Thiem caps first title

Dominic Thiem held his nerves to win his first ATP tour title on Saturday as he completed a tight 6-7 (8), 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory over fourth-seeded Leonardo Mayer in the Open de Nice final in France. Thiem, who defeated second-seeded John Isner in the semifinals, hit seven aces and fended off all six break points to come out on top of a nearly threehour match at the French Open warmup tournament. “The first title, I will remember it forever, so I will also remember forever Nice,” said the 42nd-ranked Thiem, 21. It was Thiem’s second tour final after losing to David Goffin last year in Kitzbuhel. The Austrian became the eighth player born in the 1990s to win a title, joining the likes of Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov. The French Open starts today at Roland Garros.

Third-seeded Samantha Stosur rallied to beat Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Strasbourg International on Saturday in France, claiming her first title of the year. The 26th-ranked Stosur, a former French Open runner-up, is returning to form after reuniting last month with former coach David Taylor. Before Strasbourg, where she won a seventh career title, Stosur had won only eight matches in 2015.

Karin Knapp defeated fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1 to win the Nuremberg Cup final in Germany on Saturday. The sixth-seeded Knapp forced 17 break points and converted seven — three of those in the final set — to beat her fourth-seeded compatriot in 2 hours, 6 minutes. Vinci had a walkover to the final of the clay court tournament after second-seeded Angelique Kerber pulled out of their semifinal with back problems. Vinci, who appeared to tire in the final set, missed out on her 10th career title, while the 48th-ranked Knapp celebrated her second.