TENNIS NEWS FROM ERSTE BANK OPEN 500 IN VIENNA – ANDY MURRAY TURNS BATTLE FOR NO. 1 RED HOT WITH ANOTHER TITLE

Written by: Staff on 30th October 2016

Erste Bank Open ATP tennis tournament final

TENNIS NEWS FROM ERSTE BANK OPEN 500 IN VIENNA - ANDY MURRAY TURNS BATTLE FOR NO. 1 RED HOT WITH ANOTHER TITLE

epa05610198 Andy Murray of Britain holds the trophy after winning against against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the singles final for the Erste Bank Open ATP tennis tournament in Vienna, Austria, 30 October 2016. EPA/LISI NIESNER |

Andy Murray of Britain holds the trophy after winning against against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the singles final for the Erste Bank Open ATP tennis tournament in Vienna, Austria, 30 October 2016. EPA/LISI NIESNER

Erste Bank Open 500

Vienna, Austria

RESULTS – SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2016

Singles – Final

[1] A. Murray (GBR) d [6] J. Tsonga (FRA) 63 76(6)

Doubles – Final

[4] L. Kubot (POL) / M. Melo (BRA) d O. Marach (AUT) / F. Martin (FRA) 46 63 13-11, saved 1 m.p.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in action against Andy Murray of Britain during the final match of the Erste Bank Open ATP tennis tournament in Vienna, Austria, 30 October 2016. EPA/LISI NIESNER

MURRAY TURNS BATTLE FOR NO. 1 RED HOT; KUBOT/MELO REPEAT AS CHAMPS

– Andy Murray turned the battle for No. 1 blazing hot, winning his seventh title of the season and his third in a row.

– The Scot now trails World No. 1 Novak Djokovic by just 415 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London heading into the final week of the ATP World Tour regular season.

– With 1,000 points up for grabs at the BNP Paribas Masters this week, Murray could surpass the Serbian if he wins the Paris title and Djokovic does not reach the final. But Djokovic controls his fate. If he reaches the final, he’ll remain No. 1.

– Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was appearing in his first ATP World Tour final since September 2015, when he won his 12th career crown in Metz (d. Simon). He falls to 12-11 for his career in ATP World Tour finals.

– Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo repeated as Erste Bank Open 500 champions and won their second ATP World Tour team doubles title.

– The title is Kubot’s first of the season after finishing runner-up in Estoril with Marcin Matkowski and in Halle and Washington with Alexander Peya. Melo celebrates his third ATP World Tour title of the season.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Andy Murray

“I felt like I was controlling the ball a lot better… I think I played my best tennis today of the tournament… Jo fought well and started playing a lot better. He was more aggressive and taking some more chances and making the shots.”

“The tie-break was really, really tight. I think it was a high-level tie-break. There wasn’t really many mistakes… The last few months have been very good.”

Tsonga

“I’m really happy with my week. I played good tennis. I fought until the end, and that’s most important for me… It was nice to play five matches in a row like this. It hasn’t happened to me many times these last couple of months. For me, I think it’s great. It’s always good to play against those [top] players.”

Kubot

“We had great memories from last year and were trying to [bring] our best tennis.”

Melo

“I feel great… I’m really looking forward to coming next year.”