De Minaur downs Seppi to win maiden ATP singles crown

World
Europe

01:33

Australian tennis sensation Alex De Minaur has bagged his first ever ATP singles title after defeating Italian veteran Andreas Seppi in straight sets in the final of the Sydney International on Saturday.

Playing in front of his home crowd, the 19-year-old, being dubbed as one of the future prospects of world tennis, overcame two tie-breaks in the nail-biting contest that went down to the wire and ended with the score-line of 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in De Minaur's favor.

The world no. 29 told reporters after his remarkable victory, "it's surreal. I couldn't think of a better place to get my first win!" De Minaur had earlier knocked out Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3 6-2 in the semi-finals.

Alex De Minaur of Australia celebrates his win after beating Andreas Seppi of Italy in the men's singles final match at the Sydney International tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, January 12, 2019. /VCG Photo

The young Australian with prodigious talent made a phenomenal progress on the tour since bursting onto the tennis scene by storming into the Sydney final last year as a 167th ranked player in the world. Although he eventually went down fighting to Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the final but managed to take the world tennis by storm since then.

However, there was no heartbreak for the gung-ho Aussie at this year's tournament as he became the first Australian to clinch the title since Bernard Tomic in 2013.

"It's been tough, because I have played a couple of finals and things haven't gone my way. And to finally be able to take that step further and get my first win, it's something that's really special in front of friends and family and in the courts I grew up," he added.

Andreas Seppi of Italy plays a shot in the men's singles final against Alex De Minaur of Australia at the Sydney International tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, January 12, 2019. /VCG Photo

"That's definitely memories that are going to last forever."

Thirty-four-year-old Seppi hit 27 winners to De Minaur's 21, but the youngster got better of his experienced rival with fewer unforced errors and by winning 20 points at the net to seal the fabulous win.

The Sydney International is often considered as a warm-up tournament ahead of the marquee Australian Open, starting in Melbourne next week.