TWO first-time ATP Tour winners were crown this week with 250 event wins, whilst a Top 20 Belgian won his first title in four years with a crucial victory.

Second seed David Goffin has claimed his fifth career ATP Tour title with a come-from-behind win over top seed Roberto Bautista Agut. The clear two favourites in the Open Sud de France, Goffin had a tougher run to the final by dropping a couple of sets along the way, but it made him battle-hardened to fight through an early deficit to win, 5-7 6-4 6-2.

The match lasted two hours and five minutes, with Goffin serving 13 aces and winning 66 and 65 per cent of his first and second serve points, and breaking four times to two. He was much stronger on return than the usually reliable Bautista Agut, and it helped the world number 15 win his first title since 2017.

“It’s never easy to win tournaments. This is my fifth and every tournament that I’ve won was very special,” Goffin said post-match. “I had some opportunities, I’ve had matches [where] I had zero chance to win in the final. “Sometimes you take it, sometimes not. “I’ve played some finals, but you need to continue, you need to improve your game, you need to fight and I’m happy that it paid off at the end.”

OPEN SUD DE FRANCE FINAL:

[2] David Goffin (BEL) defeated [1] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 5-7 6-4 6-2

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Alexei Popyrin has saluted for his maiden title in the 2021 Singapore Tennis Open by defeating fourth seed Kakakh, Alexander Bublik. After dropping the first set, Popyrin found his groove and steamrolled his higher ranked opponent on his way to a massive 4-6 6-0 6-2 victory to move up to a career-high 85th in the world.

The 21-year-old produced 11 aces and only dropped six points all match off serve, unfortunately with the majority of them coming during the first set when he was broken for the sole time. He picked up from there though, breaking Bublik five times from 10 chances over the next two sets, in a match that lasted 84 minutes. The Australian made light work of his opponent once he lifted, and it marked a big rise from 114th in the world into the Top 100.

“It feels unbelievable,” Popyrin said post-match. “A lot of sacrifice, a lot of dedication and a lot of hard work went into this from myself, my team and my whole entire family. I have done it for everybody who was involved. I am just so proud that I could actually get it done.”

SINGAPORE FINAL:

Alexei Popyrin (AUS) defeated [4] Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 4-6 6-0 6-2

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In the most topsy-turvy match of the round, Argentinian qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo grabbed his maiden ATP Tour title with a three-set win over fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Continuing his great run, the 19-year-old triumphed in the ATP 250 event 6-0 2-6 6-2 in an hour and 53 minutes, breaking the Spaniard crucially in the final set and never looking back, with the 355th ranked talent set for a huge rankings boost.

Despite his previous high ranking of 332nd compared to Ramos-Vinolas’ career-high of 17th, the lowly ranked teenager was able to hold his nerve against the now 47th ranked Spanish veteran and grab the crown. Cerundolo won 61 per cent of his first serve points compared to his opponents’ 51 per cent, whilst breaking six times from 13 chances. Ramos-Vinolas broke the Argentinian three times from 11 opportunities, but really struggled during patches in the first and third sets, enabling Cerundolo to win his first title.

CORDOBA OPEN FINAL:

[Q] Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG) defeated [5] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-0 2-6 6-2

Picture credit: Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images