Gilles Simon took a huge step toward his goal of a top 15 world ranking on Sunday as he captured his second ATP title in three months with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Dmitry Tursunov. The Frenchman made a tough weekend stand, saving 17 straight break points over three sets of tennis to emerge with his fourth career ATP title at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships.
Seeded second, he claimed the crown on Sunday at the expense of the third-seed and defending champion from Russia.
“My goal at the start of the season was to reach top 15,” said the 25th-ranked Simon. “I started the year at 30th.”
“But with my ranking, I need to do better at Masters Series events and Grand Slam if I’m to improve,” the 23-year-old said. “My best so far is two third rounds at the Australian Open and one at the US Open. That’s not enough.”
California-based Russian Tursunov failed in his bid to become only the third man in the last 30 years here to defend the title after Pete Sampras (1991, 1992) and Andy Roddick (2003, 2004). Simon had a sparkling debut week in the US Midwest, improving on his previous best US tournament effort of reaching the quarter-finals at New Haven last year.
He added the Indy title to the trophy he claimed in Casablanca on clay in May.
His 15th hardcourt match win boosted his record this year to 26-16.
Tursunov was frustrated as Simon continued his remarkable run of break point saves, which reached 17 straight over his last two matches.
“I can get the jitters, and when that happens my game does not function well,” said Tursunov, who was broken twice and who committed 20 of his 32 unforced errors in the opening set. “I have to go for my shots, and that gives me little margin for error. I didn’t stay in the points for long enough today.”
■AUSTRIAN OPEN
AP, KITZBUEHEL, Austria
Juan Martin del Potro defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 6-1 in Sunday’s Austrian Open final to win his second straight ATP Tour event.
The 19-year-old Argentine won his maiden title in Stuttgart, Germany, last week.
“These were two great weeks for me, really unbelievable,” said del Potro, who conceded 29 games in five matches in Kitzbuehel. “I can only dream that I will be able to play on at this level.”
It was Melzer’s first final of the year. The Austrian is now 1-6 in finals, winning only in Bucharest, Romania, in 2006.
“I am very disappointed, obviously,” Melzer said. “Everything went wrong today and he was just too good. It was a great tournament anyway as I’d never reached the final here before.”
Del Potro dominated the match with strong serves and attacking baseline play. He faced one break point in his opening service game, but conceded just three more points on serve during the rest of the first set and didn’t drop a single point while serving in the second.
Del Potro’s dominance put pressure on Melzer’s service games. The Austrian was broken twice in the opening set and three times in the second. He also received treatment on a left ankle injury in-between sets.
At 2-0 and 40-15 down in the second, Melzer broke his racket by smashing it several times on the court. He then won the next four points but finally lost after he double-faulted on del Potro’s second match point.
Del Potro became the fifth Argentine winner of the clay-court tournament in Kitzbuehel in the last six years, after Guillermo Coria (2003), Gaston Gaudio (2005), Agustin Calleri (2006) and Juan Monaco (2007), who withdrew from this year’s event with an injury.
Sunday’s final of the 63rd edition marked the end of the event, which is not included in the ATP calendar next year.
■CROATIA OPEN
AP, UMAG, Croatia
Top-seeded Fernando Verdasco needed nearly three hours to defeat Russian Igor Andreev, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Sunday and win the ATP Croatia Open.
It was the second ATP title for the Spaniard — adding to his victory in Valencia in 2004 — and came on his on his first trip to Umag.
The fourth-seeded Andreev won four straight games to claim the first set and take a 1-0 lead in the second. He had break point for a 3-1 lead, but Verdasco suddenly rallied, hitting winners from all over the court.
He broke to lead 5-4, and held serve to win the set.
That’s when Andreev took a medical time out for treatment for two blisters on his feet.
Verdasco continued to dominate, breaking for a 3-0 lead in the third set and was ahead 40-0 when Andreev rallied.
He broke Verdasco, and again to even the set at 5-5, forcing the tiebreak before the Spainiard prevailed in two hours, 50 minutes, the longest final in the tournament’s 19-year history.
■DUTCH OPENA
AP, AMERSFOORT, Netherlands
Fifth-seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes claimed his first ATP Tour singles title at the Dutch Open on Sunday by beating defending champ Steve Darcis 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Darcis raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first 20 minutes to easily claim the first set, before Montanes fought back in the second behind his powerful serve.
Montanes then broke his opponent in the opening game of the third after Darcis committed his third double fault. Montanes clinched the match with a powerful backhand to become the first Spanish winner since Alex Corretja in 2001.
Darcis was bidding to become the first player to successfully defend a Dutch Open title in nearly 30 years. Balazs Taroczy of Hungary was the last player to achieve the feat when he captured five straight crowns between 1978 and 1982.
Montanes’ best result had been reaching last year’s final in Casablanca.
Darcis beat top-seeded Frenchman Marc Gicquel en route to the finals while Montanes upset Oscar Hernandez in the semis.
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