Thompson’s Miracle Win Ends Title Drought
Hills tennis star Jordan Thompson finally broke one of the longest title droughts on the ATP Tour when he lifted the Los Cabos crown in Mexico.
His “miracle win”, playing three matches in seven hours, made him one of the oldest men’s players, at 29 years, to win his first ATP singles trophy.
The Oakhill College alumni conquered world number 12 and three-time grand slam finalist Casper Ruud of Norway 6-3 7-6 (4) in the Los Cabos final.
However, Australia’s second-ranked player (behind Alex de Minaur), did not have time to celebrate as he returned to the same court in the doubles semifinal, where he and his Davis Cup teammate Max Purcell beat Ruud and American Will Blumberg 7-6 (1) 6-3.
Thompson and Purcell then annexed the doubles title with a tough 7-5 7-6 (2) win in the late night final over Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
“We’ve been putting in some seriously hard work and it’s good to see that it pays off,” the eighth seeded Thompson told journalists. “It’s been a journey. I’m nearly 30 and lifting a trophy, I never thought I’d do that.”
Thompson was also involved in the longest match in this tournament, stunning top seed Sascha Zverev of Germany 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2) in three hours and 40 minutes, the match finishing about 1am on Saturday.
Thompson scored his most famous victory in January when he defeated tennis legend Rafael Nadal 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 in the Brisbane International, after saving three match points.
“I spent so many hours on the court this week,” Thompson said. “In the quarter-final (against American Alex Michelsen), I could have been double bagelled. I could have been losing 6-0, 6-0. And now I’m about to lift the trophy, so I think it’s still a miracle,” Thompson said.
Thompson earned $212,000 for his singles title while he and Purcell shared $74,000 for their doubles crown.
Thompson becomes the first man since fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios in Washington DC two years ago, to win both the singles and doubles titles in an ATP Tour event. Thompson is now at a career-high ranking of world No. 32
