WINSTON-SALEM, Aug 29 — France’s Adrian Mannarino won his second career ATP title and first since 2019 on Saturday, defeating Serbia’s Laslo Djere 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 to capture the Winston-Salem Open.
The 34-year-old lefthander had lost nine of his 10 prior ATP finals, dropping three in a row since capturing his first tour title in 2019 on Rosmalen grass.
World number 65 Mannarino, who saved four match points in a first-round triumph, won 83% of his first-serve points to hoist the trophy in his first ATP final since losing the Astana Open final to Australian John Millman in November 2020.
Mannarino won the last six points of the tie-breaker to capture the first set after 75 minutes, taking the final point on a service winner.
Djere, ranked 89th, denied the Frenchman on a match point and held in the ninth game of the second set but Mannarino held at love to claim the crown on a backhand winner.
Mannarino, who will jump to 45th in the rankings next week, became the oldest champion in tournament history and the first Frenchman to claim the title.
“My body isn’t responding as well as when I was 20 but I’m still up and running well,” says Mannarino, who thanked tour trainers for an “amazing job” with him this week.
“This title is for all my team as well as me,” Mannarino said.
The hardcourt event was a tuneup for the US Open, which starts Monday in New York.
Djere fell to 2-2 in ATP finals after winning clay titles at Rio in 2019 and Sardegna in 2020 but losing his Sardegna title defense last year.
“It was a great week with a lot of tough matches,” Djere said.
Mannarino will play 184th-ranked Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer in the first round of the US Open.
Djere’s first match at the US Open is against ninth seed Andrey Rublev. — AFP
