American Tennys Sandgren was yesterday left speechless after claiming his maiden ATP Tour title with a comprehensive straight-sets victory over Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the final of the ASB Classic.
Sandgren, 27, needed just 79 minutes to beat Norrie 6-4, 6-2 to round out a remarkable week of tennis without dropping a set.
“I’m a little lost for words,” a relieved Sandgren said after a Norrie service return went over the baseline to end the match.
“A lot of work, a lot of training, a lot of sacrifice goes into even making a final and to get a win, I’m speechless,” he added.
In a tournament in which none of the seeded players made it to the final four, Sandgren was playing only his second ATP final — having lost in Houston, Texas, last year — while it was the first for wild-card entrant Norrie.
Sandgren said that his extra experience counted.
“I left that match [in Houston] thinking I played a really good one, but I left something on the table. Mentally, I wasn’t as good as I could have been, so I didn’t want to leave today thinking that I could have been more solid upstairs,” he said.
However, there was no hiding the nerves for both players, with 29 unforced errors from Norrie and 17 from Sandgren, a quarter-finalist in the Australian Open last year.
Norrie was in trouble at the start of match when he dropped his serve in the opening game.
The New Zealand-raised Briton broke back to level at 2-2, then immediately dropped his serve a second time, as Sandgren sealed the set with an ace.
Sandgren had too much power and accuracy for Norrie in the second set, breaking him twice before securing the match.
It was the first time Sandgren had beaten Norrie in their past four encounters.
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