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Marathon man Jordan Thompson has finally clinched his first ATP Tour title, with the Australian upsetting Norwegian Casper Ruud to lift the trophy in Los Cabos, Mexico.
After 11 years on tour, the 29-year-old overcame 12th-ranked Ruud in straight sets 6-3 7-6 (7-4) on Saturday night.
And to complete his landmark day, Thompson also took the doubles title with his Australian friend Max Purcell in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Thompson entered the event ranked a career-high No.40 and has now topped that, reaching No.32 after winning the decider.
The Sydneysider was playing his third tour-level final after a gutsy three-set victory over top seed and world No.6 Alexander Zverev in a semi-final lasting three hours 42 minutes.
He spent more than 12 hours on court through his five matches in the Mexico tournament, in the quarter-final clawing his way back from 0-6 0-3 and saving three match points to oust American Alex Michelsen 0-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5.
“A lot of guys go throughout their career without winning a title, or without making a final. Some guys go through their careers even without playing many tournaments, so you can’t get discouraged by not winning a title,” he shrugged.
“It’s incredibly tough. Not many guys do it. I mean, there’s only one winner every week. Usually you lose every single week.
“You can’t get discouraged. You’ve just got to keep working hard and I’m extremely competitive and I just want to play any game really. Whether it’s tennis, cards, marbles, I just want to compete!”
Thompson looked in charge early against Ruud, with his mixed bag of shots putting his rival on the back foot.
He had particular success at the net, using his deft touch to win 18 of 22 points.
But the second-ranked Australian again made life difficult for himself in the second set.
He led 5-3 and then wobbled when serving for the match up 5-4, with former world No.2 Ruud levelling at 5-5.
Thompson was able to refocus amidst a noisy local crowd bidding for Ruud to push the match into a third set, and wrapped up the title in the tiebreak with a charging forehand winner.
“I spent so many hours on the court this week. In the quarter-final I could have been double bagelled, I could have been losing 6-0, 6-0 and now I’m about to lift the trophy, so I think it’s still a miracle,” Thompson said post-match.
“It’s been a journey. I’m nearly 30 and I’m lifting a trophy; I never thought I would do that.
“My favourite place now, without a doubt,” he said of Los Cabos.
Thompson’s previous tour-level finals came in the Netherlands in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, in 2019 and 2023.
He’d had a blazing start to the year, beating Rafael Nadal to reach the Brisbane semi-finals and reaching consecutive quarter-finals in Dallas and Delray Beach prior to his Los Cabos run.
Ruud, 25, had taken down defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in their semi-final and had his 11th tour title and a return to the top 10 in sight.
Thompson and Ruud then squared off again a short time later in the Los Cabos doubles semi-finals, with Thompson and Purcell defeating the Norwegian and American William Blumberg 7-6 (7-1) 6-3.
In the final, played in the early hours, Thompson then triumphed in his third match of an exhausting day, with the Aussie pair beating Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar and Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov 7-5 7-6 (7-2).
It meant ‘Tommo’ became the first player since Nick Kyrgios in Washington in 2022, to collect both the singles and doubles titles at the same ATP Tour event.
© AAP
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