<p>PARMA, Italy — Sebastian Korda won his first ATP trophy with a straight-set victory over Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato at the Emilia-Romagna Open on Saturday.</p>
<p>Korda became the first American in 11 years to lift a trophy on European clay, since Sam Querrey won in Belgrade in 2010.</p>
<p>Korda had not dropped a set all week in Parma and he carried on that run in the final to see off the 104th-ranked Cecchinato 6-2, 6-4 in 75 minutes.</p>
<p>The 20-year-old Korda had lost the only other final he had contested, against Hubert Hurkacz at the Delray Beach Open in January.</p>
<p>“This is something that I’ve dreamed of,” said Korda, who is ranked 63rd. “I really thought I was going to get it done in Delray Beach, and I was a little heartbroken.</p>
<p>“But I stayed positive, even with such a bad first part of the clay-court season. I took a couple of days off, recharged my batteries, and had a really good practice week in Prague with my dad and my coach. I came back hungrier, and I’m playing some really good tennis now.”</p>
<p>Korda’s father is former second-ranked Petr Korda. They are the third father-son duo to win tour-level singles titles in the Open Era, following in the footsteps of Ramanathan Krishnan and Ramesh Krishnan, and Phil Dent and Taylor Dent. </p>
<p>Korda had never even won back-to-back main draw matches on clay before arriving in Parma.</p>
<p>But he had stormed through to the final and held his nerve despite being faced with a partisan home crowd.</p>
<p>Korda won 82% of points on his first serve and broke three times, including the decisive break at 5-4 on Cecchinato’s serve to clinch the title.</p>
<p>He also staved off the one break point he faced, late in the second set.</p>
<p>“Today I played a really tough opponent and the crowd wasn’t easy,” Korda said. “They kept cheering him on, but I’m really proud of myself and how I handled it.”</p>
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