Thompson achieves his dream in Los Cabos!

© AFP

Guillaume Nonque

le 25/02/2024 à 11h18

2 min to read

Los Cabos Ruud Thompson

Australian Jordan Thompson defeated Casper Ruud to claim the first ATP title of his career, winning 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) in the final of the Los Cabos Open in Mexico on Saturday.

Thompson, who had eliminated No.1 seed Alexander Zverev in a marathon semi-final that ended in the early hours of Friday morning, once again drew on his reserves to overcome Ruud, seeded No.4.

The 29-year-old Australian showed no signs of fatigue after Friday's marathon 3-hour 40-minute battle with Zverev, and took control of Saturday's final against the Norwegian, a three-time Grand Slam finalist.

"It's been an incredible week," said Thompson, who had also saved three match points to rally from a 6-0, 3-0 quarter-final deficit against Alex Michelsen earlier in the tournament.

"I've spent many long hours on court this week and I'd like to thank everyone for staying up late last night and throughout the week. The crowd has been great."

"It's a real obstacle course. I'm almost 30 and I'm lifting a trophy; I never thought I'd do it one day."

Thompson broke Ruud in the sixth game of the first set to take a 4-2 lead, then brushed aside two debreak points to hold his lead and win the first set 6-3.

He looked set for a quick win after breaking Ruud and confirming to lead 5-3 in the second set.

But Thompson seemed to tighten up as he served for the match at 5-4, and Ruud broke 0-40 to come back and level at 5-5.

Service logic was respected in the next two games, the set going to a tie-break as the tension mounted.

Thompson regained his composure in the tie-break, taking a 3-2 lead after a Ruud double-fault, then taking a commanding 5-2 lead.

Ruud held on to pull back to 5-4, but Thompson didn't give up and had two match points when Ruud sent a return too long.

Thompson then unleashed a powerful serve that sent Ruud reeling, and the Australian went to the net to sink the set and clinch a deserved victory.