Tipsarevic tops Baghdatis in Malaysia for first title
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Janko Tipsarevic earned his first set triumph over Marcos Baghdatis in the final of the Malaysian Open.
Tipsarevic posted a 6-4, 7-5 win on Sunday to become the 10th first-time winner on the ATP Tour this year. He had been 0-4 in finals, including losses this year to Juan Martin del Potro in Delray Beach and Andreas Seppi in Eastbourne.
"I played some great tennis this week and I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the season," said Tipsarevic, who is currently ranked 17th and had been the only member of the top-20 without a tournament title.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The third-seeded Serb dropped the first three games of the match, but battled back with breaks of serve in the fifth and seventh games. He then opened a 4-1 cushion in the second set, but Baghdatis stormed back and a break of serve evened it at 5-5.
Tipsarevic regrouped and broke Baghdatis for a 6-5 edge before holding in the final game to seal it.
Baghdatis hadn't lost a set en route to the final and fell to 4-7 all-time in title matches. It was the Cypriot's first final of 2011. His best previous finish this year was a semifinal loss to Ivan Dodig at the Wimbledon tuneup in Den Bosch.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It wasn't my day today," lamented Baghdatis, who fell to 2-2 lifetime against Tipsarevic. "Janko played great. He deserved to win. He was more aggressive. You just have to say 'well done' to Janko for a great week and a great year overall."
Tipsarevic, who pocketed a first prize of $155,000, had his best Grand Slam finish this year with a quarterfinal loss to fellow Serb Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open last month.