AUCKLAND - Unheralded Jiri Vesely, the 63rd ranked player in the world, won his maiden ATP title on Saturday when he beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Auckland Open.
Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic celebrates winning against France's Adrian Mannorina in their men's singles final match of the ATP Auckland Open, on January 17, 2015
The 21-year-old Czech has proved a giant killer since winning through the qualifying rounds to make the tournament proper and then advancing to an ATP final for the first time.
Along the way he knocked out top seed and world number 13 Ernests Gulbis as well as tournament fourth seed Kevin Anderson.
Against Mannarino, Vesely quickly recovered from dropping the opening serve of the match to break the 44th ranked player twice in each set.
With a power game that proved too much for the 26-year-old Frenchman, Vesely raced through each set in little more than half an hour.
After breaking Mannarino to level at 2-2 in the first set he broke again at 4-3, when the Frenchman double-faulted on game point, before serving out the set with an ace.
In the second set he broke Mannarino's serve twice in succession to race to a 5-1 lead and coasted home from there, taking match point with his 11th ace.
Vesely's path through the tournament was made easier by the withdrawal ahead of the Australian Open by a string of high-profile players, including David Ferrer, Gael Monfils and Tommy Robredo.