Alex de Minaur secured his third career ATP title and third of the season when he defeated Adrian Mannarino 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final of the Zhuhai Championships on Sunday evening. De Minaur converted only one of 13 break points, but one was enough to take the second set and he won the first in a tiebreaker before ultimately prevailing in two hours and five minutes.
The 20-year-old Australian had previously lifted trophies in 2019 at the Sydney International and the BB&T Atlanta Open.
“It was a really tough match,” de Minaur noted. “I had a lot of chances and I felt like Adrian just played better than I did in those moments. I just told myself I had to try and take control of the point and just try to dictate as much as I could and I hit a great ball and I’m happy it ended there.
“He’s one of the toughest guys to play–very tricky–and in that first set I had so many chances and I wasn’t able to break him, so I just had to make sure I stayed calm and just kept on backing myself, stay positive, and I was able to play some great points to turn the tiebreak around. That first set was huge.”
“He played great,” Mannarino praised. “I don’t think that my level dropped during the match. I think that he just kept pushing all the time, being really offensive and, if you just lose your concentration for…I don’t know, 30 seconds, one minute…then you lose a crucial game and then it goes quick. He played better than me; that’s the only thing I can remember about this match.”
Pablo Carreno Busta already had three ATP titles to his credit heading into Sunday’s Chengdu Open final, but none since 2017. The 63rd-ranked Spaniard returned to the winner’s circle after outlasting Alexander Bublik 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(3) after two hours and five minutes.
Their only previous encounter had come three years ago in Moscow, where Carreno Busta also survived in a final-set tiebreaker.
“It was an incredible week here in Chengdu,” Carreno Busta assured. “During the week I felt really comfortable on court. The surface is very fast, but I was very good with my serve during all the matches and I think it was the key to being the winner of the tournament.”
“I am happy to be in my second final,” said Bublik, who finished runner-up to John Isner on the grass of Newport this summer. “And I am happy for Pablo; he played an unbelievable match.”
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congrats, folks
Beijing
Quarterfinal predictions: Matteo Berrettini over Richard Gasquet, Fabio Fognini over Pablo Cuevas, Nikoloz Basilashvili over Dan Evans, and Diego Schwartzman over Alexander Zverev
Semifinals: Berrettini over Fognini and Schwartzman over Basilashvili
Final: Shwartzman over Berrettini
Tokyo
Quarterfinal predictions: Novak Djokovic over Lucas Pouille, Denis Shapovalov over Marin Cilic, Filip Krajinovic over Gilles Simon, and Borna Coric over Alex de Minaur
Semifinals: Djokovic over Shapovalov and Coric over Krajinovic
Final: Djokovic over Coric