Sydney, Jan 12 (IANS): Fifth seed Alex De Minaur of Australia won the Sydney International tennis tournament title on Saturday, to claim his first career ATP silverware.

De Minaur, 19, defeated Italian veteran Andreas Seppi in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), after two hours and five minutes in the final match held at the Ken Rosewall Arena, reports Efe news.

"I thought it would not happen," De Minaur expressed after the win. "Third time lucky, and you guys do not know how much it means to do it in front of all you guys, in front of my home. It is crazy that this actually happened," he added.

The talented young Australian player claimed the feat after losing two ATP finals last year: the Sydney, and Washington opens, in addition to the 2018 Next Generation ATP Finals in the Italian city of Milan.

De Minaur and Seppi are set to fly to Melbourne in the next few hours to compete in the Australian Open tournament, which is the first ATP Grand Slam event of the 2019 season.