Hard work pays off as Edmund wins in New York

British No 3 Kyle Edmund won the New York Open and his second ATP Tour title when he claimed a straight-sets victory over Andreas Seppi in the final.

The 25-year-old, in his first tour-level final in 16 months, won 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 21 minutes.

Edmund, eighth seed at the event, converted his only break point in the first set to edge ahead but demolished his opponent in the second, seizing control with shots that seemed to get more powerful as the match went on.

He got an early break and took a 3-0 lead in the second set before going on to win it and the match. Seppi left the court to receive treatment at 4-1 and seemed to be slower on his return, making it even harder to chase down Edmund’s shots.

Seppi saved a match point but Edmund – whose last success came in Antwerp in 2018 – was in fine form with his serve as 11 aces and not facing a single break point demonstrated his superiority.

“There’s a lot of hard work throughout the year, a lot of ups and downs that you don’t see behind the scenes. To win this title means a lot to me,” Edmund said.

“He played a good match today and he deserved to win,” Seppi said. “I enjoyed my time on this court and played some good matches this week. I’ll take the positives from here and move forward.”

Gael Monfils followed last week’s triumph in Montpellier by retaining his Rotterdam Open crown with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Felix Auger-aliassime. The Frenchman, appearing in his third final in five years in Rotterdam, made a flying start, breaking his opponents serve twice en route to serving out the opening set and a further break in the second sealed the title.

Norwegian Casper Ruud clinched his first tour title by beating Pedro Sousa 6-1 6-4 in the Argentina Open final. The 22-year-old did not face a break point in his nine service games and broke his Portuguese opponent three times on his way to a straight-forward success.