Alex de Minaur and Tennys Sandgren Win First ATP Tour Titles
Singles – Final
[5] A. de Minaur (AUS) d [8] A. Seppi (ITA) 75 76(5)
Doubles – Final
[2] J. Murray (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA) d [1] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) 64 63
Alex de Minaur lifted his first ATP Tour title on Saturday, beating Andreas Seppi 7-5, 7-6(5) to win the Sydney International. It was his second match win of the day, It was de Minaur’s second win of the day, he defeated Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-2 in a rain-delayed semifinal from Friday night.
The 19-year-old, who improves to 9-2 at the event, is the youngest winner in Sydney since mentor Lleyton Hewitt claimed the title in 2001. Sydney-born De Minaur is the first Australian champion at the tournament since Bernard Tomic in 2013. It marked the young Australian’s second victory of the day after beating Gilles Simon in a semi-final that was pushed to Saturday by rain.
“It’s surreal. I couldn’t think of a better place to get my first win,” said De Minaur. “It’s been tough, because I have played a couple of finals and things haven’t gone my way.
“To finally be able to take that step further and get my first win, it’s something that’s really special in front of friends and family and on the courts I grew up [on]. [These are] definitely memories that are going to last forever.”
Singles – Final
T. Sandgren (USA) d [WC] C. Norrie (GBR) 64 62
Doubles – Final
B. McLachlan (JPN) / J. Struff (GER) d [3] R. Klaasen (RSA) / M. Venus (NZL) 63 64
Tennys Sandgren won his first ATP Tour title on Saturday, defeating Brit Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-2 in 79 minutes to lift the trophy at the ASB Classic.
Just a year ago Sandgren had just two tour-level match wins for his career when he lost at Auckland this time last year. Not only does Sandgren have 21 match wins since, but he leaves New Zealand with the trophy after not losing a set throughout the ATP 250 event.
“I’m a little bit at a loss for words, honestly. A lot of work, a lot of training and a lot of sacrifice goes into even making a final and to get a win, I’m kind of speechless,” Sandgren said. “[I’m] just grateful that I can be out here, play and compete. I’ve dealt with some injuries, so just to be healthy and playing well, it feels really good.”
