Ramos-Vinolas Captures Estoril Crown
Albert Ramos-Vinolas’ impressive clay-court form in 2021 was rewarded on Sunday when the Spaniard collected his third ATP Tour title at the Millennium Estoril Open.
The 33-year-old rallied from a set and a break down and won 51 per cent of his second-serve return points (19/37) to defeat fellow left-hander Cameron Norrie 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3). Ramos-Vinolas triumphed in two hour and 44 minutes, and he is now 16-5 on clay this year. The Spaniard owns seven more clay-court victories than any other player on the ATP Tour this season.
2021 ATP Tour Clay-Court Wins Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Win-Loss Record |
| 1 | Albert Ramos-Vinolas | 16 |
| T2 | Pablo Carreno Busta | 9 |
| Federico Delbonis | 9 | |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 9 | |
| 5 | Facundo Bagnis | 8 |
Ramos-Vinolas has won all three of his ATP Head2Head encounters against Norrie. The World No. 46 also beat Norrie on clay in the first round of the 2018 Davis Cup and at the 2019 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
After trailing by a set and a break, Ramos-Vinolas attacked with his forehand to recover the break in a marathon game at 2-1 in the second set and he capitalised on multiple Norrie errors to force the match to a decider. A final-set tie-break was needed to decide the outcome of the match and Ramos-Vinolas trusted his powerful forehand in key moments to dictate rallies, extract errors and clinch victory.
Norrie was aiming to capture his maiden ATP Tour title. The World No. 50, who won the Estoril doubles crown in 2018 (w/Edmund), defeated second seed Cristian Garin and sixth seed Marin Cilic en route to his second tour-level championship match (0-2).
Did You Know?
Norrie and Ramos-Vinolas’ clash was the second ATP Tour final of the season between left-handed players. At the Cordoba Open in February, #NextGenATP Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo defeated Ramos-Vinolas in another three-set championship match.