Gustavo Fernandez’s fantastic five

Gustavo Fernandez, Sabine Ellerbrock and David Wagner were crowned men’s, women’s and quad singles champions at the Belgian Open on Sunday (29 July).

The Argentinian clinched the men’s title for a fifth time after beating home crowd favourite Joachim Gerard 6-4, 6-3 in the final. It was his fifth title in the season and the 42nd in his career.

“I’m honoured to be here again for the seventh or eighth time and to win it for a fifth time it’s even better and I’m going to keep coming, because I love it,” said Fernandez.

“Maybe on clay I feel a little bit better, because of my game, and I think that’s what took the edge, but it was a very tough first set. Very close, very tight. And then in the second I could take the lead early, which gave me a little more confidence.”

Ellerbrock makes it four

Ellerbrock maintained her record of having won every Belgian Open women’s singles title in alternate years since her first victory in Jambes in 2012. This time, the world No. 4 beat Katharina Kruger 6-2, 7-5 in an all-German decider.

“I’ve had a couple of tough weeks. I was talking a lot to myself during the match and it was already an emotional match for me. So it was tough for me to get my emotions in a state where I was playing the tennis I wanted to,” said Ellerbrock as she dedicated the title to her grandmother, who passed away recently.

“The wind was very tricky; it was changing all the time. I like it when I can use the wind for my tactics, but today [Sunday], because it was changing and was not consistent, it was very difficult for me with the task. I also fell two days ago, so I have a bruised hip and that made a lot of problems with my serving.”

Wagner extends winning streak

USA’s world No.1 achieved a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australian Heath Davidson to win the quad singles title 14 years after his first victory on Belgian soil. He also completed the month of July unbeaten in nine singles matches as he also won his 12th Swiss Open.

“It was a good match. It’s always tough playing these strong players, so I’m excited to get 12. Heath’s a great player, I knew it was going to be a battle and I was ready for it and he’s always ready for it, too,” said Wagner.

“It’s just great. I’m looking forward to getting home now and getting some rest and giving my family big hugs.”

Full results are available on the ITF’s website.