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Pablo Carreno Busta wins first ATP title in over two years

September 29, 2019
Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain celebrates his victory in the men's singles final match against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the Chengdu Open tennis tournament in Chengdu in China's southwestern Sichuan province, on Sunday. — AFP
Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain celebrates his victory in the men's singles final match against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the Chengdu Open tennis tournament in Chengdu in China's southwestern Sichuan province, on Sunday. — AFP

CHENGDU, China — Pablo Carreno Busta claimed his first ATP title in more than two years after outlasting Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik to win the Chengdu Open Sunday.

The 28-year-old Spaniard collapsed to his knees after prevailing in just over two grueling hours, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

The world-ranked 63's last title on the ATP Tour came at Portugal's Estoril in May 2017.

The triumph in China was his fourth career crown and comes after Carreno Busta struggled with a shoulder injury earlier this year.

"The surface was fast but I was very good with my serve during all my matches and I think that was the key to me being the winner of the tournament," he said.

"This year has been quite tough for me because of injuries at the beginning of the year.

"It's really tough when you cannot play and cannot enjoy this sport.

"But I just tried to continue working hard because I know when you work and you do as much as possible, normally you will get the prize."

Bublik, 22, ranked 71st, had been chasing a maiden ATP title.

He stunned fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. — AFP


September 29, 2019
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