Holt overpowers Mochizuki to clinch his second ATP Challenger title

Brandon Holt wins Bengaluru Open singles title in India, inching closer to top-100 ATP ranking.

Brandon Holt’s two-week India sojourn had the sweetest of endings as he clinched the Bengaluru Open singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Shintaro Mochizuki at the KLSTA courts here on Sunday.

It was only Holt’s second ATP Challenger title — both of which have come this year — and he will be richer by $28,400. But most importantly, the 125 points earned – along with the 50 he received for a runner-up finish in Pune – will leave the 26-year-old on the cusp of the top-100 in Monday’s rankings, a new career high.

“It’s my first time in India and it has been great,” Holt told the sizeable weekend crowd after the victory. “The energy of the fans has always been high. Thank you so much.”

For Mochizuki, the defeat was his first in three Challenger finals, and by the end of the match, he was teary-eyed and seemed thoroughly broken. Perhaps he thought he deserved more for the intent he showed all evening. The Japanese player went for the lines repeatedly but his inability to hit through the court meant Holt got to nearly every single ball.

The American played to a plan – to keep the ball in play, draw mistakes from Mochizuki and pull the occasional trigger. And this strategy worked like a dream, but for a fleeting game or two. In the first set, Holt broke in the second and sixth games, and Mochizuki got a consolation break in the seventh.

In the second stanza, Mochizuki, more than once, tried to advance into the court and execute a meaty drive to breach Holt’s defence. But it didn’t work, and even proved his undoing at crucial times – on break-point in the third game when Holt broke and on break-point in the eighth game when Holt held.

On his part, Holt hit with style and panache when he absolutely had to, like the thunderous inside-out forehand to break in the opening game of the second set.