(2nd LD) S. Korean Kwon Soon-woo captures 2nd career ATP title in Australia

유지호 / 2023-01-14 21:31:11

(2nd LD) tennis-S Korean player

▲ In this EPA photo, Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea kisses the trophy after winning the men's singles final over Roberto Bautista Agut of Span at the Adelaide International 2 on the ATP Tour at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, Australia, on Jan. 14, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ In this EPA photo, Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea celebrates a point against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain during the men's singles final at the Adelaide International 2 on the ATP Tour at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, Australia, on Jan. 14, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ In this EPA photo, Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea poses with the trophy after winning the men's singles final over Roberto Bautista Agut of Span at the Adelaide International 2 on the ATP Tour at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, Australia, on Jan. 14, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ In this EPA photo, Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea hits a shot against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain during the men's singles final at the Adelaide International 2 on the ATP Tour at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, Australia, on Jan. 14, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ In this AFP photo, Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea hits a shot against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain during the men's singles final at the Adelaide International 2 on the ATP Tour at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, Australia, on Jan. 14, 2023. (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) tennis-S Korean player

(2nd LD) S. Korean Kwon Soon-woo captures 2nd career ATP title in Australia

(ATTN: ADDS comments throughout, photos)

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- Kwon Soon-woo captured his second career ATP Tour title in Australia on Saturday, becoming the first South Korean with multiple victories on the top men's tennis circuit.

Kwon, ranked 84th, defeated world No. 26 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) to win the Adelaide International 2 at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, Australia. Kwon grabbed the final four points in the decisive tiebreak to knock off former world No. 9 from Spain after two hours and 42 minutes.

Kwon, 25, won his maiden ATP title at the Astana Open in September 2021. He was the first South Korean winner since Lee Hyung-taik in 2003.

Lee retired with one career singles title, and Kwon moved ahead of him on the career leaderboard on Saturday.

Chung Hyeon, the 2018 Australian Open semifinalist, won the Next Generation ATP Finals in November 2017. But the exhibition event was only open to players 21 or younger and didn't count as an official ATP victory for Chung.

Kwon told reporters afterward he tried not to think about making South Korean tennis history.

"As great as it is to be part of history, I felt it would only put more pressure on my shoulders if I kept thinking about it," Kwon said. "Today, I just tried to do the best I could."

Kwon was one of two "lucky losers" of this tournament. He had lost in the second round of the qualifying stage, but entered the main draw after two players withdrew because of injuries.

Kwon is the first lucky loser to win an ATP title since 2018.

Kwon lost to Tomas Machac in the qualifying stage but then got his revenge against the Czech player in the first round of the main draw.

"It was tough to face the same player who beat me in qualifying, but after that opening round win, I was able to play freely without pressure," Kwon said. "With each victory, I started gaining more confidence. Then in the final, I left everything on the court."

This was Kwon's second tournament of 2023, after kicking off the season with a first-round loss at the Adelaide International 1 at the same venue.

This was an ATP 250 tournament, with the champion collecting 250 ranking points. It is in the lowest tier in ATP, below the four Grand Slam tournaments, ATP Finals, ATP Masters 1000 and ATP 500 events.

Kwon is expected to crack the top 70 in the world rankings next week. His career high is No. 52 from November 2021.

After the players traded the first two sets, the third set was a nailbiting seesaw affair.

Down 2-1, Kwon broke Bautista Agut to pull even, and then held his serve to go up 3-2.

Bautista Agut returned the favor, winning the next game and then breaking Kwon to take a 4-3 lead.

Kwon bounced back to break Bautista Agut to pull even again, and then won the next game without dropping a point for a 5-4 advantage.

But the Spanish veteran wouldn't go away, winning the next game for a 5-5 tie. Kwon overcame a double fault to hold his serve for a 6-5 lead, but Bautista Agut sent the match to a tiebreak in the next game.

The players traded points early, before Bautista Agut went up 4-3 on back-to-back aces.

But he never won another point, with a couple of unforced errors giving Kwon a 5-4 lead. The South Korean put down a forehand winner to move to a championship point, and clinched his second title when Bautista Agut's backhand return went wide left.

Kwon will try to keep up the momentum at the Australian Open, the season's first Grand Slam tournament beginning Monday in Melbourne.

Kwon will take on Christopher Eubanks in the first round. Kwon beat the 123rd-ranked American in three sets in their only previous meeting last year.

"I don't think I will have an easy matchup. There isn't that much of a difference in talent level between players competing at a major," Kwon said. "I am still young. If I can recover well from this, I should have a good tournament next week."

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