Jerzy Janowicz stunned Nicolas Almagro 7-6(5) 6-4 to win the Genova challenger title on Sunday evening.
It was a tight first set with the opening six games going with serve before the seventh game saw Almagro hit a backhand net cord winner to break for a 4-3 lead. Despite going behind, Janowicz remained undeterred and broke straight back with some luck of his own for 4-4. The remainder of the set went with serve, but Janowicz had two set points in the twelfth game. The former Wimbledon semifinalist failed to capatalised on those opportunities due to poor decision making, allowing the Spaniard to hold and force a tiebreak. The tiebreak went with serve until the seventh point, where Janowicz got the minibreak at 4-3 . Both players would double fault once in that tiebreak, where Janowicz battled to 7-5, clinching the first set.
The cat and mouse chase continued into the second set as Almagro got the break for 2-0 before Janowicz responded by winning three games in a row and go up a break. That breakthrough resulted in Almagro falling apart on the Italian clay court. Both players triumphantly held their serves for the remainder of the match as Janowicz worked his way to the best win in his season so far, claiming his first challenger title for four years. It is also his first top 50 win for 11 months.
Where the game was won?
Janowicz won the match on pure attitude, he never argued and showed positive attitude. Also the game was won on his first serve where he won 78% of points and was aggressive, but also clever at the net. Stats and attitude show that Janowicz deserved the win and the title in Genova this week, as he knocked out the top three seeds in the process.
Full match replay
