DOHA: Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut captured his 10th tour-level trophy, ending his dominant week in style with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final here.
This was the 33-year-old world No. 16's maiden ATP Tour title since 2019.
In a re-run of last year's final here, a charged-up Bautista Agut, whose best run at a grand slam has been a semifinal berth at Wimbledon in 2019, played aggressively on Saturday night from the baseline to gain revenge over the Georgian, who triumphed in the 2021 final.
"I am very happy. It has been a while since I lifted a trophy. I have been working very hard to reach another final and to get the chance to win another title. It was a big dream for me to win a title and I have now won twice in Doha. It is very special for me and I am very happy," Bautista Agut was quoted as saying by atptour.com.
The Spaniard slammed his groundstrokes through the court and rallied from a break down in the first and second sets to seal the win in 86 minutes. This is the Spaniard's second title in the tournament, having won it in 2019 as well. Doha is the second ATP Tour tournament where the 33-year-old has won multiple titles, after lifting the trophy in Auckland in 2016 and 2018.
"This year we played without wind, which was much better for me. It was not easy to recover after a really tough battle yesterday (Friday), but I think I did a good job today (Saturday). It is my 10th ATP Tour title and I am very happy," said Bautista Agut.
With his victory, Bautista Agut now leads Basilashvili 4-2 in their ATP head-to-head and has improved to 11-3 on the season. IANS
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