NEWPORT, July 23, 2017
John Isner captured his third title in Newport, beating first-time finalist Matthew Ebden of Australia 6-3, 7-6 in Sunday’s final of the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open.
The World No. 21 from the United States fired 17 aces, winning 90 per cent of his first service points. Isner did not face a break point to prevail after one hour and 14 minutes.
“It’s hard to win a tournament. It’s no small feat to come out here and be the last man standing. I’m very happy about that. It’s been two years since I won a tournament, so I had that weighing on my mind. I’m very happy with how I played all week. It was a perfect week and I couldn’t ask for anything better,” told Isner, who is expected to return to the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday
The North Carolina native became the second player to win an ATP title without facing a break point since records began in 1991. Tommy Haas did so in Memphis 2007. Isner, who improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head vs the Aussie to 3-0, takes home $95,495 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points.
Ebden, who entered the tournament ranked No. 249, played his way through qualifying to reach his first tour-level final, earned $50,295 and 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points.
“I’m not that tired to be honest. I definitely didn’t lose because of anything physical, which is great. It’s a lot of reward for a lot of hard work, a lot of years of sacrifice. It’s disappointing, but at the same time I have to be happy with my week,” Ebden said.
Qureshi/Ram Win Doubles Crown
Playing together for the first time this week, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Rajeev Ram notched the doubles title with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 win over Australians Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith on Saturday.
It was the second doubles title in Newport for both, with Qureshi prevailing in 2015 with Jonathan Marray and Ram in 2009 with Jordan Kerr. In total, (with four different partners). For Ram, it was title No. 13 and his third of the season.
“It’s been a pleasure to play with Rajeev. It’s been a great week. I love Newport and I love coming back here. He’s won so many titles on grass so it was a perfect combination. Hopefully we can play in the future again. Winning a tournament when playing together for the first time is a great feeling,” said Qureshi, who captured his 15th ATP World Tour doubles crown and fourth of the year
“They did good in the second set to come back, but we kept believing like we did yesterday when we came out of one that we maybe shouldn’t have (saving eight match points). That was a big factor,” Ram added. It was title No. 13 for the US-American and his third of the season.
