James Duckworth (NSW) is the 2016 Apis Canberra International champion, after taking out the men’s singles title today, 7-5, 6-3.
The 24-year-old said he was happy how the match played out, despite a tough opponent in fellow Aussie Marc Polmans (VIC).
“Marc’s a really good competitor and he made me fight for every point,” he said. “I’m thrilled to get the win.”
Duckworth continued, “He’s [Polmans] renowned for his fighting qualities and that’s how he got to the final. Every match he’s just turned up, and then battled and I knew he was going to be like that today, so I knew I had to play well to win.”
Despite a difficult year with four months off injured, Duckworth has worked hard to get back into form, now with two ATP Challenger titles to his name.
“I was out for four months and my ranking dropped quite a bit,” he said. “It’s been tough to try and get my ranking back up and I feel like I’m playing some good tennis. I’m 99 per cent healthy and I think that’s the main thing.”
After today’s match, Duckworth will move to 130 in the world. Polmans started 2016 as 843 in the world yet after today’s match, the highest level of his career-to-date, Polmans will move to world No. 212.
Prior to the men’s match, number one seed Risa Ozaki (JPN) defeated qualifier Georgia Brescia (ITA) 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour and 43 minutes.
World No. 103, this is the second consecutive $50,000 Challenger title for Ozaki, having claimed The Bendigo International in October 2016.
“Today was a tough match because she [Brescia] played well,” she said. “But today, I could focus during the match”.
A similar story to Polmans, today’s final was the highest level of Brescia’s career-to-date. Current world No. 433, she has high hopes of returning to Canberra for the tournament again in 2017.
“It’s has been a great week really, the best of my career, and I hope to come back next year”.
Leading into the final, Ozaki dealt with ongoing blustery Canberra conditions. However she has appreciated her time in the capital, next heading to play in Toyko.
“I love Canberra, because it is a nice town, but it is difficult to play here as it’s a bit windy. But I love Canberra.
The finals day was a fitting finale for an event that has over the past week given local tennis fans the opportunity to attend and watch some of the world’s best from across the globe compete for USD$100,000 in prize money and valuable world ranking points.
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