Donskoy Lives Up To Top Seed Status In Raanana
Donskoy Lives Up To Top Seed Status In Raanana
A LOOK BACK
Israel Open (Ra’anana, Israel): In the third ATP Challenger Tour final this year to feature two Top 100 players, No. 1 seed Evgeny Donskoy (World No. 82) squared off against No. 3 seed Ricardas Berankis (World No. 86). A lone break of serve in each set was all Donskoy needed to take the match, 6-4, 6-4.
The win gives Donskoy the 8th ATP Challenger Tour singles title of his career, with the most recent one coming last August in Segovia. He will also move up to No. 66 next week in the Emirates ATP Rankings, just one spot shy of his career-high ranking of No. 65.
No. 5 seed Thomas Fabbiano, who lost in the semi-finals to Donskoy, will crack the Top 100 of the ATP Emirates Rankings for the first time in his career when next week’s rankings are released. He becomes the third player to reach the Top 100 for the first time in 2016, joining Taylor Fritz and Yuichi Sugita.
Torneo Internacional Challenger Leon (Leon, Mexico): After advancing through four tight matches to reach the final, No. 6 seed Michael Berrer let loose in the championship against unseeded Joao Souza. The German needed just over an hour to win the title, 6-3, 6-2.
After nearly retiring from tennis last year, Berrer’s victory gives him the 11th ATP Challenger Tour title of his career and his first since 2013. He’s also inching closer to returning to the Top 100 for the first time since January 2012. Berrer has also become the second 35-year-old winner this year on the ATP Challenger Tour, joining Stephane Robert, who prevailed in February in New Delhi.
In the doubles draw, former world No. 1 and 17-time Grand Slam champion Leander Paes reached the final with Sam Groth, marking his first time in a Challenger final since Sunrise in March 2010. The No. 3 seeds narrowly lost after holding two match points against No. 1 seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Mate Pavic, 6-4, 3-6, 13-11.
Open Harmonie Mutuelle (St. Brieuc, France): French wild card Alexandre Sidorenko capped off a dream week by winning the first ATP Challenger Tour title of his career at age 28. The World No. 379 came out on top in a marathon match against No. 6 seed Igor Sijsling, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).
Competing in his first ATP Challenger Tour final in eight years (the last being in Grenoble in 2008), Sidorenko rebounded strongly after a nervy opening set and had an opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4. Sijsling responded brilliantly by breaking serve and the match eventually went into a final-set tiebreak. With the crowd firmly on his side, Sidorenko saved his best tennis for the end of the match. A backhand passing shot winner on match point saw Sidorenko collapse to the ground in celebration as the crowd leapt to their feet.
Sidorenko is the second-lowest ranked winner this year on the ATP Challemger Tour, with the lowest being No. 721 Blake Mott prevailing in February in Launceston. He’s also the fourth different French titlist on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, joining Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Stephane Robert and Adrian Mannarino. The win this week will also propel the Frenchman over 100 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Donskoy: “Thank you everyone for coming today. I hope you enjoyed the tennis today. Today was a hard match. I’m good friend with Ricardas, so I was a little bit nervous on the court, but I guess I was just more lucky today.”
“The atmosphere here is awesome. This is my second time in this tournament. I enjoyed coming back here and hope to come back here next year. “
A LOOK AHEAD
Two tournaments are the on the calendar this week, with the $100,000 event in Le Gosier, Guadeloupe taking top billing. This always-popular tournament returns for the sixth straight year and features three players inside the Top 100, with World No. 61 Rajeev Ram earning the honours of being the top seed. Other notable names in the draw include #NextGen stars Taylor Fritz and Yoshihito Nishioka as the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds, respectively. Malek Jaziri, a winner last month at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Guadalajara, is the No. 3 seed.
The $50,000 event in Napoli, Italy is one of the oldest ATP Challenger Tour events on the calendar, with the first edition taking place in 1995. The prestigious list of winners includes Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Thomas Johansson. Filip Krajinovic looks to join that notable list of names as the No. 1 seed this year. Thomas Fabbiano, a winner last month at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Zhuhai, is the No. 4 seed. Sidorenko and Sijsling will also play in Napoli and could potentially meet in the quarter-finals. Other notable names in the draw include last year’s finalist Matteo Donati and former Top 25 player Filippo Volandri.
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