Sinner downs Travaglia to take Great Ocean Road Open
Sinner downs Travaglia to take Great Ocean Road Open
(Reuters) - Italian teenager Jannik Sinner beat compatriot Stefano Travaglia 7-6(4) 6-4 in the Great Ocean Road Open final on Sunday, becoming the youngest player to have won two ATP titles since Novak Djokovic in 2006.
The 19-year-old, who won the Sofia Open at the end of last year, came through a marathon contest against Karen Khachanov in the previous round of the Australian Open warm-up and made a slow start to the final, having to wrestle back a break of serve in the opening set before taking it in a tiebreak.
Sinner twice led by a break in the second set but failed to drive home his advantage, allowing Travaglia to stick around in the contest.
But a third break at 4-4 put Sinner in position to serve for the match and he sealed his second career title when Travaglia dumped a forehand into the net.
"Yesterday I had a tough match against Karen, so today I m very happy with my performance," he said. "Sometimes you feel a bit tired, and for me that was in the second set.
"But you have to find a solution, which I ve done today, and for that I m very proud."
Sinner opens his Australian Open campaign against 11th seed Denis Shapovalov on Monday and the Italian expects another tight contest.
"It s going to be a tough match for sure against Denis. It s going to be an interesting one, we are both very young players, and I m just excited," he said.
