via Takanyi Garanganga of Zimbabwe wins Long Beach Futures title Press Telegram 18 January 2015
For the third day in a row, Takanyi Garanganga recovered from an opening set loss, this time going on to capture the USTA Pro Circuit Long Beach Futures Tournament championship at El Dorado Park Tennis Center.
He capped off the week-long tournament Sunday with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 win over 2012 Wimbledon doubles champion Frederik Nielson of Denmark.
The unseeded Garanganga (No. 382 in the world rankings) had to play through qualifying rounds due to entering late, but said the extra matches helped him stay focused and prepared.
He also said his tough three-set win over Alex Sarkissian on Saturday didn’t weigh too heavily on his game in the final.
“I wasn’t really thinking about that. I was just playing,” he said. “Just playing the moment is the main thing. I didn’t think about playing well yesterday.”
The sixth-seeded Nielson took the first set tiebreaker, but Garanganga (Zimbabwe) responded by winning the next two. In the third, the first 10 games alternated between the players before Garanganga broke serve to buck the trend and close out the match with three straight game wins.
With the victory, Garanganga receives $2,160 of the $15,000 prize pool as well as 27 ranking points. Nielson (No. 356) receives $1,272 and 15 points as the runner-up.
Garanganga will be heading to Maui, Hawaii on Wednesday to compete over the weekend.
For more information visit procircuit.usta.com.
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