Pouille Wins 1st on Grass, Denies F-Lo in Stuttgart Final

Veteran Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez could not hold a lead nor withstand 29 aces from Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who won his third career title and first on grass on Sunday at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, beating the Spaniard 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
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“Of course if you win the first tournament of the grass season you’re very confident, but I know that every week is different and every player is tough to beat,” said the 23-year-old Pouille, who also won the claycourt Hungarian Open title in April. “I will need to focus again for next week and be ready to play my first round in Halle.”

Pouille, now 3-2 in career finals, broke for a 3-2 lead in the third set and ran out the match from there. The Frenchman saved a match point in his opening round against German Jan-Lennard Struff.

The 35-year-old Lopez fell to 5-11 in career finals and 2-2 in career grasscourt finals.

“It’s tough for me to be happy after such a close match, but he deserved the win today,” said Lopez, who hasn’t raised a trophy since July of last year. “I grew up watching all my friends win this tournament, but everyone here has made it even better than it was in the past.”