Pouille captures first career title

Lucas Pouille won the Metz ATP final on Sunday. Photo titrespresse.com

Tennis

METZ — France’s Lucas Pouille won his first career title on Sunday when he downed top seed Do妹妹inic Thiem of Austria  七- 六 ( 七/ 五),  六- 二 in the Metz ATP final.

World number  一 八 Pouille, who defeated Rafael Nadal on his way to the US Open quarter-finals three weeks ago, claimed victory in  七 八 minutes.

The  二 二-year-old Frenchman notched his fifth victory over a Top  一0 opponent this year and a  三0th match win overall in  二0 一 六.

"Winning a title is a big step, it’s an objective I wanted to achieve this year. It was a well-played final. We both played at a high level,公众said Pouille.

Thiem was bidding for his fifth title of the year.

Despite the defeat he still remains on course for a place in the eight-man end-of-season ATP World Tour Finals in London. AFP