By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Frenchman Nicolas Mahut captured his first career ATP title with a victory over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in Saturday's final at the Topshelf Open.
Mahut defeated Wawrinka, the No. 2 seed, by a 6-3, 6-4 margin at Autotron Rosmalen.
The 31-year-old journeyman Mahut appeared in the third title match of his career. He was a two-time runner-up back in 2007.
Mahut became the lowest-ranked winner on the ATP World Tour since March 2008 when No. 244 Kei Nishikori won the Delray Beach title.
"It's amazing. I cannot believe I won today," Mahut said. "I didn't know if I was going to play again when I had some bad times with my knee. All my team helped me a lot. We worked hard and here I am with the trophy. It's a good story."
The 28-year-old Wawrinka fell to 4-9 in his career finals, including 1-3 this year, with the title coming on red clay in Portugal. The 2013 Madrid Masters runner-up was seeking his first-ever ATP championship on grass.
Mahut took home $93,000 with the victory.
Wimbledon starts on Monday. Mahut will face Jan Hajek in the first round, while Wawrinka takes on former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/mahut-beats-wawrinka-for-first-title