ABN AMRO WORLD TENNIS TOURNAMENT—ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Unseeded Slovak Martin Klizan won the biggest title of his career on Sunday in Rotterdam, Netherlands, defeating No. 5 seed Gael Monfils 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-1. Needing just under two hours to prevail, Klizan hit seven aces and won a very high 69 percent of his second serve points. Coming back from a set down during three successive matches, Klizan took home his fourth career title.
With the loss, Monfils fell to 5-18 in career finals.
*****
ARGENTINA OPEN—BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem capped off a sensational week of tennis in Buenos Aires, Argentina, defeating crowd favourite Nicolas Almagro 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(4). Dismissing top seed Rafael Nadal in the semifinals by a similar scoreline, Thiem used his arsenal of topspin and flat-hit groundstrokes to get the better of Almagro on Sunday. Striking nine aces in total, Thiem claimed the fourth title of his young career, while improving to 2-0 against Almagro in lifetime meetings.
*****
MEMPHIS OPEN—MEMPHIS, TN, U.S.A.
Top seed Kei Nishikori won his fourth straight Memphis title on Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee, dispatching American upstart Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4. Falling behind 3-0 in the first set, Nishikori raised his game and never looked back as he claimed the match in one hour and 19 minutes. Breaking serve on three occasions, Nishikori won 82 percent of his first serve points to go along with one ace.
For Fritz, the youngster took home 150 ATP World Tour points for his efforts and will raise his ranking to No. 103 in the world when Monday’s computer is updated.
