Mannarino Denies Draper For Sofia Title

French veteran Adrian Mannarino denied rising star Jack Draper of his first title defeating the Brit 7-6(8-6), 2-6, 6-3 in the Sofia finals.

In this all-lefty match, Mannarino saved two break points serving for the match in the third to collect his fifth career ATP title, his second of the fall after Astana a few months ago and third of the season.

“That’s definitely the best way to finish the year,” the Frenchman said to the ATP. “It’s been a great year and I’m a little bit exhausted but it’s really motivating when you’re doing well. I was playing great on court and I’m happy with the result.”

The 35-year-old Mannarino finished 2-for-2 on break chances.

“That was really close,” said Mannarino. “I got a little bit lucky at the end, It could have gone both ways. I don’t know what made the difference today, but it’s like this. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and I’m just a little bit more lucky today. ”

The 21-year-old Draper was in his first career final. Earlier in the event, Draper scored one of his best career wins defeating top seed Lorenzo Musetti and then yesterday ousted No. 3 seed Jan-Lennard Struff. He came in on a 9-match win streak after taking the Bergamo Challenger title.

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