ATP: Bautista Agut beats Pouille in the final of Dubai

Eighth win for Roberto Bautista Agut: The Spaniard defeated Lucas Pouille in two sets in the final of the ATP World Tour 500 event in Dubai.

It took Bautista Agut 81 minutes to beat Pouille 6:3 and 6:4. The Spaniard, placed third in Dubai, started the match in lightning speed, scoring the first set after an early break. In the second round it was Lucas Pouille who got the better start – Bautista Agut, however, not only managed to equalize the score, he also scored the decisive pinprick with a 5:4 break.

Both players were able to register themselves on the winner’s list even before their appearance in Dubai in 2018: Pouille won the title in Montpellier and was last in the final of Marseille. Bautista Agut had been successful in the final against Juan Martin del Potro in Auckland. In the three matches so far, the Spaniard had won twice, but Pouille had won the last match in five sets at the US Open 2016.

The number one player in the traditional desert tournament, Grigor Dimitrov, lost to Malek Jaziri in the beginning. Bautista Agut finished the run of the Tunisian with his two-set victory in the semi-finals. Bautista Agut will improve to 16th place in the ATP rankings with his success in Dubai, while Pouille missed out on the first-time entry among the world’s top ten pros due to his defeat.

Here the single panel in Dubai