ECKENTAL
The 32-man draw at the Bauer Watertechnology Cup was whittled down to just two players when Ruben Bemelmans faced Tim Pütz for the title in Eckental’s Sunday final. Both players met here in last year’s semi-final, when the Belgian emerged victorious in three sets but Pütz took revenge in the qualifying for the All England Championships in Wimbledon in June.
Ruben Bemelmans and Tim Pütz met for the third time on the tour
In today’s encounter Bemelmans couldn’t gain one single break point in the opening set but was more aggressive and powerful in the tie-break, which he took 7-3. From then on, the leftie from Belgium became more dominant on the court with solid baseline shots hitting more and more winners. Pütz only broke the Belgian’s service once in the first game of the second set but lost his serve in the following. Bemelmans made the decisive break in the sixth game and converted his match point through a nice backhand long line shot winning 7-6, 6-3 in 80 minutes. The 26-year-old from Genk took his third ATP Challenger title, after gaining the trophy in Wolfsburg in 2009 and 2011, all of them on German soil.
Ruben Bemelmans and Tim Pütz – winner and runner – up
“We both played well in the first set. Tim served very well. We both tried to be aggressive and went for the shots, which made it a high level of tennis in the opening set. In the tie-break I made the difference with a passing shot in the very first point. That was a key moment in the tie-break and then I kept putting pressure on him,” Bemelmans was happy afterwards. “In the beginning of the second set I played a bad first game but I recovered straight away and since then I played really well and felt good on the court. I am just happy with the outcome,” the Belgian told and moved on to his last tournament of the season playing the ATP Challenger in Mouilleron-Le-Captif.
Ruben Bemelmans seems to feel comfortable in Germany
Pütz, who played his first final on Challenger level, was also pretty satisfied with his week in Eckental. “Ruben was just too good today. He was playing very well throughout the week. Of course I will be back here next year. There is just the question, if Ruben will return because without him I would be unbeaten in Eckental. Maybe there is a chance to ban him from playing here next year,” Pütz joked after the match.
Tim Pütz
Bemelmans captured a second trophy in Eckental as he also gained the doubles title along with compatriot Niels Desein beating the German tandem Andreas Beck and Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 in 69 minutes.
More than 8.000 spectators attended the matches in Eckental this week. The tournament will remain on the ATP Challenger calendar for the next two years, as the title sponsor has already announced to support the tournament for at least this period of time celebrating the 20th edition in 2016.
Ruben Bemelmans champion of the 18th edition of the Bauer Watertechnology Cup
