QUITO: Dominica's Victor Estrella Burgos became the fifth man in 2016 to successfully defend a title when he hit back to beat Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in Sunday's Ecuador Open final.

The 35-year-old joins Stan Wawrinka (Chennai), Viktor Troicki (Sydney), Novak Djokovic (Australian Open) and Richard Gasquet (Montpellier) to retain a title this year.

Estrella Burgos improved to 10-0 in Quito.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2016