ATP and WTA weekend title winners: Hubert Hurkacz, Zheng Qinwen, Jessica Pegula, Leylah Fernandez

Shahida Jacobs
An ecstatic Jessica Pegula

There were four trophies on offer on the ATP and WTA Tours the past weekend and Hubert Hurkacz was victorious in the men’s tour while Zheng Qinwen, Jessica Pegula and Leylah Fernandez and won titles on the women’s tour.

Hubert Hurkacz

The Shanghai Masters was the only ATP tournament on the calendar the past week and Hurkacz won his second title of the 2023 season and also his second ATP Masters 1000 trophy when he defeated Andrey Rublev in the final.

After winning the Open 13 in France in February, the Pole had a sluggish couple of months and even slipped to No 20 in the ATP Rankings.

However, he bounced back in Shanghai as he saved a match point during 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8) victory over Rublev to move back up to No 11 in the rankings. The win also kept Hurkacz’s hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals alive.

“It was such a battle. Especially emotionally,” Hurkacz said. “I had a match point and Andrey hit an amazing serve and then he had a match point and then I had some match points.

“It was back and forth and such a tricky match. Andrey was playing some great shots. I was trying to respond. It was one of those matches and I kept believing and I am super happy with how I managed at the end.

“It is such a big tournament and so much tradition. It is a huge event and I am really happy now.”

READ MORE: 2023 ATP Finals: How does Hubert Hurkacz’s Shanghai win affect Holger Rune and company?

Zheng Qinwen

The Zhengzhou Open was the biggest of the three WTA events on the calendar and Zheng Qinwen claimed the title on home soil as she defeated seventh seed Barbora Krejcikova in the final.

After a host of top names – including Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina – withdrew because of injury, Zheng came through the field to win her second WTA title, notching up a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win in the WTA 500 final.

Zheng is one of three Chinese women to win a title this year as Zhu Lin lifted the Hua Hin while Wang Xiyu was successful at the Guangzhou Open.

Jessica Pegula

American Jessica Pegula won a “special title” at the Korea Open as she defeated Yuan Yue from China 6-2, 6-3 for her second trophy of 2023.

The reason why it was special is because Pegula’s mother Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea.

“My mom is Korean and she was adopted from here so it’s really special to be able to win here,” Pegula explained.

“In the last few years, as my ranking has gone up, I’ve definitely felt so much more support from the fans, a lot more than I expected coming back here from five years ago. So it’s really special.”

The world No 5 also won the Canadian Open in August and now owns four WTA singles titles.

Leylah Fernandez

Canadian Fernandez has enjoyed a difficult 18 months after she picked up a serious injury at the 2022 French Open.

But she returned to title-winning ways at the Hong Kong Tennis Open as she defeated Katerina Siniakova in the final, winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 for her first singles trophy of the year and third in total.

Before Sunday’s success, Fernandez’s previous title came at the Monterrey Open in March last year.

“We had a very, very hard past couple of years,” Fernandez said. “My family, my parents, my coach, and my performance coach stayed by my side. They motivated me to keep going and the hard work is paying off. Hopefully, we can keep going this way.”

Related Articles