Tennis: Tipsarevic wins Clash of Continents tournament

SINGAPORE: Europe’s Janko Tipsarevic has won the inaugural Clash of Continents tournament in Singapore.

The Serbian came out top in the round robin tournament featuring four world class male players from four continents, and pocketed US$120,000.

His final opponent, Asia’s Kei Nishikori, withdrew due to a wrist injury to finish third.

The walkover left Tipsarevic with three wins out of three after beating South America’s Juan Monaco and North America’s Sam Querrey on Saturday.

Tipsarevic commented: "I would rather play. I know it’s nice to win, but it’s never nice to win with a walkover especially for an event like this. This was an exhibition event where we obviously play for ourselves, but we (also) play for the crowd and I think that this crowd deserves to see one more match, but on the other hand, I think it’s better for Kei to recover and start next season at 100 per cent, rather than to play through the pain."

"I cannot be more happy that I won the tournament," he added. "I know it was only an exhibition event, but we all play to win and it was a great win for me."

Monaco finished first runner—up after beating Querrey for his second win.

The American seemed to have recovered from jet—lag on Saturday, powering through the first set for a 6—1 win.

Undeterred, Monaco fought back to claim the second set 6—1, forcing a tiebreak.

Both players kept the decider tight, with Querrey mounting a late charge to make it 9—6.

But it was no stopping Monaco as he sealed the tiebreak with a 10—7 win.

— CNA/xq