Milos Raonic ends 2015 title drought with Saint Petersburg triumph

Moscow: Second seed Milos Raonic of Canada won the ATP Saint Petersburg Open, beating Portuguese seventh seed Joao Sousa 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in Sunday`s final.

The 24-year-old Raonic, who is still in contention for one of the remaining places at the ATP World Tour finals in London in November, fired 22 aces to claim his season`s first and career`s seventh title.

Raonic, ninth in the ATP rankings, broke early before serving out the first set, only for Sousa, who is 53rd in the world, to do likewise in the second.

Raonic got the only break of the decider to record his third win over Sousa in as many meetings after two hours, six minutes on court.

"It was a very difficult match," Raonic said.

"We were very close and Joao (Sousa) also had his opportunities.

"But I managed to show the right attitude and keep myself focused in the deciding set and that made the difference today."

The winner received a silver trophy as well as his $56,920 purse.