Steve Johnson won his fourth ATP World Tour Title after outlasting Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-5 3-6 6-2 in Newport.
The first set was all about settling the nerves for Ramanathan, who was competing in his first ever ATP World Tour final and produced some comfortable service holds in the early stages. The American was looking for his second title of the season after his win in Houston in April and remained firm on his serve in some awkward Newport conditions.
Despite the Indian’s impressive service stats, he was eventually broken as Johnson used his experience to convert his first break point of the match in the eleventh game for a 6-5 lead. The world number 48 continued his impressive serving to close out the opening set in 45 minutes.
The world number 161 was in a real battle and had to overcome some serious hustle from Johnson to stay in contention in the second set, including some diving from the American:
https://twitter.com/Parsa_Nemati/status/1021089244490608641
However the Indian’s patience proved to be vital as he was rewarded with a break of serve in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead in the second set. Not even the returning of Johnson could overcome the Indian’s impressive serving and after a long final game, Ramanathan secured the second set to force a deciding set in his first ATP final.
However the American proved to be too strong in the deciding set as a powerful passing shot sealed the early break for 2-0. Despite the world number 161’s impressive 10 aces it wasn’t to be for Ramanathan as another break of serve sealed a fourth career title for Johnson.
It was a fantastic week for Johnson who keeps on making his father, who passed away last year, proud as his motivation keeps the American’s success on the ATP tour continue. As for Ramanathan he will now reach a new career high of 115 in the world and will provide a tricky test for anyone on the tour.
