Georgia’s Basilashvili Wins His Second Career Title at China Open
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, October 9
Famous Georgian tennis player, Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-4 6-4 in the China Open final and claimed his second trophy of the season.
Basilashvili, 26, finally broke del Potro in the following game to serve for the match after a poor attempted drop shot from the Argentinean failed to clear the net.
The athlete recorded a 6-4 6-4 win over the top seed in one hour 40 minutes in Beijing having beaten Edmund in the semi-finals.
The Georgian is now set to move up to 23rd from number 34 in the world rankings on Monday.
The athlete received 500 ATP Ranking points and collected $733,320 in prize money for lifting the trophy today. Del Potro gains 300 ATP Ranking points and received $359,510. After Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, Nikoloz Basilashvili is now the champion of the China Open.
BBC reports that Del Potro survived back-to-back match points, but Basilashvili took the third opportunity to seal the victory.
"I used all my effort in the final, but he played so well and he [Basilashvili] deserves to win the trophy," said BBC quoted del Potro.
In early August Basilashvili made tennis history for Georgia and become the country’s first player to claim an ATP World Tour title in Hamburg.
The athlete scored the result after a marathon of seven matches at the Association of Tennis Professionals competition in Hamburg, playing against Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer.
Georgian Prime Minister, Mamuka Bakhtadze congratulated Basilashvili on his success.
“Congratulations Nikoloz! You made us very proud!” the PM’s post reads.
Meanwhile, President Giorgi Margvelashvili took to Facebook to wish success to the Georgian athlete.
“Nika is the Champion of China Open Final! Congratulations and success!” Margvelashvili wrote.
Parliament Speaker of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze also dedicated his Facebook post to the Georgian sportsman.
“Congratulations to Nikoloz and all his fans!” reads Kobakhidze's post.
