Kemp Claims Honours In Greek Open

26 Jun 2006

The final of the Greek Open produced a fitting climax to the new PSA Tour event at Athens Lawn Tennis Club, the oldest club in the Greek capital which hosted the first Olympic Games tennis event in 1896, the year after it opened.

After beating Italy's eight seed Luca Mastrostefano in the semi-finals, England's top seed Jonathan Kemp faced another Italian in the final - second seed Davide Bianchetti, who struggled to a five-game victory over the Czech No1 Jan Koukal in the other semi.

In the final, honours were shared after the second game - and the third went to a tie-break before Kemp finally prevailed 5-3. However, the 25-year-old Englishman, a left-hander from Telford in Shropshire, took control in the fourth to clinch his 11-9, 7-11, 11-10 (5-3), 11-4 victory.

The title success marks the third PSA Tour title of Kemp's career, but his first since winning the Goodlife Open in Canada last October.

Final:
[1] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [2] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-9, 7-11, 11-10 (5-3), 11-4