There is rarely any emotion or charm in Roberto Bautista Agut's game and he came across the 6'6'' Russian Daniil Medvedev, round by round, to emerge the ATP Chennai Open champion
Roberto Bautista Agut
Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut with his girlfriend after winning the Chennai Open singles title yesterday. Pic/PTI
Chennai: There is rarely any emotion or charm in Roberto Bautista Agut's game. He is from the Spanish breed, toughened on clay and motoring on strong, sure legs. And that mechanical effectiveness came to the fore as he slayed the field, round by round, to emerge the ATP Chennai Open champion yesterday evening.
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In the final, Bautista Agut came across the 6'6'' Russian Daniil Medvedev, who is billed as one of the Next Gen players by the ATP. Medvedev has a big serve and a slapping forehand, but none of that young aggression helped in breaking Bautista Agut's stride. The Spaniard breezed to a 6-3, 6-4 win in only an hour and 14 minutes to claim his fifth career title. Only after he had had the match in the bag, with a strong serve, did Bautista Agut unleash the customary Spanish war cry of 'Vamos', along with a strong fist pump.
"I played a great match tactically," the newly crowned Chennai Open champion said. "I was very solid and could play aggressively whenever I wanted. My gameplan was to keep him moving. I returned very well and that put pressure on his serve, and he started making mistakes."
The final was not only a clash of generations, but also of playing styles typical to their age. While the tall Medvedev plays with power and aggression, Bautista Agut is representative of the uber fit generation for whom defence is the best form of attack. A true baseline grinder, Bautista Agut covers the court swiftly and imparts a wicked topspin on almost every ground stroke to make sure the ball stays well inside the court.
Even experienced players like Mikhail Youzhny and Benoit Paire had not been able find an answer to the Bautista Agut's heavy ground strokes. For Medvedev, playing in his first ATP final, it was almost too much of an ask to break down the Spaniard's dogged consistency.
Though Medvedev possesses the faster and stronger serve, it was Bautista Agut who did not concede a single break point. A man of details, Bautista Agut was able to find pin point accuracy on the final day to etch his name on the trophy.
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