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Spaniard wins first title of 2017
Top seed Pablo Carreno Busta finished off a flawless week at the Millennium Estoril Open by taking the title with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over third seed Gilles Muller.
“It’s my first title on clay, so I’m really happy,” said Carreno Busta. “It wasn’t an easy match today because of his serve and also the volley, but I was confident with my serve. He served better in the second set, but I played better in the tie-break.”
The Spaniard picks up his first ATP World Tour title of 2017 after finishing runner-up this February in Rio de Janeiro (l. Thiem). Carreno Busta didn’t drop a set in navigating through a difficult draw that included former Top 5 player Tommy Robredo, defending champion Nicolas Almagro, fourth seed David Ferrer and Muller. He earns 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and a cheque for €85,945.
Despite the loss, Muller can be satisfied with reaching his first clay-court final. The 33-year-old Luxembourg native is enjoying his best year on tour, winning his first ATP World Tour title in Sydney and reaching a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 27 the following month. He picks up 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and a cheque for €45,265.
“My performance was fine in the second set, but I had a really tough time getting into the match in the first set. He was putting pressure on me and not missing many balls,” said Muller. “I think I could have played better, but he was just too good.”
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Carreno Busta and Muller traded service holds in the first two games of the match, but the Spaniard quickly found his footing while Muller struggled for form. The top seed went on a five-game run after Muller gave away a break at 2-2 with a backhand into the net and a double break at 2-4 after sending a forehand wide. Carreno Busta comfortably wrapped up the set on serve after the third seed sent another forehand wide.
But Muller settled down in the second set and produced the high quality tennis he’d shown all week. Both players held serve throughout to force a tie-break. Carreno Busta raced to a 5/2 lead, but Muller leveled the score with a gorgeous drop shot winner. Carreno Busta earned a match point at 6/5 and converted when Muller sent a backhand volley long after one hour and 22 minutes.

Spaniard to face countryman Nadal next
The breakthrough stretch of Pablo Carreno Busta's career reached another high on Sunday at Roland Garros. Playing in his first fourth-round match at a Grand Slam, the 25-year-old Spaniard knocked out fifth seed Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-4, 8-6 to advance to his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Carreno Busta battled the 26-year-old Canadian for more than four hours and needed seven match points, but the Spaniard eventually prevailed to celebrate his first win against a Top 10 player. He had been 0-16 and had lost all five prior match-ups against Top 10 players at Grand Slams.
“It's difficult to explain my emotions at the end of the match. It was the best victory of my career. Maybe one of the best moments. This match, you dream of when you are young, playing Roland Garros, five sets, four and a half hours. It was really tough, really tough. But I just tried to do my best,” Carreno Busta said. “I enjoyed. I suffered, but I enjoyed. And of course if you win, you enjoy more.”
Carreno Busta will face nine-time champion Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. Carreno Busta is 0-3 against Nadal in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
“Rafa is maybe the best player on this surface in history, and he's playing really good, but I will try. I'm playing good. I'm playing with a lot of confidence. Maybe I'm a little tired, but I have one day off. So on Tuesday, we'll see what happens,” Carreno Busta said. “These quarter-finals are a great opportunity to continue and create my own history.”
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The 20th seed had also been 0-3 against Raonic in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but they had never played on clay, where Carreno Busta has thrived, especially this season. The right-hander won his first clay-court title at the Millennium Estoril Open last month, beating Gilles Muller in the final.
Carreno Busta also reached the Rio Open presented by Claro final, and the semi-finals at the Argentina Open and Brasil Open in Sao Paulo. Carreno Busta lost to the eventual champion at all three tournaments – Dominic Thiem, Alexandr Dolgopolov and Pablo Cuevas, respectively.
Away from the clay, Carreno Busta also posted some of his career-best results, reaching the semi-finals at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the first time at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March.

Raonic, however, had also played some of his best clay-court tennis earlier this season, reaching the final at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (l. to Cilic) and was looking to match his best Roland Garros result by reaching the quarter-finals.
The 6'5” Canadian won the final two points of the third-set tie-break to take a two-sets-to-one lead and looked poised to return to the last eight for the first time since 2014. But Carreno Busta fought back, breaking Raonic twice and serving out the fourth set to even the match.
“I had a lot of times where I was controlling the point and had short forehands that I wasn't very efficient with and just let him stick around in those moments. Then he started to believe a lot,” Raonic said. “He was the better player there towards the end. I hung on as much as I could.”
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The fifth set was all drama. Carreno Busta first served for the match at 5-4, holding three match points before Raonic smacked a forehand winner to break on his first chance. Raonic held for a 6-5 lead but couldn't touch Carreno Busta during the next game, so the Canadian stepped up to the service line at 6-6.
But Carreno Busta broke Raonic to love and on his seventh match point, the Spaniard angled a volley winner to earn one of the biggest wins of his career.
“I think we have worked very hard this season and last season,” Carreno Busta said. “I'll continue to work. Things don't happen by chance. I'll have to continue and work again and again with the same ambition.”