Spurred on by a noisy, supportive full house, Russian-American Alex Bogomolov Jr. defeated third seed Rajeev Ram of the United States in three sets to win the Jalisco Open at the Telcel Tennis Center in Guadalajara last weekend.

Ram seemed to be at ease after strolling the first set 6-2. Eighth seed Bogomolov’s task seemed even more complicated when he called for medical treatment for back spasms at the start of the second set.  But with the crowd behind him, he fought back to take the second set 6-3 and took control of the final set as his opponent became increasingly frustrated.  The 29-year-old Bogomolov closed out the third set 6-1 to pocket the 14,400-dollar winner’s check.

“It was an incredible week. Everyone supported me, it was like playing at home,” said Bogomolov, currently ranked 109 in the world.

Moscow-born Bogomolov has lived in Miami since 1992 and represented the United States for his entire career, until switching allegiance to his birth country in 2011. With a dearth of top Russian players, he suddenly became the nation’s number one player and found himself playing Davis Cup tennis for the first time.

After changing allegiance, Bogomolov paid 75,000 dollars back to the United States Tennis Association for expenses incurred in his development dating to when he was one of the most highly touted juniors in the world.

In 1998, Bogomolov won the USTA National Boys’ 16 Championships, defeating Andy Roddick in the final. He reached a career-high world ranking of 33rd in October 2011. He was named the ATP Most Improved Player for 2011.

In a thrilling doubles final Marin Draganja and Mate Pavic of Croatia beat Samuel Groth and John-Patrick Smith of Australia 5-7, 6-2, 13-11.