MASON, Ohio (Dispatches) — Ash Barty bounced back from a disappointing loss at the Tokyo Olympics. Gold medalist Alexander Zverev carried over his momentum from Tokyo.
Both are in fine form heading into the U.S. Open, which begins a week from Monday in New York.
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.
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.
“It’s been an awesome week,” said Zverev, who lost to Dominic Thiem in last year’s U.S. Open final. “This is an incredible feeling going into New York.
“The U.S. Open is a week everybody is looking forward to. Novak (Djokovic) will be back, and he’ll be the favorite. The other guys are in great shape. I’m looking forward to the week. Let’s see how it goes. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. I have to find my rhythm.”
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.
“It’s been an awesome week,” Barty said. “I felt like, each match, I got better and better in most parts of my game. I was just excited to get some matches under my belt in some tough conditions, and I think it put us in good stead going to New York.”
Last year’s Western & Southern Open was moved from Cincinnati to the U.S. Open site at Flushing Meadows because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teichmann had a surprising run to the final, upsetting second-ranked Naomi Osaka, Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic and fourth-ranked Karolina Pliskova.