Roberto Bautista He has been and continues to be, along with Pablo Carreño, the great support of Spanish tennis just behind what Rafa Nadal was and what Carlos Alcaraz is now. At 36 years old and after suffering a serious injury in 2023, which caused him to fall in the ranking, the Castellón native is smiling again and celebrating successes with his characteristic and photogenic euphoria. This Sunday, At the ATP 250 in Antwerp, Bautista won the 12th title of his career, beating Jiri Lehecka in the final: 7-5 and 6-1 in 75 minutes.
This was the third confrontation between the Spaniard and the 22-year-old, 33rd-year-old Czech, a tennis player with a great future (quarterfinalist of the Australian Open 2023), in the last two months, with a balance of 2-1 for Rober, who beat him also in the group stage of the Davis Cup, in Valencia, before losing against him three weeks ago in the round of 16 in Beijing. Now they dominate the head-to-head 4-1. This was the 23rd final for the former top-10 player, who now returns to the top-50 a year after falling below that position. This Monday it will be 45º. He is the first Navy champion in the Belgian tournament and the second oldest of the season after Djokovic (37 at the Paris Olympics). He is also the second oldest Spanish winner of an ATP event after Feliciano López (37 at Queen’s 2019).
Proud
“This title is very special. I broke my foot last year and I had to fight very hard this season, I played a lot of qualifiers and fell to 120th in the world. But I continued going to training with a smile on my face trying to be a better player, fighting until the end of my career. And I think I really deserved a week like this.”said Roberto, excited. “You can’t imagine the joy I have inside. I am very proud of myself. I have worked a lot, I did many things well. It took me a while, but I won my first trophy here”he concluded.
Bautista played a sensational match against Lehecka, dominating the long exchanges, with a hard, precise and well-directed ball hit, very good serve percentages and creditable returns against a great server, who hit 12 aces. Despite this, he broke serve four times, twice in each set. He had the first one on track with 5-2 and a subsequent serve to score it 5-3, but he suffered a break and instead of collapsing, he waited for his moment to close it in the twelfth game. The second round was more peaceful for Roberto, and he closed it with a great passing over Jiri’s climb. “It has been a very good week, I have played at a very good level. And in the final, I was quite calm and very confident. I have been better than him, I have served well, I have put pressure on him and I have been aggressive. After overcoming difficult times, everything tastes better. Perseverance and work always pay. I feel good, I want to rest and prepare to play a good tournament in Basel”Bautista advanced. As he says, he deserved it.
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