Bengaluru: Brandon Holt does not wear his emotions on his sleeves, but he does not hold back when the occasion calls for it. On Sunday, the American’s celebrations were exuberant after winning the Bengaluru Open title. He fist-pumped and did an impromptu Gangnam style-like dance moves. The celebrations did not end there. A few minutes later, the World No. 144 sent some balls into the stands for fans — a sizeable number in attendance – to collect memorabilia at the KSLTA Stadium here.
After losing the final in Pune to Czech Republic’s Dalibor Svrcina last week, the six foot one inch player was determined to make his second Sunday count on his maiden visit to India. Holt, who forced his opponent to make errors, did that in style with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki. The title triumph earned Holt 125 ATP points and $ 28,400.
“I had a great time in India and the energy was high. It was a tough final, but a great week. We (Mochizuki and he) practiced when I landed here and we ended it by going against each other in a final,” said Holt after claiming his second ATP Challenger title.
The one-hour, 22-minute contest witnessed Holt, who hit four aces in the final, coming up with thunderbolts consistently. Many of them were above the 200km/hr mark. He raced to a 3-0 lead, including a break into the second game. Holt, son of former WTA no.1 and two-time US Open champion Tracy Austin, secured another break of serve in the sixth game to go 5-1 up.
Mochizuki was in no mood to give up. The former junior Wimbledon champion won the next two, but it was just not his day. His hard-fought three-set semifinal win against James McCabe on Saturday seemed to have drained him out. Errors crept into his game. His long forehand helped Holt win the set.
Mistakes continued to be the Japanese player’s foe as Holt took a 2-0 lead in the second set. It didn’t help Mochizuki. He lost his cool. The world no.167 threw his racket in frustration twice in the second game. At the other end, it was business as usual for Holt as he claimed his second service break to inch closer to the title with a 3-0 lead.
The crowd egged on Mochuzuki and celebrated each point. Suddenly, he began to find his range with volleys and accuracy, albeit for a brief while, during which time he won back-to-back games. Mochuzuki’s late surge notwithstanding, Holt was the better player on the day by a distance. The Kawasaki-born Mochuzuki hit an overhead smash into the net as Holt burst into celebration mode.