By Chris Oddo | Sunday July 22, 2018
Steve Johnson captured his 4th ATP title and his second on grass, defeating Ramkumar Ramanathan in three sets at Newport.
Photo Source: AP
American Steve Johnson claimed his fourth career title at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport, easing past India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 on Sunday at the grass courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Johnson’s second title of the season was also the second of his career on grass—the 28-year-old won his maiden title at Nottingham in 2016.
Johnson didn’t need to defeat a player ranked inside the Top 100 to take the title, but he faced an excellent grass-courter in Ramanathan, who was bidding to become Indian’s first ATP singles title winner since 1998.
Johnson took the opener but was broken for the first time all tournament and proceeded to drop the second set before rallying in a third set that saw him break twice from two opportunities to complete his title run in one hour and 59 minutes.
World No.48 Johnson improves to 22-14 on the season while Ramanathan drops to 6-4.