Janko Tipsarevic has the air of a man seeking answers to life’s mysteries.
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| Janko Tipsarevic with Chennai Open Trophy |
But for the last five years, he has had a more mundane pursuit, a pursuit that draws him to Chennai, entourage in tow.
On Sunday at the SDAT Tennis Stadium’s centre court, a place he loves
playing in, the 28-year-old Tipsarevic had a taste of salvation.
“Only one word comes to mind: Finally,” he said. “I’ve come really,
really close, last year (against Raonic) I could smell it, but I’m so
happy that I finally won a tournament I really wanted to win. It’s a
dream come true.”
It didn’t come easy. Roberto Bautista Agut, the 24-year-old who might
have played football for Villarreal had it not been for his mother’s
love of tennis, put together a striking first set.
Tipsarevic was forced to respond, much like in the semifinal against
Aljaz Bedene; he did it with greater verve and style, to win 3-6, 6-1,
6-3.
The match had echoes of the semifinal — indeed Tipsarevic said it was
like déjà vu. Bautista Agut drove a hard, ruthless forehand, often
inside-out, to exploit the two-handed backhand’s limited reach; the work
on the ball — because it had been sheared across — got it to drift
further to Tipsarevic’s left, buying another yard of court space.
Bautista Agut also hit brave, deep backhands — flat so they were
penetrative, but bereft of the margin of error topspin affords — to push
the second-seeded Serb further behind the baseline and open up the
shorter angles cross-court. This was first-rate, dominant tennis from a
man in his first ATP Tour final against the world’s ninth-best player.
Tipsarevic had chances in Bautista Agut’s service games. Thrice he was
up 0-30, but the Spaniard fell back on the inside-out forehand: then he
rushed the net to either flash a cavalier racquet at a swing volley or
carve the follow-up to the open court. Once Tipsarevic managed the right
play: a backhand down the line that had Bautista Agut scrambling, only
the Spaniard slapped a forehand long-line himself, low-percentage but
point-ending.
In the first set, Tipsarevic’s ground-strokes had risen perfectly into
Bautista Agut’s wheelhouse; in sets two and three, he consciously
stepped into the court and sought to be the first player in the rally to
either change direction or seek depth. This was gutsy, even desperate,
play, and Tipsarevic had the skill to pull it off.
The two-hander down the line worked much better than it had on Saturday, allowing him to move Bautista Agut.
Tipsarevic’s coach Dirk Hordorff smoked a nervous cigarette in a
stairway, while his employer took charge of the match. Having to play
three three-setters back to back was affecting Bautista Agut, who looked
physically spent the longer the match went on. He had his knee strapped
and later said he had experienced abdominal pain; courage didn’t desert
him, much to the vocal appreciation of the crowd, but victory was
beyond him.
Tipsarevic broke Bautista Agut twice each in sets two and three,
including the final game in which the Spaniard was docked a first serve
for taking more than 25 seconds between points.
The end came quickly.
Tipsarevic celebrated his fourth ATP title with a crowd that has come to
accept him as a favoured son. He said they would see a lot more of him.
Bautista Agut was cheered no less. A man who masters Tomas Berdych and
hangs with Tipsarevic is to be admired. There remained one final
question though — would he, with the prize money, add to his stable of
horses?
“I don’t have the time for one more horse,” Bautista Agut said, smiling.
“But I’d just like to take the opportunity to thank my mother who will be following this from Spain.”