Tennis Roundup | Novak Djokovic clinches Aegon International; Yuichi Sugita bags maiden ATP World Tour crown
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Novak Djokovic found some good form ahead of Wimbledon by beating Gael Monfils 6-3 6-4 to win the Aegon International in Eastbourne. Meanwhile, Japanese Yuichi Sugita claimed his first ATP World Tour title as he beat Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 7-6(4) to win the Antalya Open.
Novak Djokovic seemed to be back to his best as he marched to the title on his first appearance in Eastbourne without dropping a set. Djokovic came into the final as the favourite and lived to up to the tag as he controlled the final from the start breakingĀ Monfils in the opening game of the first set before doing an encore in the final game of the first set.Ā
Further, though the second set was much more evenly contested, the former World No.1 was better than the Frenchman on the bigger points and that eventually proved to be the difference. With Monfils serving to stay in the match at 4-5 in the second set, the 12-time Grand Slam winner broke the World No. 16 to complete his victory in 76 minutes and boost his chances at Wimbledon which starts tomorrow. Ā
Djokovic also revealed that he has added Mario Ancic to his coaching team for Wimbledon. Croatian Ancic is a former world number seven who won the Davis Cup 12 years ago while he also reached the last four of Wimbledon in 2004.
Elsewhere, Japanese Yuichi Sugita clinched the Antalya Open after beating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in one hour and 29 minutes on a searing hot Saturday afternoon in Antalya. Sugita surged to an early lead as he moved Mannarino on the court and an overhead smash secured the break in the second gameĀ before he raced to take the first set, in just 29 minutes, with a backhand winner.
The lopsided first set score caused a much closer fight in the second with Mannarino breaking twice in a row, before eventually relinquishing the lead and later the match in the ensuing tie-break. Sugita would emerge victorious after just under 90 minutes.
