Bencic and Rublev victorious in Moscow
ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct 21, (AP): Andy Murray has won his first ATP tour final since having hip surgery in January for an injury that left him contemplating retirement at one point.
Murray rallied to beat fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the European Open final.
It was the 32-year-old Murray’s first ATP tour final since March 2017.
After undergoing hip resurfacing surgery, the British player returned to the court in June playing doubles – including at Wimbledon – before moving back to singles in August.
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland kisses her trophy after victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the final match of the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow, Russia on Oct 20. (AP)
the danger and it was Murray who then took his first set point to clinch it 6-4 and level the match.
Wawrinka stepped up again early in the third set and was twice a break ahead but once more Murray dug in, hitting back immediately both times.
Murray saved two more break points at 4-4 to leave Wawrinka serving to stay in the match. When Wawrinka blazed a forehand well off target on Murray’s first match point, it was the former top-ranked Murray celebrating a remarkable comeback.
In Moscow, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic recovered from a set down to outclass local favourite Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the Kremlin Cup final on Sunday to win her second title of the season and fourth overall. The world number 10 switched gears after losing the opening set, dropping only two of the last 14 games in a stunning show to swat aside the 2014 champion.
The 22-year-old will make her debut in the WTA Finals, which take place from Oct 27 to Nov 3, offering prize money of $14 million. Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina are the other qualifiers.
In the men’s final, Russia’s Andrey Rublev mowed down seventh seed Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-0 in 62 minutes on his 21st birthday to seal his first title since 2017.
In Luxembourg, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko proved too strong for defending champion Julia Goerges in the Luxembourg Open final as she cruised past the German 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Latvian, who captured her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2017, won the third WTA crown of her career with a solid display in her second final of the year.
Just when she looked like she was shedding the inconsistency that has dogged her game in recent months, Ostapenko was beaten by 15-yearold Coco Gauff of the United States in the Linz Open final last week.
In Stockholm, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov captured his maiden ATP Tour title at the Stockholm Open on Sunday, easing past Filip Krajinovic 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
Despite two victories over top-10 opponents in his career, a first trophy had proved elusive for the 20-yearold but Shapovalov was not to be denied by his Serbian opponent who was on a similar quest.
Shapovalov triumphed in style, sending down 16 aces and losing two points on his first serve while saving the only breakpoint he faced in the one-sided, 84-minute contest. followed by Kurt Busch and William Byron. But the key was Keselowski, who dropped from 13th to 19th on the final restart and out of the next round of the playoffs. He ended up three points – equal to three positions on the track – below the cutoff line.
Byron was the next driver eliminated despite a strong run at Kansas, where he would have needed a win to advance. Alex Bowman and homestate hero Clint Bowyer also were eliminated.
The win was the fifth this season for Hamlin, who already was in good shape to advance but picked up valuable playoff points with the win. He had finished in the top five at Kansas twice in the past couple years, but the trip to victory lane was the first for his Joe Gibbs Racing team since 2012.
“This is a great feeling. That car was awesome,” Hamlin said. “I’m happy for the whole team. We’ve been running good and just cannot wait to get to Martinsville.”
The frenzied push to the finish began when Blaney scraped the wall, causing his tire to go down and a caution to fly with 14 laps to go. Elliott was three points behind Keselowski at that point, but the savior of Hendrick Motorsports’ playoff hopes made a big move on the restart to climb into fourth place, and that put the pressure right back on Keselowski to make up ground.
Elliott appeared to be in good shape before another caution flew, jumbling up the front of the pack and giving Keselowski a chance. He made a quick stop and picked up three spots on pit road, and that put Elliott back into a situation where he would need a victory to advance.