Damir Dzumhur, tipped by Andy Schooler at 25/1, captured his first ATP World Tour title with a three-set victory over Fabio Fognini in the final of the St Petersburg Open.
Dzumhur, who is the first player from Bosnia and Herzegovina to win a top-level singles title, recovered from losing the first set to win 3-6 6-4 6-2 and improve his record since the end of July to 15-3.
Third seed Fognini, who had saved two match points against top seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-finals, cruised through the opening set with two breaks of serve, but crucially lost four games in a row from 4-4 in the second.
That included losing his serve in the opening game of the decider and a second break in the seventh game helped sealed victory for Dzumhur.
Our tennis tipster Andy Schooler saw this success coming in his pre-event betting preview, writing: "Damir Dzumhur’s recent form has carried him to a career-high of 55th in the world rankings and is well worth noting ahead of this event. The Bosnian then made the third round of the US Open – a tournament which hardly played fast this year – knocking out seed Pablo Cuevas before falling to Andrey Rublev, who went on to reach the last eight. Dzumhur has openly spoken about how finishing the year inside the top 50 is now his goal and so his focus looks guaranteed over the closing couple of months of the season."
CHECK OUT HIS BETTING PREVIEW AND SELECTIONS FOR THIS WEEK'S EVENT!
In Metz, German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk upset home hope Benoit Paire to win the Moselle Open and also claim his maiden ATP World Tour title.
Gojowczyk beat seventh seed Paire 7-5 6-2 in just 67 minutes, winning a total of seven matches in eight days and dropping just one set along the way.
"He didn't miss many shots and it was tough for me," Paire said. "But I'm happy for my week and I'm happy for him because he's a good guy.
"If I play like I did this week, I think I can do something good. There are a lot of positives and the crowd was unbelievable, supporting me all week."
