GREAT Britain’s Brydan Klein became only the second player to win three men’s singles championships at the Mildura Grand Tennis International when he defeated Japan’s Rio Noguchi in straight sets in Sunday’s final.
Klein, 30, joined Dayne Kelly, who defeated him in the final last year, as a three-time winner.
It is 11 years since Klein won his last title as he went back-to-back in 2008 and 2009.
Klein said Sunday’s win was satisfying as he weighs up his tennis future.
“I’ve really set myself to have a big year – I’m 30 years old and need to start to think about what the future looks like for me,” Klein said.“I thought I’d give it a real crack this year and see what happens and then maybe look at heading down the coaching path.”
Klein, the No.3 seed, looked in trouble at 5-3 and a break down in the opening set, but he held his nerve to break back and then held serve to level at 5-all before getting the break at 6-5 and then serving out the opening set 7-5.
He was again under pressure in the second set, down a break early, before regaining his composure to break back to level the score at 3-all, but from that point he didn’t drop another game, serving out the set 6-3 to win 7-5, 6-3.
Klein said he always felt in control of the match in the second set, although he was broken early.
“He (Noguchi) hit the ball very flat and it skidded through making it hard to hit winners from the baseline,” Klein said.
“I just tried to get to the net and slice some balls and just change things around a bit to try and get him out of his comfort zone.
“He’s one of those players who you don’t want to be grinding away against from the baseline – I just felt once I started serving better in that second set I felt the momentum was with me and I just tried to really make him make some shots.
“Even in the second part of that second set he was trying to serve-volley a bit, which I knew he wasn’t comfortable with, so I sort of thought he was feeling the pressure probably a little bit more than me.”
Klein has been a regular visitor to Mildura over the years, playing his first tournament at the Mildura Lawn Tennis Club 17 years ago when he also won the under-14 boys’ title at the national championships.
Since then he has gone on to play in the Australian and French Open main draws, reaching a career-high ranking of 169, but injuries have been a constant issue.
“I’m no different to anyone else, you always have some sort of injury, but yeah I’ve had my fair share of bad luck with injuries,” Klein said.
“I tore a quad and had a suspension and then blood clots on the lungs just as my ranking was starting to improve – it’s a tough game and injuries are just part of it.”
Klein will head to Geelong this week hoping to add another title to his growing list before heading back to Perth to catch up with family.
