American Steve Johnson clinched his maiden title on the ATP tour after scraping past higher-ranked Pablo Cuevas 7-6, 7-5 in the Sunday’s title-clash at the Aegon Open in Nottingham.
Coming into the tournament, the 26-year-old had been struggling through the season as he even failed to go beyond the quarter-finals in any of the 15 events he partook in. However, a clinical performance all through the week saw him clinch the biggest title of his career.
The battle began with both players committing to their respective serves. With no break point opportunities on offer, the American edged his Uruguay nemesis in the tie-breaker to take the first set.
Johnson rode on the momentum to acquire the first break of the match to move 2-1 up in the second. Cuevas, however, squared it off make it 4 games apiece.
The set appeared well on its way to yet another tie-breaker, but Johnson had nerves of steel to convert yet another break point to emerge victorious after battling it out for 77 minutes.
“It feels really good; I’m not going to lie. I had some ups and downs so far this year. To find my groove on the grass is fantastic,” the 35th-ranked Johnson told ATP World Tour.
“Once I got here and played my first couple of matches, I knew I was definitely a contender to win this.”
Johnson will now head to Wimbledon with renewed enthusiasm when he takes on Tunisian Malek Jaziri in the first round at the All England Club.
