This week was the last multi-tournament week of the 2024 ATP Tour season, and it didn’t disappoint. Two 250 tournaments were played in Metz, France and Belgrade, Serbia, and both had exciting storylines. Despite many withdrawals, tennis was played at a high level and no one played at a higher level than Denis Shapovalov and Benjamin Bonzi. Both players won their respective tournaments as a qualifier. Here’s a quick rundown of these two champions and their impressive victories.
Winners Of The Week
Metz: Benjamin Bonzi
This week, Bonzi proved that winning is always a good habit no matter where you achieve that. Bonzi was on a tear at the Challenger Tour before this week, winning 14 of his last 15 matches. He carried that form at his home tournament in Metz and won his first ATP Tour title. Bonzi came close last year, making two finals at this level, but the third time is the charm for him. He defeated some brilliant players en route to the title including Casper Ruud, Cameron Norrie and Roberto Bautista Agut. What’s even more impressive is that he won as a qualifier and only dropped one set throughout the tournament.
Bonzi was more clutch this week against players who are much more experienced than him at this level. He won all the tiebreaks he played this week and did them by being the more aggressive player. During the 9th game of the first set in the final against Norrie, Bonzi saved an incredible 10 breakpoints, and getting through that game gave him the edge. The Frenchman has gained almost 100 spots in the ranking in the last month. He is back in the top 100 and doesn’t have much to defend until June 2025.
Belgrade: Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov dominated his opponents at the Serbia Open, winning his first title in five years and second overall. Shapovalov had been waiting for a week like this for a long time, and he should be relieved to have finally performed at his full potential. He had previously lost five consecutive finals, so this is very significant. The Canadian lost only one set during the event before defeating Hamad Medjedovic, a local player, in the final. Shapovalov’s serve was the highlight of his run, losing serve only once in five main draw matches. His block returns also worked well for him.
Shapovalov has been playing well in the last month and winning matches in big tournaments. He was ranked outside the top 100 before the Shanghai Masters and is now extremely close to entering the top 50. Hopefully, he carries this momentum into 2025 and plays like this more often throughout the year, and he’ll be back in the top 20-30, where a player with his talent surely belong.
Main photo credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
