Basilashvili: To see my name next to Federer in Hamburg means a lot
Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili says the focus is now bigger on him than it was before.
Basilashvili, 27, successfully defended his Hamburg title.
The fourth-seeded Georgian beat rising Russian star Andrey Rublev 7-5 4-6 6-3 in the Hamburg final.
Basilashvili, who is enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 16 in the world, captured his first title of the year in Hamburg.
"When you have achievements, people want more and expect more,” Basilashvili said, as revealed on the ATP website. “Everybody is writing to me, everybody is happy. I have a lot of support from home and it is a great feeling."
Basilashvili recovered from an early break to steal the first set from Rublev.
However, the Russian kept his focus as he made the most out of the break he earned in the seventh game of the second set to force a decider.
Rublev made a slow start to the third set but broke back Basilashvili in the third game to reduce the deficit to 2-1, only to once again lose his serve in the following game.
No. 4 seed Basilashvili then held on to his serve to seal the win.
Basilashvili is the first player since Roger Federer in 2005 to win back-to-back titles at the Hamburg event.
"It looks like I am playing my best tennis here… Just to see my name next to [Roger and Andrei Medvedev who also defended titles here] means a lot to me," Basilashvili claimed.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2OAUqH8
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