Ace Pospisil savours win
THE circumstances may not have been ideal, but Vasek Pospisil claimed his first Soweto Open title after his opponent Michal Przysiezny retired hurt in the deciding third set at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Complex on Saturday morning.
The 22-year-old Canadian was thrilled with what he described as his most important title to date, but admitted ending the contest without a clear-cut result made it a bit less special.
“You never want to end a match on a retirement. We ’ re all competitors, but we all like winning the right way and that ’ s obviously not one of them,” Pospisil said after the match.
“But having said that, from a personal standpoint it ’ s been a great week and I played very well. I ’ m satisfied with my attitude and my tennis this whole week.”
Przysiezny had claimed the tightlycontested first set after it went to a tiebreak and looked to be in fine form, but pain in his back saw his movement increasingly restricted.
“I think I must have slept badly and my back is very stiff,” Przysiezny said. “In the warm-up before the match I felt okay but during the match I was not comfortable. Even in the first set I was struggling and couldn ’ t find movement.
“At the start of the second set, when I got broken, I got a little bit (upset) and my back was hurting more and more and I was not able to play good tennis. It was disappointing but luckily it ’ s not a serious injury.”
Nothing seemed to go Przysiezny ’ s way in the second, and the Pole looked like a different player on court and was struggling, eventually going down 6-0. Pospisil had also upped his game, increasing the speed and aggression in his shots.
Przysiezny was 4-1 down in the third set when he called time on the final.
Pospisil, who defeated local favourite Rik de Voest on his way to the final, had played some enterprising tennis in Soweto this week.
He now stands on the verge of a top 100 spot in the world rankings.
“Obviously it ’ s been a huge week for me and perfect timing right before Wimbledon,” Pospisil said.
“I have a chance of getting into the main draw there, depending on how next week pans out.”
Action continues at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Complex today with the women ’ s week of the Soweto Open. –