HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili beat Andrey Rublev to win the Hamburg European Open for the second straight year on Sunday.
The fourth-seeded Georgian won 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, serving out the final game to love.
Basilashvili is the first player since Roger Federer in 2005 to claim back-to-back Hamburg crowns.
"It looks like I am playing my best tennis here . Just to see my name next to (Roger) means a lot to me," said Basilashvili, who is ranked 16th in the world. "I played my best tennis here and I will come back next year, for sure."
Basilashvili won 81% of his first-serve points and broke Rublev four times.
He also double-faulted six times and was broken three times by the Russian, who is ranked 78th.
"It was a good week for me. For the moment, my best week," Rublev said. "Of course, it is always disappointing to lose in a final, but Nikoloz was playing really well and he deserves it.
"To win two years in a row here is amazing. It is really hard. It is really tough mentally and he did it. It is unbelievable."