Alex de Minaur fought after a set to defeat Lorenzo Sonego 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) and win his first ATP Turf Tour title before Wimbledon.
The victory over the Italian means De Minaur is set to reach a career-high 15 in the world rankings ahead of the Grand Slam on Monday.
“My first emotion is the relief, to have finally achieved these results, and delighted to have been able to come out and play good tennis,” said De Minaur.
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De Minaur had qualified for the final without losing a set, but it took him three and a tiebreaker in two hours and 40 minutes to beat the world No.27.
“I had to use all of my mental strength that I had,” De Minaur said. “I had to tell myself to try to be a little more aggressive and go and win this game, not just wait for my opponent to lose him because he wasn’t going to do it.
“I’m very happy to have played more aggressively in the important points and to stay there because it was not an easy game.”
The ATP title is the fifth in De Minaur’s career, but the first on grass.
De Minaur’s first match at Wimbledon is against American Sebastian Korda at 2 a.m. (AEST).
– With AFP
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