Tennis: Christian Garin beat Casper Rudd to lift his maiden ATP tour title

Christian Garin won the first ATP singles title of his career on Sunday, beating Casper Rudd 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3 to capture the Fayez Sarofim & Co title in Houston. Garin was ranked outside the top 200 12 months ago but is expected to break into the top 50 when the new world rankings are announced. He edged a tight first set, in which both men struggled to hold serve, winning some key tiebreak points to take it 7-6(4). But Rudd came back at him in the second set, raising his level to take it 6-4 and force the match into a deciding set. It was the Chilean who prevailed. Ruud failed to convert any of the three break points he created when the third set was poised at 2-2, and Garin broke him in the very next game to take control of the match. He then held his nerve when serving for the title at 5-3 and wrapped up the contest after two hours and 29 minutes on the court.