Title winners
Tallon Griekspoor won his first ATP Tour title of the year on Sunday, capping a memorable week at the European Open in Brussels as he battled back from a set down for the third consecutive match to beat Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 6-4).
Griekspoor, ranked 60th in the world, produced memorable comebacks against second seed Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals and third seed Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals to set up a showdown against his former doubles partner.
Lorenzo Musetti went on to end a four-year drought to win another ATP Tour singles title on Sunday by defeating American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4 to win the ATP 250 tournament in Lyon, France.
The sixth-seeded Italian struck several stunning winners off both wings to gain early control and generally delivered a superb display in the final, where he seized the initiative with creative shot-making and exceptional court coverage to claim his first tour-level trophy since winning in Naples in October 2022.
Just 24 hours before, Musetti had been close to crashing out of the tournament when he saved four match points against countryman Flavio Cobolli to eventually win 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the semi-final.
3,434 miles (5,540 km) east-northeast of Lyon, reigning champion Daniil Medvedev prevailed once again at the ATP 250 event at Almaty Open and became the first person to win back-to-back titles at the prestigious event.
The top seed Medvedev ensured he would once again leave Kazakhstan victorious, defeating Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-3 in the final at the indoor hard-court tournament. After that title, Medvedev has now won 38 hardcourt matches on the ATP Tour this season, which is more than any other player.
World No. 1 Elena Rybakina defeated Canada's Leylah Fernandez in straight sets to win the Ningbo Open title Sunday to add another milestone to her amazing 2026 season.
It was Rybakina's fourth title of the season, the most by any player in 2026. Her other titles this year came at the Australian Open, Stuttgart and the US Open.
Rybakina took no prisoners in the final, needing just 1 hour, 16 minutes to dismantle Fernandez 6-2, 6-2 by breaking the Canadian's serve twice in each set without allowing Fernandez to get back into the game.
Katerina Siniakova, currently the world's top-ranked doubles player, was as dominant as Rybakina as she needed just 64 minutes to demolish Ashlyn Krueger in straight sets and capture the Japan Open title in Osaka on Sunday.
Siniakova won no less than 10 consecutive games after taking a 2-1 lead to seal an impressive 6-1, 6-0 victory, which was enough to see he lift her sixth career singles title on the WTA Tour.
Biggest strugglers
Fabian Maroszan was forced to withdraw from his clash in the Round of 16 in Almaty against Alexander Bublik due to illness, and that has been the tale of his season so far.
While his explosive breakthrough spell, which included his famous 2023 victory over Carlos Alcaraz, has quieted down, his lack of physical durability has seen him drop to 63rd in the world rankings after reaching a career high of 36th in June 2024.
After reaching the semi-final at the Wuhan Open, Jelena Ostapenko was forced to retire against Belinda Bencic at the Ningbo Open in the first round due to stomach illness. While Ostapenko has continued to generate headlines for dramatic on-court behaviour, her extreme inconsistency and recent injury woes have seen her drop to 26th in the world rankings after reaching a career-high of No. 3 in July 2025.
Jasmine Paolini was also present at Ningbo, but she crashed out in the Round of 16 against Iva Jovic to add to her challenging season marked by a results slump and a persistent left foot injury. Paolini has openly admitted to battling self-doubt and frustration during the rough patch, which has seen her drop from 4th in the world rankings in October 2024 to a current position of 36th.
Standout moment
Arguably the biggest moment in tennis in the past week happened off the court when Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina announced the end of her marriage with French former tennis player Gael Monfils, citing the emotional impact of the war in her country.
Svitolina, who features as No.6 in the world rankings, wrote a heartfelt post on Instagram about the effect the conflict and "what the war has done to me inside".
"This is the most difficult thing I have ever had to share," she wrote, saying "I need to find my way back to myself". Svitolina said she felt she could not do that within her marriage.
She said her husband Monfils, 40, "listened" and "respected what I need with a strength and grace I will never forget".
"Some battles happen deep inside you, and no amount of love from someone else can win them for you," said the four-time Grand Slam semi-finalist.
It was "the hardest thing I have ever had to tell the person I love", Svitolina said. "Everyone knows how much Ukraine means to me," Svitolina, who grew up in Odesa, said.
The tennis power couple married in 2021 and have one child together - a four-year-old daughter called Skai.
Svitolina confirmed that Gael Monfils ended his tennis career prematurely because of the circumstances surrounding the end of their marriage.
The 40-year old Frenchman had planned to retire at Paris Masters in November but was registered as retired by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on 5 October, bringing an early end to his 22-year career.
Best rallies
While Stan Wawrinka is approaching retirement, he gave plenty of evidence against Martin Landaluce in Lyon that he certainly has not lost his famous touch with this elegant drop-shot winner
Iva Jovic and Diana Shnaider brought the Ningbo crowd to its feet with this gruelling exchange pushing each other from corner to corner and deep along the baselines.
Upcoming events
Novak Djokovic will anchor the field at the ATP 500 tournament in Basel after receiving a wildcard entry, to land in a heavily anticipated section of the draw. Swiss icon Stan Wawrinka is playing his final career home tournament before his planned retirement and is expected to receive an emotional hometown tribute.
The Erste Bank Open in Vienna will feature a heavily stacked lineup headlined by Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, and Daniil Medvedev. Defending champion Jannik Sinner withdrew before the tournament due to a knee injury, and former world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas also chose to pull out.
Elena Rybakina, Maja Chwalinska and Diana Shnaider will lead the lineup at the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo, which has experienced a late wave of high-profile withdrawals—including Iga Świątek, Jessica Pegula, Elina Svitolina, and Marta Kostyuk.
Finally, Venus Williams is the biggest headline of the WTA 250 tournament in Guangzhou, as she has been awarded wildcards into both the singles and doubles main draws.
Svend Bertil Frandsen has been Senior News Editor for Flashscore News in Denmark since September 2022. He previously worked for UEFA and FIFA and is a former tennis pro. He specialises in news around football, tennis, badminton and handball. You can also follow him on LinkedIn.
