American Michael Yani battled Fritz Wolmarans (RSA) in a 6-4, 7-6(11) win to capture the LG&T singles title today. The match featured a single service break, in the first set with Wolmarans serving at 3-3 Yani broke, and that was all he needed to capture the first set 6-4.
In the second set, both players took care of their serve. The biggest threat loomed when Yani went down love-40 while serving at 5-6 giving Wolmarans 3 set points. Yani kept his composure and battled back to win the game and send the second set into a tiebreak.
The tiebreak was a see-saw battle, with Wolmarans failing to convert 3 more set point chances, eventually Yani took the tiebreak and the set 11-9.
Yani, 31, is currently ranked 261 in the world. This is his second Challenger win, his first was Yuba City, CA in 2008. He has also captured 5 Futures titles in his career. This is his second appearance here, having lost in the first round in 2009.
Yani, a former Duke Blue Devil, was born in Singapore and currently resides in Durham, North Carolina. In 4 years at Duke University, he accumulated a singles record of 81-27, and in 2003 was named the ACC men’s tennis player of the week. He is currently ranked 261, with a career best rank of 143 (March 2010). His career highlights include having won a qualifier spot for the US Open twice (2009, 2011) and for Wimbledon (2009). In 2011 he reached the semi-final of the Newport RI ATP event.
Wolmarans has 1 career Challenger title, the Rimouski, Canada indoor event in March 2011. He also has 5 career Futures titles and has a career best ATP ranking of 198, in May of 2011.
One of the cooler things about winning the @bingchallenger. I have a key to the city!!! pic.twitter.com/tYmCMU3e
— Michael Yani (@Themichaelyani) July 23, 2012