejcikova broke serve at 3-2, then managed her advantage with the composure that characterizes the two-time Grand Slam champion.
This ninth WTA title, her first since Wimbledon 2024, confirms that the 30-year-old Czech remains a formidable opponent on fast surfaces. For Sakkari, whose mother Angeliki Kanellopoulou had reached the final of the last WTA tournament held in Athens in 1990, the disappointment is immense: forty years later, family history did not repeat itself.
Prague and Hamburg take over
This Monday, July 20, attention shifts to the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 events in Prague and Hamburg. In the Czech Republic, Marie Bouzkova (21st) faces Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (62nd), while Antonia Ruzic (50th) takes on Dominika Salkova. In Hamburg, the clash between Kaitlin Quevedo and Anhelina Kalinina (59th) should offer a tight duel, as should the matchup between Anna Bondar (73rd) and Moyuka Uchijima. The German and Czech courts will animate the start of the week before the tour heads to the North American swing.