Uniondale, NY–Eighth-seeded Kyle Edmund played his best tennis on Sunday at the NY Open winning eight of the last nine games in a comprehensive 7-5, 6-1 victory over Italian Andreas Seppi to walk off with the title.
He dropped seven straight matches during the 2019 season that sent him plummeted down the rankings, just a year after he enjoyed his greatest comeback in tennis.
Edmund picked up his second ATP Tour crown, with his maiden trophy coming 16 months ago in Antwerp (d. Monfils). The 25-year-old improved to 7-3 this year and now leads Seppi 5-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, including a straight-sets victory last month in Auckland.
”There’s a lot hard work throughout the year, a lot of ups and downs that you don’t see behind the scenes. To win this title means a lot to me,” Edmund said.
Edmund won five straight games to take the first set and build a big lead in the second, seizing control with shots that seemed to get more powerful as the match went on.
The baseline rallies took their toll on Seppi in the second set and Edmund capitalized, grabbing 12 of the first 15 points for a 3-0 lead. Edmund continued to apply pressure in return games while remaining flawless on the serve. The Brit dropped just eight service points throughout the day and won 94 percent (31/33) of his first-serve points.
Seppi put in a tremendous effort to reach the final after saving a match point in his opening-round win against Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The 35-year-old is still seeking his first ATP Tour crown since 2012 Moscow (d. Bellucci) and dropped to 3-7 in tour-level finals.
”He played a good match today and he deserved to win,” Seppi said. “I enjoyed my time on this court and played some good matches this week. I’ll take the positives from here and move forward.”
Both players traded comfortable service holds throughout most of the opening set. But with Seppi serving at 5-6, Edmund raised his game and added even more velocity to his groundstrokes. Using his forehand to push Seppi around the baseline, he earned a pair of set points and let out a yell after converting his first chance with a down-the-line backhand winner.
Edmund survived a lengthy rally at 1-4 and earned an insurance break after the Italian pushed a slice backhand a little long. The Brit then closed out the match on his first try after one hour and 22 minutes.
“The reasons you get to right now and the trophy here and what makes it nice is because you have to experience all those downs and then it makes you realize that you just can’t take the success for granted,” Edmund said.
Edmund earned 250 FedEx ATP Rankings points and a cheque for $120,635. Seppi picked up 150 points and $66,770.
Reilly Opelka, the 2019 singles champion, lost with partner Steve Johnson in the doubles final to Dominic Inglot and Aisam-UI-Haq Qureshi, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6).
