David Ferrer of Spain reacts after winning the final match against Steve Johnson of the United States at the Erste Bank Open tennis tournament in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
SOELDEN, Austria (AP) – Eighth-ranked David Ferrer clinched his 26th career tournament win after rallying to defeat Steve Johnson of the United States 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 at the Erste Bank Open Sunday.
The top-seeded Spaniard also improved to 5-0 in finals this season after also winning in Doha, Rio de Janeiro, Acapulco, and Kuala Lumpur.
The victory has all but secured him a spot at next month's season-ending ATP finals in London.
"I am glad for all the support in my second final in Vienna," said Ferrer, who was beaten for the title here by Andy Murray a year ago. "Am 33 years old. I hope I have two more years to go."
The 47th-ranked Johnson, who was playing in his maiden final, made it hard work for his Spanish opponent.
"I am sure you will win ATP tournaments," Ferrer said to his opponent after the match.
The American said he looked back at "an amazing week" and acknowledged that Ferrer deserved the win as "he played fantastic all week."
"It was such a great event for me," Johnson said. "Hopefully this was not my last speech on the ATP tour."
A Redondo Beach, California, native, the 25-year-old Johnson is in his fourth season as a professional. He reached a career-high 37th in March last year.
Johnson took a quick 3-0 lead in Sunday's final. He lost serve at 4-2 but broke Ferrer again at 5-4 to close out the first set. Three straight breaks at the start gave Ferrer an early advantage in the second.
The final set went with serve until Johnson led 5-4 before Ferrer won the last three games.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.