Lucas Pouille beat his compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 6-4 in all-French final in the final of the Erste Bank ATP 500 Tournament in Vienna in the Wiener Stadthalle to clinch, his first career ATP 500 tournament, his fourth title of his career the third of the season on three different surfaces after Budapest on clay against Aljiaz Bedene and Stuttgart on grassa gain beating Feliciano Lopez. Pouille became the player this year to win on all surfaces. Pouille did not drop his serve in the whole match.
Tsonga was playing his ninth match in eleven days after winning his fourth title of the season in Antwerp last week. On the contrary, Pouille won just six matches after winning the title in Stuttgart last June and only one after the US Open.
Poulle saved two break points in his second service game. In the fourth game Tsonga fended off two break points at 1-2 15-40, but Pouille converted his chance after Tsonga made a double fault. Tsonga struggled to find his rhythm and won just 33 percent of his first serve points. Pouille claimed the decisive break in the fifth game of the second set to take a 5-3 lead. The young Frenchman closed out the win on his first match point, as Tsonga made a backhand return error.
Pouille dropped 16 points in nine service games, saved both break points he faced and never dropped his serve. Tsonga struggled with his second serve and faced seven break points dropping his serve three tiimes.
Pouille scored his most important title after winning his previous three titles in ATP 250 tournaments. He enjoyed a good week in which he lost just one set against Kyle Edmund in yesterday’s semifina and saved 18 of 22 break points he faced in the whole tournament.
Despite the defeat Tsonga stays in contention for the final qualifying spots for the ATP Finals in London. He is just 295 points behind eighth ranked player Pablo Carreno Busta.
