Fired-up Rusedski wins Indianapolis Open
Barry Wood
Britain's Greg Rusedski topped off a successful week by outlasting Felix Mantilla 6-7 6-4 6-4 to win the Indianapolis Open on Sunday for his second title this year and the 12th of his career.
The first set ended in controversy when, with Rusedski set point down in the tiebreak, a ball from Mantilla appeared to land long but was not called.
A furious Rusedski appealed and hurled his racket to the ground, but the point stood and the 14th seed was forced to regroup for the second set.
A break of serve with a crosscourt winner gave Rusedski a 4-3 lead, and he broke at the same stage of the third set when Mantilla sent a backhand long.
The Spaniard then led 40-0 on Rusedski's serve in the next game, but the Briton fought off the late challenge and held with an ace.
When it was suggested to Rusedski after the match that some form of video evidence be available to settle such important line call disputes, he turned back the idea.
"You're going to have mistakes any which way," he said. "It was a close call and the umpire couldn't have changed his decision.
"The game of tennis goes by an inch here, an inch there. It's like that with all other sports. If they stop the game you're going to stop the momentum unless they have something there immediately to make the call."
So, after venting his feelings to Australian umpire Wayne McEwan, Rusedski quickly put the matter aside and turned his attention to trying to win the second and third sets.
"The thing is I needed to get it out of my system," he said.
"I get upset about it and then move on to the next point and get straight back to work. If I hold it inside then it's going to eat away at me and I'm not going to play good tennis."
US OPEN SEEDING
Rusedski is now a borderline case for a seeding at the US Open, but whether he gets one or not does not bother him.
"I don't really mind," he said. "I'm just really happy to win. Last time I got to the Open final in '97 I wasn't seeded.
"It's great for me to have this win. It gives me a lot of confidence and I don't think anybody's going to want to see my name next to theirs in the first round, whoever it is."
There was some compensation for Mantilla, who suffered a severe injury to his right shoulder in July 2000 that kept him out for the rest of the season and required surgery.
He was forced to resort to playing Challenger events to regain his form, and despite reaching the Doha final in the first week of this year he had continued to struggle. Now, finally, things are turning around for him.
"I have my best mentality right now," said Mantilla. "I'm focussed on every ball and every match.
"I'm hungry to win matches again because after surgery you are playing but not 100 percent motivated as you used to be to play at that level," he said.
"My coach helped me a lot because he's a friend of mine and gives me a lot of motivation. Now it's a nice feeling to do everything you can on court."
