Divij Sharan and Scott Lipsky win ATP European Open

NEW DELHI: Divij Sharan won his first title of the 2017 season on the ATP World Tour, and third overall, when he clinched the European Open trophy with American partner Scott Lipsky in Antwerp, Belgium.

The unseeded Indo-American team's giant-killing campaign culminated with a 6-4 2-6 10-5 win over Santiago Gonzalez and Julio Peralta, in the summit clash.

Reaching the final of the season-opening Chennai Open with Purav Raja was left-handed Sharan's best show this season on the ATP World Tour before this performance.

His first two ATP titles came with compatriot Purav Raja, who now plays with Leander Paes. They had won titles in Bogota (2013) and at Los Cabos (2016).

"I am really happy to win possibly my last ATP tour event of the year. It's not been easy these couple of months. I have played with a lot of different partners. I have tried my best to just focus on myself and improve my game," Sharan told PTI from, Antwerp.

"Scott and I beat some really good teams to win the title here which should help my confidence moving forward." They had knocked out third seeds Rajeev Ram and Raven Klaasen in the quarter-finals and followed it up with an upset win over the second seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers in the semi-finals.

Asked if he will continue his partnership with Lipsky, Sharan said, "We will speak about it. Scott is done for the year and headed home. I plan to play some Challengers next month before calling it a year.

Sharan will next play a Challenger event in Brest with Scott Clayton and may also feature in two home Challengers in Pune and Bangalore in November.