French veteran Adrian Mannarino ended Alex Michelsen's dream run in Newport Sunday, beating the 18-year-old American 6-2, 6-4 to capture the third ATP title of his career.
Mannarino, ranked 38th in the world and seeded second in the grass court tournament in Rhode Island, continued his strong season on the surface that included reaching the final in Mallorca and the quarter-finals at Queen's Club in London and 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
The 35-year-old out-foxed Michelsen, who was trying to become the fourth teenager to win an ATP title this year.
Mannarino gained the key break against the increasingly frustrated American in the ninth game of the second set, when Michelsen was able to save a pair of break points with second-serve winners but also produced two untimely double faults before putting a forehand into the net on break point.
Mannarino then coolly served out the match, building a 40-0 lead and putting it away on his second match point after one hour and 22 minutes.
Michelsen arrived in Newport ranked 190th in the world after his first title on the lower-rung Challenger circuit in Chicago last week.
But he'd never won a tour-level match until he beat defending champion Maxime Cressy in the first round.
Coming off a semi-final win over four-time Newport champion John Isner, Michelsen started brightly, holding his first two service games at love before Mannarino put together back-to-back breaks to take a 5-2 lead and pocketed the first set after 27 minutes.
Michelsen gained a quick advantage with his first break of Mannarino's serve in the second game of the second set, but Mannarino promptly broke back and allowed his young opponent few opportunities from there.
bb/rcw
