Umag: Uruguayan qualifier Pablo Cuevas beat defending champion Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Croatia Open final after ousting top-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy earlier the same day.
The second-seeded Robredo had two break points at 1-1 in the first set, but it was Cuevas who first broke in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead.
Cuevas went ahead 2-0 in the second set and broke the 32-year-old Robredo's serve once more in the fifth game. Robredo had a break point to level to 4-4.
Robredo hit 36 winners compared to Cuevas' 26, but had 36 unforced errors against 19 for Cuevas.
Cuevas won his maiden ATP title earlier this month at the Swedish Open in Bastad. He is the second qualifier to win an ATP World Tour tournament this year after Slovakia's Martin Klizan at Munich in May.
"I was happy to win the first title, now two in a row make me even happier," Cuevas said. "And this one was tougher to win, because I had to play in qualifying as well. I was very focused during the week, now I am really tired."
In his past two attempts in Umag, Cuevas had never gone beyond the second round.
"Pablo played a great match, he made no mistake," Robredo said. "There were some balls that might have changed the match, but it did not go my way. He was better than me in the first set from the baseline, so I had to change tactics, to be more aggressive."
Robredo reached the final by defeating third-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (10), 6-3 earlier Sunday, while Cuevas upset Fognini 6-3, 6-4.
Heavy rain on Saturday caused the semifinals to be postponed until Sunday.
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