Tennis News

The International Tennis Hall of Fame Championships saw the crowning of Rajeev Ram for the second time in his professional career, as he toppled towering Croat Ivo Karlovic on Sunday evening.

It was an incredible conclusion to a startlingly solid week for Ram, who started his week with an opening round win against top seed John Isner and a quarter-final win against fifth seed Adrian Mannarino in the final eight.

“To say that I felt like I’d be the winner at the end of the week… I had no idea,” said Ram, who will move into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. “The first win was more elation, this one is more satisfaction just because I did it again.”

Karlovic finished runner-up at Newport for the second consecutive year, as he lost to Lleyton Hewitt at last year’s tournament final. He was bidding to win his seventh title on the ATP World Tour.

“It was a difficult match,” said Karlovic. “In the end, he was a little bit better. Like last year, it was a really tight match. I could have won both years. There’s always next year.”

Ram earned $84,250 and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points for his efforts.

Click here for free tennis live streaming of ATP & WTA matches.

In a storybook ending to an impressive week on the WTA tour, Swedish No. 1 Johanna Larsson claimed her first title on the professional tour and got the privilege of doing so in front of a boisterous hometown crowd in Bastad.

Larsson defeated Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-6(2) to win the Collector Swedish Open. She had to rally back from an early break down in the first set and later faced two more such incidents before edging past her durable opponent in straight sets.

“I’m extremely happy,” Larsson said. “I think I played really well today and I tried to concentrate on taking it point by point. Mona is playing very aggressive tennis so I think my spin really paid off.

“Coming into this tournament I had not won many matches,” the Swedish No.1 added. “But I tried to just play my game and stick with my topspin, which is my strength out there. In the end of the match I don’t know how it happened, but I won the last point, and of course that’s the most important point!

“I’m just really living in the moment right now and I’m happy with this victory today. Hopefully this can pay off later in the season, but right now I am just going to enjoy my first career WTA title.”

Not only was it Larsson’s first win in four attempts against Barthel, but it was also her first title in four final attempts over the past five years. Following a grueling wait, she became the first player this year to win both the singles and doubles titles at the same event.

Click here for free tennis live streaming of ATP & WTA matches.