Sixth-seeded Moldovian Radu Albot won the singles title of the $50,000 Emami Kolkata Open ATP Challenger outplaying the top seed from Australia James Duckworth 7-6(0), 6-1 at the Bengal Tennis Association courts here on Saturday.
The doubles crown went to the Indian pair of Somdev Devvarman and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan who got a walkover from the Aussie duo of James Duckworth and Luke Saville. Duckworth complained of dizziness and pulled out of the doubles. The victory gave Albot $7,200 and 80 ATP points.
The 25-year-old Moldovian played a positive and aggressive game, putting pressure on the top seed right from the start.
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Albot jumped to a 4-2 lead in the first set with a break of serve, but the Aussie recovered to go ahead 5-4, capitalising on some baseline inconsistency and a double fault.
However, in the tie-breaker, the 23-year-old from Sydney just faded away, allowing Albot to win the opening set 7-6(0) in about 59 minutes. In the second set, serving at 1-2, Duckworth dropped serve after eight deuces. Albot then held serve to lead 4-1. Duckworth, affected by the heat, double faulted twice and dropped serve again, leaving Albot to serve out the set 6-1 in 37 minutes.
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Singles: Radu Albot (Mda) bt James Duckworth (Aus) 7-6(0), 6-1.
Doubles: Somdev Devvarman & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (Ind) w/o J. Duckworth & Luke Saville (Aus).