Hot-Handed Tursunov Wins 1st ATP Title at Mumbai
Posted on October 3, 2006Russian Dmitry Tursunov outlasted the rain and outlasted Tomas Berdych to notch his first career ATP title Monday in Mumbai. The third-seeded Tursunov won the crown, which was postponed due to rain yesterday, by the tight scoreline of 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5).
"Yeah, I probably lost about 10 years of my life playing this," said Tursunov, who moves into the Top 20 for the first time in his career. "I think both of us were playing really, really tight and you know it was really a crap-shoot in the tiebreak. I was up two breaks in the third set and still went to the tiebreak, so it was definitely nerve wracking but I'm really happy that I won and just really hope that it won't go into a tiebreak in the third set in a finals again."
The powerful Tursunov led 4-2 in the third set but was unable to close out the match. Rain halted play for a second time at 5-5 in the third. When play resumed Tursunov immediately broke Berdych for a 6-5 lead but was unable to serve out the match, which headed into the third-set tiebreak. The Russian clinched the victory with his first match point of the tiebreak.
It's been quite a few weeks for Tursunov culminating in his Mumbai win. Two Sundays ago Tursunov was surprisingly called into action against Andy Roddick in the fourth rubber of the Russia-USA Davis Cup semifinal. After a lackluster performance in the doubles rubber one day earlier, Tursunov, playing on his least-preferred surface of clay, defeated Roddick 17-15 in the fifth set.
Tursunov was appearing in his second ATP final (Los Angeles 2006, l. Haas). The 23-year-old improved to 43-26 on the year, far exceeding his previous best season record of 17-15 last year. He has won 22 of his 30 matches since the beginning of Wimbledon.
For Berdych it was his second runner-up finish of the year following a loss to Roger Federer in the Halle final. His two career titles have come at ATP Masters Series-Paris last year (d. Ljubicic) and at Palermo in 2004 (d. Volandri).
Said Berdych: "It was amazing, waiting one more today, all day raining and then today we start at 4 o'clock, then it was up and down and then again it started to rain, and they already want to cancel the match and we go home, and all these things together it was mentally so tough, and then finally I lost 7-6 in the third, so it was a nice week but with a bad end."
"Yeah, I probably lost about 10 years of my life playing this," said Tursunov, who moves into the Top 20 for the first time in his career. "I think both of us were playing really, really tight and you know it was really a crap-shoot in the tiebreak. I was up two breaks in the third set and still went to the tiebreak, so it was definitely nerve wracking but I'm really happy that I won and just really hope that it won't go into a tiebreak in the third set in a finals again."
The powerful Tursunov led 4-2 in the third set but was unable to close out the match. Rain halted play for a second time at 5-5 in the third. When play resumed Tursunov immediately broke Berdych for a 6-5 lead but was unable to serve out the match, which headed into the third-set tiebreak. The Russian clinched the victory with his first match point of the tiebreak.
It's been quite a few weeks for Tursunov culminating in his Mumbai win. Two Sundays ago Tursunov was surprisingly called into action against Andy Roddick in the fourth rubber of the Russia-USA Davis Cup semifinal. After a lackluster performance in the doubles rubber one day earlier, Tursunov, playing on his least-preferred surface of clay, defeated Roddick 17-15 in the fifth set.
Tursunov was appearing in his second ATP final (Los Angeles 2006, l. Haas). The 23-year-old improved to 43-26 on the year, far exceeding his previous best season record of 17-15 last year. He has won 22 of his 30 matches since the beginning of Wimbledon.
For Berdych it was his second runner-up finish of the year following a loss to Roger Federer in the Halle final. His two career titles have come at ATP Masters Series-Paris last year (d. Ljubicic) and at Palermo in 2004 (d. Volandri).
Said Berdych: "It was amazing, waiting one more today, all day raining and then today we start at 4 o'clock, then it was up and down and then again it started to rain, and they already want to cancel the match and we go home, and all these things together it was mentally so tough, and then finally I lost 7-6 in the third, so it was a nice week but with a bad end."