Janko Tipsarevic outplays Roberto Bautista-Agut to claim the title – Aircel Chennai Open 2013
Seeded at number two in the tournament draw, Janko Tipsarevic, went all the way to claim the season-opening ATP World Tour title at Aircel Chennai Open on Sunday. The Serbian tennis ace rallied past from being a set down in the
competition and turned the tables on the surprise Spanish contender, Roberto Bautista-Agut, in the final showdown. He settled the scores at 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, to lift his first trophy at Chennai on his sixth appearance.
It was Tipsarevic’s fourth career title and a much needed one at the start of a new season. He was tested by the aggressive game play of the Spanish runner-up but he kept playing his natural game to stand tall in the end.
“I was mentally stable and was not worried when I was one set down,” said Tipsarevic. “I didn’t play my best tennis in every match this week, but I am happy to win the title. I really wanted to win this tournament as it is my sixth
time here.”
It was a thrilling encounter and witnessed a number of momentum twisters. Bautista-Agut has been the real surprise package in the tournament, as he defeated more than one superior-ranked opponent en route to the title match. He
started off with beating Matthias Bachinger, before registering the biggest upset of the tournament in the quarter-final round. The 55th ranked Spaniard outplayed the top seed world number six, Tomas Berdych, in a cracking three setter. He then
outplayed the fifth seeded Frenchman, Benoit Paire, to meet Tipsarevic in the final encounter. Bautista-Agut reeled off the opening set against the second seeded Serbian and it appeared for a while that he would sustain his series of registering upset victories
in the tournament. However, Tipsarevic came back very strongly in the contest and raced through the following two sets to come out as the champion.
“I was serving really well and playing my best tennis against Janko in the first set, but then I couldn’t keep it up throughout the match," said Bautista Agut. “I worked hard in the pre-season, with a lot of motivation, and did
well this week.”
It was the first ATP World Tour championship match for Bautista-Agut and he crumbled to the might of the world number nine after a decent performance. It will be a nice confidence booster for the 55th ranked Spanish
contender in the tournaments to follow in 2013 ATP season.
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