VIENNA, October 29, 2017
Lucas Pouille claimed his third ATP World Tour title of the season at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday’s all-French final 6-1, 6-4.
Pouille got off to a flying start, breaking Tsonga’s serve twice to clinch the opening set in only 30 minutes. The younger of the two Frenchman looked fresher and more focused on court today and gained another break in the fifth game of the second set. Pouille, who only lost one set en route to the title, won 59 per cent of the total points played and converted his first match point after one hour and 11 minutes.
Titles On All Three Surfaces
Lucas Pouille
“Winning the title today feels great. It is always special to finish the week with a victory. I am very happy, as I didn’t really know what to expect when I was coming here. I haven’t won that many matches over the last couple of months. Now winning five in a row at an ATP 500-event is a great thing,” said Pouille, who takes home €438,505 in prize money as well as 500 ATP ranking points.
“I knew that Jo could be a bit tired, as he had some tough matches. From the first point on I was very into my match. I took an early lead in the first set and a break in the second set. I served well and that made the difference.”
The 23-year-old has become the first player of the season to win an ATP title on all three surfaces. “That’s great, as it means that I am able to play everywhere. That’s important when you want to win big tournaments. If you look at the best players in the world, all of them won titles on different surfaces. However, I do not focus to improve on one particular surface, I just want to improve my game every day.”
“I really would love to party right now,” Pouille laughed. “But that’s tennis. I will play my first round match on Tuesday in Paris and I will have to go back as soon as possible in order to take some rest. Paris is always a special tournament for me but the main goal of the season is the Davis Cup. I have been in the team since July 2016 and after 16 years we really want to bring the trophy home.”
Tsonga Still Eyes ATP Finals Spot
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Tsonga appeared in his fifth final in 2017 and was trying to become the first Frenchman to win at least five singles titles during the season.
“Lucas deserved to win today. He didn’t give me an opportunity to find into the match. I am happy for him. I also enjoyed a positive week. I beat a couple of good players. Physically I was feeling okay but I was also a bit nervous, which made it a bit difficult,” Tsonga said.
Despite the loss, the 32-year-old French stays in the hunt for one of the two remaining berths in the Emirates ATP Race To London. He is just 295 points behind Pablo Carreno Busta for the eighth and final spot.
Bopanna/Cuevas Take Doubles Crown
Earlier in the day, Rohan Bopanna of India and Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay saved two match points to capture their second team title after the ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, winning 7-6, 6-7, 11-9 over Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner and US-American Sam Querrey. The encounter lasted one hour andn 45 minutes.
“It feels brilliant to win here. For the first time in my career, I have won an ATP 250, 500 and 1000 event in one year. It is really nice to play with Pablo. We had some ups and downs during the season but it’s great to finish the season strong,” Bopanna told.
“Now, there is only one tournament left this season in Paris. We will go out and fight. Then we will see how it goes,” Cuevas added.
