Damir Dzumhur and Peter Gojowczyk were the surprise winners on the ATP Tour at the weekend, claiming titles in St Petersburg and Metz on Sunday.
Dzumhur captured the first ATP World Tour title of his career in Russia as he completed a 3-6 6-4 6-2 victory over Italian Fabio Fognini in the final of the St. Petersburg Open.
The 25-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina native had lost his two previous clashes with Fognini and a third defeat looked firmly on the cards after he slipped to a first set loss.
The match swung on the ninth game of the second set, with it finely poised at 4-4 as Dzumhur kicked on to win the next four games to close out the second set and break Fognini at the start of the third.
A second break of serve in the seventh game of the third set saw Dzumhur serve it out and lift the first trophy of his professional career.
“I was very nervous today, even though it was my second final. I was very nervous at the start,” said Dzumhur. “I couldn’t find my best rhythm, couldn’t find my best game.
“In the second set I started to serve better. After one break (at 2-2 in the second set), he broke me back.
“But I knew that I could break him again and I was returning better. That first break was very important for the whole match.
“But the experience of playing one final already helped me a lot and in the end I won. In the end I found my game and played good. It was the best day of my life.”
Elsewhere over the weekend, German Gojowczyk also captured his maiden ATP title as he claimed a 7-5 6-2 victory over Frenchmen Benoit Paire in Metz.
The 28-year-old was not even in the main draw for the Moselle Open last week but surprised everyone with his run to the final and eventual emphatic victory.
Gojowczyk won seven matches in eight days from the Qualifiers to the final, winning 14 of the 15 sets he played in a phenomenal show of consistency.
“It was a totally different match, because then it was on grass in Stuttgart,” Gojowczyk said of their lone previous tour-level encounter earlier this year, won by Paire.
“He was better than me on that day. But I felt much better today and it was only one or two points [to decide] the first set. It was a long rally on the break point. I was serving well all day and that was the difference.”
After his success in France, Gojowczyk became the first Qualifier to clinch a title since Nicolas Mahut in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2015.
