35 year old Adrian Mannarino performed a grass court masterpiece to defeat American newcomer Alex Michelsen 62 64 and win the Infosys Newport Hall of Fame ATP title.
It is the third title for Mannarino, who lost the first six ATP finals he played in. Mannarino has won two of his last three ATP finals.
“It was a pleasure to play here this week in Newport another time,” Mannarino said during the trophy ceremony. “I’ve been doing well this year [in Newport]. The past nine years I wasn’t doing great here, but it was always a pleasure to be back and I always enjoy it. I’m just fighting on court, trying to do my best and it’s always some really close matches and you never know what to expect. I’m feeling pretty lucky that I got through all the way this week.”
The 18 year old Michelsen had never won an ATP World Tour match before this week but in Newport he eliminated defending champion Maxime Cressy, James Duckworth, Mackenzie McDonald and John Isner in the semifinal. The Southern California product looks destined for an excellent professional career after this astounding, surprise breakout. Michelsen won an ATP Challenger title in Chicago this week and played in Newport without a coach or any family members supporting him. He will play Atlanta next week and his new ranking tomorrow will be 139.
Mannarino’s most recent title was in Winston-Salem in 2022. His first ATP title was in 2019 in s’-Hertogenbosch. The French lefthander will improve his ranking of 38 next week and could soon exceed his career best ranking of 22 back in 2018.
En route to the final, Mannarino defeated Rinky Hijikata, Jordan Thompson, Liam Broady and Ugo Humbert. The champion earns $97,760 while the finalist will pocket $57,025. The top seeded American doubles team of Jackson Withrow and Nate Lammons won the doubles title vs Will Blumberg and Max Purcell. All four of Withrow and Lammons matches this week in Newport were determined by third set super tiebreakers.
Adrian Mannarino · Alex Michelsen · Newport Hall of Fame
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