2010 ATP Kremlin Cup; Viktor Troicki beats Marcos Baghdatis to win the title
The Serbian tennis sensation Viktor Troicki grabbed his first ATP World Tour crown on Sunday after getting the better of Marcos Baghdatis in a three setter clash in the final of the 2010 ATP Kremlin Cup Men’s singles competition
in Moscow. Viktor bounced back from a set down to get past his opponent with a final score line of 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The right hander as a result of this victory has improved his ATP career ranking from number forty three to number thirty three according to the new rankings list released on Monday. Viktor is the fourth first time champion
on the tour in 2010, joining the American tennis ace John Isner, Ernests Gulbis as well as Andrey Golubev earlier this season.
The Belgrade born when asked about his first time title victory in Moscow reflected, “It feels really great to grab my first ATP World Tour crown; there are no words to describe what is going through my mind. I would say
it is the biggest day of my career. I had been waiting a long time for this. It is special it happened in Moscow as my father is Russian.”
The twenty four year old Viktor who turned professional back in 2006 was playing in his third ATP World Tour singles title battle after ending as a finalist in Washington two years ago to Juan Martin Del Potro from Argentina,
as well as at the Thailand Open last year where the Serbian was given a beating by Gilles Simon.
The champion of the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard court tennis championship received 250 South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking points along with prize money of $181,750.
Marcos, who was seeded number four to win the title in Moscow, drew first blood in the pair’s second clash, clinching the opening set with the help of a decisive service break during the sixth game on Sunday. Viktor was stronger
on serve in the second set, though, he could not get a break point, however he was rewarded for aggressive play on Marcos’ serve during the tenth game as the Serbian broke through to tie the scores.
After preventing a break point in the final set, Viktor then seized the initiative, and took advantage of Baghdatis’ low quality of play during the fourth game to break and secure a lead of 3-1, before closing out the battle
in one hour and forty four minutes in the end.
“Marcos played a great first set and a half, but then I was able to get into the match. I was nervous serving out for the title but I tried not to think too much about it. The mistakes I made against Rafael Nadal in the
Tokyo semi-finals, when I served for the match but lost, helped me,” assessed Viktor after lifting the title in Moscow.
Viktor, who achieved his career highest ranking of world number twenty four back in 2004 capped a strong run of form, which had seen the Serbian hold two match points in a final four defeat to the twenty four year old Rafael
Nadal at the Japan Open two weeks ago in Tokyo, before overpowering the third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round two last week. He as a result of this victory has improved his match record to 34-28 on the year.
World number nineteen Marcos on the other hand was looking to grab his second ATP World Tour title in three finals in 2010. He won his fourth career title during the beginning of the season in Sydney after thrashing out Richard
Gasquet, before finishing as a finalist to David Nalbandian two months ago in Washington.
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