PROSTEJOV, June 10, 2017

Jiri Vesely clinched the title of the €127,000 Unicredit Czech Open in Prostejov, winning Saturday’s singles final against Federico Delbonis 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

The second seed from the Czech Republic won 72 per cent of his first service points and broke serve six times to secure his third Prostejov title after two hours and 20 minutes. The World No. 57 lifted the trophies here on home soil in 2014 and 2015.

What was Veselý thinking at 40:0 when he had three match points? “It was very nervous on my part. I believed I would successfully make the first service and bring it to an end, but we kept on playing. I returned the third match point with a racquet frame and was very happy it was the end. I really wanted to win the tournament very much. I’ve said a few times it was not about points but the tournament is literally a matter of the heart to me.“

Veselý was leading 3:1 in the first set. “I thought it would be easy. However, I made a few errors, didn’t press enough and, most importantly, lost my service three times and lost the first set. Moreover, I lost my service at the very beginning of the second set and, all of a sudden, it became more difficult. Fortunately enough, I broke him back and then I dominated. In the third set, I had three break points at the beginning which I didn’t convert and we were on each other’s heels. My performance was not great today; however, what is much more important is that I managed to bring it to a victorious end.“

Vesely takes away €18,290 in prize money as well as 125 ATP ranking points.