BERLIN — Italian Matteo Berrettini claimed his first grasscourt title with a 6-4 7-6(11) victory over Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Stuttgart Open final on Sunday.
World No. 30 Berrettini saved five points in the marathon second set tiebreak and held on to win it 13-11 for his third ATP crown in last 11 months.
Berrettini, who defeated home favorite Jan-Lennard Struff in the semifinal, grabbed an early break point in the opening set, as the 18-year-old erred by pushing a backhand approach shot into the net.
Auger-Aliassime, who is youngest player in the world's top 100, was unable to take advantage of one of his five chances in the tiebreak, with Berrettini serving well under pressure before taking control of points on his forehand.
Berrettini won all 50 of his service games over the week, claiming more than 89% of his first-serve points in his five matches and becoming the first Italian male grasscourt titlist since Andreas Seppi in Eastbourne in 2011.
The 23-year-old had never tasted victory on grass before, with both his previous wins coming on clay courts in Gstaad and Budapest. Stuttgart marks Auger-Aliassime's third defeat in as many finals this year after losing out in Rio de Janeiro and Lyon.
Frenchman Mannarino
finally wins first ATP title
France's Adrian Mannarino ended his long wait for an ATP title by beating Jordan Thompson to win the grass-court event in 's-Hertogenbosch on Sunday. The 30-year-old, who had lost in each of his six previous finals, claimed a 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 victory in the Netherlands.
World No. 44 Mannarino's best results have come on grass — having twice reached the final in Antalya and made the second week of Wimbledon three times.
Australian Thompson, who reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career at the recent French Open, was playing in his maiden tour final.
Mannarino and Thompson had both won their semifinal matches earlier in the day after rain curtailed play on Saturday, beating Croatian second seed Borna Coric and Frenchman Richard Gasquet respectively.
Riske fights back for
Dutch WTA crown
American Alison Riske overcame a first set battering to beat local favorite and world No. 4 Kiki Bertens 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 to win the 's-Hertogenbosch final on Sunday.
This was Riske's second career WTA win after victory in 2014 at Tianjin and comes after she had lost her last three encounters with Bertens.
After a 6-0 hammering in the opening set Riske, ranked 61st in the world, showed form and character on the grass court as Wimbledon swings in to view. This was also a tenth straight win on grass for Riske, who succeeds Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic as champion.
Vekic wins 12 consecutive
games to reach Nottingham final
Croatian Donna Vekic reached the final of the weather-hit Nottingham Open grasscourt event on Saturday as she came from a set down to win 12 consecutive games against German Tatjana Maria.
Vekic, the second seed, lost a tight opener before storming to a 5-7, 6-0, 6-0 victory. What was perhaps more remarkable than the turnaround in Vekic's fortunes, was the fact that it was the first match she had completed on grass all week.
Five days of rain has wrought havoc with the schedule throughout the week, forcing most of the matches to be played on indoor hardcourts rather than the lawns.
Even when Vekic led 5-0 in the decider there was another rain interruption but she returned to complete the win.
"I'm super happy to be back in the final, and finally completed a match on grass as well," Vekic, champion in 2017, said. "That was really fun, to be out there playing again. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.
"It's definitely been a crazy week for everyone," the 22-year-old added.
She will face either French top seed Caroline Garcia or American Jennifer Brady in Sunday's final, although they will have to return to court in the morning after yet more rain fell to suspend play in their semifinal on Saturday. — Agencies
