Serbia’s Viktor Troicki successfully defended his Sydney International title with a gripping third-set tiebreaker win over Grigor Dimitrov in the final yesterday.
The third-seeded Troicki fought back from losing the opening set to win on his second match point 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) in two hours 17 minutes.
It was Troicki’s third career final and comes 12 months after he beat Mikhail Kukushkin as a qualifier in the same final.
Troicki joins former world No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras as back-to-back Sydney International winners.
“This was my eighth final and I never had it this close, this tight,” Troicki said.
“I got to say it was tough to play it, but I managed to keep calm in most important points. It’s great to win again, second year in a row. I love this tournament. This was my third final, second title, and it’s (a) great feeling. It’s great to win in the start of the year, to start the year with such confidence.”
It was the first time the Serbian had beaten the Bulgarian in three meetings, with Dimitrov having prevailed when the pair met in Basel four years ago and again just last week in Brisbane.
In a magnificent tussle, the deciding set lasted 83 minutes as the two manoeuvred for openings in long, exciting rallies with both players having their chances to win the match and the title.
Troicki, who looked leaden-footed in the opening set, finished strongly and won the decisive tiebreaker with a brilliant backhand across court.
The 24-year-old Dimitrov was denied his fourth ATP World Tour title and first in 18 months, since triumphing at the Queen’s Club in London in June 2014.
“It’s never easy losing from a match point. It’s in the game. Obviously it was Viktor’s day today,” Dimitrov said.
The 22nd-seeded Troicki was defending rankings points from his 2015 title win, while Dimitrov is expected to climb from his current spot of 28 after beating Alexandr Dolgopolov and Gilles Muller to reach the final.
Troicki heads to Melbourne where he faces Spaniard Daniel Munoz de la Nava in the opening round of the Australian Open, while Dimitrov, who reached as high as No. 8 in the world in 2014, plays Italian Paolo Lorenzi in his opener.

Cornet dominates shaky Bouchard for Hobart title

France’s Alize Cornet stormed to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Eugenie Bouchard to claim her fifth career title at the Hobart International yesterday. The 42nd-ranked Cornet was too strong and consistent for the misfiring Canadian, winning the decider in 68 minutes in windy conditions. But as much as seventh seed Cornet dominated, former world number five Bouchard was well off her game, losing serve seven times, producing five double faults and serving at just 48 percent.
Bouchard hit 34 unforced errors for the match to Cornet’s 17, a key difference. The Canadian struggled in the windy conditions, only holding serve once in the match.
It was 25-year-old Cornet’s first WTA title since winning at Katowice in 2014, and gave her a perfect tune-up for next week’s Australian Open in Melbourne.
Cornet will face Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski in the first round of the year’s opening Grand Slam, with a possible second-round clash with second seed Simona Halep. The 47th-ranked Bouchard takes on another Serb Aleksandra Krunic in her first-round match in Melbourne.

Agut wins Auckland title after Sock retires ill
 
Roberto Bautista Agut won the Auckland Classic for his third ATP title yesterday after Jack Sock retired ill while trailing 6-1, 1-0 in the final of the Australian Open warm-up tournament.
Sock had complained of suffering flu-like symptoms when he stunned four-times champion and world number eight David Ferrer in the semi-finals on Friday and the 23-year-old American was unable to get around the court to make a contest of the final.
Bautista Agut, whose previous titles came in 2014 when he was voted most improved player on the ATP tour, had reached the title-decider by coming from a set down to upset French second seed Jo Wilfried Tsonga.
After starting the match with two double faults, the 26-year-old Spaniard picked up where he left off against world number 10 Tsonga and raced through the first set in 20 minutes of one-sided tennis against the clearly ailing Sock.
Bautista Agut, ranked 25th in the world, will open his fifth Australian Open main draw against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan.