Joy for Mayer in Hamburg

 

Originally published on 30/07/17 00:00

The Argentinian lost to the world No.735, Louis Wessels, in qualifying however an injury to Martin Klizan gave him an unexpected opportunity to prosper on the red dirt.

The 30-year-old has won two titles in his career – both in the industrial German city – and he will return to the top 50 when the rankings are updated on Monday.

"It's amazing to win in Hamburg again," said the Argentinian who dictated play with his forehand. "It's like home here and I feel very comfortable. I like the city and I always play well here.

"It's something special about this sport. I lost in qualifying and then beat the No. 1 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round. It also happened last week in Umag with Rublev and now I took my opportunity."

"I'm very happy with my performance this week, especially to be in the final of a 500 tournament,” remarked the runner-up. "It was a big match and a big fight but a very nice week for me. Maybe I got a little tired at the end but Leo played incredibly well – her deserved to win."

Elsewhere on the ATP Tour, there was delight for Fabio Fognini. The inimitable Italian downed Yannick Hanfmann 6-4 7-5 to win the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open in Gstaad.

It’s a fifth career title Fognini and he will collect 250 computer ranking points for his endeavours in the beautiful Swiss village. "Our job is winning matches and of course I'm happy with this,” said the 30-year-old. “It was a really tough week for me and I remember my first match was really difficult.

"I lost the first set 6-1 in 20 minutes, but in the end I won the match. I said to my team that if I continue playing like that, I'll go home. That's the sport. Every day I was feeling better and now I'm here with the title."

In the women’s game, there was a surprise result in the final of the Ericsson Open in Båstad. Katerina Siniakova overcame Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-4 to secure her second WTA title and the 21-year-old was understandably thrilled with her work in Sweden.

It’s really amazing for me," said the Czech. “Last year was really good, and I’m so happy that I came back because I couldn’t imagine a better week. This just means so much to me.”

In the final of the Jiangxi Open in Nanchang, No.2 seed, Peng Shuai, defeated Nao Hibino for the concession of just five games to capture silverware for a second time.

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