Men's 500 Series Champions Overview (Part 2): Alcaraz Clinches Two Titles, Fokina Faces Repeated Setbacks!

In yesterday's article, I reviewed the first half of this year's men's 500 series champions, mainly covering the early hard court and clay events. Today's piece focuses on the grass-court season and the latter half of the hard court tournaments.

Queen's Club: Alcaraz

(86 Walton, 59 Munar, 80 Lindgren, 51 Agut, 30 Lehecka)

After a two-year gap, Alcaraz once again claimed the Queen's Club title. The Spaniard's path to victory did not involve facing top-tier world players. However, it was a mixed outcome as he lost Wimbledon, missing the chance to join Djokovic and Federer in achieving a three-peat.

Halle: Bublik

(40 Miller, 1 Sinner, 23 Majchrzak, 22 Khachanov, 11 Medvedev)

The Kazakh player had a fruitful season, especially mid-year. Besides reaching the French Open quarterfinals, he defeated world No.1 Sinner at Halle. In the final against Medvedev, who was eager to end his title drought, Bublik firmly secured the win.

Washington: De Minaur

(75 Bouzkurt, 25 Lehecka, 32 Brandon Nakashima, 59 Moutet, 26 Davidovich)

Though De Minaur hasn't reached Grand Slam semifinals or won Masters titles in recent years, his performance in 500-level tournaments has been consistent, earning him a share of the year-end 500 series prize pool.

This year, after choosing to compete in Dubai instead of defending his Acapulco title, he still found success in the 500 series. Against the determined Davidovich, who sought his first career title, De Minaur lost initially but came back to win, handing his opponent another final defeat.

Tokyo: Alcaraz

(41 Baez, 45 Berrettini, 33 Brandon Nakashima, 12 Ruud, 5 Fritz)

After announcing early on that he would skip defending his Cincinnati title, Alcaraz kept his winning momentum alive. In the Tokyo final, he decisively defeated former champion Fritz to secure the trophy.

Beijing: Sinner

(97 Cilic, 68 Altmaier, 57 Mauro Ran, 8 De Minaur, 52 Lener-Chan)

Sinner was equally dominant here, capturing the title with overwhelming force. After losing to Alcaraz in last year’s final, he reclaimed the championship this time, with his young opponent’s performance also drawing significant attention.

Vienna: Sinner

(51 Altmaier, 22 Kobori, 16 Bublik, 7 De Minaur, 3 Zverev)

Winning back-to-back titles has become routine for Sinner. This time, whether it was avenging his loss to Bublik or comfortably defeating De Minaur and Zverev—especially in the Vienna final where Zverev played well and took the first set—Sinner demonstrated his superior level.

Basel: Fonseca

(33 Pericard, 19 Menchik, 23 Shapovalov, 42 Munar, 18 Davidovich)

Once again, Davidovich ended up as the runner-up! Fonseca became the youngest player to win a 500 series title after Alcaraz, which is even more meaningful as he is set to follow in the footsteps of his idol Federer.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Luo Cheng Qi Ye)