Rio Open: Diego Schwartzman overpowers Fernando Verdasco to end two-year for second ATP title

Rio de Janeiro: Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman ended a two-year wait for his second ATP tour title as he overpowered an exhausted Fernando Verdasco to win the Rio Open 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday. The world number 23 was in commanding form against an opponent who appeared to run out of puff after reaching both the singles and doubles finals in Rio. [caption id=“attachment_4367087” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Diego Schwartzman and Fernando Verdasco pose with their trophies after the Rio Open final. Reuters[/caption] “I was very patient, solid, intense, I knew he was very tired as he had played both singles and doubles,” Schwartzman said of his opponent who won the doubles final on Saturday. “It’s been two years since I’ve won a tournament so I am very happy. It was a perfect week for me.” Schwartzman broke serve three times in the first set as Verdasco produced a string of unforced errors. Once the Spaniard squandered four break points at 2-2 in the second set, he appeared to wilt under pressure and Schwartzman ran away with the match. The 5-foot-7 Schwartzman, seeded sixth in the clay-court event at Jockey Club Brasileiro, will enter the top-20 in the world for the first time on Monday. He also won an outdoor clay event in Istanbul in 2016. Schwartzman beat Norway’s Casper Ruud, Argentina’s Federico Delbonis and France’s Gael Monfils en route to the final. The eighth-seeded Verdasco teamed with countryman David Marrero to win the doubles title Saturday night, They beat Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Alexander Peya of Austria, 5-7, 7-5, 10-8. With inputs from agencies