De Minaur wins second Atlanta Open title
Melissa Woods |
Australian men’s No.1 Alex de Minaur has again tasted success in Atlanta, beating American Jenson Brooksby to continue his run of fine form.
De Minaur won the Atlanta Open three years ago and triumphed over Brooksby 6-3 6-3 on Sunday to lift the ATP 250 tournament trophy for the second time.
On the back of the victory he’s set to jump nine places in the world rankings to 21, which bodes well for the looming US Open.
When he won at Atlanta in 2019 he went on to reach the fourth round of the major, which begins at the end of August.
It’s de Minaur’s first title since last June in Eastbourne and his sixth ATP Tour title overall.
De Minaur had to work hard to reach the decider, rallying from a set down in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, but the gritty Australian always persevered when under pressure.
“It was great to get another title under my name – it’s my sixth and not a lot of people have been able to do that, so I feel great,” de Minaur, who this year reached the second week of Wimbledon for the first time, said.
“I feel great about my game. I’ve put a lot of work in, so it’s great to see the hard work being rewarded.”
The final was a clash between two of the ATP Tour’s best defenders, however, it was de Minaur’s offence that proved critical as he clawed past the home favourite after 91 minutes.
“I knew coming in it would be a very tactical, chess-like match that we were going to both play,” the third seed said.
“I’m happy I was able to execute my game plan and get the win but it was a very tough match.
“Plenty of times it could have gone either way and even though the scoreboard was three and three, it felt very, very tight.”
AAP
