Reviewing the past singles champions of the Brisbane tournament: a gathering of stars, with Hewitt spanning sixteen years!

The Hong Kong and Brisbane tournaments are taking place at the same time. Unlike the Hong Kong event that only restarted two years ago, the Brisbane tournament boasts a much richer history. So, which famous champions have been crowned throughout its history?

Among the Big Three, the first to win was Djokovic, who recently announced he will skip this year’s warm-up events. He won this season-opening tournament when he was still under twenty.

Federer was once a big fan of this tournament. During the years 2014 to 2016, when he didn’t win any Grand Slam titles, he reached the final three consecutive times. Besides winning in 2015, he lost to local hero Hewitt and to Raonic, who was at the peak of his career during those years.

Nadal has never won this title, but Murray stands out as the only two-time champion, having won back-to-back in 2012 and 2013.

In recent years, Dimitrov has become a winner here. He defeated Kei Nishikori to claim the title in his peak year of 2017, and seven years later, he ended a long drought by beating Rune.

Among local players, the “bad boy” Kyrgios took the title in 2018, while Nishikori defeated the then less-known Medvedev to win in 2019.

Hewitt perfectly demonstrated his strong home-court advantage. Before his last title in 2014, he reached the final three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000, only losing in 1999 to Enqvist.

Looking through the tournament’s past finalists and champions, most players have appeared as both winner and runner-up. This likely relates to the event being held early in the season, giving players ample time to prepare.

On the women’s side, China’s Li Na won the title in 2008. Many great players have won multiple times, including Serena Williams with back-to-back titles, Azarenka twice, and Plíšková three times. This year’s defending champion is Sabalenka, who is currently warming up to reclaim her Australian Open crown.

Players like Hingis and Henin, who have brilliant careers in tennis history, unfortunately only managed to finish as runners-up in this tournament.

This year’s men’s defending champion, Lehečka, was eliminated in his opening match, while Sabalenka remains in the draw. On the men’s side, can Medvedev, in great form, reach the final again after seven years? Can Sabalenka honor Serena by defending her title? Let’s wait and see!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Luo Cheng Qiye)