Paul tops Kokkinakis for $108K Tiburon title

Tommy Paul, right, beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4 on Sunday to win
the $108,320 First Republic Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger. Photo by Natalie Kim

   Tommy Paul overcame a determined opponent, the wind and a sore shoulder on Sunday to win his third Challenger singles title of the year.
   The top-seeded Paul, from Greenville, N.C., outlasted eighth-seeded Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in the $108,320 First Republic Tiburon Challenger.
   Paul broke the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Kokkinakis' serve at love in the final game of the 2-hour, 46-minute match at the Tiburon Peninsula Club. Kokkinakis double-faulted for 0-30 and missed his first serve on the next two points. It was the only break of the third set.
   For the second consecutive day, USTA supervisor Keith Crossland was called onto Center Court. Crossland assessed Kokkinakis a game penalty for taking too long of a bathroom break after the second set. Kokkinakis then uttered an audible obscenity while arguing with chair umpire Roger Pennington but was not penalized.
   On Saturday, Crossland defaulted doubles player Alex Lawson, a 25-year-old left-hander from Tempe, Ariz., for swatting a ball into the VIP seats.
   Paul, 22, earned $14,400 and rose six places to a career-high No. 81.
   Kokkinakis, 23, received $8,480 and improved 22 spots to No. 161. He was playing in only his ninth tournament, and first final, of the year because of a nagging pectoral injury.
   Kokkinakis climbed as high as No. 69 at age 18 in 2015 before injuries derailed his career. Last year, he shocked Roger Federer in the second round in Miami and won a $100,000 Challenger in Aptos, Calif., 98 miles (157 kilometers) south of Tiburon. 
   Here are the complete Tiburon singles and doubles draws.