Tennis News

In a contest pitting two ATP World Tour youngsters, Dominic Thiem defeated Joao Sousa in straight sets to lift the Konzum Croatia Open in Umag.

The contest lasted a mere one hour and two minutes and saw Thiem top his Portuguese adversary 6-4, 6-1. He was awarded 250 Emirates Ranking Points and got €80,000.

“I am really happy about this week. I was able to improve my game in the semi-final and final. I didn’t make many mistakes today,” said Thiem. “It is really special to win here after playing juniors matches in this stadium.”

It was the culmination of an impressive week for Thiem that saw him also beat Gael Monfils in the semi-final round.

“You don’t win an ATP tournament every week. I got tight which is normal,” Thiem said about getting broken at 5-0 in the second set. “I will have a nice dinner with my friends tonight to celebrate. It won’t be a big party for me as I have to drive eight hours to go to Gstaad tomorrow.”

Sousa was awarded 150 Ranking Points and €40,000.

“I am really disappointed with my game today. I was just not good enough mentally. It wasn’t a problem of tactic,” said Sousa. “Of course I am satisfied with this week as it is tough to be in a final. However, it is hard for me to enjoy it right now.”

Although Bernard Tomic is going through a turbulent period in his personal life, including a recent arrest in Miami for trespassing and resisting an officer, the Aussie talent managed to successfully retain his Bogota title in the Sunday final.

Tomic, now undefeated with a 9-0 in Bogota, beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the final. He took home $124,325 and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points for his efforts.

“It’s been a very good year,” said Tomic. “I started at No. 70 (in the Emirates ATP Rankings) and am now close to No. 20. It’s been a good seven months. I’ll try to play well the next three months and have the chance to be in the Top 15.

“Every title you remember. I’m very happy to have won my third title and to defend it here was amazing. I’m really happy with myself… This is my most consistent year.”

Tomic’s title win comes on the heels of an arrest in Miami following an alleged altercation with Miami Beach hotel staff and police. The 22-year-old appeared to be a disturbance as he blasted loud music from his hotel room in W South Beach. Following several noise complaints, Tomic was arrested after allegedly being aggressive towards hotel security and was forced to leave his penthouse room.

Following his release, Tomic apologized for the disturbance and took responsibility for his actions.

In the first WTA final of her career, Lesia Tsurenko managed to rally back late in the opening set before dominating the remainder of the final against Poland’s Urszula Radwanska to lift her maiden title in Istanbul.

Both players were unseeded in the final – a rare occurrence on the WTA tour. Tsurenko took out sixth seed Daria Gavrilova early in the tournament while Radwanska beat Jelena Jankovic and Tsvertana Pironkova in the quarter-final.

In the end, Tsurenko managed to complete her week in fantastic fashion with a solid 7-5, 6-1 victory in one hour and 32 minutes of court time.

“When I saw the draw it looked tough, but I believe that if you go to a tournament you can win it,” Tsurenko said. “You have to think like this. And I’m so happy I could win here and show good tennis. “That’s my goal, getting good results and showing good tennis.”

Radwanska is now 0-2 in WTA finals and was in her first final since 2012.

The doubles crown was awarded to Elina Svitolina and Daria Gavrilova who beat Jankovic and Cagla Buyukakcay 5-7, 6-1, 10-4.

“Beating the top seeds in the second round was a good win for us, and it got us on the right track. We were getting more and more confident after that,” Gavrilova said afterwards. “Today we weren’t happy we lost the first set, but from there we kicked on and kept fighting, and that’s what got us the title.”