Benjamin Becker defeated wild card Raemon Sluiter 7-5, 6-3 to win Ordina Open and to became the first qualifier to win an ATP World Tour tournament this season.

Afterwards, Becker said he had not focused on the lowly ranking of his opponent going into the final: "If you think too much about it you can get tight. Everybody can play tennis, especially on a grass court – it closes the gap a little bit. Raemon is a great player. Obviously it was a chance for both of us, I was a qualifier so he went into the match too thinking that he has a great chance."

On his way to title Becker defeated top seed Fernando Verdasco and No. 4 Rainer Schuettler.

"I really played well and I was surprised I started off well too today," commented Becker. "It was a big thing for me to come out and serve well, hit my forehand aggressively and feel confident right from the start."

At No. 866, Sluiter was the lowest-ranked player ever to reach a singles final, where his career record sank to 0-4.

"It was a crazy week, like a dream but without a happy ending," said Sluiter. "I'm very disappointed about the defeat. I didn't really have my chances. Becker was just better. I played well in the first set, but went down in the second.

"I noticed that playing against that kind of player is really something else than what I was used to during the last few months. Thanks to my performance here I will be able to skip future tournaments and go play ATP qualies soon," added the Dutchman.


(photo/ROBERT VOS/AFP/Getty Images)

Benjamin Becker wins 1st ATP title at Ordina Open