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Winston-Salem - South Africa's Kevin Anderson ended his losing streak in ATP tournament finals here on Saturday with a straight sets win over France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert to take the Winston-Salem Open crown.
World number 15 Anderson ensured he would head to next week's US Open in New York brimming with confidence after downing Herbert 6-4, 7-5.
Anderson had lost all seven finals he had contested since his last tournament victory at Delray Beach in 2012.
However he always looked in control against Herbert as he swept to victory, the third title of his career.
"This is a great feeling," said Anderson, relieved to finally snap his losing run in finals. "It's always tough to play a great week and fall at the last hurdle.
"I've been in a few finals and come up short, which is always tough. Each final is a different situation, and for some reason it just hadn't happened for me. Someone has to win and someone has to lose," he added.
Anderson secured an early break in the first set to go 3-2 up and held his advantage to go 1-0 up.
A tense second set was ultimately decided in the 11th game, when Herbert, playing his first ATP final, double-faulted to gift Anderson a break and a 6-5 lead.
Anderson, who faces teenager Andrey Rublev in the first round of the US Open next week, then held serve to complete a convincing win.
