mtenis.com.pl

Spaniard wins his fifth ATP World Tour crown
Roberto Bautista Agut added a fifth ATP World Tour title to his trophy cabinet, beating 20-year-old Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 in the Aircel Chennai Open final on Sunday. The World No. 14 is now 5-6 in finals, with Chennai added to his Sofia (2016), Auckland (2016), Stuttgart (2014) and s-Hertogenbosch (2014) titles.
“I think it’s a great tournament and that’s why it’s my fifth time in a row coming here,” said Bautista Agut. “This tournament has helped me a lot to get into the Top 50 players [in the world]. I’m a much better player now than five years ago. I have more experience and I’ve improved a lot of things.
“There are a lot of tournaments and a lot of points coming up, but I’m happy with the start to win the first week of the year.”
The second-seeded Spaniard broke the #NextGenATP star for 3-1 in the first set and again for 5-4 in the second before closing out the championship in the next game on his first match point. Bautista Agut did not face a break point and won 84 per cent of his first serve points in the 73-minute victory.
After a bye in the first round, Bautista Agut claimed a straight sets win over Rogerio Dutra Silva in the second round, overcame a 6-2, 4-1 deficit to Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-finals, and topped fifth seed Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-3 for a spot in the final.
After saving match point against Dudi Sela to reach his first ATP World Tour final, Medvedev was bidding to become the third #NextGenATP player to win a tour-level title. Alexander Zverev (St. Petersburg) and Karen Khachanov (Chengdu) won their first titles last fall.
“He was more consistent than me today,” said Medvedev. “He played amazing tennis. I couldn’t do much about it. I tried my best but he was the better player today.”

The Croatian Ivo Karlovic beat Spanish player Roberto Bautista 7-6 (4), 6-7 (9), 7-6 (7) in the longest match so far in the competition at three hours and one minute. With his venomous serve, Karlovic produced 35 aces compared to Bautista’s six, but the player from Castellon certainly made things difficult for his opponent, who needed seven match points to seal victory. The win means that Karlovic is through to the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open after more than 180 minutes of thrilling tennis in the Manolo Santana Stadium.

At the end of the tie, the Spanish player appeared before the media in the press conference room. “I have played a lot of matches with a lot of chances but none have ever been as crazy as today’s. There were so many chances for both of us, but it is a toss of a coin and it fell in his favour”. Bautista recognized that he knew he was facing a great player. “I already knew it would be tough and that the scores would be close. I did everything I could. I didn’t deserve to lose this match”.

The physical presence of the Croat also worked significantly against the Spaniard, as well as his powerful serve. “When you play against a player that tall you have to compensate with other things… with determination, movement, returns. It’s clear that nobody, or almost nobody has a serve like Karlovic, but all the players up there are good. If they’re not good at serving, they’re good a returning… each one is good at some facet”. Regarding Karlovic’s intimidating serve and the aforementioned 35 aces, Bautista spoke about the changes currently occurring in tennis: “It is getting increasingly quick and you don’t get the rallies you used to. It’s clear that there are a lot of people up there who are there because of their serve, because it has helped them a lot”.

Finally, the Spanish player discussed the conditions in which the match was played. “Playing Karlovic in slower conditions would have been better, but we are in Madrid. I love this tournament and I adapt very well to the court conditions, but this year, unfortunately, I was unable to get through the first round”. He admitted to being frustrated about it but he feels optimistic about the rest of the year. “This result does not reflect how well I am playing, but I have to keep working. Maybe because of my standard of tennis this year, this result could be considered a blip. The season is not just one tournament and I will have the chance to evaluate this stumbling block. Nobody likes losing and I am annoyed because I also lost at home”.

Ivo Karlovic will meet Grigor Dimitrov in the second round of Madrid’s Masters 1000. The Bulgarian, who has claimed two titles this year and won the Tie Break Tens in Madrid, yesterday defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (7), 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes.

Spaniard celebrates sixth ATP title
Roberto Bautista Agut captured his second title of the season on Saturday, beating first-time finalist Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzogovina 6-4, 6-4 to win the Winston-Salem Open crown.
The Spaniard fell in the Winston-Salem final last year to compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, but he came through on the big stage on Saturday to match his career-best season in titles won.
"I'm so happy; It's been a great week. I didn't drop a set and I played very good tennis,” the Spaniard said. "It was a tough final. He's playing very smart, he changes the rhythm and plays very tricky. I was very focused and very solid.
"After he broke back in both sets I needed to manage the nerves, stay calm and be focused. I was a bit nervous after losing my serve but I managed it well.”
Bautista Agut, who won the Aircel Chennai Open in January (d. Medvedev), also hoisted two trophies last year and in 2014. He has now won six career crowns.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Nadal, Federer Prepare For Potentially Historic US Open
The Spaniard raced to early leads in both sets before Dzumhur climbed back. Bautista Agut led 4-1 in the first and 3-1 in the second before the scrappy Dzumhur rallied. But Bautista Agut, who didn't drop a set all tournament, was too solid for Dzumhur. The Spaniard clinched the title when the Bosnian lifted a forehand long on Bautista Agut's first match point. Bautista Agut will receive 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $89,280 in prize money.
"I wanted to make the final and get the title, so it's been a fantastic week for me. It's been a great year for me," Bautista Agut said.
"I feel good playing here on this court. It's a great tournament and great preparation for the US Open. I have to enjoy the title but then get focused for my first match Tuesday.”
Dzumhur was the first player from Bosnia-Herzogovina to reach an ATP World Tour final. Saturday's final was his 11th match in the past 12 days. He played in the final of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Santo Domingo last weekend (l. to Estrella Burgos).
Dzumhur will receive 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $50,830 in prize money.
“Best week for me so far. I really enjoyed playing in Winston-Salem. It was an unexpected good week for me and definitely one that I will always remember,” Dzumhur said.
“I fell behind 0-3 in both sets and it’s not easy to win sets from there, especially against a player like Roberto, who didn’t drop a set all week... He played the big points so well, especially at 4-all in both sets. I made some good points but he hit some great passing shots. I just didn’t have a lot of chances in those two games.
“He was a little better today. My legs were giving up in a few points, but I was trying to fight till the end.”

Bautista Agut improved to 2-3 against Del Potro in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series
Roberto Bautista Agut entered Saturday's ASB Classic final leading the tournament in service breaks. And when the championship was on the line against second seed Juan Martin del Potro, the Spaniard came through once more to capture his second Auckland crown (also 2016), battling past Del Potro 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

The fifth-seeded Spaniard broke Del Potro in the 11th game of the third set, taking advantage of a second serve and targetting the Argentine's backhand on consecutive shots. A game later, Bautista Agut erased a break point and served out the match to win his seventh ATP World Tour title and his first of the new season.

“It's been a fantastic week for me. I gave everything I have on the court this week,” said Bautista Agut, who battled for more than two hours against Del Potro and nearly three hours during his semi-final against Robin Haase.

“It was an unbelievable match today. I've been fighting a lot on the court... I played two amazing games at the [end] of the match.”

The 29-year-old Bautista Agut has now won his past three ATP World Tour finals, dating back to 2017 Chennai (d. Medvedev) and 2017 Winston-Salem Open (d. Dzumhur). The Spaniard, though, might be at his best in Auckland. He improved to 13-2 in the New Zealand city, and his service breaks were the key to his second title run at the ASB Classic.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Perfection! Pavic/Marach Take Home Another Title
Bautista Agut broke his opponents a tournament-high 19 times, converting 58 per cent of his opportunities (19/33). He had even better luck against Del Potro (4/5), despite the second seed's strong play coming into the final.

The 2009 champion Del Potro hadn't dropped a set before Saturday but, in the first set, Bautista Agut dominated, breaking Del Potro three times to gain a one-set lead after only 31 minutes.

“I started the match very well. I knew it was going to be important, the beginning of the match. I wanted to play very aggressive. I wanted to be ready,” Bautista Agut said. “I think I played very aggressive... I tried to have Juan Martin moving around the court.”

Del Potro, however, returned to his regular tennis proceedings in the second set, using his serve to set up his forehand well, and he broke Bautista Agut in the 10th game to force a decider.

The third set was as the score indicates: dead even. At 15/40, 5-5, Del Potro erased a break point with an ace but Bautista Agut saw a second serve on the next point, and took advantage before serving out the match.

“I think my game improved a little bit. I could play even better but Roberto did well at the end of the match,” Del Potro said. “Roberto is a great champion so congratulations to him.

“It's a good start of the year for me. I didn't expect to reach a final in my first tournament of the year but I played well,” Del Potro said.

He will receive 150 ATP Rankings points and $47,105 in prize money. Del Potro will also return to the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since 4 August 2014. He falls to 20-10 in tour-level finals.

Bautista Agut will receive 250 ATP Rankings points and $89,435 in prize money and is projected to remain at No. 21 in the ATP Rankings.

2016 Auckland champion Roberto Bautista Agut regained his crown after a 6-1 4-6 7-5 victory against the second seed Juan Martin del Potro in 2 hours and 7 minutes, claiming his 7th ATP title in a career. Spaniard won just 8 points more than his opponent, despite a one-sided opening set where he broke Delpo 3 times, and he earned the triumph with a late break in the 11th game of the final set.

Juan Martin raised his game after a terrible start, facing just 2 break points in the rest of the match, and he even had a chance to send the match into a deciding tie break, wasting a break point in the last game of the match that could increase his odds of winning the first Auckland title in 9 years.

Bautista Agut found the right rhythm early on and he outplayed del Potro completely in the opening set, winning 66% of the return points and racing through the set with 3 breaks of serve. Juan Martin netted a backhand to get broken in game number 2 but he fired up his mighty forehand to get back on the track in the following game, breaking back with a volley winner and reducing the deficit to 2-1.

Still, he failed to make an impact with his serve and Bautista Agut broke again in game 4 to open up a 3-1 lead, controlling the points from the baseline and getting some errors from his opponent who still struggled to gain his range.

It was all about the Spaniard in the rest of the set, he held at 15 in game 5 with some stunning forehands and he cracked another winner from that wing to break Delpo once again, moving a game away from the opening set. He delivered another nice hold in the 7th game to wrap up the set in an impressive way after just 30 minutes.

The Argentine had to change something on the court and in a rather quick manner if he wanted to get back in contention, and he started to serve better in set number 2, cutting the number of errors and enduring the baseline encounters with his strong opponent.

Roberto did nothing wrong in the first 8 games either, dropping just 4 points on serve in the opening 4 games, and he served to stay in the set in game 10. Out of sudden, Juan Martin created the only break point of the set and he defended his backhand nicely in the following point to get an error from Bautista Agut, clinching the set by 6-4 and sending the match into a decider.

There, both players held with ease in the first 10 games, hitting some powerful forehand winners like that one that kept Roberto in the match in the 10th game when he served to prolong the final. Del Potro served better and better as the match progressed and he dropped just 3 points in 5 service games, with another solid hold presumably coming up in game 11.

Instead of that, he double faulted and made a backhand mistake to offer his rival 2 break points, with Bautista Agut converting the second one to gain a 6-5 lead and serve for the title in the next game. Juan Martin was there to fight until the final point, creating a break point that could set up the deciding tie break, but he was denied by an ace from Roberto, one of his most important shots of the day.

An amazing forehand down the line winner moved Bautista Agut a point away from the crown and he sealed the deal when del Potro sent a forehand long, celebrating his second title in Auckland and the 7th in a career