Milos Raonic return a shot. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Canada's Milos Raonic boosted his chances of qualifying for the lucrative ATP World Tour Finals after capturing his first title of the season with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Portugal's Joao Sousa in the final of the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday.
The world number nine fired down 22 aces to subdue Sousa for the third time in as many meetings to claim his first title since August 2014.
The victory maintains the 24-year-old's hopes of claiming a berth at the season ending tournament featuring the world's best eight players.
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have already qualified for the ATP finals.
