Nature Valley International, Great Britain
Men’s Championship Match: [42] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. [79] Sam Querrey (USA)
Tied 2:2, today’s winner would take the slight lead in their head-to-head. Fritz came out with a mission and he accomplished it fully. He saved his best tennis for the final and Querrey’s look of resignation admitted as much.
Three years ago, Fritz broke on the scene and made it to his first ATP Tour final in Memphis. Three years later and following a battle with knee injury, the American won his first title with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Querrey. Both will hope that they can take this form into Wimbledon, which starts on Monday.
Fritz did a much better job on serve today (64% first serves in); he won 89% of his first serves and 50% of his second serves. He will have to improve the second serve stats though if he wants to challenge the top guys at Wimbledon.
Women’s Championship Match: [3] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) vs. [5] Angelique Kerber (GER)
Kerber led their head-to-head 7:4, with Kerber winning their only encounter on grass. Yet, Kerber was playing with a right thigh injury and all the pressure was on her to win this title. However, Pliskova was on fire this week. She barely lost games this tournament; she was crisp in the execution of her plan and she remained calm in the face of any transient adversity. Although she offered up more resistance in the second set, Kerber was left helpless in the 1-6, 4-6 loss. The German will go to Wimbledon perhaps a tad disappointed that she did not win the Eastbourne title.
Antalya Open, Turkey
Men’s Championship Match: [75] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) vs. [82] Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
These two players battled not only their respective opponents, but extreme heat and humidity in Turkey to get to the final. It was their first meeting and at stake was the opportunity to win their first ATP Tour title on their first trip to a final.
They both protected their serves extremely well in the first and second sets, with the Serbian working a tad harder than his opponent to protect his serve; thus, it was only fitting that the first two sets were decided in tiebreaks.
Kecmanovic started off well, winning the first set in the tiebreak; however, not easily discouraged, the Italian battled back to even the match by winning the second set tiebreak. Perhaps exhaustion caught up to the teenager, who simply had nothing left in the third set. Sonego served up twenty-five aces and one double fault to get the 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-1 victory. Both guys will be feeling confident going into Wimbledon; however, hopefully exhaustion does not play a role in their first-round matches.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: Zimbio.com (main image: Getty Images Europe- Taylor Fritz)
CONGRATULATIONS TO FRITZ AND SONEGO!
