ATP Sydney: Alex de Minaur downs Andreas Seppi for historic ATP title
A year after he finished runner-up in his maiden ATP final, the 19-year-old Alex de Minaur has gone all the way in front of the home crowd in his native Sydney, ousting the Italian veteran Andreas Seppi 7-5, 7-6 in two hours and five minutes for the maiden ATP crown. The talented youngster is the first player born in 1999 with an ATP title, the first teenager who lifted the trophy since Andrey Rublev in Umag 2017 and the youngest Sydney winner since his mentor Lleyton Hewitt in 2001. Back in 2018, Alex lost a tight title clash against Daniil Medvedev but he showed the spirit of the champion in the pivotal moments today, winning four points more than his rival to wrap up the crown in straight sets.
Seppi created just two break points and he converted both to stay in touch with the younger and better-ranked opponent, fending off nine out of 12 break points but finishing on the wrong side of the scoreboard in his first ATP final since Halle 2015! The Italian broke in the very first game after forcing an error from de Minaur and he saved a break point in game two with a perfect backhand down the line winner to cement his lead. Andreas repelled three more break points in game four and it was Alex who had the edge in the rest of the set, serving well and keeping the pressure on the return.
The youngster broke back in game six to level the score at 3-3 and he secured another one at 6-5 to take the opener after grueling 75 minutes! Seppi stayed on the same level with his rival in set number two and he moved ahead in game seven following a costly double fault from Alex who had to chase the result just like in the opener. Instead of confirming the lead, Andreas netted a backhand in game eight to lose the advantage and keep de Minaur in the set that went into a tie break after four good holds on both sides.
There, Seppi earned a 4-2 lead with a service winner but he hit a double fault in the very next point, staying ahead after an equal error from Alex at 4-4. Andreas sprayed a huge forehand error in the 10th point and his backhand landed long in the following point to hand the first match point to Alex. The youngster stayed focused and he claimed that 12th point to bring the match home and start a massive celebration of first out of many ATP titles he is going to win in his career.
Final result:
[5]Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs [8]Andreas Seppi (ITA) 7-5 7-6(5)
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Cgf9X6
No comments