Tennis-Klizan beats Fognini in St Petersburg to win first title

ST PETERSBURG, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Slovakia's Martin Klizan secured his maiden ATP title when he eased past Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2 6-3 in the St Petersburg Open final on Sunday.

The third seed from Bratislava, playing in his first Tour final, raced into a 4-0 lead after breaking Fognini in his first two service games before taking the opening set.

Klizan, 23, looked much fresher than his fourth-seeded opponent despite having beaten top seed Mikhail Youzhny in a semi-final that lasted nearly four hours on Saturday.

Both players suffered from nerves in the second set, surrendering serve for five consecutive games before world number 45 Klizan clinched a well-deserved victory with a deft drop shot after 69 minutes. (Writing By Gennady Fyodorov; Editing by Clare Fallon)