Second seed Adrian Mannarino on Sunday defeated teenager Alex Michelsen 6-2, 6-4 to win the Hall of Fame Open men’s singles final.
The 35-year-old Frenchman relied on his consistent play and maybe some jitters from the 18-year-old American to capture his third ATP Tour title.
“Tennis is a real mental game,” Mannarino said. “Even if you’re missing, but trying to go for winners, it’s giving some information to your opponent that you’re not going to choke and you’re going to take a little bit of a chance in some games.”
Photo: AFP
Under bright blue skies with a slight breeze, Mannarino broke in the fifth and seventh games of a first set that lasted just 27 minutes.
The set closed when Mannarino hit a forehand passing shot down the line.
“I’m feeling pretty lucky that I got all the way through this week,” said Mannarino, who played on Newport’s grass courts for the 10th time, but made his first final in the shadows of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Playing in just his second ATP Tour event after capturing a Challenger title in Chicago last week, Michelsen looked somewhat tight early, hitting a handful of unforced errors.
“I played pretty poorly from the start,” he said.
Michelsen was looking to become the youngest ATP Tour champion this season, and the youngest American to win a title since Hall of Famer Andy Roddick won in Houston, Texas, in 2001.
“It was a really good week. I got a ton of points,’’ said the California native, who committed and signed to play college tennis with Georgia, but said he would have to reassess when he returns home.
“I was here on my own, trying to figure it out,” he said. “I think I did pretty well. It was a very good week, very positive week, not too many negatives, for sure.”
He looked stronger at the start of the second set, breaking in the second game, but Mannarino broke back the next game, hitting a backhand past Michelsen down the line as the youngster was at the net looking to hit a return.
“I knew it was going to be a lot more about rallies and that’s usually when I feel confident,” Mannarino said. “It’s all about what you’re going to show to your opponent, and today I was trying to make him think I was comfortable.”
Mannarino then took control, breaking in the ninth game of the second set. The match ended after 1 hour, 22 minutes when Michelsen hit a backhand return wide on the final point.
The tournament is held in conjunction with enshrinement ceremonies into the Hall of Fame.
Esther Vergeer, 42, a dominant wheelchair player who captured 21 Grand Slam singles titles and seven Paralympic gold medals, led the class of 2023.
She was inducted on Saturday evening with American Rick Draney, 61, who won 12 singles titles and six in doubles before the Grand Slam era of wheelchair tennis.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to