Wellington, Jan 17 (IANS): Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely, the World No.63, won his maiden Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) title Saturday beating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Auckland Open.
Vesely quickly recovered from dropping the opening serve of the match to break the 44th ranked player twice in each set, reports Xinhua.
The 21-year-old Czech has proved a giant killer, knocking out top seed and World No. 13 Ernests Gulbis as well as tournament fourth seed Kevin Anderson from South Africa.
But Vesely's path through the tournament was made easier by withdrawals from a string of high-profile players, including David Ferrer, Gael Monfils and Tommy Robredo.