Kyrgios showed his mettle during the week in coming from a set down to beat Aussie compatriot Matthew Ebden, then Alexandr Dolgopolov, then Dimitrov in the semis.

It was the continuation of a stunning run in championship matches for Svitolina. The Ukrainian went 5-0 in finals last year, three of them Premier-level, the first player to win three Premier titles in the same season. Year-end No. 1 Simona Halep by comparison was 1-4 in finals.

“I’ve still got a cough and the throat is a bit weird,” said Federer, who was limiting his practices early in the week, and saw his health seemingly improved until a turn on the final day. “I’ve definitely got to make sure I get over it as quickly as possible.”

Both Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova show up to defend their Brisbane titles, where the men’s and women’s fields are stellar for an opening week to the year where the majority of the stars are usually off playing lucrative exhibitions.

“It means so much more than just running away with it with the score maybe 6-4, 6-4, which was looking very likely at one stage. I guess I was much more happy having to go three sets in the end rather than winning in straight(s).”

Unseeded frequently-unhinged Aussie player Bernard Tomic was also a winner Monday, edging American Sam Querrey 7-5, 7-6(5).

Russian workhorse Nikolay Davydenko was one match away from duplicating the 2010 feat when he defeated the top two players in the world, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, to repeat as Doha champion on Sunday, but this time the world No. 2 Federer was having none of it. Federer defeated Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 to claim his third career Qatar ExxonMobil Open title in Doha.

Roger and Rafa coming off the final at the cash-grab Abu Dhabi exo where Rafa won in two tiebreaks; organizers shelled out appearance money for world No. 1 Rafa and No. 2 Roger, but it falls off from there with No. 13 Tsonga the No. 3 seed; the Ukraine’s Sergei Bubka gets a wildcard; Federer likely to face two qualifiers in first two matches; Davydenko won the title last year, beating Roger and Rafa; returning champs in the field are Davydenko (2010) and Federer (2006-05).

“I think we set the bar for pretty high for ourselves for the rest of the year but obviously it’s a great tournament to start off the year and a great match, so I couldn’t be happier with myself, but I would also like to congratulate Justine,” Clijsters told the crowd afterwards. “This is the first tournament that she’s back and she’s really played at a really high level.”

The Brisbane International in Australia kicks off the 2010 WTA Tour in wild fashion, featuring the return of former world No. 1 Justine Henin, fellow Belgian comeback queen and former No. 1 Kim Clijsters as the top seed, in addition to seeds Nadia Petrova, former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Alisa Kleybanova, Aleksandra Wozniak, Melinda Czink and Iveta Benesova.

No. 2-seeded Belasrussian Victoria Azarenka won her first tour title in her fifth career title Saturday at Brisbane, easily defeating No. 3 seed Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1. ADHEREL “It was a tighter match than the score showed,” offered the runner-up Bartoli, who has now lost her last four finals. “All the games were very tight, […]

Officials at the Hopman Cup exhibition were shocked when Marat Safin showed up for the event with a black and bloodied eye and cuts on his face after getting in a brawl in Moscow.

Big start to the New Year with just about all the top guys playing ATP events, including Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and the two Andys, Murray and Roddick, all in Doha.