NEWPORT, July 23, 2018
Third seeded US-American Steve Johnson did not lose more than three games in a set en route to the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open final, where he defeated first-time ATP World Tour finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan of India 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 on Sunday to claim his fourth tour-level trophy.
Johnson withstood 10 aces, breaking his opponent’s serve three times to prevail in just under two hours of play.
A fourth career ATP title and the second of 2018 for @SJohnson_89 🏆
Beats Ramanathan 7-5 3-6 6-2 to win in Newport.#DellTechOpen pic.twitter.com/2vE2GDRhSg
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 22. Juli 2018
“He knows how to play in Newport,” said Johnson of Ramanathan, who was trying to become the first Indian tour-level titlist in 20 years since Leander Paes in 1998 Newport. “He’s very good at the net. I thought I hit a lot of good returns down at the feet and he hit some great volleys. I was just fortunate to get an early break in the third and keep the momentum.”
Jonathan Erlich of Israel and Artem Sitak from New Zealand were unstoppable on Saturday, taking the doubles title against Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mexican Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela in just 53 minutes. The unseeded duo secured a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
