It was finals day at the 2016 Geneva Open, as Stan Wawrinka met Marin Cilic for a twelfth time in the singles final. The doubles final was played between Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, who took on top seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.
Wawrinka edges out Cilic to win the Geneva Open singles title
Stan Wawrinka beat Marin Cilic for the tenth time to win his third title of 2016, as he lifted the 2016 Geneva Open crown with a 6-4, 7-6 (11) victory. The success capped a fine week for the world number three, who looks in strong form going into his title defence at the French Open.
Wawrinka made the first move towards the trophy, as he converted his first break point to take a *3-1 lead. He had a chance to grab an assurance-break a few games later but missed the opportunity to further extend his lead. The Swiss served at 60 percent, enabling him to place one hand on the title, as he took the opener 6-4.
Cilic created his chances to break in his first return game of the second set, but was unable to convert either points and had to save one on his own serve in the following game. Eventually, his perseverance paid off, as he finally broke through to lead 4-1. He was under pressure to keep the lead but held in his next two service games to give himself an opportunity of serving for a decider set at *5-4. Wawrinka threw everything at the Croat to break through, and it paid off as he saved a set point before breaking back to continue the second set. Both players then held comfortably to head into a tie-breaker which would decide the second set and potentially the match.
Cilic stormed into an early *3-0 lead, securing himself two mini-breaks and likely to take the match into a third set. This lead was wiped away, and the players found themselves at 5-5 with pivotal points coming up. Wawrinka lost the following point on his serve, but Cilic was unable to convert the opportunity, failing to win the next three set points to level the players at 9-9. A championship point appeared for the Swiss, but Cilic saved it, giving himself another set point at 11-10*. From there, he failed to win another point, and Wawrinka had won a staggering tie-breaker 13-11 to win the tournament in his home country.
Johnson and Querrey lift the doubles title
Third seeds Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey earned their first title as a pairing, after comfortably defeating Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-1. The two teams had met earlier this year at the Australian Open, with Klaasen and Ram coming from a set down to win in a third set tie-breaker, but the top seeds couldn’t replicate that success and were easily beaten in Saturday’s early final.
The first set was dominated by serve, despite Klaasen and Ram holding from *0-40 down to hold in their very first service game. The pair couldn’t make any inroads in their return games, winning only four points on return throughout the opening set. They looked likely to level the set at 5-5 when *40-0 up, but Johnson and Querrey won four straight points to take the first set out of nowhere.
The American pair were desperate to avoid a repeat of their Australian Open meeting and looked likely to avenge the defeat as they broke early in the second set to lead 3-0. Victory was almost confirmed in their next return game as they broke for the third successive game to go into an unassailable 6-4, 5-0* lead. The third seeds missed out on the opportunity to clinch victory with a bagel, as they failed to convert any of their first three championship points , leading to Klaasen and Ram holding for the first time in four service games. These missed opportunities didn’t come back to haunt Johnson and Querrey, as they secured their first title together by winning the 2016 Geneva Open doubles crown 6-4, 6-1.