Sweeting, Andujar Win ATP Claycourt Titles
American Ryan Sweeting and Pablo Andujar were the unlikely winners during the opening week of the claycourt season on the ATP circuit.
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Sweeting, in his debut appearance in an ATP final, beat No. 6 seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6(3) Sunday in Houston to capture the title at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship.
The 23-year-old Sweeting fought off three set points in the second set before winning in the tiebreak.
“That game was very crucial,” Sweeting said of holding at 5-all. “It was definitely an important hold for me. I think it was a 20-minute long game. It definitely wore me out a little bit. I knew that I wanted to try and win the second set, obviously, to win the match, but it was a good hold and I felt that it gave me a little bit of momentum going into the rest of the set. It sort of hit him a little harder that he didn’t get the break — he had a lot of break points — but I just fought hard today.”
Sweeting was ranked No. 93 entering the event, and had a losing record on the season at the tour level. En route to the final he beat the 2010 finalist and No. 2 seed Sam Querrey, and past champion Ivo Karlovic in the semifinals.
Nishikori says he tightened up at the prospect of claiming his second career title.
“I was struggling today, missing a lot with easy shots and he was more aggressive than me, so that’s why I was struggling, I guess,” Nishikori said. “It was a final and I really wanted to win today, but I think that made me a little tight.”
Andujar won his career-first ATP title on Sunday at the Grand Prix Hassan II with a 6-1, 6-2 win over No. 5 seed Italian Potito Starace.
“I was very confident before the match,” Andujar said. “I thought about winning and yesterday’s win gave me a lot of confidence. I played in a way that made him tired, being very aggressive and making him run a lot.”
Starace fell to 0-4 in career finals.
“He played a great match,” Starace said. “He was too aggressive and didn’t give me one chance, so congratulations to him. He was playing a very high level.”
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