Sydney International—Sydney, Australia
Feisty Australian Alex De Minaur captured his maiden ATP Tour title on Saturday in Sydney, Australia, defeating veteran Italian Andreas Seppi 7-5, 7-6(5).
In a close match that lasted two hours and five minutes, De Minaur hit four aces, won 75 percent of his first serve points, broke serve on three occasions, while using his world-class speed along the baseline to outlast his experienced opponent.
Still only 19, De Minaur has already cemented himself as one of the most competitive players on the circuit. The young Aussie will now head into the Australian Open, where he is slated to face Pedro Sousa in the first round.
Seppi, who was looking for his fourth career title, dispatched top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 3 seed Diego Schwartzman earlier in the event.
*****
ASB Classic—Auckland, New Zealand
American veteran Tennys Sandgren capped off a memorable week of action in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday, dismissing Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-2 for his first-career ATP Tour title. In a comprehensive performance, which lasted one hour and 19 minutes, Sandgren slammed seven aces, broke serve on four occasions and won 76 percent of his first serve points.
The American is defending quarterfinal points at the Australian Open next week, but will be aided by pulling in 250 ATP Tour points for his victory.
Norrie, who was amaking his maiden finals appearance, defeated Jan-Lennard Struff and Taylor Fritz earlier in the event. The Brit is currently ranked No. 93 in the world but will likely move up to No. 67 when Monday’s rankings are released.
