Tsitsipas beats Kukushkin to win in Marseille for his 2nd ATP title
Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas won his second ATP Tour title on Sunday by overcoming Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in the Open 13 final.
Tsitsipas, who beat Roger Federer en route to the Australian Open semi-finals last month, continued his fine start to 2019 with a victory in Marseille in a little under two hours.
Kukushkin, whose only tournament win on the tour came in 2010, had appeared set to force a decider when 5-3 up in the second set.
However, Tsitsipas rallied and won the tie-break to add to the Stockholm Open title he claimed in October, when the 20-year-old became the first Greek to win an ATP Tour crown.
And the winner is… @StefTsitsipas #ATPNextGen star defeats #MikhailKukushkin 7-5 / 7-6 (7-5) and wins his second title#Open13Provence pic.twitter.com/Hdn4CZ45a0
— Open 13 Provence (@Open13) February 24, 2019
World number 12 Tsitsipas had his first break point when 2-1 up in the opening set but failed to grasp the opportunity as he sliced a backhand wide, with a similarly wayward shot ensuring Kukushkin held.
Yet the Tsitsipas took his second break point, and the first set, when Kukushkin fired a backhand into the net.
A delicious forehand cross-court winner earned Kukushkin his first break midway through the second set and he staved off a couple of break points to hold and go 4-2 up.
However, Tsitsipas broke back to make it 5-5 when Kukushkin was serving for the set, and in a tight breaker he converted the first match point that came his way.
