Roberto Bautista Agut makes history while claiming his first title at the Winston-Salem Open…
The 29-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday in the final of the Winston-Salem Open, giving him his second ATP World Tour title of the year and the sixth overall.
Bautista Agut, the tournament’s top seed and currently ranked No. 15 in the world, became the first player in the seven-year history of the tournament to not lose a set in any of his six matches. He won a year after losing the final to countryman Pablo Carreno Busta.
“It was a tough final, but I played very good tennis all week,” Bautista Agut said. “I wanted to try to arrive at the final and it was a very good week for me. And it’s been a very good year for me now, too.”
The unseeded Dzumhur was the first player from Bosnia-Herzegovina to reach an ATP World Tour final.
“I started both sets love-three down and came back, but it’s not easy to win after being down love-three to win a set against any player, but especially against Roberto, who played a great week,” Dzumhur said. “He played with a lot of confidence and played big points so good, especially both sets at four-all. He played great points and great passing shots, and I just didn’t have a lot of chances in those games.”
Bautista Agut broke at 30-40, closing out the match when Dzumhur’s forehand sailed long at 30-40.
“It was a tough final, but I played very good tennis all week,” Bautista Agut said. “I wanted to try to arrive at the final and it was a very good week for me. And it’s been a very good year for me now, too.”
Bautista Agut had a chance to win the match on his serve when he led 5-3, but was broken at love.
Bautista Agut broke Dzumhur to win the first set, then won the first three games of the second set before Dzumhur rallied to win the next three games and tie it 3-3.
Bautista Agut held serve in the next game to take a 4-3 lead and broke Dzumhur again on a lob shot that hit the baseline for a 5-3 lead.