SEBASTIAN Korda has claimed his maiden ATP Tour title by defeating Italian Marco Cecchinato in the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open final overnight. The American server might not have had the home support in Parma, Italy, but he certainly had a performance fit for a title winner, cruising to a 6-2 6-4 victory in one hour and 15 minutes.

Korda served six aces and four double faults to Cecchinato’s three and one, winning an elite 82 per cent of his first serve points off a 67 per cent clip. His second serve was a worry with just a 42 per cent success rate, but Korda’s dominance off his first serve – compared to Cecchinato’s 66 and 61 per cent respectively – was what got him home. He saved the only break point opportunity Cecchinato created, and broke the Italian three times himself from six chances.

“This is something that I’ve dreamed of,” Korda said post-match. “I really thought I was going to get it done in Delray Beach [earlier this year], and I was a little heartbroken.

“But I stayed positive, even with such a bad first part of the clay-court season. “I took a couple of days off, recharged my batteries, and had a really good practice week in Prague with my dad and my coach. “I came back hungrier, and I’m playing some really good tennis now.”

Meanwhile it was little surprise to see the Belgrade Open winner with world number one Novak Djokovic fighting off spirited Slovenian qualifier Alex Molcan in front of a home crowd and in a stadium named after himself to claim his 83rd career ATP Tour title. The top seed won 6-4 6-3 over the 255th ranked Molcan, with the Slovenian playing in his first ATP Tour final compared to Djokovic’s 119th.

“It’s been a while since I last played here in front of a crowd,” Djokovic said post-match. “We played here one month ago [at the Serbia Open], without a crowd. To hold a trophy here after 10 years is really special and it couldn’t be better ahead of Roland Garros. I am playing well, feeling good and I have spent quality time with my family.”

The world number one, whilst not perfect on serve with just a 55 per cent efficiency and three double faults to two aces, still won 70 and 45 per cent of his first and second serve points, compared to Molcan’s 53 and 35 per cent. Upon return, Molcan was quite steadfast, converting four of five break point chances against a player hard to break, but unfortunately was broken in six of his own nine service games which cost him during the match with the extra break in each set.

BELGRADE OPEN FINAL RESULT:

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated [Q] Alex Molcan (SLO) 6-4 6-3

EMILIA-ROMAGNA OPEN FINAL RESULT:

Sebastian Korda (USA) defeated [WC] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 6-2 6-4

Picture credit: ATP Tour