Nieminen, Lapentti, Dent and Ram are the winners
Posted by Nathii on November 15 2009 13:17:21
Nicolas Lapentti delivered in Guayaquil and Taylor Dent won his second challenger title since the comeback in Knoxville. Jarkko Nieminen grabbed in Jersey the first trophy since Auckland ATP 2006! Not a "typical" Aachen winner - but Rajeev Ram made it!
Extended News
Guayaquil
Nicolas Lapentti avenged his younger brother Giovanni and defeated his second round overcomer, Santiago Giraldo from Colombia, 6-2 2-6 7-6(4) for the final win. He was the top favourite for the crown and he delivered it well, although Giraldo put up the fight. The Colombian player led 3-0 against the veteran in the final set. Lapentti afforded a similar come back in the first round against Brazilian Joao Souza. It was the first title of the season for the legend of Ecuadorian tennis. Formerly 6th in the world Lapentti made it in a back-to-back final after Sao Paulo.
Knoxville
Taylor Dent won his second challenger trophy since his comeback into the rank list. In Knoxville American player defeated Ilija Bozoljac from Serbia 6-3 7-6(6). Surely it's an inspirational story as the former 21st ATP player dropped out from the list for approximately two years. Now he's on the edge of the top hundred again. The Serbian cannot complain himself about the result, because the injuries forced him to hold his horses as well. Every ATP point is now more than welcome.
Jersey
You always get drama in Jarkko Nieminen's match regardless the level - it could be either Grand Slam or a futures quallie. The Finnish "Shark" defeated Stephane Robert from France 4-6 6-1 7-5. Nieminen was 5-3 up in the final set, but got broken to love while serving for the match. A few minutes later nobody took the celebration from him. He overcame the difficulties in the tournament - for example, in the semifinal he also lost the first set (to Tobias Kamke). Despite a convincing quarterfinal win over his compatriot Henri Kontinen, Nieminen also felt that match in his bones as he complimented the young prospect on his blog, "I did only one unforced error in the whole match, served 80% first serves in, played smart and especially returned well. That's what I had to do to beat Henkka, because he was playing really well. It's not surprising for me, Henkka has been playing well in all the matches I've seen him play lately. I think he played top 50-tennis today. If he stays healthy, he will be that also on the paper (and why not even better), sooner or later."
Aachen
Before the event I admitted I didn't give big chances to Rajeev Ram for the trophy here, but he proved me wrong with his great fighting spirit throughout the week. Despite several difficulties in his early matches he stepped on court ready for a dogfight against Dustin Brown and he clinched it after three tie-breaks, 7-6 6-7, 7-6. Ram was a break up at the beginning of the third set, but Brown tied for 2-2. The last TB was one man's show. The player who mentions frisbee as his personal interest was a sensational lucky loser winner in Newport ATP. A win in Aachen is his second record of the season.