Pablo Carreno Busta triumphs at the Rothenbaum

Pablo Carreno Busta is the brilliant winner of the 2021 Hamburg European Open. In the final of the sand court classic at Rothenbaum, the 30-year-old crowned his strong tournament week with a well-deserved 6:2 and 6:4 victory over Serbian Filip Krajinovic, winning the biggest title of his career so far. Carreno Busta is the first Spanish winner at the Rothenbaum since Rafael Nadal in 2015.

Two years ago, Carreno Busta was already in the semi-final of the Hamburg European Open, where he lost to the later finalist and 2020 winner Andrey Rublev. This time the knot broke. The Spaniard did not drop a set during the tournament week and was enormously dominant on the way to his title. After only 1:22 hour he turned his first matchball. “When I came to Hamburg for the first time two years ago, I immediately felt a special relationship with this tournament”, said Pablo Carreno Busta after winning the title, “my team and I felt very comfortable at the facility and this wonderful Center Court.”

Carreno Busta, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday in Hamburg, was the much more stable player in the final in front of 3,500 spectators at the Center Court. It was clear to both players that the stakes were extremely high this afternoon. Krajinovic finally wanted to celebrate his first tournament win in his fourth ATP final, for Carreno Busta it was about the most important title of his career.

The man from Gijon was the better striker, was extremely strong (27:7 winners) and used all three break chances. Krajinovic, on the other hand, was unable to keep up with the strong performances of the previous matches, was repeatedly forced to pull in the long line duels and had hardly anything to order, especially when the Spaniard hit. “Congratulations Pablo, you were the clear better today and you deservedly won. Today was my fourth final, but I hope the day will come when I win”, said Filip Krajinovic, adding with a tear or two in his eye: “It was great to play here and I really enjoyed it.

Due to the entry of the final in Hamburg, the Serbian improved to 35th position in the world ranking, while Carreno Busta, who headed for the Olympic Games immediately after the award ceremony, went to 11th position in the ATP ranking.