The ATP Tour’s indoor hard court season began last week, with three 250-level tournaments. It was a brilliant week of tennis, and three outstanding players emerged victorious. Roberto Bautista Agut delivered against all odds, Karen Khachanov ended his horrible form, and Tommy Paul capped off another brilliant week. These champions showed incredible resilience and skill to win the title and gain important points. Here’s a quick rundown of the champions and their impressive victories.
Winners Of The Week
Almaty: Karen Khachanov
Karen Khachanov won his first indoor title since Paris 2018 by defeating Gabriel Diallo in the Almaty Open final. It is Khachanov’s seventh ATP title and second of the year. Khachanov has been in dreadful form for the past four months and needed a week like this to regain his confidence. It wasn’t the most clinical of performances from the former world No.8 as he was pushed to the limit in the semifinals and finals but he should be happy that he came out on the winning side in those matches. Khachanov’s first serve was very effective all week and helped him get out of difficult situations. He put in close to 68% of first serve on average and won 79% of points behind it, which is much higher than his career average.
Khachanov has finished in the Top 20 in five of the last six seasons and will hope to do so again if he performs consistently for the rest of the season. However, he has a substantial number of points to defend in the future weeks, so moving up the rankings will not be easy.
Antwerp: Roberto Bautista Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut is back with a bang as he showed some brilliant tennis to win the European Open title in Antwerp, Belgium. The Spaniard has been struggling for form since 2022 and was very emotional after beating Jiri Lehecka in the final. It was wonderful to see how much this title meant to him after fighting with injuries and form. Bautista Agut was the underdog in three of his five matchups in Antwerp. He is back inside the top 50 which is commendable, as he was outside the top 100 for some time this year.
The 36-year-old is entering the twilight of his career, and every deep run or title will be a significant accomplishment. This was his 12th ATP Tour title and second on indoor courts. The Spaniard has always been a hard worker and showed once again that class is permanent. The former World No.9 will be a challenge for anyone on the fast indoor courts, for the remainder of this season.
Stockholm: Tommy Paul
Tommy Paul was brilliant in his title win at the Stockholm Open. He did not drop a set and looked in control of every match he played. He defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the final, who looked tired from his semifinal match. This was Paul’s third title of the year and fourth overall. Paul has always been talented but this year he found great consistency and has been solid week in and week out. Only Sinner and Alcaraz have won more titles than him in 2024. He has 45 wins this season, tied with Medvedev for 6th position on the ATP tour. Paul doesn’t have the best and most powerful serve but his movement and backhand are elite.
This run maintains Paul in contention for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals and puts him within striking distance of earning his Top 10 debut, which would be a big accomplishment in his career. The American is a wonderful player on fast courts and would like his chances to go deep in Vienna and Paris. If he can do that, he will be in a great spot to qualify for the Tour Finals.
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
