Roberto Carballes Baena celebrated his maiden moment on Sunday at the Ecuador Open, clinching his first ATP World Tour title in dramatic fashion. The Spaniard won his third straight three-set clash to lift the trophy, battling to victory as a qualifier. He would defeat countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 for the Quito crown. Carballes Baena is the third first-time winner already this year and second of the week. Daniil Medvedev prevailed on the hard courts of Sydney in January, while Mirza Basic won earlier on Sunday in Sofia. [ALSO LIKE] Afterwards, Carballes Baena spoke to ATPWorldTour.com: How does it feel to be holding your first ATP World Tour trophy? It was an incredible week. I didn't expect this at...
Mirza Basic claimed his first ATP World Tour crown on Sunday in a tense three-set battle with Marius Copil, edging out the Romanian 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-4 in a high-quality final at the DIEMA XTRA Sofia Open. The victory propels the 26-year-old Bosnian into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time and he becomes just the second player from his country to win a tour-level title (Damir Dzumhur). Afterwards, Basic spoke to ATPWorldTour.com: How does it feel to be holding your first ATP world tour trophy? It’s a dream come true. This week... I made the breakthrough to the Top 100 and I won my first ATP title, so I’m very happy. Winning the first [title] from...
How does it feel to be standing with your first ATP World Tour trophy? It's an amazing feeling; (tennis players) work all their lives to get (a title), and I'm one of the lucky ones who got one. I'm not going to stop, I'm going to continue to work toward getting more titles. Could you believe at 21 you are already a winner on the ATP World Tour? Was this a goal of yours, growing up to win an ATP title? It's very tough to say because growing up, I never thought I'd be a professional player in the Top 100. I went about it step-by-step, I never made any one big step. I was going through the Futures, the...
Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPWorldTour.com pays tribute to the first-time winners of the 2017 season. In part two of our two-part series, we look at the year's final three first-time winners. Andrey Rublev – Umag [First-Time Winner Spotlight] Andrey Rublev wasn't supposed to even be playing in the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag main draw, let alone lifting his maiden ATP World Tour trophy. The #NextGenATP Russian had fallen in the final round of qualifying, but after home favourite Borna Coric withdrew, Rublev became a lucky loser and then a first-time titlist, beating Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-2 in the final. “Of course, it’s amazing. I have no words to explain it. Especially after this tough week and...
Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPWorldTour.com pays tribute to the first-time winners of the 2017 season. In part one of our two-part series, we look at the year's first four first-time winners. Gilles Muller – Sydney [First-Time Winner Spotlight] It was one of the warmest moments of the 2017 ATP World Tour season. A hard-working and well-liked veteran, with his wife and two young sons in the stands, crying after a career triumph he thought might never come. Gilles Muller had lost his first five ATP World Tour finals. In 2016, the left-hander held three championship points against Ivo Karlovic at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport, but lost them all. The 33-year-old from Luxembourg wondered...