Dzumhur Denies Berankis for ATP Moscow, 2nd 2017 Title
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur won his second title of the year Sunday, defeating Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in the final of the VTB Kremlin Cup in Russia.
ADHEREL
His first title of the year also came in Russia at St. Petersburg.
“I really don’t know, but there is something special here in Russia,” he said. “Maybe the crowd, I don’t know.”
Dzumhur was serving at 3-4, 0-40 in the final set before rallying for the victory.
“I didn’t think about it. I was just trying to play good serves and it worked well. Some amazing backhands,” Dzumhur said. “A little bit lucky. I was close to the line two times. But that’s tennis, you have to be lucky to win some games.”
The former world No. 1 junior Berankis didn’t begin his year until May after hip surgery.
“He deserves to win today,” Berankis said of Dzumhur. “I am really happy with this result, especially compared to my results in the last few weeks, so I hope my game is starting to come back. I really wish that I can continue in a similar way the rest of the year.”
The pair will play again in the next few days as they have drawn each other in the first round of the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna.
“After [Vienna] it’s going to be a really hard celebration,” Dzumhur said.
Dzumhur is now 2-1 in career finals while Berankis falls to 0-2, appearing in his first championship round since 2012 Los Angeles.
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