Gilles Muller is finally an ATP title winner.
At 33 years old and playing in his sixth career ATP final, Muller erased the demons of past failures with a winner’s trophy on the line when he defeated Dan Evans 7-6(5), 6-2 at the Apia International on Saturday night. The 34th-ranked Luxembourgian held all 10 if his service games while breaking Evans twice in the second set.
Muller missed set points at both 5-4 and 6-5 in the opener, but he managed to fight back from a mini-break down in the ensuing tiebreaker to take it seven points to five. With momentum in hand, he cruised through set two in style.
“It means a lot,” said Muller, who was overcome by emotion during the trophy ceremony. “Like you can see, I was pretty emotional out there on the court. For the past two or three years, it was probably my biggest goal to win a title. I always dreamed of that, and I was so close last year…. So I was very scared and worried that I was going to be one of those players who never win a title. Now I have it, and it just feels great.”
Sydney final highlights:
At the ASB Classic, Jack Sock captured just his second ATP title with a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Joao Sousa on Saturday afternoon. A topsy-turvy affair saw Sock put himself within two points of a straight-set victory before Sousa stormed back to force a third. The Portuguese underdog even went up by a break in the decider, but Sock quickly restored order to the proceedings.
“Anytime you can take a title, it feels really good,” the 23rd-ranked American commented. “I’ve had it once before. I’ve had chances. I’ve lost in a few finals. Winning the whole tournament is definitely a massive confidence booster. I was able to put in a lot of work in the off-season and I think it paid off. I was able to make lots of gains and lots of strides forward. I think it really showed this week.”
Auckland final highlights:
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