Top-ranked Ash Barty won her second Adelaide International title in three years with a 6-3, 6-2 vic-tory over Elena Rybakina on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal also added another title to his illustrious career, capturing at least one ATP title for the 19th consecutive year. The top-seeded Nadal beat American Maxime Cressy, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 at Melbourne in one of six tournaments this week ahead of the Australian Open, which begins Jan 17.
The Adelaide win improved Barty’s record against top-20 rivals to 17-1 since the beginning of 2021. Barty is scheduled to play the Sydney Tennis Classic next week before the Australian Open. In a WTA tournament at Melbourne, American Amanda Anisimova beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to win her second WTA title. The 20-year-old Anisimova came from 2-4 down in the first set and 0-3 in the decider to clinch the trophy and win her first title in almost three years.
In other tournament finals on Sunday, second-seeded Simona Halep beat Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-3 to win the WTA 500 event in Melbourne, and in the Adelaide International men’s final, Gael Monfils defeated Karen.—AP
