Taiwan’s Hsieh Cheng-peng on Sunday lost his bid to claim his first ATP Tour doubles title at the Sofia Open, while Daniil Medvedev gifted himself an early birthday present in the singles final.
Hsieh and his Indonesian partner, Christopher Rungkat, fell to a 6-2, 4-6, 10-2 defeat to Nikola Mektic and Jurgen Melzer in 67 minutes.
The Croatian-Austrian duo saved five of six break points and converted two of eight to claim what was their first ATP Tour title as a pairing.
Photo: AFP
“I am very happy to win the title,” Mektic told the ATP Web site.
“Last May was my last final, so it is very good to be in a final and win again... It is going to be good motivation for the rest of the season,” he said. “We have had some tough battles. We saved [three] match points in [the quarter-final], but we came out strong in the end and I have to thank Jurgen again for playing with me. It was a great week.”
In the singles, big-hitting Russian Medvedev brushed aside Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 6-3 to win the title.
Third seed Medvedev, who turned 23 yesterday, was at his devastating best as he gave the hapless Hungarian a brutal lesson to claim his fourth career title.
Attacking the lines with machine-like precision, Medvedev was in complete control and broke the unseeded Hungarian, who won his maiden title in Geneva, Switzerland, last year, four times.
The world No. 16 converted his first championship point after breaking Fucsovics’s serve to love.
“I’m happy to win the title — this is what I came here for,” Medvedev said. “I was the better player today and I deserved to win. This title gives me a lot of confidence.”
OPEN SUD DE FRANCE
Reuters, PARIS
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday beat fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-2 to win the Open Sud de France in Montpellier and claim his first ATP Tour title since 2017.
Herbert, the seventh seed, was looking to snatch his maiden singles title, but Tsonga, whose previous season was hampered by injuries, only dropped four points on his serve.
The 33-year-old, in Montpellier courtesy of a wild card, had not won a trophy since he prevailed in Antwerp, Belgium, in October 2017.
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