ASH BARTY bounced back from a disappointing loss at the Tokyo Olympics. Gold medalist Alexander Zverev carried over his momentum from Tokyo.

The top-ranked Barty won her fifth title of the season, taking eight of the last nine games from wild card Jil Teichmann for a 6-3, 6-1 victory in the Western & Southern Open final Sunday. Zverev, too, had a relatively easy time in the Cincinnati final, winning the first four games en route to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev.

The match lasted 58 minutes, a welcome result for Zverev after a grueling three-set semifinal win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.

Barty, who won her first Wimbledon title in July before getting upset in the first round at the Olympics, didn’t drop a set in four Cincinnati matches and played only one tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, Chinese-Australian pair Zhang Shuai and Samantha Stosur defeated Montreal champions Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 7-5, 6-3 to win the Cincinnati women’s doubles title.

Cincinnati served as a reunion for Stosur and Zhang, who had not teamed up since they won the 2019 Australian Open women’s doubles final.

“We just so enjoy playing together,” Zhang said, as reported by the wtatennis.com. “We’re so happy to play together. Even yesterday, last night, we were so tired, but our opponents had match points, and we’re still laughing, we still smile. We always make some funny things when we’re feeling really bad and we come back,” she added.

“So, yeah, we missed each other so much, because last two years we couldn’t play together. The first tournament we played together again, and we won the big trophy. That’s so special. The first day, we meet each other and Sam told me, ‘Yeah, we’re back.’ All positive.”

(SD-Agencies)