James Ward of Great Britain played exhilarating tennis to clinch the USD 50,000 AirAsia Open defeating tournament top seed Adrian Menendez-Madeira 6-2, 7-5 at the KSLTA Courts, here today.
The English player was all over his Spanish opponent breaking the World No 137 in the 6th and 8th games to wrap the first set.
The tournament No 2 had a chance to gain his first break in the very second game of the first set when he held two break points but Adrian came back strongly to save the two points and hold onto serve.
The Spaniard raised the level of his game in the second set and kept the British Davis Cupper on court longer than expected.
The opponents held onto served for the first 11 games engaging each other in some long rallies and coming up with some exciting tennis. But it was the second seed that held sway despite not gaining a break early.
Ward was clearly at the peak of his game and the Englishman did not disappoint coming up with some superb shots to enjoy two set points in the 12th game, the Spaniard hitting a return long to hand over the title to Ward.
"I am happy and I have had a good week," said James ward after collecting the winner's cheque of USD 7100.
"I think I played my best tennis today and I was serving pretty well throughout the match," said the Englishman adding,
"The conditions were difficult to play but winning matches is always good and I am happy with the way I have gone through the week and in the final."
Incidentally, this is the first Challenger title for the World No 159. Adrian Nenendez-Maceiras had to be content with a cheque for USD 4,240. The pair head off to Pune to take part in the Challenger there.
