Dmitry Tursunov became the first men’s champion at the Eastbourne International with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic.
However he suffered an ankle injury and that could crush his Wimbledon hopes.
Meanwhile, in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, German qualifier Benjamin Becker won his first ATP title after beating Dutch wild card Raemon Sluiter 7-5, 6-3 at the Ordina Open.
Becker had beaten top-seeded Fernando Verdasco and no. 4 seed Rainer Schuettler on his way to the final.
(Images by Leon Neal/Robert Vos/AFP/Getty Images)
Rendy Lu's wearing a party hat; Beside him is Benjamin Becker
According to Itay, during the prize giving ceremony, Rendy was very noble and wished his finals opponent Benjamin Becker good luck in his future and a speedy recovery (from an ailing shoulder injury).
Rendy also said that he was in Israel back in 2002 (participating in a Future tournament) and whenever anyone asked him, he says that the best place to visit is Israel.
Rendy then took the opportunity to thank everyone involved and said that the players were all very well treated. He also promised to come back to the tournament next year.
The Israel Tennis Center (ITC) CEO, Adv. Janine Strauss then answered Rendy and in front of a crowd of thousands said that Rendy is not only no.1 in Asia, but also no.1 in the hearts of many young Israeli players because he took every opportunity to play with them between his matches and they really love him.
Rendy's victory is part of a long tradition that is very important to a lot of people in Israel.
The Israel Open was first played in 1979 and returned this year after an absence of 14 years.
The winner of the singles tournament is awarded a historic floating trophy which bears the names of past Israel Open Champions.
The winners in the past include Tom Okker, Harold Solomon, Aaron Krickstein, Brad Gilbert, Amos Mansdorf, Andrie Eduardovich Chesnokov, Jeffrey Gail Tarango, Stefano Pescosolido, Wayne Richard Ferreira, Javier Sanchez and Jimmy Connors.
The trophy will now also proudly bear the name of Asia's no.1 player "Yen-Hsun Lu"!Itay also revealed that they are planning to write an article on Rendy in their upcoming magazine which due out this summer.
Looking at the huge crowd turn up and the friendliness of the Israel Open media team, we know how passionate these guys are in organizing a world class tennis event.
According to Itay again, the ITC is also working very hard to nurture a generation of first rate tennis player.
To meet their aspirations, the ITC is currently operating 14 centres catering up to 9,000 children each week.
Most of their centres are located in disadvantaged neighborhoods or outlying development towns throughout Israel.
(Images by Israel Open)
Dmitry Tursunov became the first men’s champion at the Eastbourne International with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic.
Meanwhile, in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, German qualifier Benjamin Becker won his first ATP title after beating Dutch wild card Raemon Sluiter 7-5, 6-3 at the Ordina Open.
