Barty and Monfils Take Adelaide Trophies, While Nadal, Halep and Anisimova Capture Melbourne Titles

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 09: Ashleigh Barty of Australia holds the Womens Singles Champion trophy after defeating Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan at Pinky Flat on the River Torrens during day eight of the 2022 Adelaide International at Memorial Drive on January 09, 2022 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

(January 9, 2022) The 2022 tennis year kicked off with five tournament winners in the first week – Ash Barty, Gael Monfils in Adelaide and Rafael Nadal, Amanda Anisimova and Simona Halep in Melbourne.

No. 1 Ash Barty won her second Adelaide International title in three years with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Elena Rybakina on Sunday. It’s her 14^th career WTA singles trophy. Barty is now 17-1 versus the Top 20 since the beginning of 2021. The Aussie is scheduled to play the Sydney tournament this week ahead of the Australian Open which begins on January 17^th.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 09: Gael Monfils of France holds the Mens Singles Champion trophy after beating Karen Khachanov of Russia in the final during day eight of the 2022 Adelaide International at Memorial Drive on January 09, 2022 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

In the men’s event in Adelaide, Gael Monfils defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-4 to earn his 11^th career ATP title.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 09: Rafael Nadal of Spain pose with the trophy after winning his match against Maxime Cressy of the United States during day seven of the Melbourne Summer Events at Melbourne Park on January 09, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

In Melbourne, 20-time major winner Rafael Nadal added ATP title No. 89 with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over American Maxime Cressy to win the ATP 250 event. The victory gives Nadal at least one tournament title for 19 straight years.

In the WTA 250 tournament at Melbourne, Summer Set 2 saw American Amanda Anisimova beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to net her second WTA title. She rallied from 2-4 down in the first set and 0-3 down in the third set to get the win.

In the Melbourne Summer Set 1 tournament, a WTA 500 tournament, second-seeded Simona Halep stopped Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-3 to win event in Melbourne. the Romanian now has captured 23 singles trophies on the WTA Tour.