DALLAS -- Rhyne Williams lost serve in the first game of Saturday night's final of the Challenger of Dallas against former U.S. Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri.
But that was the only time Williams stumbled on his serve on the way to a 7-5, 6-3 victory over former No. 15-ranked Ginepri to win his first career Challenger title at T Bar M Racquet Club.Williams, a former University of Tennessee standout who came in to the tournament ranked No. 191, found his rhythm on his serve and finished with 11 aces, including on match point. Williams won 30 of his 33 first-serve points and faced only three break points."Thank goodness my serve kicked in," said Williams, who will reach a career high ranking on Monday. "Robby started off like he was top 15 again. He was ripping the cover off the ball. I felt exhausted after the first three games."After earning the early break, Ginepri held the advantage in the first set until Williams broke back to even the match at 5-5. He then held serve with the help of two aces. He closed out the first set by breaking Ginepri a second time.In the second set, Williams' serve was even more impressive. He won all 15 of his first-serve points and did not face a break point."The serve really bailed me out on some big points," Williams said. "I got a few returns in play and tried to scrap and down whatever I could to win points because he was really on."That's about as good as my serve's ever been, first and second serve. I even got a few aces on second serves. I felt really confident and I felt like I could hit any spot I wanted to. That's a huge weapon and hopefully I can keep doing that."Ginepri, whose ranking has slipped to No. 316, was coming off four three-set matches, including a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over James Blake on Friday night. Midway through the match, he began having trouble with his back and called the trainer at one point. Williams came back in doubles with Tennys Sandgren against American Alex Kuznetsov and Mischa Zverev of Germany, but Williams couldn't make it two titles in one night.Kuznetsov and Zverev won a third-set super tiebreaker to win the doubles title with a 6-4, 6-7 (4), (10-5) victory.Williams and Sandgren came back to even the match at a set apiece after Sandgren picked up two big mini-breaks by driving two forehands down the alley, but they couldn't keep the momentum in the third set.Zverev and Kuznetsov reached the finals at the Futures of Mansfield in October. Zverev won the title."Glad to play here with Kuz and to finally in a doubles title," Zverev said. "It was a great."Rusty Hall, 817-390-7816Twitter: @RustyHall10sHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
