Belluci beats Beck to clinch maiden title in Gstaad
Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:39
Thomaz Bellucci sealed his first ATP title with a 6-4 7-6(2) victory over Andreas Beck at the Swiss Open.
The Brazilian, who will jump back into the top 100 after starting the week as the world No.119, needed an hour and a half to seal the straight-sets win against the German in Gstaad.
“I will not forget this week for the rest of my life”
It wraps up an impressive week for the Belluci, who beat home favourite Stanislas Wawrinka, last year’s finalist Igor Andreev and Nicolas Kiefer – who retired while leading the Brazilian – en route to the final, and had survived two match points against Michel Lammer in the first round after coming through the qualifying tournament the weekend before.
Beck was made to pay for making a slow start to the match, which helped Bellucci secure the only break of serve in the match in the first game. The Brazilian was rarely troubled and sealed the set when Beck, dumped a forehand into the net.
The final was held up by a rain delay for an hour with second set poised at 3-4. On the players’ return, Bellucci’s focus wavered briefly after play resumed as Beck brought up his first break point of the match.
The German could not capitalise, and Belluci held for 4-4. But when presented with his own opportunity to seal the title with the German serving at 5-6, the Brazilian blew two match points to reach a tie-break.
It was to prove a short reprieve as Belluci simply ran away with the breaker to become the fifth first-time champion on the tour this season, as well as the fifth qualifier to win an event in 2009.
“I will not forget this week for the rest of my life,” the 21-year-old left-hander said. “I served a little bit better than him.
“He started the match a little bit slowly and I was able to break serve. In the tie-break I didnt make any mistakes and I think I played much better than him.
The match was just Bellucci’s second ATP final.
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