Frenchman Arthur Gea won his first ATP title and became the youngest man to win the Mifel Tennis Open with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Canada’s Denis Shapovalov Saturday evening in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Gea, 21, had just three tour-level victories to his name before winning five matches this week. After he saved four break points and came away with the lone break of the first set to go up 5-3, he bounced back from the only time he was broken by Shapovalov to break him right back, going up 4-3 and serving out the match.
“I didn’t know how I would win this week,” Gea said during the trophy presentation. “I was really happy every day to win one more match, one more, then one more. And I have finished with a trophy, so it was an amazing week.”
Shapovalov had a 2-1 edge in aces but also over twice as many double faults (9-4). Gea won just 8 of 31 return points on Shapovalov’s first serve (25.8%) but was much better on his second serve, winning 12 of 21 return points (57.1%).
Mubadala DC Open
No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz outlasted Brandon Nakashima for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory in an all-American battle to reach the final in Washington, where he will face Spanish teenage sensation Rafael Jodar.
Fritz (14 aces) and Nakashima (13) each were strong on their serve, with only seven combined break-point chances in the match. The difference, though, was that Fritz won 64.5% of his second-serve points and Nakashima won 50% of his second-serve points.
The victory advances Fritz to his first DC final and his fourth final of the season. Sebastian Korda (2024) is the only American man to win this event since Andy Roddick in 2007.
Jodar, 19, followed up his elimination of No. 2 seed Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals by advancing to his first career ATP 500 final with a 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. Jodar had more double faults (seven) than aces (six) but saved the only break point he faced on his serve while converting the two he needed to win each of the final two sets.
–Field Level Media
