Roberto Bautista Agut tops home hope Misolic at Kitzbuhel for 11th career title

Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the No 3 seed, won the Generali Open tournament by beating Austrian wildcard Filip Misolic 6-2, 6-2 at Kitzbühel Tennis Club on Saturday.

“I enjoyed the final, I think I managed all the pressure very well,” said Bautista Agut. “I knew I was a little bit more the favorite today, but he had so many good wins this tournament I knew it was going to be a difficult match and I played a very good match.”

The 34-year-old Spaniard claims his 11th career title and becomes the ninth ATP player to register titles on multiple surfaces in 2022, joining Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Rafael Nadal, Cameron Norrie, Reilly Opelka, Andrey Rublev and Tsitsipas.

It was a dominant performance from the Spaniard, who saved all three break points he faced and converted four of nine break opportunities as he won 31 of 61 return points against the Austrian.

Hard work pays off on clay

The victory marks Bautista Agut’s first ATP title on clay since 2014, and his second clay title overall.

“It was a very long time that I didn’t win a title on clay,” said Bautista Agut. “I think almost eight or nine years – it’s very special for me because I did a lot of good work on this surface and was never paid.”

Misolic’s career week

Though he lost the final it was a dream week for the 20-year-old Austrian. Misolic was playing in his first ATP-level event and he reeled off four victories to reach the final. He was bidding to become the third Austrian champion at Kitzbuhel, and the lowest-ranked ATP title winner in 2022.

Misolic will rise to 157 in next week’s rankings, from 205.

“It’s an honour to play against you,” Misolic told Bautista Agut after the final. “I only watch you on television, and to play here against here in the final it’s an honour for me.”

Ahead of his victory, Bautista Agut, ranked No 20, defeated Austrian wildcard Jurij Rodionov (6-1, 6-4), Czech Jiri Lehecka (4-6, 7-5, 7-5) and No 5 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas (6-3, 7-6 (3)).

Misolic, ranked No 205, beat Brazilian lucky loser Daniel Dutra da Silva (6-2, 7-6 (6)), Spaniard Pablo Andujar (6-4, 6-0), Serb Dusan Lajovic (2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3) and German Yannick Hanfmann (6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4)) in the previous rounds of the Kitzbuhel.

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