Hempstead, NY – February 16, 2020: Andreas Seppi of Italy and Kyle Edmund of Great Britain pose with their respective trophies after final at ATP 250 New York Open 2020 tennis tournament at Nassau Coliseum, Edmunnd won final (Photo: Lev Radin/Gildshire)
The NY Open Tennis Tournament is held on the black courts of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It is a tour stop known for thrilling comeback stories, Cinderella efforts, and hard-fought competition. For the second year in a row, Gildshire covered the semifinals and the finals at the NY Open tennis tournament. Our Lev Radin was there with pictures and background of what is becoming a pre-eminent tournament on the ATP tour.
Semifinal Saturday
Number Eight Seed Kyle Edmund burst on to the court Saturday and wasted zero time, racing into the final with a 6-1, 6-4 win over sixth seed Miomir Kecmanovic. After the match he had this to say:
This is great to be back in a final, playing the matches you want to be playing. I obviously want to go all the way, but I’m enjoying my tennis. I’ve kept improving and learning with each match.
Hempstead, NY – February 16, 2020: Kyle Edmund of Great Britain returns ball during final against Andreas Seppi of Italy at ATP 250 New York Open 2020 tennis tournament at Nassau Coliseum, Edmund won (Photo: Lev Radin/Gildshire)
It was only a year and four months ago that Edmund was a stranger to the Winner’s Circle. Then with a victory in Antwerp, the 25-year-old Brit came into prominence. However, since then, he had yet to reach a final. Did the drought worry him? Perhaps internally it has, but outwardly he has remained unflappable, dropping but one set this week.
The first five games of the semifinal with Miomir Kecmanovic went to deuce, but Edmund was dominant in those situations, coming out atop his for each time. Striking his right forehand authoritatively, he used it to best Kecmanovic in virtually every baseline exchange. The 6-1 Gentlemen’s Sweep belonged to Kyle Edmund.
Kecmanovic improved in the second stanza, staying with Edmund. But the Brit took over in the end, breaking his opponent at 4-4 and rifling four aces to end the match.
In the second semi of the afternoon, Italian Andreas Seppi ended the dream of qualifier Jason Jung with a 6-3, 6-2 drubbing. The grind of five matches in six days finally got to the young native of Chinese Taipei. His vaunted groundstrokes failed him at just the wrong time. Seppi built a 4-1 lead, and the next baseline error on the part of Jung effectively ended it.
After his semifinal win, Seppi had this to say:
When you’re in the semi-finals or final, of course, you want to win the title. Tomorrow is another chance and I’ll just try my best,” Jung is coming through the qualifying and had some great wins. He has a really solid game and it was my best match of the week. I played really well from the beginning to the end, very solid, no mistakes.
Hempstead, NY – February 16, 2020: Andreas Seppi of Italy returns ball during final against Kyle Edmund of Great Britain at ATP 250 New York Open 2020 tennis tournament at Nassau Coliseum, Edmund won (Photo: Lev Radin/Gildshire)
Finals Sunday
As it turned out, Kyle Edmund saved his best tennis for Sunday, firing winners in eight of the last nine games to overwhelm Seppi 7-5, 6-1. Youth is being served…and serving!
The 25-year-old Edmund improved to 7-3 this year and now leads Seppi 5-1 in their ATP head-to-head series. That lofty record includes a straight-sets shellacking last month in New Zealand.
For his efforts in the NY Open tennis tourney, Kyle Edmund earned 250 FedEx ATP rankings points and a check for $120,635. Andreas Seppi picked up 150 points and $66,770.
