Peter Gojowczyk won his maiden ATP title at the Moselle Open in his first final, after defeating Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2.
Gojowczyk, a qualifier 95th-ranked, faced 12 aces from his French rival but put on a solid display on his own serve. He did not face a single break point and broke Paire three times to win the indoor tournament.
Gojowczyk is now set to rise to a career-high ranking of No. 66.
"It was a totally different match, because then it was on grass in Stuttgart," Gojowczyk said of their lone previous tour-level encounter earlier this year, won by Paire. "He was better than me on that day. But I felt much better today and it was only one or two points [to decide] the first set. It was a long rally on the break point. I was serving well all day and that was the difference."
Paire, who had snapped an eight-match semifinal losing run on Saturday, was chasing a second title after claiming his maiden trophy in Bastad two years ago.
"He didn't miss many shots and it was tough for me," Paire said. "If I play like I did this week, I think I can do something good. There are a lot of positives."
