Valencia Champ
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Photograph by Getty Images
Andy is the 2009 Valencia champion after defeating Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the 500 event on Sunday.
It’s his sixth title of the year, and caps a brilliant comeback after six weeks out through injury.
Andy was totally dominant against the Russian who lost this battle hands down, and arguably, before he’d even got on court.
Behind a solid service performance, Andy completely sucked the life out of Youzhny in a match that was characterised by numerous cat-and-mouse exchanges interspersed with some stunning winners.
On both counts, Andy was the dominant force.
He broke for the 3-1, first set lead after coming out on top in the latest of a long line of slice exchanges; rifled a forehand crosscourt winner to secure 4-1, then broke again for 5-1.
Having made zero headway on Andy’s serve, the Russian capitalised on three poor points to break back. But Andy had little trouble in serving it out with his sixth ace.
The second set was a formality as Youzhny took five games to get on the board at 4-1, and ironically applauded himself after a winning lob that stole some of the applause from his opponent.
In the end, Andy served it out in a little over an hour with his eighth ace.
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