Spanish fighter’s seventh heaven
ROBERTO Bautista Agut is the 2018 ASB Classic champion, two years after he last triumphed in Auckland.
The 29-year-old from Spain beat the tournament’s marquee player, Juan Martin del Potro, 6-1 4-6 7-5 in the final on Saturday, in a match where his opponent woke up from a sluggish start.
It was Bautista Agut’s seventh ATP title. The Classic becomes the only tournament he has won more than once and beating a player of Del Potro’s calibre made this latest triumph all the more special.
‘‘Juan Martin beat me the last three matches I played him so I knew it was going to be a very difficult match,’’ Bautista Agut said. ‘‘I had the match more under control than him. He was surviving more with his serve than with his strokes from the baseline and it was a good effort from me.
‘‘Every tournament you win is very special, but off course it means a lot.’’
Bautista Agut isn’t a flamboyant player. He’s unlikely to feature on any shots-of-the-tournament showreels, but he does the basics well.
That’s why he can do well at tournaments at this level, but can’t go deep at the grand slams, when he’s got to get past the big guns. However, he gets the chance to rubbish that theory in Melbourne over the next couple of weeks.
What he does not lack is mental toughness and resilience.
‘‘It’s one of my better things. I’m a very good fighter, I try to stay in the matches until the last point.
‘‘I tried to increase the speed of the ball and to have Juan Martin move around the court,’’ he added. ‘‘I changed directions and I played very aggressive with my return and played with high intensity.’’
It was a bizarre start from Del Potro, who didn’t manage to hold his serve once in the opening set.
In his first two matches, he didn’t even face a break point. Those matches, as well as his semifinal against David Ferrer, were held in the evening. On a humid Auckland afternoon, he clearly struggled with the change of conditions. ‘‘It was really hard to play with the humidity and I felt it a lot at the start,’’ Del Potro admitted.
‘‘It’s not an excuse. I had my chances to win but I couldn’t take it and Roberto did well.’’
While Del Potro fell at the final hurdle, there were still plenty of positives to take from his first appearance in Auckland since he lifted the trophy in 2009.
The 29-year-old warmed up for the Australian Open with some outstanding tennis and will soon be back inside the top 10, for the first time in four years.
‘‘I don’t have anything to lose at this time of my career,’’ Del Potro said. ‘‘I’m going to be top 10 again after big problems with my wrist and I didn’t expect to get into that position after all my surgeries.
‘‘I hope to come back next year or whenever, but I really enjoy playing here in Auckland.’’
In the first set, Bautista Agut produced plenty of energy around the court, taking the set in just 30 minutes.
There was a big cheer at the start of the second when Del Potro managed to win a game on his serve.
Del Potro then had a set point with Bautista Agut serving at 4-5 and the Spaniard put a backhand into the net.
The third set progressed without any breaks of serve. But at 5-5 and 15-15 Del Potro served his first double fault, then put a backhand slice into the net.
He saved the first break point with an ace, but in the second Bautista Agut pushed him back and the Argentinian couldn’t dig out a low ball to his backhand.
Del Potro put up a huge fight when Bautista Agut was serving for the title. He got a break point, but it was saved with an ace.
Bautista then hit a screamer down the line for a championship point and he only needed one of them as Del Potro went too long with a forehand.
In the doubles final, top seeds Oliver Marach (Austria) and Croatia’s Mate Pavic defeated Max Mirnyi (Belarus) and Austria’s Philipp Oswald, 6-4 5-7 10-7.