ATP TENNIS NEWS FROM HOUSTON – STEVE JOHNSON, PERALTA & ZEBALLOS WIN US CLAY TITLES

Written by: Staff on 16th April 2017

ATP TENNIS NEWS FROM HOUSTON - STEVE JOHNSON, PERALTA & ZEBALLOS WIN US CLAY TITLES |

Thank you @mensclaycourt for the amazing week!! Excited to walk away with the trophy!! What an honor to win on home soil!! #USA – Photo by @SJohnson_89 via Twitter.

American Steve Johnson Wins US Clay Title

Peralta and Zeballos Claim Doubles Trophy

RESULTS – Sunday, April 16

Singles Championship

[4] Steve Johnson (USA) d [8] Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 6-4 4-6 7-6(5)

Doubles Championship

[4] Julio Peralta (Chile) / Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) d [WC] Dustin Brown (Germany) / Frances Tiafoe (USA) 4-6 7-5 10-6

• TENNIS TIDBITS •

– This was the first final in tournament history to be decided in a third set tie-break.

– The match was the 16th of the tournament to go three sets, the most in an ATP event since 19 in Bogota in 2015. Sixteen is the most in US Clay history since the event went to a 32-player draw in 1988.

– Steve Johnson won his second career title while playing in his third final. His first win came last summer on grass in Nottingham.

– Prior to this week, Johnson had never reached the quarterfinals at an ATP clay court event. He began this week with an 8-17 lifetime record on clay.

– Johnson is the fourth American to win the US Clay title at River Oaks, joining Ryan Sweeting (2011), John Isner (2013) and Jack Sock (2015). The event moved to River Oaks in 2008.

– Johnson joins countrymen Sock, Sam Querrey and Ryan Harrison with titles this season. Americans are 5-0 in ATP title matches in 2017 after going 2-7 in 2016.

– Thomaz Bellucci falls to 4-4 in ATP World Tour finals.

– Bellucci was the first player to make the final in his Houston debut since Nicolas Almagro in 2013.

– Bellucci is the first player to play five three-set matches in a single US Clay event since the draw reduced to 32 players in 1988. He was the first finalist to have won four straight three-setters since David Wheaton in 1990.

– Bellucci was the first Brazilian in the US Clay final since Fernando Meligeni won the 1996 title.

– Both Bellucci and Johnson arrived late into Houston following Davis Cup ties last weekend. Bellucci was 2-0 in singles as Brazil won 5-0 at Ecuador in an Americas tie, while Johnson was part of the winning US doubles team in a 3-2 World Group quarterfinal defeat at Australia in Brisbane.

– Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos won their fourth ATP World Tour title together in the doubles.

– Peralta and Zeballos were playing their fifth final together. This was their second final 2017, having finished as runner-up in Quito.

– Peralta and Zeballos entered this week at No. 22 on the ATP Doubles Team Race this season.

– Dustin Brown and Frances Tiafoe were playing together for the first time.

– Brown was contesting his sixth career ATP doubles final, while this was Tiafoe’s first.

– The 2018 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship will be held April 7-15 at River Oaks Country Club.

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club

River Oaks Country Club will be hosting a professional tournament for the 84th time when the 2018 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship is held April 7-15. River Oaks first hosted its own tournament, The River Oaks International, in 1931, and its roster of former champions includes Jack Kramer, Tony Trabert, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, Guillermo Vilas and James Blake. Houston is the 21st city to host the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. The tournament came to Houston in 2001, and has been hosted at River Oaks since 2008. Started in 1910 by the USTA, the 2018 tournament will be the 108th competition for the Clay Court Championship. The 2017 singles title was won by American Steve Johnson while doubles champions were Chile’s Julio Peralta and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos

More information is available at www.usmensclaycourt.com