Australian teen nets ATP win
SYDNEY: Australian teen sensation Alex de Minaur has emerged from a gruelling day on court to win his first ATP title, beating Andreas Seppi 75, 76 (75) in the Sydney International final.
Forced to win his semifinal on Saturday afternoon against Gilles Simon after rain washed out play on Friday night, de Minaur returned to the court six hours later for a gutsy straightsets win over the Italian veteran.
De Minaur was broken in the first game of the opening set, but it proved to be one of the few blights in the 19yearold’s game, as he broke back five games and barely gave Seppi another lookin during the Italian’s first final in three and ahalf years.
In doing so, he became the youngest winner of the Sydney International since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001, and the first home talent to claim the prize since Bernard Tomic in 2013.
A With a maiden WTA title now under her belt, American youngster Sofia Kenin has her sights fixed on doing some damage at the Australian Open.
The 20yearold claimed the Hobart International on Saturday, surging past unseeded Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 63, 60 in her first toplevel singles final.
Kenin saved eight break points early in the first set, and found her groundstroke range as the match wore on.
‘‘I’m really happy. I didn’t want to overthink it and I’m happy with the way I composed myself,’’ she said.
Kenin is world No 56, but the Hobart win is expected to push her inside the top 40.
Moscowborn Kenin plays qualifier Veronika Kudermetova in the opening round of the Australian Open before a potential secondround clash with world No 1 Simona Halep. It has been an impressive start to the season for Kenin, who won the Auckland doubles title with Eugenie Bouchard last week. —AAP