American Ben Shelton won his first ATP Tour title by defeating Aslan Karatsev in the Japan Open final.
Shelton struck 18 winners on the way to beating the Russian 7-5 6-1 in 84 minutes in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old’s victory will move him up to a career-high of 15th in the men’s rankings on Monday.
“That meant a lot to me and my team. We have been working really hard since the beginning to build my game and win titles on the ATP Tour,” said Shelton.
“I made some deep runs lately. You see the great champions, they finish weeks off. They win titles, they don’t just get to finals. They are able to maintain their level throughout the week.
“I am not saying I am anywhere there yet, but to be able to do it for one week, put together five matches in a row in Tokyo is really special.”
Success for Burrage
Britain’s Jodie Burrage won her first WTA career doubles title after partnering Jil Teichmann of Switzerland to victory at the Transylvania Open.
The pair defeated France’s Leolia Jeanjean and Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine 6-1 6-4 in their first tournament together in Romania.
They held the upper hand in the decider, winning 74% of their service points and converting five of their seven break points.
In the singles final, German Tamara Korpatsch claimed her maiden title by beating home hope Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3 6-4.
Elsewhere, in the Jasmin Open in Tunisia, second seed Elise Mertens of Belgium won the last 10 games in a row against Italian top seed Jasmine Paolini to come through 6-3 6-0 and retain her title.
In Stockholm, veteran Gael Monfils became only the fourth player older than 37 to win an ATP Tour title when he claimed the BNP Paribas Nordic Open.
The Frenchman beat Russian qualifier Pavel Kotov 4-6 7-6 (6) 6-3 to join Roger Federer, Ivo Karlovic and Feliciano Lopez in achieving the feat.
At the European Open in Antwerp, French teenager Arthur Fils was unable to follow up his shock semi-final win over world number seven Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday when he lost out in the decider to Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4 6-4.
Britain’s Jamie Murray and New Zealand’s Michael Venus were beaten 6-4 6-1 by Australian duo Rinky Hijikata and Max Purcell in the Japan Open doubles final.
In the Nordic Open doubles final, Great Britain’s Julian Cash and Yuki Bhambri, of India, suffered a 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 defeat against Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev and Ukraine’s Denys Molchanov.
