Ashleigh Barty and Alexander Zverev warmed-up for the US Open by winning their respective tournaments at the combined ATP and WTA events in Cincinnati.
World No 1 Barty won her fifth title of the season by thrashing Swiss wild card Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1. The Australian, who will retain her firm grip at the top of the rankings before the final Grand Slam of the season that begins at Flushing Meadows next Monday, took control in the opening set and was never under threat.
“It's been an awesome week, with each match it was getting progressively better,” said Barty, who is looking to add the US Open title to her Wimbledon crown. “Today I was able to trust myself and play with confidence, which was important in a big final.
“I'm excited to get matches in tough conditions here in Cincy going into New York.”
For Teichmann, it was a disappointing end to a memorable week when the world No 76 beat three top 12 players, including four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova and Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic.
“I'm very happy with my week, today I wanted to win, but Ash was just too good,” she said. “I felt like I was there in the first set, but suddenly the first set was gone. She stepped up her level in the second — she was too good.”
Zverev, meanwhile, backed up his Olympic gold medal with a fifth ATP Masters 1000 title as he crushed Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday.
The German showed no effects from the stomach problem that hampered him during a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 semi-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.
“My first win here was on Wednesday and now I'm holding the title four days later,” he said. “It's been an incredible week, I had a lot of great matches. It's a great feeling going into the Open.”
Zverev's victory saw him leapfrog Rafael Nadal to take fourth spot in the new ATP rankings released on Monday.
