Welcome to This Week in Tennis, where we catch up on all the latest and biggest stories from the ATP and WTA Tours.
The top two men's players in the world continued their dominance on tour last week with a pair of tournament victories.
Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz won his eighth title of the season, defeating Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 to capture the Japan Open.
The Spaniard has a tour-best 67 match wins this season in addition to his eight titles and 10 finals appearances. Since losing to rival Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, Alcaraz has rattled off three consecutive tournament victories in Cincinnati, the US Open, and now in Tokyo.
The six-time Grand Slam champion was forced to delay his opportunity to win a fourth consecutive title, as he pulled out of the Rolex Shanghai Masters due to a nagging ankle injury he suffered in the first round in Tokyo.
Read also: Bublik hits career high with win in Hangzhou
Not to be outdone, Sinner captured his third title of the season by beating Learner Tien at the China Open in Beijing. The Italian also won the 500-level event in 2023 and joined Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the third player to win the Beijing title multiple times.
It’s the first time since 2020 (Djokovic in Dubai; Nadal in Acapulco) that the No. 1 and 2 players had tournament wins in the same week.
Read also: Diallo advances to Shanghai Round of 16 via Goffin retirement
Anisimova continues excellent season in Beijing
Amanda Anisimova captured her second WTA 1000-level title of the season on Sunday, beating Linda Noskova to win the China Open in Beijing. She’s now the first American woman to win multiple WTA 1000 tournaments in the same season since Serena Williams accomplished the feat in 2015.
The American continued her breakout season after finishing as the runner-up at the US Open and Wimbledon and has risen all the way to No. 4 in the world after finishing last season at No. 36.
Anisimova, 24, has already earned her spot in the WTA Finals for the first time and now has four career WTA titles to her name.
Read also: Fernandez Loses Tight Three-Setter Against Gauff in China Open Round Three
All winners from the past week:
WTA 1000 - Beijing
- Women’s Singles: Amanda Anisimova* (1/ 3) d. Linda Noskova
- Women’s Doubles: Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini d. Miyu Kato and Fanny Stollar
ATP 500 - Tokyo
- Men’s Singles: Carlos Alcaraz * (8/24) d. Taylor Fritz
- Men’s Doubles: Hugo Nya and Edouard Roger-Vasselin d. Rohan Bopanna and Takeru Yuzuki
ATP 500 - Beijing
- Men’s Singles: Jannik Sinner* (3/21) d. Lerner Tien
- Men’s Doubles: Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten d. Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev
* 2025 Titles/Career Titles
Photo credit: @ATPTour
