Holt overpowers Mochizuki to clinch his second ATP Challenger title

Candy victory: The triumph will go away Holt on the cusp of the top-100, a brand new profession excessive. | Photograph: Sudhakara Jain

Brandon Holt’s two-week India sojourn had the sweetest of endings as he clinched the Bengaluru Open singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Shintaro Mochizuki on the KLSTA courts right here on Sunday.

It was solely Holt’s second ATP Challenger title — each of which have come this yr — and he will likely be richer by $28,400. However most significantly, the 125 factors earned – together with the 50 he obtained for a runner-up end in Pune – will go away the 26-year-old on the cusp of the top-100 in Monday’s rankings, a brand new profession excessive.

“It’s my first time in India and it has been nice,” Holt instructed the sizeable weekend crowd after the victory. “The vitality of the followers has all the time been excessive. Thanks a lot.”

For Mochizuki, the defeat was his first in three Challenger finals, and by the tip of the match, he was teary-eyed and appeared totally damaged. Maybe he thought he deserved extra for the intent he confirmed all night. The Japanese participant went for the traces repeatedly however his incapacity to hit by means of the court docket meant Holt obtained to just about each single ball.

The American performed to a plan – to maintain the ball in play, draw errors from Mochizuki and pull the occasional set off. And this technique labored like a dream, however for a fleeting recreation or two. Within the first set, Holt broke within the second and sixth video games, and Mochizuki obtained a comfort break within the seventh.

Within the second stanza, Mochizuki, greater than as soon as, tried to advance into the court docket and execute a meaty drive to breach Holt’s defence. However it didn’t work, and even proved his undoing at essential instances – on break-point within the third recreation when Holt broke and on break-point within the eighth recreation when Holt held.

On his half, Holt hit with fashion and panache when he completely needed to, just like the thunderous inside-out forehand to interrupt within the opening recreation of the second set.

The ultimate straw for Mochizuki was the break within the ninth recreation. Serving to remain within the contest, the 21-year-old dumped two consecutive double-faults to offer Holt a match-point. A misjudged overhead that crashed into the web introduced the curtains down.