Sonego surges to Winston-Salem Open title

Lorenzo Sonego captured his first title in almost two years Saturday after dominating American teen Alex Michelsen from start to finish to claim a resounding 6-0, 6-3 win in a 64-minute Winston-Salem Open final.

Anchored by his ferocious forehand and effective serve, Sonego produced one of his best performances of the season while Michelsen played far below the form that saw him crack the Top 50 of the PIF ATP Live Rankings for the first time this week.

"It's a crazy week for me, for my team for my family," Sonego said. "I brought my game every day. I'm really proud of myself.

"I will enjoy this moment with my team and then I'll start to think about the US Open."

The 29-year-old Italian becomes just the 11th active player to have won a title on outdoor hard, indoor hard, clay and grass. It is his fourth title and first since Metz in September 2022.

Sonego had not won consecutive matches on hard court this year coming into Winston-Salem, but produced some of his best tennis en route to the trophy. He claimed the title without dropping a set and having dropped serve just once. In the final he dropped just nine points on serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Michelsen won just 44 per cent of points behind his first serve.

Michelsen, who turns 20 Sunday, showed fight at the end of the match when he fought off three championship points to hold serve for 3-5. But it was too little, too late. Michelsen, who is second in the PIF ATP Race to Jeddah, dropped to 0-3 in ATP Tour finals, having finished runner-up the past two years in Newport.