GLASGOW, September 22, 2019
Emil Ruusuvuori is the champion of the inaugural €46,600 Murray Trophy held at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre in Glasgow. The No. 4 seed from Finland defeated first-time finalist Alexandre Muller of France in Sunday’s singles championship match 6-3, 6-1.
Ruusuvuori, who only dropped one set en route to the title match, sent down five aces and won 62 per cent of the total points played to seal victory in one hour and three minutes.
THE LEGEND GROWS@EmilRuusuvuori is the champion in Glasgow!
✅ Three titles from four finals this year
✅ 19-3 since early August
✅ Up to career-high No. 142 pic.twitter.com/D5K4wlsXXa— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 22, 2019
“I thought I played a great match,” said Ruusuvuori, quoted on the ATP Challenger Tour website. “I didn’t start that well, but I was able to raise my level. I got the break in the first set and then I managed to loosen up a little in the second set. It was good.
“It’s not easy to break here. It just shows I’m able to play some pretty great tennis at the moment and do some damage to the other guys. It’s been a great week.”
The 20-year-old Helsinki native has captured three titles from four finals this season. Ruusuvuori finished runner-up to Yannick Hanfmann at the Schwaben Open in Augsburg but emerged victorious in Fergana and Mallorca. He took away from Scotland €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points and will reach a new career-high at World No. 142 on Monday.
Bemelmans/Masur take doubles title
Earlier in the day, Ruben Bemelmans from Belgium and Germany’s Daniel Masur cliched the doubles title. The duo upset the tournament’s top seeds, local hero Jamie Murray and John-Patrick Smith of Australia, 4-6, 6,-3, 10-8. The encounter lasted one hour and 16 minutes.
“It’s been an amazing week of tennis,” Murray said.
“I wanted to give people the chance to come out and watch tennis in Scotland and get to experience a live professional tennis event.
“I’m disappointed to lose the final but the guys played well, came back strong in the second set and held their nerve well in the tie-break. It was a good level match.”
Glasgow in focus.
As the inaugural #MurrayTrophy comes to a close, Scotland’s own @jamie_murray & @aidymchugh look at the tournament’s impact on their native land. 🏴 pic.twitter.com/jdtK2jpxTK
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 22, 2019
