New Yorker Lipsky Wins Doubles Title in Germany
Third seeds Santiago Gonzalez & Scott Lipsky captured their fifth ATP World Tour title together on Sunday as they defeated Daniele Bracciali and Jonathan Erlich 6-2, 7-6(3) in the final of the 2013 Gerry Weber Open in Halle. Gonzalez & Lipsky are currently 11th in the race to London and will add another 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points to their total with the victory. They also won the Portugal Open title last month in Oeiras, defeating Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi & Jean-Julien Rojer and reached the semifinals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells losing to the Bryan Brothers and Rome losing to the duo of Mahesh Bhupathi & Rohan Bopanna.
"Always having a title you feel happy, especially one week away from Wimbledon," said Gonzalez. "It’s the first tournament on grass this year and to win it gives us confidence. We played really good, especially in the first set. Scott had a very good serving day and we are happy to win in two sets."
The 30-year-old Gonzalez won his seventh ATP World Tour title (7-2 finals record), while Lipsky, 31, lifted his 10th trophy.
"Halle is one of my favourite tournaments, I enjoy coming here and winning the title after losing the final last year feels good," said Lipsky. "We served very well all week, especially on grass that puts a lot of pressure on our opponents. Hopefully we can continue doing that the rest of the grass-court season."
Bracciali & Erlich were playing their first ATP World Tour tournament together and had knocked out fourth seeds Treat Huey & Dominic Inglot in the quarter-finals.
Scott Lipsky, a Long Island native from Merrick, N.Y., and his partner Santiago Gonzalez won the men’s doubles title at the 2013 Gerry Weber Open in Halle on Sunday. It is their fifth ATP title together, as the duo overcame Daniele Bracciali & Jonathan Erlich 6-2, 7-6 (3). Lipsky was born in Merrick, N.Y. and moved to California for college, where he attended Stanford University. He was All-American three times, and reached the NCAA doubles finals in 2002. His doubles partner in that final was David Martin, who, eight years later, was the best man at Lipsky’s wedding.
Lipsky & Gonzalez are currently ranked 21st in the ATP World Tour Doubles Rankings. The win at Halle will give them 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points. They had another title win at the Portugal Open beating Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi & Jean-Julien Rojer and they reached the semifinals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells where they lost to the Bryan Brothers, and reached the semifinals in Rome losing to Mahesh Bhupathi & Rohan Bopanna.
"Always having a title, you feel happy, especially one week away from Wimbledon," said Gonzalez. "It’s the first tournament on grass this year and to win it gives us confidence. We played really good, especially in the first set. Scott had a very good serving day and we are happy to win in two sets."
The win at Halle was the seventh title for Gonzalez and the 10th title for Lipsky.
"Halle is one of my favorite tournaments, I enjoy coming here and winning the title after losing the final last year feels good," said Lipsky. "We served very well all week, especially on grass that puts a lot of pressure on our opponents. Hopefully we can continue doing that the rest of the grass-court season."
While Bracciali & Erlich did not pull through with a win, it was only their first tournament playing together, and they knocked out the fourth seeded team of Treat Huey & Dominic Inglot, to get there.
