Monfils and Anisimova lift trophies in Adelaide and Melbourne

Amanda Anisimova was the first of the two to step out on the courts as her match was scheduled earlier in the day. The young American has tremendous potential yet last season was not a good year. The start of this season is much better with her play back to a solid level and her confidence similar to where it used to be two years ago. She played against Sasnovich which was a great opportunity for her to win the trophy.

She took the first set with 7-5 but then ran into some issues in the 2nd set. A lapse of focus which tends to happen to her quite a bit gave Sasnovich an easy 2nd set with 6-1. Ultimately Anisimova was able to compose herself and win the trophy with a 6-4 final set finish. A great result or Anisimova who needed something likes this badly.

Another player who needed a confidence boost after an abysmal 2021 is Gael Monfils. The Frenchman was a superb 2020 campaign cut short by COVID and never quite recovered. He did not play much in the rest of the year and struggled a lot in 2021. Only when fans started coming back so did Monfils' level start to look respectable.

Building upon that late burst of positivity, Monfils came out strong in Adelaide in the first week of the season winning some good matchups. In the final he faced Khachanov and it was a match that went as expected. Not many break chances, good serving from both, aggressive play by both at times. Monfils patiently waited for his chance and took the first set with 6-4.

A similar thing happened in the 2nd set with Monfils again using his chance when he got it. He closed out the match with a 6-4 2nd set finish.