Chennai, Jan 9: Milos Raonic of Canada won the second title of his career on Sunday after beating top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in a serve-dominated final of the Chennai Open.
Fourth-seeded Raonic hit 35 aces in a marathon match that lasted three hours, 16 minutes and didn't feature a break of serve.
"It is an awesome feeling," said the 21-year-old Raonic, who won all 48 of his service games during the week to become the first player to win a tournament without dropping serve since Roger Federer at the 2008 grass-court tournament in Halle.
Raonic dropped only four points on serve in the first set and had four chances to break in the fourth game before Tipsarevic stole it on a tiebreaker.
"Tipsarevic took it away in the first set," Raonic said. "But I took my opportunities in the second and third."
Raonic established a 4-1 lead in the second-set tiebreaker before leveling the match on his second set point. He had to save break points early in the decider but dominated the tiebreaker with his serve.
"My serve is a big factor in my game ... in 99 percent of my matches," said Raonic, who averages a consistent 200 kph (124 mph) on his first serve. "My job is to take care of my serve."
The ninth-ranked Tipsarevic has now lost six of eight ATP finals in his career.
"Guys like Milos are special players," Tipsarevic said after his first match against the Canadian. "It was a great game of tennis. Nobody knew till the end who would win.
"Unluckily for me it was I who lost. It was just a matter of a few points here and there. Hopefully the next time I will get the better of him."
