Dimitrov wins first title in over six years, defeats Rune in Brisbane final

Grigor Dimitrov, the second seed, beat Dane Holger Rune, the top seed, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to lift the Brisbane Open trophy at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Sunday night.

The victory is Dimitrov’s first title since claiming the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals trophy more than six years ago, and he now moves to No 13 in the ATP rankings ahead of the Australian Open next week.

“It’s been a while since I had one of these,” laughed Dimitrov after the match with the winner’s trophy in hand. “Sorry, I’m a little emotional… It’s difficult to describe this in words.”

“My love affair started about 10 years out here in Brisbane, and tonight it continues.”

Cool Dimitrov edges Rune in tight final

Despite finishing in straight sets, the Brisbane final was one of small margins.

Across the two hour, 16 minute match there was just the one break of serve, despite Rune facing nine break points and Dimitrov defending three himself. However, the one break was enough for the Bulgarian to prevail, courtesy of a tight tiebreak victory in the opening set.

Dimitrov also held a narrow lead in the serve department, holding slightly easier than Rune thanks to a 70 per cent first serve success rate. The 32-year-old kept his errors low as well, making only eight unforced errors across the match, compared to Rune’s 15.

Despite the loss, Rune was optimistic about his chances heading into the year’s first Grand Slam, where he’ll be an outside favourite.

“We have a lot to build on after this week,” said Rune after his loss in the Brisbane final. “Hopefully we can go one step further in Australia.”

Dimitrov, ranked No 14, defeated Andy Murray (4-6, 7-5, 6-2), German Daniel Altmaier (6-1, 6-2), Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata (6-1, 6-4) and Australian Jordan Thompson (6-3, 7-5) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Brisbane tournament, Rune, ranked No 8, defeated Australian Max Purcell (4-6, 6-4, 6-2), Russian Alexander Shevchenko (6-4, 5-7, 6-2), Australian qualifier James Duckworth (6-2, 7-6 (6)) and Russian Roman Safiullin (6-4, 7-6).

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