Tipsarevic beats Baghdatis to claim maiden title
Date published :
02 Oct 2011 - 16:35:39
Serb Janko Tipsarevic captured his maiden title at the Malaysian Open on Sunday, beating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 7-5.
Tipsarevic, seeded third, had been the only Top 20 player without an ATP title after losing his first four finals, but finally landed the top prize by beating 2006 Australian Open finalist Baghdatis at the Putra Stadium in just over two hours.
"It feels great to win. I think I deserve it now, maybe I didn't before," said the 27-year-old Tipsarevic.
"I'm glad to have won a title in a nice place and against a good player, a former Grand Slam finalist. I could not be happier.
"I knew I had to play well overall. In my other finals I was overly aggressive in two of them and passive in the other two.
"Neither strategy is the way to win. I knew I needed to feel my game and do the right thing in the important moments. That's what I did but it was high pressure in this match."
Wild card Baghdatis, once a member of the Top 10 but now ranked 60th, was unable to hold onto his early lead as Tipsarevic clawed back the momentum, winning with nine aces and five breaks of serve.
The Cypriot has fallen 40 ranking spots since January but is fighting back after his performance this week.
