Carreno Busta Earns First ATP 500 Trophy In Hamburg

  • Posted: Jul 18, 2021

Second seed Pablo Carreno Busta captured his first ATP 500 trophy and sixth tour-level title on Sunday as he overcame Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-4 in the Hamburg European Open final.

The Spaniard, who also won the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open in Marbella (d. Munar) on home soil in April, did not drop a set in Hamburg. He produced a dominant display in the championship match as he won 81 per cent (21/26) of his first-service points and broke Krajinovic three times.

Carreno Busta has now recorded 17 clay-court wins this season, having also enjoyed runs to the semi-finals at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (l. to Nadal) and the Mallorca Championships (l. to Medvedev). He has bounced back strongly this week after losing to Sam Querrey in the first round at Wimbledon last month.

Carreno Busta made a strong start, as he stepped inside the baseline to move the Serbian from side to side as he dictated play in the first set as the Spaniard broke twice and hit 17 winners with his powerful groundstrokes. He moved ahead when Krajinovic hit a forehand long.

The match followed a similar pattern in the second set, as Krajinovic was pegged behind the baseline. The sixth seed struggled to use the drop shot as effectively as he had in the previous rounds as Carreno Busta broke again. He held serve to seal victory in 83 minutes.

Sixth seed Krajinovic was competing in his fourth ATP Tour final on Sunday and first since reaching the championship match at the Stockholm Open in 2019. He equalled his career-best victory this week as he shocked World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, but is now 0-4 in tour-level finals.

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