Florida, Mar 4 : Latvia's Ernests Gulbis has won the ATP 250 tennis tournament in Delray Beach here, propelling him up the new rankings published Monday.
Gulbis defeated France's Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(3), 6-3 in the first ATP final since 2007 to be contested between two players outside the top 100, and as a result rises 42 places to world No.67.
“I'm really happy. I worked hard,” qualifier Gulbis said on the ATP website after winning in Delray Beach for the second time, following his first victory in 2010.
“These last nine days were tough. I had a match almost every day, except one day when it rained, so I'm exhausted now. It's my favourite tournament. It's the only tournament in the world I am winning.”
Roger-Vasselin, in his first Tour final, missed set point in the first set and was gracious in defeat.
“He deserved the win,” the Frenchman said on the ATP website.
“I thought I served pretty well. I had a set point but he made an unbelievable backhand winner. When you lose in a final, it's tough, but it was a great week for me. It will give me confidence for the next tournament.”
Roger-Vasselin's appearance in the final lifts him 27 spots in the rankings to 78th. Delray Beach is played on hard courts with a $455,000 prize fund.
Elsewhere in Monday's rankings, the top ten remains the same, with Novak Djokovic extending his lead as world No.1 after winning the Dubai Championships, ahead of Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
The highest-ranked player to move is Spain's Nicolas Almagro, up one place to 11th, displacing Croatia's Marin Cilic. Further down, Canada's Milos Raonic pushes past Stanislas Wawrinka to take 17th following the Swiss No.2's first-round exit in Acapulco last week.
Notable movers include former world No.3 Nikolay Davydenko, up four spots to 42nd, and Germany's Daniel Brands, rising 23 spots to 74th because of a run to the quarterfinals in Dubai.
