Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt took advantage of his second chances to win a title at his third attempt at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.
Playing in his third consecutive final on Newport’s grass courts, Hewitt, the No. 3 seed, beat second seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3) on Sunday.
“Obviously, relief to have finally won here,” Hewitt said. “It’s an important tournament, not a Grand Slam by no means, but the last three years I’ve come here and put myself on the line, and come awfully close the last two years. It was nice to get rewarded today.”
Photo: EPA
The 33-year-old captured his 30th career ATP Tour title in a match that lasted 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Hewitt earned the victory mainly because of his success on second serves from Karlovic, winning 36 of 54.
“When he’s making a lot of serves, it’s tough to get into his service game,” Hewitt said. “I think my passing shots and returns are probably as good as anyone out there. In the third set tiebreaker, I returned really well.”
After winning the first set fairly easily, breaking in the third game to take control, Hewitt found himself in a tough second set.
Like last year, when he had a chance to serve out the match for the title, Hewitt was broken in the second set. Hewitt led 5-3 and was up 30-15 in the ninth game before Karlovic broke.
“Even though I didn’t play my best, I was fighting,” said Karlovic, who had 26 aces in the match. “I was trying to turn it around and I was able to do it in the third set.”
Neither player broke in the final set before the match-deciding tiebreaker.
Hewitt broke on the first, fifth and ninth points of the tiebreaker to take control, hitting a backhanded cross-shot just inside the line to go 6-3 up.
“To go up 6-3, I hit a really good return pass,” Hewitt said. “You’ve got to do that against him.”
Hewitt then closed it out on serve when the 35-year old Karlovic hit a forehand return long. He dropped to both knees when it ended, raising his fists to the sky, before being joined by his three young children.
“Things went well for me, and today was actually special for me to have them there, to be able to enjoy it and remember it,” Hewitt said.
Hewitt also was part of a doubles’ title with fellow countryman Chris Guccione later on Sunday.
The pair beat Jonathan Erlich of Israel and Rajeev Ram of the US 7-5, 6-4.
Karlovic played in his fourth final this season after he missed a large part of last season with an illness. He was hospitalized for two weeks, before returning to the ATP Tour in Newport last year.
Hewitt earned US$81,500 for the title and Karlovic US$42,900 for being the runner-up. It was the oldest final matchup in the 38-year history of the tournament.
Hewitt lost to Nicolas Mahut of France in last year’s final and John Isner of the US in 2012.
MERCEDES CUP
AP, STUTTGART, Germany
Roberto Bautista Agut defeated Lukas Rosol 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the Mercedes Cup final in Stuttgart, Germany, on Sunday for his second career title.
Third seed Bautista Agut saved five of the six break points he faced and converted three of his six break-point chances to win in 1 hour, 42 minutes.
World No. 48 Rosol fired 13 aces to Bautista Agut’s two, but the Czech was unable to prevent the world No. 23 from claiming his second title in as many months.
“Since the start of the season, I believed a lot in myself and my work,” Spaniard Bautista Agut told the ATP Tour Web site. “I’ve been playing really well, won a lot of matches and it was only a question of time before this happened.”
Bautista Agut, who defeated defending champion and top seed Fabio Fognini of Italy on Saturday, claimed his maiden victory at ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, last month.
Rosol, who knocked out second seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in his semi-final, was also bidding for his second title after winning in Bucharest last year.
“I was looking to find a good rhythm, but the serve was not working at all,” Rosol said. “I had to risk a lot with my shots. The level was not as good as the previous rounds and it’s a pity because I felt really good this week.”
SWEDISH OPEN
AP, BASTAD, Sweden
Pablo Cuevas defeated fifth seed Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-2, 6-1 in the Swedish Open final on Sunday at the Bastad Tennis Stadium.
The 28-year-old Uruguayan, who has fought a serious knee injury for the past three years, won his first ATP Tour tournament. He is currently ranked world No. 111.
World No. 40 Sousa was chasing his second ATP Tour title.
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