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SirBloody Idiot · 17-05-2011, 03:32 AM

Open de Nice Côte d'Azur II
PTA 250 - Final - Nice, France - Clay (Red)

East CWLand's Jefferson Drake has survived a classic close encounter with West CWLand veteran Brett Read to claim his sixth PTA tour title in Nice. The World No. 8 was a heavy favourite coming into the match, but it was plain early that Read intended to keep his great run of form alive. With both players coming off easy wins on Friday, the quality of tennis was high in the first set as both players looked well-placed to make a real fist of the Saturday final. With a break of serve each, a tight set went to a tiebreaker where Read clawed his way back from 1-4 down to take the first set 7-6(5) after a string of frustrating misses from Drake. Read's tactics in the first set to slowly grind Drake down had worked, but Drake was always going to be dangerous if he found his range. He did so in the second set as he showed power that Read couldn't match as he raced to a 5-0 lead. While Read staged a brief fightback, Drake quickly shut the door on him by holding to love with an overhead smash to level the score at a set each.

With it all on the line, Drake got an important early break in the third and looked to be coasting at 4-2. But after clinging onto serve as Drake blew two break points for a 5-2 lead, Read snatched back the deficit to level the set at 4-4. It was a tense few games, but ultimately both players survived break point chances to send the title match to a deciding tiebreaker. It was there that Drake's match fitness and big power served him well as he managed to fight back from a minibreak down to bring up a championship point at 6-5. Read, however, managed to save the first one with a gutsy backhand down the line, but after the change of ends immediately handed a championship point back to Drake as another attempted backhand this time caught the net and went wide. With the title on his racquet, Drake secured title No. 6 with an ace out wide to complete a tremendous 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(6) win.

Seeded players out: None.

17-05-2011, 03:32 AM	#66 (permalink)
SirBloody Idiot Cricketer Of The Year Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Moving the hole in the o-zone layer Posts: 8,442	Open de Nice Côte d'Azur II PTA 250 - Final - Nice, France - Clay (Red) East CWLand's Jefferson Drake has survived a classic close encounter with West CWLand veteran Brett Read to claim his sixth PTA tour title in Nice. The World No. 8 was a heavy favourite coming into the match, but it was plain early that Read intended to keep his great run of form alive. With both players coming off easy wins on Friday, the quality of tennis was high in the first set as both players looked well-placed to make a real fist of the Saturday final. With a break of serve each, a tight set went to a tiebreaker where Read clawed his way back from 1-4 down to take the first set 7-6(5) after a string of frustrating misses from Drake. Read's tactics in the first set to slowly grind Drake down had worked, but Drake was always going to be dangerous if he found his range. He did so in the second set as he showed power that Read couldn't match as he raced to a 5-0 lead. While Read staged a brief fightback, Drake quickly shut the door on him by holding to love with an overhead smash to level the score at a set each. With it all on the line, Drake got an important early break in the third and looked to be coasting at 4-2. But after clinging onto serve as Drake blew two break points for a 5-2 lead, Read snatched back the deficit to level the set at 4-4. It was a tense few games, but ultimately both players survived break point chances to send the title match to a deciding tiebreaker. It was there that Drake's match fitness and big power served him well as he managed to fight back from a minibreak down to bring up a championship point at 6-5. Read, however, managed to save the first one with a gutsy backhand down the line, but after the change of ends immediately handed a championship point back to Drake as another attempted backhand this time caught the net and went wide. With the title on his racquet, Drake secured title No. 6 with an ace out wide to complete a tremendous 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(6) win. Seeded players out: None.