Lucas Pouille capped his fine run in recent months with a first ATP title thanks to a brilliant 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory over top seed Dominic Thiem in the final of the Moselle Open.
The Frenchman reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open this year and Pouille's form finally yielded success with an ATP crown in front of his home supporters in Metz. Neither player gave his opponent room for manoeuvre on his own serve until third seed Pouille applied the pressure in game 10, though he failed to convert three set points that came his way.
It looked like Pouille would need three sets if he wanted to win after slipping 4-0 down in the first set tie-break, but a fine fightback saw him wrest the advantage.
World No. 10 Thiem's ambitions suffered a further blow in the first game of the second set, dropping his serve having already staved off two break points. Pouille moved two breaks up in game seven and served out the match to love, maintaining his perfect record against the Austrian, who he beat at the Monte Carlo Masters last year.
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