Winning the title in simply your third ATP Challenger Tour occasion of the yr?
No downside for Ecuador’s Alvaro Guillen Meza, who was topped champion Saturday on the Lima Challenger, the place he defeated Jamaica’s Blaise Bicknell 7-6(3), 6-1 within the remaining. The 20-year-old, who’s one in all 4 Challenger titlists this week, is the youngest champion from Ecuador since Giovanni Lapentti in 2003.
Competing in his eighth Challenger match, Guillen Meza’s capacity to carry his nerve in stress moments all through the week helped him carry the trophy. He fended off 10 of 16 break factors confronted within the second spherical to upset fifth seed Gustavo Heide and in opposition to the 21-year-old Bicknell, Guillen Meza saved all three break factors confronted.
“I had to stay focussed all week and I managed to win. The truth was [I was] quite calm, I don’t know why,” Guillen Meza mentioned in Spanish. “It is a very special day for me and I am very happy.”
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Now at a career-high No. 384 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Guillen Meza is the primary NextGenATP Challenger winner from South America in 2023 and the primary Ecuadorian champion this yr. He is the second-lowest ranked champion of the season, solely behind then-unranked Kei Nishikori, who gained the Palmas del Mar Challenger in June.
In different Challenger Tour motion, Spaniard Carlos Taberner collected his sixth title at that stage when he downed countryman Oriol Roca Batalla 6-4, 6-4 within the Schwaben Open remaining in Augsburg, Germany.
Carlos Taberner wins the Challenger 50 occasion in Augsburg, Germany. Credit: Andreas Schebesta/Schwaben Open
Saturday marked the 26-year-old’s Taberner first Challenger title since March 2022. Last yr, Taberner reached a career-high No. 85.
A pivotal second for Taberner got here in opposition to Oliver Crawford within the second spherical, when the Valencia native rallied from 0-4 within the remaining set to remain alive.
“It’s superb as a result of to win titles could be very, very troublesome in tennis as a result of each week, just one man wins the title,” Taberner mentioned. “It’s an excellent feeling for me as a result of not solely was it a year-and-a-half since I final gained a title, but additionally that lengthy since I made the semi-finals. So I’m very joyful for this week and I simply wish to take pleasure in it.”
Frenchman Arthur Weber turned the fourth-oldest participant to win his maiden Challenger crown on the Hengqin International Tennis Challenger. The 31-year-old survived two deciding-set matches to shut the week, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Jason Jung 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 within the remaining.
At a career-high No. 307 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Weber is the oldest participant to win a Challenger title in his debut. The lefty got here into Zhuhai having gained two ITF World Tennis Tour trophies this season.
Arthur Weber is topped champion on the Zhuhai Challenger. Credit: Hengqin International Tennis Challenger
Weber is the fifteenth completely different Frenchman so as to add to his dwelling nation’s season-leading 20 Challenger titles, inside three of tying Argentina’s report from final yr.
The Challenger 50 occasion in Zhuhai marked the primary match at that stage held in China since October 2019.
German Rudolf Molleker didn’t drop a set all week to be topped champion on the IBG Prague Open by Moneta Money Bank. The fourth seed cruised previous 17-year-old Frenchman Gabriel Debru 6-2, 6-2 within the remaining to win his first Challenger title since May 2018.
Rudolf Molleker (center) poses through the Prague Challenger trophy presentation. Credit: IBG Prague Open by Moneta Money Bank
Source: www.atptour.com