Klizan Charges To Kitzbühel Crown

In just the second all-qualifier final since the ATP World Tour was established in 1990, Martin Klizan captured his sixth tour-level title, beating Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-2 at the Generali Open on Saturday.

Klizan won 78 per cent of first-serve points and converted each of his four break-point opportunities to secure victory after 68 minutes. The Bratislava native equals Ernests Gulbis’ record for most championship match victories without a loss (6-0) in ATP World Tour history. Klizan has now won four of his six tour-level titles on clay after success in Munich (2014), Casablanca (2015) and Hamburg (2016).

Klizan becomes the fifth qualifier to capture a tour-level trophy this year, joining Daniil Medvedev (Sydney), Mirza Basic (Sofia), Roberto Carballes Baena (Quito) and Nikoloz Basilashvili (Hamburg). Marco Cecchinato claimed his maiden title in Budapest as a lucky loser. The qualifier defeated two seeded players during his week in Austria, including home favourite and top seed Dominic Thiem in the second round.

Istomin was bidding to capture a third title in five tour-level finals. The 31-year-old, who lifted his second title at the Chengdu Open in September 2017, drops to 2-3 in tour-level championship matches.

Klizan wasted little time establishing an early lead, taking the initiative behind his second-serve return with heavy groundstrokes from both wings. The 29-year-old forced Istomin into a series of backhand errors with heavy hitting to earn a double-break lead before converting his second set point after 32 minutes.

Solid play from Klizan at the baseline extracted back-to-back errors from Istomin who, once again, surrendered his second service game of the set. Istomin manufactured two break-point chances for an immediate response, but, as was the case at 4-1 in the first set, Klizan escaped with a service hold.

The disappointment of missing out on a key service break soon told as Klizan broke to love in the following game, with great court coverage, to establish a double-break lead. Klizan relaxed from there, using a mixture of power and finesse to cruise to victory. The World No. 112 served out the match to love, forcing Istomin into one final error after a powerful cross-court backhand.

Klizan receives 250 ATP Ranking points and collects €89,435 in prize money for lifting the trophy. Istomin gains 150 ATP Ranking points and €47,105.

Did You Know?
Both of Martin Klizan’s FedEx ATP Head2Head victories against Denis Istomin have come on title-winning runs as a qualifier. Klizan also defeated Istomin en route to winning the 2014 BMW Open by FWU in Munich.