Eastbourne: Injured Tipsarevic Gifts Seppi First Title

Seppi wins his first ever title in Eastbourne

Fortunate Andreas Seppi has won his first title of career when he passed Janko Tipsarevic on Sunday in the Eastbourne final. The Italian was gifted the trophy after the Serb retired at 6-7, 6-3, 3-5 down due to a hip injury which occurred while attempting to hit an easy ball on the baseline.

World number 51 Andreas won the opener very uneasily, being pushed into the breaker which he eventually won at five. The second set saw Tipsarevic break the Italian when counted the most to power through to a three-game lead which gave him the equalizer and thus pushed the meeting into a third decider. Finally, the final set found the third seed being left four games behind as Seppi would propel himself towards a clear win despite dropping three games in a row for a 4-3 minimal lead.

The Italian then made it 5-3, while the ninth game showed Tipsarevic suffering the ugly injury and eventually abandoning the game. Seppi won his first ever title, something which must give him much confidence at least for the Wimbledon start. “It’s for sure a special moment for me. I didn’t expect to win my first title on grass, but I really enjoy playing on this surface,” he said.

“It’s a good feeling. It was just my second final… I played a lot of semis and I was also close to winning my first title in 2007, where I was serving for the match and lost,” added Seppi who previously to the big final had ousted Igor Kunitsyn in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. The Italian won four of five his matches in three sets, the quarter final bringing him a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 victory over Olivier Rochus.

In the first round, the Italian ousted Tobias Kamke after surviving an early scare 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, while the second term saw him beat Donald Young in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3, his only two-set success of the week. On the other side, Tipsarevic had eased past Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4 in the semi finals and Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 in the quarters. As for the previous rounds, the Serb had had some hard times against James Ward in the opener as he edged the crowd favorite 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Finally, the second term had brought him a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin.

Seppi is to pocket 71,000 euros and 250 points ATP, while the Serb leaves the English event with a 37,4000-euro check and 150 points ATP. Their next stop is Wimbledon Grand Slam which is scheduled to take place between June 20 and July 3. Seppi is to make his debut against Albert Montanes, while Tipsarevic meets Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the first term.

Eastbourne Prize Money and points:

Winner – 71,000 euro and 250 points ATP

Finalist – 37,400 euro and 150 points ATP

Semi finalist – 20,270 euro and 90 points ATP

Quarter finalist – 11,550 euro and 45 points ATP

R16 – 6,800 euro and 20 points ATP

R32 – 4,030 euro and zero points ATP