Spain’s Fernando Verdasco won the Pilot Pen final by beating American Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the last tune-up for the U.S. Open on Saturday.
The second-seeded Verdasco fought off four set points, three of them in the tiebreaker, to win his first title of the season and third of his career.
Verdasco’s win came after Caroline Wozniacki successfully defended her women’s title.
The 19-year-old from Denmark beat Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-4, earning her sixth tournament title, and third this year.
She did not drop a single set in her five matches this week.
“Now it’s my time,” she said. “It’s my turn to win some tournaments. I just feel I’ve had a great year. I’m so happy that it’s my name coming up a lot of times now.”
Both men’s finalists played semifinals indoors early Saturday because of rain that has plagued the area for two days. Verdasco beat Igor Andreev of Russia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), while sixth-seeded Querrey beat Argentina’s Jose Acasuso, 6-3, 6-4.
Wozniacki broke Vesnina’s serve in the final’s first game, and didn’t look back.
The 23-year-old Russian was making just her second appearance in a final. She appeared to have a chance when she broke Wosniacki to even the second set at 3-3. But Wosniacki broke right back, and served out.
“I don’t do any excuses for today because Caroline, she was too good for me,” Vesnina said. “I was doing a lot of unforced errors. Caroline, she’s a very good defensive player.”
Wozniacki was unseeded when she won here a year ago. This year, she came ranked No. 9 in the world and seeded second.
“It’s really surprised me how fast everything has been going and that I’m right now 8 or 9 in the world,” she said. “That’s just amazing at age of 19, being one of the youngest players out there. Yeah, I mean, it’s what I’ve been working for so hard. I’m happy everything is going my way.”
The rain stopped in the afternoon, allowing the women to play for the championship outside in the 13,000—seat Connecticut Tennis Centre stadium.
