Tennis News:

Osaka, Japan: Suzan Lamens (Netherlands) Defeats Australia’s Kimberly Birrell; Roberto Bautista Agut Captures 12th Career Title in Antwerp, Belgium

Written by Edda Bevilacqua

Osaka, Japan: Suzan Lamens (Netherlands) defeats Kimberly Birrell (Australia)

Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands defeated Australia’s Kimberly Birrell in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4 to capture the title in Osaka, Japan. Lamens entered the tournament as a qualifier and broke the Top 100 for the first time in her career. She will be Number 87 in the rankings beginning Monday, October 21. Osaka is Lamens’ first career title.

Both Lamens and Birrell defeated formidable competition to reach the final. Lamens defeated Lucia Bronzetti of Italy and Frenchwoman Diane Parry. Birrell scored victories over Elise Mertens of Belgium and two Japanese players, Sara Saito and Aoi Ito.

Antwerp, Belgium: Roberto Bautista-Agut (Spain) Defeats Jiri Lehecka (Czech Republic) For Twelfth Career Title

Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Agut, 36, defeated Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 to claim his twelfth career title. Bautista-Agut became the second oldest tour champion of 2024, behind 37-year Serbian Novak Djokovic. He also became the second oldest Spaniard to win a title, just behind Feliciano Lopez, who was 37 when he captured both singles and doubles at Queen’s Club in 2019. 

Bautista-Agut congratulated his opponent, Jiri Lehecka: “First of all, I want to congratulate Jiri. I think, for sure, you will have a lot of time to get more titles.” He also paid tribute to his team and family, who helped him during an injury layoff: “I want to thank my coach, my family, my wife, my kid. We suffered a lot after the injury, but we did a great comeback.”