Egor Gerasimov is a streaky player, often going on runs of losing and winning streaks respectively. Fortunately for the Belorussian this week proved to be one his better streaks, moving through qualifying before taking the title with a 7-6, 7-6 win over 8th seed Tobias Kamke.
Gerasimov’s run is similar to his other title run at this level, having also qualified and then won in Bratislava in 2015. This week he took down top seed Gerald Melzer in the first round before beating veterans Simone Bolelli and Marco Chuidinelli in the second round and quarters respectively. A close-fought battle with young Frenchman Corentin Moutet, featuring a comeback win for Gerasimov took him into the final.
Gerasimov dominated the first set, maintaining a win of 80% on both first and second serve. Kamke saved two break points but was quickly defeated in the tiebreak. Gerasimov’s second serve proved more of a struggle in set two and the pair traded breaks before Gerasimov sealed the win in another tiebreak.
Gerasimov will likely move up more than 100 places in the Emirates ATP rankings as a result of his title win.
Player of the week: Despite the title win for Gerasimov, the player of the week must be Corentin Moutet. The young Frenchman made full use of his wildcard to defeat 3rd seed Norbert Gombos in the first round, before wins over Remi Boutiller and James McGee.
Geb Sakharov also had a strong week, defeating Lukas Lacko and Kenny de Schepper.
