Mikhail Youzhny collected his ninth ATP Tour title at Suisse Open with a victory over unseeded Robin Haase in straight sets in Sunday’s final.
The Russian made easy work of his Dutch opponent winning 6-3 6-4 in the high-altitude competition based in the elite skiing village of Gstaad.
Youzhny was delighted to claim his first ATP title since February 2012 but he had to overcome a real challenge from Juan Monaco in the quarter-finals, saving three match points to eventually go on and get the win.
The 31-year-old looked much more dominant in his semi-final meeting with Victor Hanescu before reaching the final for the first time in in seven visits dating back to 2002.
And Youzhny ultimately had too many weapons and took the spoils when converting his third match point after just 68 minutes.
Youzhny and Haase have now met five times with the Russian veteran winning every encounter, and the beaten finalist admitted that the best man won.
Haase said: “I never beat you and it kind of hurts, but you deserved it.”
Home favourite Roger Federer was expected to dominate the clay-court competition after he confirmed he would enter for the first time in nine years to gain some extra playing time.
However, the world number five, who has struggled with recent form, suffered a surprise early exit to the hands of Daniel Brands, losing 6-3 6-4 in the second round.
Link Dafabet